Industrial environments pose potentially hazardous situations whereby workers may be exposed to various airborne toxic elements in their breathing zone. One of the main aerosol fractions of interest is welding fume, which can be determined with XRF spectrometry.

For the past 30 years, one of the most valuable and widely used techniques for studying electronic structures has been Angle-Resolved PhotoEmission Spectroscopy (ARPES). However, this technique primarily looks at surfaces. Now, for the first time, bulk electronic structures have been opened to comparable scrutiny through a new variation of this standard called Hard x-ray Angle-Resolved PhotoEmission Spectroscopy (HARPES).

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced a new addition to its range of automated optical emission and X-ray fluorescence spectrometers. Specially designed for high-speed production control laboratories in the iron and steel industry, the ARL SMS-2500 automation solution provides increased sample turnaround through a tighter integration of sample preparation with the use of a larger, stronger and faster robot. The system uses reliable components to ensure increased system uptime, including vision system, sample labelling, radioactivity measurement and fixed magazine for standards. The robot has an arm length of 902 mm with a gripper and six moving axes. It is designed to handle heavy loads of up to 5 kg in industrial environments with high precision. All system components operate simultaneously for optimal efficiency, while sample priority management, temporary sample storage and rapid transfer between system components allows for short sample turnaround.

A new version of the K-Alpha X-ray photoelectron spectrometer is available from Thermo Fisher Scientific. This integrated surface characterisation tool is designed for surface engineers, whether working in cutting-edge research and developement of new surface chemistries or dealing with routine characterisation of surfaces, thin films and coatings. The new instrument combines improved spectrometer performance with the latest version of Avantage XPS acquisition and processing user interface to produce high sample throughput and performance. The high level of integration between hardware and software enables users to calibrate their instrument with a single button press and incorporates full traceability of all system parameters.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched an integrated solution for the metals industry combining wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence with optical emission spectrometry. The solution optimises the ARL Optim'x WDXRF slag analyser in combination with the ARL 3460 Advantage OES metals analyser. This pairing offers foundries and metal processing companies effective analyses of metallurgic slags and alloys by WDXRF and quick, accurate investigation of solid metals by OES. This new product offers primary and secondary metals producers the opportunity to utilise two techniques at once and easily undertake quality analysis.

Understanding the crystal chemistry of Nickel (Ni), in particular how the element is bonded to its surrounding elements, can improve its extraction process, making it greener and increasing the yield. Scientists from Diamond (the UK’s national synchrotron facility), in collaboration with mineralogists from the University of Barcelona, Spain, have combined measurements on the Microfocus Spectroscopy beamline (I18) and Raman spectroscopy to elucidate the chemistry and local environment of Ni in a Mn-oxyhydroxyde aggregate.

Producing tightly focused beams of high energy X-rays, to examine everything from molecular structures to the integrity of aircraft wings, could become simpler and cheaper according to new research.

Information on the detailed chemical composition, structure and ­morphology of environmental particles, and ­especially airborne particulate matter (PM), ­facilitate the understanding of their reactivity, sources, transport and changes of chemical species and, hence, prediction of their likely impact on the ­environment and human and animal health. The analysis techniques for environmental particles can broadly be divided into two groups: bulk (for example, water-soluble ionic content by means of ion ­chromatography for PM, ­elemental concentrations by means of X-ray ­fluorescence spectro­metry for all ­environmental particles, chemical structural information by means of X-ray diffraction for larger ­environmental ­particles, such as sediments and sands etc.) and micro-­analytical techniques, whereby the character of any single particle can be probed.

Spectroscopy is the measurement of the interaction of radiation with matter before or after spectral dispersion. This has been studied variously by physicists and chemists, has wide applications outside these traditional disciplines and cannot be owned by any particular community. The subject embraces both science (including mathematics) and technology (including computing) and contains many examples of differences, not always understood, between these cultures. It illustrates the unchanging and universal character of the relevant science, which is increasingly revealed by advances in the relevant technology.

How did Leonardo Da Vinci manage to paint such perfect faces? XRF analysis has shown the composition and thickness of each layer of material laid down by the painter. The results reveal that, in the case of glazes, thin layers of 1–2 µm have been applied.

Non-destructive, high resolution, sediment core scanners incorporating X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry are now widely used by sub-disciplines in the earth and environmental sciences and have revolutionised the analysis of sediment cores. These powerful instruments allow the cores to be analysed rapidly with virtually no sample preparation. They can record along-core variations for many elements in the Periodic Table from Al to U and detection limits down to a few ppm can be achieved in favourable conditions depending on the acquisition dwell time.

Elemental and isotope analysis of the metals in ancient artefacts such as the prutah shown here sometimes can pinpoint the places where the metal was mined. This can be combined with historical sources to determine when the coin was likely struck. Archaeologists can use the evidence to identify or narrow date ranges of historical significance.

The first researchers have arrived on the latest experimental station to become operational at the Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron facility. The new experimental station (B18) offers X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS).

Jean-Philippe Echarda and Loïc BertrandbaLaboratoire de recherche et de restauration, Musée de la musique, Cité de la musique, 221 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris, France. E-mail: jpechard@cite-musique.frbIPANEMA, synchrotron SOLEIL, Saint-Aubin, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France

Introduction

For the past two centuries, the nature of the varnishes coating historical instruments has been a much debated subject. Focusing in particular on the varnishes used for coating violins made by the Italian instrument-maker Antonio Stradivari, numerous hypotheses have been raised by instrument-makers, experts, musicians and chemists, without reaching a general understanding of the ancient varnishing techniques. A few years ago, we decided to work on this topic using several complementary approaches for materials characterisation and study of historical sources (ancient varnish recipes, etc.).