Multivariate calibration in TXRF analysis of water

The aim of this paper is the application of multivariate linear calibration for quantitative determination of elements (K, Cd, Co, Hg, As, Pb, Ni, and Al) in water by using Total Reflection X‐ray Fluorescence Analysis with partial least squares (PLS) as a regression method to improve a result of common univariate method. In purpose of elimination of matrix effects in X‐ray fluorescence analysis, experimental design was applied. As a set of standard samples for multivariate calibration, a five‐level eight‐factor calibration design of 25 samples was chosen, ensuring mutual orthogonality of factors. For model's validation, the independent test set of 15 samples was examined. The collection of spectra and quantitative measurements was carried out on S2 PICOFOX. The PLS regression was performed by using software package STATISTICA. Quality indicators of multivariate calibration as slope (b) and intercept (a) of calibration, correlation coefficient (r), determination coefficient (R²), root mean square errors of calibration and of prediction, standard errors of calibration and of prediction, biases of calibration, and biases of prediction were calculated. These results were compared with the univariate model, and as a result, the multivariate calibration method exceeds the univariate one. The obtained results could be applied in a laboratory for an analysis of water solutions in the concentration range 0.05–2.00 mg/L. In many real situations, when analytical chemist deals with multi‐element mixtures, multivariate calibration approach combined with orthogonal design for multivariate calibration set could be successfully used to improve a conventional univariate calibration.