Chemical state analysis of trace-level alkali metals sorbed in micaceous oxide by total reflection X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract In order to determine the chemical states of radioactive cesium ( 137 Cs or 134 Cs) sorbed in clay minerals, chemical states of cesium as well as the other alkali metals (sodium and rubidium) sorbed in micaceous oxides have been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Since the number of atoms in radioactive cesium is extremely small, we specially focused on chemical states of trace-level alkali metals. For this purpose, we have measured XPS under X-ray total reflection (TR) condition. For cesium, it was shown that ultra-trace amount of cesium down to about 100 pg cm −2 can be detected by TR-XPS. This amount corresponds to about 200 Bq of 137 Cs (t 1/2 = 30.2 y). It was demonstrated that ultra-trace amount of cesium corresponding to radioactive cesium level can be measured by TR-XPS. As to the chemical states, it was found that core-level binding energy in TR-XPS for trace-level cesium shifted to lower-energy side compared with that for thicker layer. A reverse tendency is observed in sodium. Based on charge transfer within a simple point-charge model, it is concluded that chemical bond between alkali metal and micaceous oxide for ultra-thin layer is more polarized that for thick layer.