Elemental analysis of white electrical tapes by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze and discriminate electrical tapes using the wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and statistical techniques. The backings of 46 white electrical tapes were analyzed. A discrimination of 90.4% was performed only by quantitative analysis of major elements (relative ratio of Cl to Ca). Ten distinct groups with a discrimination of 78.9% were yielded only by qualitative analysis of trace elements. Ninety-nine electrical tape pairs which could not be discriminated by major elements were further compared with the characteristics of trace elements. The overall discriminating power of 96.1% was obtained by the combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The ability of XRF technique to discriminate different electrical tapes was similar to several well-known methods combined.

Keywords: Backing; Discriminating power; Electrical tape; Elemental composition; Forensic science; X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.