ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for chemical characterization of ambient and source-enriched aerosol particles. These analyses involve measurement of the chemical shift, core electron level splitting, relative concentrations, and volatility of different particulate species. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is the study of the kinetic energy distribution of photoelectrons expelled from a sample irradiated with monoenergetic X-rays. If the photon energy is known, experimental determination of the photoelectron kinetic energy provides a direct measurement of the electron binding energy. The chapter also describes some of the theoretical results on chemical shifts that relate to the chemist’s intuitive conception of bonding and molecular structure and to the subject of analytical applications of photoelectron spectroscopy. The application of chemical shift measurements to the chemical characterization of metals is difficult because of the small differences in binding energies between different metal compounds.
