Homogeneity of wheat flour in 5ml containers for certified reference materials

Area of Science:

• Nuclear instrumentation
• Metrology
• Analytical chemistry

Background:

• High-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors are crucial for gamma-ray spectroscopy.
• Accurate quantification requires reliable reference materials for detector calibration and validation.
• Well-type HPGe detectors necessitate specific sample geometries for optimal performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop certified reference materials (CRMs) for well-type HPGe detectors.
• To establish the homogeneity of wheat flour as a potential matrix for CRMs.
• To validate the suitability of the prepared sample for detector performance checks.

Main Methods:

• Selection of wheat flour as a representative sample matrix.
• Evaluation of sample homogeneity within a 5ml well-type container.
• Calculation of homogeneity uncertainty (u_hom) using established statistical methods.

Main Results:

• Wheat flour was successfully prepared as a sample matrix.
• Homogeneity of the sample in the well-type container was assessed.
• The inhomogeneity was found to be sufficiently small (u_hom = 0.44%) for the intended application.

Conclusions:

• The developed wheat flour sample meets the homogeneity requirements for use as a reference material.
• This material is suitable for validation checks of well-type HPGe detectors.
• The study provides a foundation for the certification of these reference materials.