Dat Thanh Chau
(SEA Sales Account Manager HMP – XMA Bruker Nano Analytics)

Biodata :

Studied Mechanical Engineering at HCM City University of Technology and Education. Start working as Bruker HHXRF Product Manager in Vietnam for 4 years.  From 2018, he works as Bruker HHXRF and part of XMA Service Supportfor 3 years. In 2021, he got on board with Bruker as Sales Account Manager for HMP – XMA products in SEA Region.

Topic : Advancements in Portable XRF for Soil and Plant Assessments

Portable XRF (PXRF) is a multi-element analysis technique which is fast, non-destructive, straightforward to use, and can be taken anywhere testing is needed for in-situ measurements. PXRF has long been used for elemental analysis of soils for environmental protection management. Two well-known environmental methods for this application are US EPA 2007 SW-846 Test Method 6200 (“Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry for the Determination of Elemental Concentrations in Soil and Sediment”) and ISO 13196:2013 (“Soil quality — Screening soils for selected elements by energydispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry using a handheld or portable instrument”). Additionally, the “USDA Soil Survey Field and Laboratory Methods Manual (2014, No. 51, V.2)” describes the pXRF method for major and trace elemental analysis in the “Soil Mineralogical Analyses” section.

PXRF has more recently become a critical tool for crop scientists because it can analyze all the physical components of a plant system: seeds, soil, fertilizers, irrigants, roots, and shoots including stems, leaves, and flowers. It enables the ability to obtain real-time information for screening healthy soils and plants, optimizing root-to-shoot systems, studying root to leaf elemental transport, monitoring bioremediation systems, developing bio-fortified seeds, and predicting disease. This time-critical information helps make better decisions about plants’ progress in real time without having to send large quantities of samples out to a lab.

The lightest element conventional handheld XRFs can detect is magnesium, very important for mineral nutrient analysis. However, Bruker’s new TRACER 5g handheld XRF is designed to dramatically improve sensitivity for lighter elements, enabling even sodium measurements which are critical for direct measurements of salinity which influence both soil and plant viability.

The technology of portable XRF and its applications for soil and plant assessments will be described. PXRF data presented will include its correlation to ICP results for plant and fertilizer analyses as well as sample preparation influence on plant tissue compositional results. Advanced handheld XRF TRACER 5g data presented will include sodium analysis limits of detection and their dependence on atmosphere and detector window.

Author: Kimberly Russell

Market Segment Manager Food & Agriculture

Bruker Nano Analytics