Dear Raheem Al-Sabur ,

the listings of the elements at your spectrum is a hint, which elements are present in your sample;

please take only those elements, which show a significant peaks in the spectrum,

such as

a) Ti at about 4,5keV (K-alpha)

b) Ca at about 3,7keV (K-alpha)

c) Rh at about 2,8 keV (L-beta)

d) Rh at about 2,7 keV (L-alpha)

e) Si at about 1,75 keV (K-alpha), may be the sample support

f) Cl at about 2,6 keV (K-alpha) may be present, but strongly superimposes with the Rh peak.

Peaks, which are not listed there, but clearly visible:

Fe at about 6,4 keV (K-alpha)

K at about 3,2 keV (K-alpha)

S at about 2,3 keV (K-alpha)

To my opinion there is definitely no Nb and no Na.

Pd may be present there, but strongly superimposed by Rh peaks.

Best regards

G.M.

Dear @Gerhard Martens

Many thanks for your support.

I checked with two others persons about this situation, the first one think it is for Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), while the second one think it is Medium Entropy Alloy and not of any plastic/polymer/ABS

Could please advise us with your experiences?

One thing for sure is that your signal is low... very small amount of counts (photons). Which makes it difficult to say anything at all without more knowledge about the sample itself.

Plus, always show where the spectrum ends and tell what the accelerating voltage was : it indicates whether there was charge accumulation or not (for instance, at 15 kV, the spectrum should stop at 15 keV ; if less, your sample is charging and this has an impact). I'm asking be cause there does not seem to be any conductive coating (Carbon, Gold, Platinum...) from your spectrum.

Also, as Gerhard Martens wrote, the higher emission seems to come from Iron at ca. 6.4 keV but all the rest are below 4.5 keV (Ti) : no need to acquire a spectrum at more than 15 kV (which is obviously the case here). Optimal excitation energy / accelerating voltage is to be considered at ca. 2 to 3 times the X-Ray line of interest. In your case, I would have advised to acquire spectra at varying accelerating voltage, below 15 kV : 10 and 15kV at the very least. This would have enhanced the lower lines.

One thing you can do as you're using a Bruker system and Esprit software, is to ask for a deconvolution (easy : ask for quantitative analysis and go back in the procedure steps to the initial identification of elements) and play with adding/removing elements : look for what gives you a better fit and this will give you good indications.

Dear Pierre Caulet

Many thanks for the valuable notice and reasonable explanation.

Could you please advise me of a helpful document to better understand the EDS figures?

Best Regards

Try this : https://myscope.training/#/EDSlevel_2_1

Many thanks Pierre Caulet for this support

Dear Dr. Raheem,

It is possible to do that by run algorithms to compare this data with a database which already known.

I can give support with this if you like.

reagrds

Ahmed

Dear Ahmed Al-Manea

Thank you for your support.

The EDS test was taken at one of the universities in Algeria, where we are working on joining ABS polymers by friction stir welding. I discovered in the results figures that some materials, such as Ru, Nb, and Ti, were present in the analysis, and I expected some errors from the EDS equipment technician. So I demanded the support of the experts in researchgate.

I now only have two images. The first image was uploaded to this project, while the second one is attached here.

I will be happy and thankful if you can use some algorithms to check these results.

Dear Raheem Al-Sabur ,

some remarks on your second spectrum:

a) there is no Nb,

b) there is no Ru; the peak at 18,9 keV does not coincide with the expected peak position of Ru K-alpha. Your energy calibration is ok; as one can see in the case of Ti K-alpha , Rh K-alpha and Pd K.-alpha. Also the Ru label for Ru L-alpha does not match to the peak nearby; it is Rh L-alpha. I do not know the origin of that broad peak at18,9 keV...

c) Ti is in your sample; Ti K-alpha at about 4,5keV and Kß at about 4,9keV

d) a bit Fe is in your sample; Fe K-alpha at about 6,4 keV

e) a bit Ca is in your sample ; Ca K-alpha at about 3,7 keV

f) a bit Potassium (K) is there, but a tiny peak at 3,3 keV

g) a bit Si is present as in your first spectrum

h) there is no peak at the position of the Al label

Best regards

G.M.

Many thaks Gerhard Martens

Is there ability to accept this figure as (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS Plastic))?

Thanks in advance

Dear Raheem Al-Sabur ,

thanks for feed back...

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS Plastic) is according to wikipedia: (C8H8·C4H6·C3H3N)n

Here you see, that ABS solely consists of the elements H, C and N.

Due to the very low atomic numbers of these elements they have very low x-ray fluorescence photon energies of well below 0,5keV.

You see in the case of your spectra, that your EDS system is not able to enter this energy region.

So H, C and N cannot be detected by the EDS system you used and thus it is impossible to confirm ABS plastic via EDS.

When googling, you will see, that EDS systems in most cases work for elements starting at about 1keV; i.e. Z ~ 11 (Na)

The operator of your system in Algeria should be aware on this fact.

Sorry for the 'bad' news...

Best regards

G.M.

Many thanks Gerhard Martens for the new update.

I think this situation is clear now and these images are not belonged to the ABS and thier is some wrong occured by the techincian.

Thanks for Pierre Caulet and Ahmed Al-Manea

Best Regards

Dear Raheem Al-Sabur ,

the fact that EDS is not able to identify ABS does not mean that the above spectra do not belong to your ABS sample. Your ABS may have the impurites, which are discussed above. The cruxial thing here is, that one is not able to identify ABS via its elements. Even in the case one might derive some kind of C/N ratio (in the case, that a low Z option is used in the EDS system) there will be, to my opinion, a lot of plastics, which have about the same C/N ratio and thus a unique indentification of ABS is highly questionable, even in this case...

Best regards

G.M.

Also, some elements are not incompatible with ABS : Ti could come from TiO2 if the sample is white, Fe could come from iron oxide pigments, Si could come from Silica, Rhodium might be present in a catalyst...

And C, N on plastics should be detected by working at or below 15kV accelerating voltage (quantitation is another matter).

Anyhow, I concur in that EDS is useful for plastics in the analysis of pigments. But I'd rather go for FTIR and TGA/DSC for analyzing the polymer itself.

Dear Pierre Caulet and Gerhard Martens

Two sheets of ABS were joined by friction stir welding. Friction stir welding is a solid state, non-consumable tool technology. The tool is usually a high-speed alloy, carbide, or ordinary steel. I have published several articles on this type of welding. Sometimes wear occurs to the tool during the welding process for hard materials such as steel and copper, but it is not expected to occur when plastics are joined.

Thanks again

If you are interested in the organic (polymer) part, you should try FTIR, or XPS in the stir welded region. (Both are available with lateral resolution).

Many thanks for Gyorgy Banhegyi for the valuable advise.