Preliminary study on forgery identification of Hetian Jade with Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

Area of Science:

• Geochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Hetian Jade is a valuable gemstone with a significant market.
• Distinguishing genuine Hetian Jade from counterfeits is economically important.
• Elemental analysis provides a basis for material identification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) for elemental analysis of geological samples.
• To differentiate genuine Hetian Jade from counterfeit samples using INAA.
• To explore the utility of chemometric techniques in conjunction with INAA for jade authentication.

Main Methods:

• Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was performed on geological samples.
• Samples included genuine Hetian Jade, counterfeit jade, and local granitoid rocks.
• Chemometric techniques, specifically Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were employed for data analysis.

Main Results:

• INAA successfully provided multi-elemental concentration data for all analyzed samples.
• Distinct elemental profiles were observed between genuine Hetian Jade and counterfeit samples.
• PCA effectively visualized the separation of sample groups based on elemental composition.

Conclusions:

• INAA is a highly sensitive technique for determining elemental concentrations in geological materials.
• INAA, combined with PCA, provides a robust method for authenticating Hetian Jade.
• This approach can reliably distinguish genuine Hetian Jade from imitations based on elemental fingerprinting.