Filtern
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (7)
Schlagworte
- Metrological traceability (2)
- Comparability (1)
- Digestion (1)
- ESCA (1)
- Elemental analysis (1)
- GUM (1)
- ICP OES (1)
- Iron (1)
- MC-ICP-MS (1)
- Magnetite (1)
Gravimetrically prepared mono-elemental reference solutions having a well-known mass fraction of approximately 1 g/kg (or a mass concentration of 1 g/L) define the very basis of virtually all measurements in inorganic analysis. Serving as the starting materials of all standard/calibration solutions, they link virtually all measurements of inorganic analytes (regardless of the method applied) to the purity of the solid materials (high-purity metals or salts) they were prepared from. In case these solid materials are characterized comprehensively with respect to their purity, this link also establishes direct metrological traceability to The International System of Units (SI). This, in turn, ensures the comparability of all results on the highest level achievable. Several national metrology institutes (NMIs) and designated institutes (DIs) have been working for nearly two decades in close cooperation with commercial producers on making an increasing number of traceable reference solutions available. Besides the comprehensive characterization of the solid starting materials, dissolving them both loss-free and completely under strict gravimetric control is a challenging problem in the case of several elements like molybdenum and rhodium. Within the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), in the Joint Research Project (JRP) called SIB09 Primary standards for challenging elements, reference solutions of molybdenum and rhodium were prepared directly from the respective metals with a relative expanded uncertainty associated with the mass fraction of Urel(w)<0.05 %. To achieve this, a microwave-assisted digestion procedure for Rh and a hotplate digestion procedure for Mo were developed along with highly accurate and precise inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) and multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) methods required to assist with the preparation and as dissemination tools.
Within the scope of a project of the 'European Association of National Metrology Institutes' (EURAMET), a European metrological dissemination System (network) providing traceable reference values assigned to matrix materials for validation purposes is described and put to the test. It enables testing laboratories (TL) to obtain comparable results for measurements under the 'EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC' (WFD) and thus, to comply with a core requirement of this very directive. The dissemination system is characterized by the fact that it is available to all laboratories throughout Europe which intend to perform measurements in the context of the WFD and that it can ensure sustainable metrological traceability to the International System of Units (SI) as a reference point for the measurement results. This Dissemination system is set up in a hierarchical manner and links up the level of the national metrology institutes (NMI) with that of the TLs via an intermediate level of calibration laboratories (CL) by comparison measurements. The CLs are expert laboratories with respect to the measurement of the analytes considered here (within the project, the CLs are called potential calibration laboratories (PCL)) and are additionally involved in the organization of comparison measurements within the scope of regional quality assurance (QA) systems.
Three comparison measurements have been performed to support the approach. A total of about 130 laboratories participated in this exercise with the focus on the measurement of the priority substances Pb, Cd, Hg, and Ni defined in the WFD. The elemental concentrations in the water samples roughly corresponded to one of the established environmental quality standards (EQS), the annual average concentration (AA-EQS), which is defined in the daughter Directive 2008/105/EC of the WFD. It turned out that a significant number of TLs still need to improve their measurement methods in order to be able to fulfill the Minimum requirements of the WFD, in particular, with regard to the elements Cd and Hg probably due to their low EQS values.
Furthermore, it became obvious that the hierarchical Dissemination system suggested here actually corresponds to the measuring capabilities of the three participating Groups (NMIs, PCLs, and TLs).
An isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (ID-GC/MS) reference measurement procedure for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in serum was developed and validated. The method complies with the concept of a ratio primary reference measurement procedure. The uncertainty was determined for two concentrations of THC in serum (1 ng/mL and 2.4 ng/mL). The calculation procedure is based on the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). The relative expanded uncertainty was found to be less than 2% for both concentration levels, corresponding to a 95% confidence interval. For the reference method, it was shown that the measurement of THC within the concentration range covered by the current threshold values is very accurate. The method has the potential to provide traceability for the methods used in practical forensics.
Overlayers of SiO2 (nominally 4, 6 and 8 nm thick) on silicon, prepared by thermal oxidation, were investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The thickness of these overlayers was obtained from a measurement of the photoelectron intensities originating from the substrate and the oxide overlayer by applying an appropriate quantitative model. The uncertainty budget of that thickness measurement method is given. The relative combined standard uncertainty of the method was found to be 15%. The effective attenuation lengths or the corresponding electron inelastic mean free paths are of considerable importance for both the estimated values of overlayer thickness and combined standard uncertainties. The XPS results were compared with ellipsometry data.