Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) method for the Determination of Elemental Constituent of Tropical Wood Matrices from Western Nigeria

The elemental composition analysis and its concentration levels in percentage were done on several wood samples using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) of Ion Beam Analytical (IBA) methods. A total of twenty seven (15) tropical hardwoods from south western Nigerian environment were analyzed and six (6) major elements (C, O, N, Na, S, Cl) were identified. Carbon has the highest percentage constituents, ranging from 58.30% to 73.46%, in all the samples with sample 4 (Albizia gummifera) having the highest concentration of carbon as 73.46% and sample 7 (Anadelphia afzeliana) having the least carbon quantity as 58.30%.Nitrogen N ranged from 1.21% - 7.76%, Oxygen O 17.96% - 34.83%, Sodium Na 0.36% - 1.08%, Chlorine Cl 0.11% - 0.46%, and Sulfur S 0.13% to 0.59%. C was above the overall wood estimated constituent 50%, O below estimated value of 40%. Cl and S were within estimated range as trace element percentage range. The variation in elemental composition of wood used in the experiment shows that wood species have thesame elemental compositional trend as some human tissues and could be harness for use as tissues equivalent material for application in medical radiation dosimetry.