X-ray Diffraction: General Purpose

System Configurations and Operational Overview

All work involving the following systems and any experiments conducted in EMSL laboratories must be performed in compliance with EMSL practices and permits.

The general purpose X-ray diffractometer is a PANalytical X'Pert MPD system with a vertical Θ-Θ goniometer (190-mm radius). The X-ray source is a long-fine-focus, ceramic X-ray tube with Cu anode. Normal operating power is 40 kV, 50 mA (2.0 kW). The system optics consist of programmable divergence, anti-scatter, and receiving slits; incident and diffracted beam soller slits; a curved, graphite-diffracted beam monochromator; and a proportional counter detector (Bragg-Brentano parafocusing geometry). The principal application of this system is phase analysis of polycrystalline samples. The multi-purpose sample stage supports typical cavity-type powder mounts and will accommodate diverse monolithic specimens in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Analysis Software

The principal XRD data analysis program is JADE (Materials Data Inc., Livermore, California). JADE supports comprehensive analysis of XRD patterns, including phase identification, peak profile fitting, indexing, unit cell refinement, Rietveld analysis, etc. Available software for thin film applications includes the Bede programs RADS and REFS, plus the PANalytical programs X'Pert Texture, X'Pert Epitaxy, and WINGIXA.

Reference Database

The principal reference database is the Powder Diffraction File (International Centre for Diffraction Data, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania).

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1. Identification of Fragile Microscopic Structures during Mineral Transformations in Wet Supercritical CO2.
2. Forsterite [Mg2SiO4)] Carbonation in Wet Supercritical CO2: An in situ High Pressure X-Ray Diffraction Study.
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4. Rotor Design for High Pressure Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
5. Tomography and High-Resolution Electron Microscopy Study of Surfaces and Porosity in a Plate-Like γ-Al2O3.

All Related Research Highlights Related Research Highlights

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3. New catalyst suggests additional uses for bio-ethanol (Ethanol Evolves)
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