Determination of metal additives and bromine in recycled thermoplasts fromelectronic waste by TXRF analysis

A new method for analysis of metal additives in recycled thermoplasts from electronic waste was developed, based on dissolving the samples in an organ ic solvent and subsequent analysis of the corresponding solutions or suspen sions by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF). The proce dure proved to be considerably less time consuming than the conventional di gestion of the polymer matrix. Additives containing Ti, Zn, Br, Cd, Sn, Sb, and Pb were analyzed in a hundred randomly selected samples from recycling , which provided an overview of the range of elemental concentrations in th ermoplasts utilized for consumer electronics. The results were validated in dependently by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), subsequent regression analysis confirmed the trueness of the chosen approach.