X-ray diffraction (XRD)

Laboratory for X-Ray powder diffraction

X-Ray powder diffraction is a non-destructive technique for phase- and Rietveld analysis of crystalline materials.

Determination of:

• detailed phase composition
• quantitative Rietveld analysis
• nanocrystallite-sizes
• lattice parameters
• amorphous content
• 1d-mappings

Our powder X-Ray diffractometer (Empyrean, PANalytical, Almelo, Nl) is working in reflection (Bragg-Brentano) or transmission theta-theta geometry. It is equipped with a Cu tube, a fast PIXcel-1d detector and an automatic 30-position autosampler.

Additional XRD accessories allow to perform various types of measurements:

- sample holder with 0-background (Si-single crystal-holder) for small amount of samples

- Kapton film cover for transmission mode for plastic foils or polymers

- programmable XYZ-solid sample stage for sample positioning and 1d-mapping

- capillary spinner for air-sensitive and highly texturated samples

The instrument runs the X'Pert DataCollector and HighScorePlus software suite for phase and Rietveld analysis, including the ICDD and PDF-3 database.