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Basic XRD
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GENERAL INFO |
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RIGAKU SMARTLAB |
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TRAINING AND REFERENCE |
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SERVICES AND COLLABORATION |
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ROWE GROUP |
How XRD Works | ||||
The XRD can be used to identify single crystals, and to reveal the structure of single crystals. It
can be used to identify crystals which are present in a mixture, e.g. minerals in a rock. For
minerals with variable formulas and structures, such as clays, XRD is the best method for
identifying them and determining their proportion within a sample. For more background on
XRD techniques, see the Wikipedia
article on X-ray crystallography. A fantastic program on the history of
crystallography and X-ray diffraction is available from the Royal Institution
for free on YouTube here.
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What Questions can we answer with XRD? | ||||
1. What minerals are in my sample? Most geologists who use XRD do it to identify the minerals present in a rock sample. The sample is first powdered and packed into a sample holder, using techniques to insure that the powder is randomly oriented. A basic scan takes about 20 minutes, and the data usually requires little or no processing. The peaks in the data are compared to peaks in mineral scans from a library to identify the minerals present. This level of analysis can tell you what clay groups are present, (e.g. illite, smectite, chlorite or kaolinite) but is less reliable for specific information about clay mineralogy, due to clays' tendancy to orient themselves in the powder.
2. What are the proportions of the minerals in my sample?
3. What clay minerals are in my sample? |
GENERAL INFO |
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RIGAKU SMARTLAB |
![]() |
TRAINING AND REFERENCE |
![]() |
SERVICES AND COLLABORATION |
![]() |
ROWE GROUP |