Background

This application note demonstrates quantitative analysis for Portland and aluminate cements by the fusion method according to ASTM C114-11 on Rigaku Supermini200, a benchtop sequential wavelength dispersive XRF spectrometer. Cement is one of the most important materials for construction. Many kinds of hydraulic cements, including Portland cement, with various physical properties are produced by changing the composition of clinker minerals; therefore, it is important to control the chemical composition of cement products and interim products.

Since the fusion method can eliminate sample heterogeneity, such as grain size and mineralogical effects, it is possible to obtain high accuracy for cement samples and also to establish calibrations using a variety of materials. Therefore, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry by the fusion method has been the method of choice in cement production processes. ASTM C114-11 covers chemical analysis of hydraulic cements. In this standard, procedures of wet chemical analysis are mainly described and XRF spectrometry is mentioned as example of “Rapid Test Methods”. In practice, XRF spectrometry has been used for chemical composition analysis of cement owing to its simple sample preparation and high precision.