Application of a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyzer for the quantification of air particulate matter on Teflon filtersApplication of a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyzer for the quantification of air particulate matter on Teflon filters Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2024-01-052022enElemental characterization of air particulate matter samples through the application of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a widespread analytical technique. This work presents the optimization and calibration methodology of a handheld XRF spectrometer and its subsequent application in elemental quantification of unknown particulate matter samples. The optimization of the handheld spectrometer was conducted through investigation of the elemental sensitivities and Limits of Detection (LoD) at variable excitation conditions (voltage, filter). Accordingly, five optimum operating conditions were obtained each one targeted in different elemental range: 1) Z = 11–12, 2) 12 < Z < 17, 3) 16 < Z < 23, 4) 22 < Z < 31 and 5) 30 < Z < 92. Subsequently, a number of reference (5 multi-element and 42 compound/single-element) materials were used to obtain calibration curves for 24 elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Pb). Weighted least-square regression analysis was implemented to best fit the experimentally measured intensities with mass loadings resulting for most of the elements to high correlations (Pearson r > 0.98) and low statistical error. In addition, intercomparison of the elemental concentrations from 28 unknown particulate matter samples between the handheld and a benchtop XRF spectrometer showed good agreement.This work was supported by the project “PANhellenic infrastructure for Atmospheric Composition and climatE change” (MIS 5021516) which is implemented under the Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure”, funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund). We also acknowledge support of this work by the project CALIBRA/EYIE (MIS 5002799), implemented under Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructures,” funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy196 Chatoutsidou Sofia-Eirini Χατουτσιδου Σοφια-Ειρηνη Papagiannis Stefanos Anagnostopoulos Dimitrios F. Eleftheriadis Konstantinos Lazaridis Michail Λαζαριδης Μιχαηλ Karydas Andreas G. Elsevier Handheld ED-XRF spectrometer Optimization Particulate matter Elemental quantification