In this study we conducted component analyses of portable XRF detectors using four Au-Cu alloy standard samples to improve their accuracy by drawing up a calibration curve based on ICP-OES standard values. The portable XRF analysis found absolute errors of 0.3 to 3.7 wt% for Au and 0.2 to 8.2 wt% for Cu, confirming that the error range and standard deviation differed from one detector to another. Furthermore, the calibration curve improved their accuracy, such that the relative error rates of Au and Cu decreased from 9.8% and 14% to 3.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Accordingly, an experiment to confirm the calibration curve was conducted using unknown samples, finding that the measured values of the unknown samples fell on the calibration curve. Therefore, to accurately analyze the components of metal cultural heritage items, it is necessary to prepare a calibration curve for each element after checking whether the detector is suitable for the artifact.
A Non-Invasive Portable XRF System for Cultural Heritage Analyses