Hope
College Physics Department Research Experiences for Undergraduates Summer 2012 Project Summary |
| Project Title: | PIXE Analysis of Automobile Foam |
| Student Name: | Michael Trier |
| Student's Home Institution: | Hope College |
| Research Advisor: | Dr. Paul DeYoung and Dr. Graham Peaslee |
| Source of Support: | This research was generously funded by the National Science Foundation under NSF-REU Grant No. PHY/DMR-1004811. |
Automobile seats contain foams that have been treated with organohalogen flame
retardants which make them fire resistant. The ingredients that are of primary
concern within these flame retardant foams are chlorine and bromine, for they
are believed to cause many serious health problems. Through the use Particle
Induced X-ray emission as well as the peak-fitting program GUPIX, it can be
determined whether or not these elements are present within the foam in a semi-quantitative
manner.
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