POTENTIAL OF IN-AIR PIXE FOR THE ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DENTAL COMPOSITES

In-air PIXE at the NIPNE Tandetron using 3 MeV protons and a SDD detector has been applied for qualitative elemental analysis of dental composites. Up to 15 elements including traces have been detected in these dental biomaterials. The performances of in-air PIXE have been compared with those of in-vacuo PIXE, as well as those of XRF and SEM/EDS form other laboratories. Spectra of in-air PIXE presented better resolution than in-vacuo PIXE, and both techniques achieved better analytical performances than the other X-ray spectrometry methods. The elemental compositions of two new ???bulk??? dental composites have been compared to those of the corresponding ???classical??? materials of an older generation. Compositional differences were evidenced, pointing to different composites??? development strategies of the producers. In addition to the experimental study, a formal treatment has been proposed, aiming to reduce the qualitative analysis data to a few quantitative parameters. Thus in-air PIXE analysis of dental composites with the present setup has an important potential for various qualitative and semiquantitative applications. However, upgrading the setup with a system for collected charge measurement is recommended for quantitative analysis.