Sulfate Speciation Analysis Using Soft X-ray Emission Spectroscopy

The chemical and electronic structures of 15 different sulfates are studied using S L2,3 soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). Sulfur XES spectra distinctively from those other sulfur compounds, which makes a powerful technique for sulfate detection. Furthermore, subtle but distinct differences between the with cations observed, allow further differentiation specific compound. Most prominently, position width “S 3s” derived bands systematically vary can be understood structure spectral calculations based on density functional theory.