Correction of Q Factor Effects for Simultaneous Collection of Elemental Analysis and Relaxation Times by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

A new method for measurement of elemental analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of unknown samples is discussed here as a quick and robust means to measure elemental ratios without the use of internal or external calibration standards. The determination of elemental ratios was done by normalizing the signal intensities by the frequency dependent quality factor (Q) and the gyromagnetic ratios (γ) for each measured nucleus. The correction for the frequency dependence was found by characterizing the output signal of the probe as a function of the quality factor (Q) and the frequency, and the correction for γ was discussed in a previous study. A Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence was used for evaluation of the relative signal intensities, which allows for derivation of elemental ratios, and was correspondingly used to simultaneously measure the T2* of samples for an added parameter for more accurate identification of unknown samples.