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NIST Standards!

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John Donovan:
This topic will be focused on the NIST (previously NBS) quantitative standard reference materials (SRM) standards and all associated issues related to obtaining, mounting, characterizing, utilizing, etc., etc., etc.

I will make it "sticky" so it will always be available for newcomers.  Let me know if anyone has other suggestions. :)

Probeman:
OK. I'll start this thread off with a comment about the NBS (NIST) mineral glasses which as we all know have had further characterization performed more or less informally by various labs, so here's my lab's contribution:

Here's the output from my standard database for both standards:

St  160 NBS K-412 mineral glass
TakeOff = 40.0  KiloVolt = 15.0  Density =  2.600

SRM 470, NIST
C.M. Taylor (Photometry?) FeO 2.77, Fe2O3 8.15
Total as FeO 10.10, Excess O 0.815
Na = 430 PPM (EPMA by JJD)
Oxide and Elemental Composition

Average Total Oxygen:       43.597     Average Total Weight%:  100.120
Average Calculated Oxygen:  42.797     Average Atomic Number:   12.694
Average Excess Oxygen:        .800     Average Atomic Weight:   21.981

ELEM:     SiO2     FeO     MgO     CaO   Al2O3     MnO       O    Na2O
XRAY:      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka
OXWT:   45.352   9.960  19.331  15.250   9.270    .099    .800    .058
ELWT:   21.199   7.742  11.657  10.899   4.906    .077  43.597    .043
KFAC:    .1621   .0654   .0776   .1008   .0334   .0006   .1738   .0002
ZCOR:   1.3079  1.1840  1.5025  1.0818  1.4676  1.2046  2.5078  1.9910
AT% :   16.571   3.044  10.530   5.970   3.992    .031  59.822    .041
24 O:    6.648   1.221   4.224   2.395   1.601    .012  24.000    .016


St  162 NBS K-411 mineral glass
TakeOff = 40.0  KiloVolt = 15.0  Density =  2.600

SRM 470, NIST
C.M. Taylor (Photometry?) FeO 4.39, Fe2O3 11.23
Total as FeO 14.49, Excess O 1.12
Oxide and Elemental Composition

Average Total Oxygen:       43.558     Average Total Weight%:  100.183
Average Calculated Oxygen:  42.438     Average Atomic Number:   13.227
Average Excess Oxygen:       1.120     Average Atomic Weight:   22.412

ELEM:     SiO2     FeO     MgO     CaO   Al2O3     MnO       O
XRAY:      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka      ka
OXWT:   54.301  14.420  14.671  15.471    .100    .099   1.120
ELWT:   25.382  11.209   8.847  11.057    .053    .077  43.558
KFAC:    .2018   .0950   .0568   .1027   .0004   .0006   .1735
ZCOR:   1.2577  1.1793  1.5585  1.0769  1.4586  1.2001  2.5106
AT% :   20.217   4.490   8.143   6.172    .044    .031  60.903
24 O:    7.967   1.769   3.209   2.432    .017    .012  24.000

Right off you'll note that I've got some FeO/Fe2O3 data so you'll see that there is some "excess oxygen", that is, not all the Fe is as FeO.

Secondly, you will note that there are some trace elements (Na and Mn) that have been documented by several labs.  What does your lab obtain for trace impurities in these NBS (NIST) glasses?

Thirdly, are these glasses still available on the open market?  They are terrific.

Anette von der Handt:
Hi,

I haven't mounted them yet but I am about to, then I can add to your second point. In regard to your third question, my lab got the K-411 as glass microspheres a few years ago so they should be still available. I found the glass shards online listed at SPI supplies as part of their "30 glasses mounts". I got both as glass shards as a generous gift from John Fournelle. He also recommended them to me as standards for pyroxene analysis.

John Donovan:
Also check this discussion of mounting the Smithsonian standards which also come in tiny fragments in very small vials:

http://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=172.0

Probeman:
In the NIST K-411 and K-412 mineral glasses, one of them (K-411) is not certified for aluminum as it is apparently a zero concentration. I've never looked closely at trying to measure it myself, but I always see a few hundred PPM of Al in K-411 when measuring Al.

Has anyone made a more serious effort to characterize the NIST K-411 mineral glass for Al?
john

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