Preface

The inspiration for this volume originated in co-editor Lee Drake's work as an application scientist for one of the major portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) manufacturers (Bruker). Over the course of five years, Drake traveled to 50 + countries to visit universities, museums, and industrial settings to develop new qualitative and quantitative applications on-demand. With an aggressive travel schedule that could involve four or more countries in a single week, it soon became apparent that there were consistencies in aspects of fundamental training that were needed to empower users to effectively use portable XRF. Those experiences informed what would eventually become the contents of Chapters 2–4 of this volume. As those chapters were being prepared, it became increasingly clear that a foundational resource on pXRF and its various applications was absent from the literature and would be a valuable contribution.

Following its miniaturization at the turn of the millennium, XRF has seen a continued expansion in application development that remains a challenge to keep pace with. It can be easy for a newcomer to feel lost in the sea of literature on XRF in all of its disparate forms. The impetus for this volume is that, as pXRF continues to grow in mainstream use, analysts should be increasingly empowered with the right information to safely and effectively employ pXRF as part of their analytical toolkit. The objective of this volume is threefold:

1. To provide an accessible foundation for best practices for the use of portable XRF analysis, regardless of application.

2. To highlight the varieties of portable XRF applications in research, industry, and regulatory fields.

3. To serve as a key reference guide for qualitative and quantitative analysis by pXRF.

This volume is organized into three main sections beginning with introductory chapters that provide overviews of fundamental concepts, followed by a series of contributed chapters that detail aspects of industrial and academic applications. It ends with chapters on advanced technical topics such as reproducibility, standardizations, inter-instrument comparisons, quantifying uncertainty in pXRF measurements, and an overview of promising new advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance pXRF data analysis. The final chapter (Chapter 18) is not included in the print book but can be viewed online. Overall, this book represents the expertise and experience gained from a variety of backgrounds; from consumer safety to extraterrestrial geology, and voices from both vocational and academic backgrounds. As pXRF continues to grow in use in industrial and academic settings, it is essential that practitioners continue to learn, share, and implement informed and effective use of this technique. This volume will serve as an accessible guidebook and go-to reference manual for new and experienced users in pXRF to achieve this goal.

Because of portable XRF's versatility, there will never be a comprehensive volume on all of its applications. By the time the ink is dry here, an innovative new use will be introduced. Yet, we do hope that the diversity of experience reflected in this volume will provide the necessary lift to help the next generation of researchers envision and advance novel and sophisticated applications in pXRF.

This volume would not have been possible without the help and support of many colleagues. We would like to thank all of our chapter authors for their expert contributions to this volume, and to the more than two dozen peer reviewers who took the time to provide feedback on the chapters and ultimately improve the quality of the content. We also extend our sincere gratitude to several individuals who helped us organize, edit, and coordinate along the way: Aaron Shugar, Marian Hamilton, April Oga, and Michael D. Glascock. We also sincerely thank Liv Towers and Janet Freshwater at the Royal Society of Chemistry for their ongoing guidance and patience in the preparation of this volume.

B. Lee Drake

Brandi L. MacDonald