- Home
- Companies
- Applied Rigaku Technologies
- Applications
- Elemental Analysis for Automotive ...
Elemental Analysis for Automotive Catalyst Recycling – Reclaim Precious Metals - Metal - Metal Recycling
Used catalytic converters are collected and recycled in order to reclaim the precious metals Pt, Rh and Pd. Typically, the entire honeycomb core is removed and ground into fine powder. Once in powder form, the precious metal catalysts can be extracted, or the powder can be sold to a refiner. The honeycomb core is typically ceramic, containing combinations of the elements Al, Si, Fe, Zn, Sr, Zr, Ba, La and Ce. Some cores can be made of a stainless steel honeycomb and so would contain higher Fe and other metals. Catalyst material may also be high in Pb content, in regions where leaded gasoline is still used. Because all of these matrix elements can occur at various levels, the fundamental parameters software with matching Library offers quick direct analysis, of powdered catalytic converter cores, without the need for a large suite of calibration standards.
Quantitative Elemental Analysis
The Rigaku NEX CG II EDXRF is powered by qualitative and quantitative analytical software, RPF-SQX, that features Rigaku Profile Fitting (RPF) technology. This XRF software allows semi-quantitative analysis of almost all sample types without standards – and rigorous quantitative analysis with standards. Featuring Rigaku’s Scattering FP XRF method, the software automatically estimates the concentration of unmeasurable low atomic number elements (H to F) and provides appropriate corrections.
RPF-SQX greatly reduces the number of required standards for a given level of calibration fit compared to conventional EDXRF (XRF) analytical software. As standards are expensive and can be difficult to obtain for newly developed materials, the utility of having a Rigaku NEX CG II EDXRF spectrometer can significantly lower costs and reduce workload requirements for routine elemental analysis needs.