2 MeV-PIXE TECHNIQUE FOR COASTAL MATERIAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Ion beam analysis (IBA) is a group of PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission) techniques dedicated to the analysis of material for geological sample of coastal sediment samples. Coastal/Beach samples collected from South East Coast of Tamilnadu were analyzed by PIXE technique and obtain the elemental composition of coastal sediments. The PIXE analysis was carried out using 1.7 MV Tandem accelerators with the energy of 2 MeV protons at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu, India. The data analysis is normally done in an interactive mode of GUPIX analytical software computer code. The identified elements are present in the fingerprint X-ray spectrum in the range of ppm to ppb level. Therefore in this paper, introductory results concerning determination of concentration of chosen elements such as K , P , Ca , Ti , Fe , Cr , Co , Zn , Mn , Ni , Cu , Rb , Sr , As , Zr , Hf , Pb and Hg of coastal sediment samples from the east coast of Tamilnadu, India are presented. The validation of the technique is assessed using standard reference material (SRM) NIST 1646a estuarine sediment and the result shows the good agreement with the certified one. The results were used to assess environmental toxicity of heavy metals and radiation hazard in the study area.