The European Union has banned chromium(VI) compounds in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), such as chromate conversion coating films. Chromium(III) compounds are not banned. Using Raman spectroscopy without any preparation, we distinguished chromium(VI) oxide from chromium(III) oxide and chromium(III) hydroxide in chromate conversion coating films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing Raman spectroscopy without any preparation, we analyzed the brominated flame retardant, polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which has been prohibited by the European Union. The typical Raman bands of PBDEs, which are clearly different from those of other brominated flame retardants, are from 100 to 300 cm(-1). In our analysis, the detection limit was about 100 ppm, and the analysis took about 1 min, whereas the usual method of solvent extraction using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy takes 50 h.
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