New X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer for the University of Rhode Island XRF Laboratory

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0236617HermesThis grant supports the acquisition of a new wavelength-dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) to be installed in the XRF laboratory at the University of Rhode Island (URI), Department of Geosciences. The new instrument will replace the current non-functioning energy-dispersive system originally acquired in 1983. Upgrades and support for the 1983 instrument are no longer available from the company, and finally, in the summer of 2001, a "blown" X-ray tube that could not be replaced sealed its fate. The new state-of-the-art, wavelength-dispersive system will greatly improve the capabilities of our laboratory, including the ability to analyze for nearly all elements of geologic significance, at greatly improved sensitivities and accuracy. The University has provided a renovated laboratory for the new XRF. All sample preparation equipment, including crushers, grinders, fluxers, presses, etc. are in place as they were used with the 1983 instrument. Since 1983, the URI Geosciences XRF facility has served many scientists in the southern New England region, providing high-quality major and trace-element data for as many as one-hundred research projects. The facility supported a wide variety of basic research, 30-40 graduate theses, innumerable undergraduate theses and research projects , and provided an ongoing, long-term model for vertically integrated learning at URI. The URI Geosciences XRF facility not only enhances the research/education infrastructure of the university, but also provides a laboratory open to students and faculty at regional colleges and community colleges where sophisticated and expensive research laboratories are not available. We also have partnered with museums, the state Crime Laboratory, and other groups, all of which have substantial numbers of women in their organizations. The new equipment will permit the facility to continue to serve a diverse array of scientists and applications at URI as well as from the southern New England region.***