Open AccessVisualization of elemental distributions and local analysis of element-specific chemical states of an Arachnoidiscus sp. frustule using soft X-ray spectromicroscopy
Author(s) -
Tomoko Ishihara,
Takuo Ohkochi,
Akinobu Yamaguchi,
Yoshinori Kotani,
M. Oura
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243874
Subject(s) - x ray absorption spectroscopy , spectroscopy , analytical chemistry (journal) , electron microprobe , amorphous solid , diatom , absorption spectroscopy , x ray fluorescence , materials science , microscopy , microprobe , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , frustule , chemistry , fluorescence , crystallography , mineralogy , optics , physics , nuclear magnetic resonance , botany , biology , environmental chemistry , quantum mechanics
Using soft X-ray (SX) spectromicroscopy, we show maps of the spatial distribution of constituent elements and local analysis of the density of states (DOS) related to the element-specific chemical states of diatom frustules, which are composed of naturally grown nanostructured hydrogenated amorphous silica. We applied X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (X-PEEM) as well as microprobe X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) analysis to characterize the surfaces of diatom frustules by means of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). We successfully demonstrated that SX spectromicroscopy is able to participate in potential observation tools as a new method to spectroscopically investigate diatom frustules.