Integration of Elemental and Molecular Imaging to Characterize Heterogeneous Inorganic Materials

Spatially resolved elemental and molecular information has been obtained for complex inorganic mixed-phase systems, including plutonium-contaminated ash samples, with the use of micro-X-ray fluorescence (MXRF), micro-Raman, and micro-infrared imaging spectroscopies. Approaches for spatially guided analysis and the combination of multispectral data sets to improve assignment of chemical composition are discussed for two heterogeneous materials. This novel integrated experimental approach provides the advantages of a very small sample size and the ability to correlate elemental analysis with molecular functional group analysis for species identification, as well as insight into chemical interactions in complex matrices.