Characterization of coal fly-ash particles by laser microprobe mass spectrometry

Laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) was applied to coal fly-ash particles prefractionated to homogeneous composition with respect to particle size and density. For major elements, semiquantitative results (<50% relative standard deviation) were obtained; and the characteristic density dependence found for Si, K, Ca and Fe was in good agreement with that obtained by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX). The relative sensitivity coefficients, based on concentrations evaluated from the EDX data, coincided with those obtained for the NBS glass particle standard in previous work.