Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Atomic Absorbance Spectroscopy to Measure Intracellular Zinc Pools in Mammalian Cells
Published on: May 16, 2019
Zinc K-edge XANES spectroscopy of mineral and organic standards
Erin Castorina1, Ellery D Ingall1, Peter L Morton2
1School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332-0340, USA.
Abstract:
Zinc K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge (XANES) spectroscopy was conducted on 40 zinc mineral samples and organic compounds. The K-edge position varied from 9660.5 to 9666.0 eV and a variety of distinctive peaks at higher post-edge energies were exhibited by the materials. Zinc is in the +2 oxidation state in all analyzed materials, thus the variations in edge position and post-edge features reflect changes in zinc coordination. For some minerals, multiple specimens from different localities as well as pure forms from chemical supply companies were examined. These specimens had nearly identical K-edge and post-edge peak positions with only minor variation in the intensity of the post-edge peaks. This suggests that typical compositional variations in natural materials do not strongly affect spectral characteristics. Organic zinc compounds also exhibited a range of edge positions and post-edge features; however, organic compounds with similar zinc coordination structures had nearly identical spectra. Zinc XANES spectral patterns will allow identification of unknown zinc-containing minerals and organic phases in future studies.
Related Concept Videos
Standard Electrode Potentials
Water and Mineral Acquisition
Calculating Standard Free Energy Changes
Minerals
Major...
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy: Organic Radicals
Standard Enthalpy of Formation

