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Powder X-ray Diffraction - Science method
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Questions related to Powder X-ray Diffraction
I have done Rietveld refinement on PXRD but i do not know where to find the information of Final R indices[I>2sigma(I)] , R indicies (all data) , Extinction coefficient, Largest diff. peak and hole.

Hello, everyone!
I recently got a problem about band gaps of one inorganic selenide crystal. Every time I run UV-Vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectra, the results (Fig. 1) seem that the compound has two band gaps, which is, to me, impossible. The PXRD test confirmed the sample is pure phase. Could anyone please give me any advice or help me explain this?
Thanks in advance.

I prepared CdS and I got sharp peaks with high intensity in the XRD pattern. The peaks at 2𝜃 do not correspond to ICSD of the XRD patterns of cubic and hexagonal CdS nanocrystals. How can I discuss that?
Hi, I work on natural polymers i.e. gums polysaccharides. the pure materials are normally amorphous , i did a modification on a base material and its xrd showed an improvement and showed a broad peak. i reported that and got a reply from a reviewer that " add JCPDS number and crystalline size" Previously in our field people report in such a way I have also added references and up to my best knowledge I know that: " JCPDS record does not exist for them moreover for poorly semi-crystalline or amorphous materials you can't calculate crystalline size it will be useless to use " scherrer equation " .
Now how to politely reply to reviewer's comment?
My process is reducing IrCl4 hydrate using NaBH4 in excess and adding Au NPs. What should be the expectation in peak shifting, should it shift from left or right. Current XRD data shows that shifting to the right occurs with explanation that the Ir particles attaches to the surface of the AuNP resulting in compression. However, from some of what I've read, it should be shifting to the left due to their differences in ionic radii and lattice expansion. Any insight or literature recommendation to help me clarify the concepts will be greatly appreciated!
Can crystallite size and grain size be used interchangeably? Could you please recommend a resource on this topic?
I have X'pert high-score software for XRD analysis with PDF2 Database, please help me regarding search peaks section.

In XRD analysis I am having 2 different FWHMs, one is the original data FWHM value(0.096), and after refinement, I am having different FWHMs(0.38), which I can take for crystallite size calculation. Kindly help me thank you in advance
I synthesized a compound that has a minor derivative phase. While obtaining the lattice parameters of the major phase via PowderX, a mismatch between the hkl values obtained in PowderX and the standard hkl values in JCPDS for the major phase was observed.
I would like to know the possible reason for this and how to proceed in correcting the same.
I'm working on the hydrothermal synthesis of CeO2 and making rods. I came across an article (10.1007/BF03047543) that estimated K for various shapes. My concern is, if CeO2 has the FCC system but my synthesis produces the rod morphology, should I apply the cylinder K from that article due to the shape or should I continue to use the cubic K because CeO2 has the FCC system? Thank you in advance to everyone!
I made Fe-Pt alloy by arc melter and it was too hard to make a powder for PXRD(Powder X-ray Diffraction).
Two questions:
Could you recommend any method to make a powder of hard metal for PXRD?
or
I'm planning to check PXRD using bulk piece(not-grinded, only sliced). Could I get a reliable XRD pattern compare to powder?
Thanks!
Can you suggest some good book /literature for understanding the Rietveld refinement method.
The existence of anti-phase domain boundaries (APBs) in polycrystalline materials is usually established by electron microscopic techniques (SEM/TEM) [1] and is also discussed in diffraction data analyses.[2]
I don’t have a good familiarity with TEM/SEM (and I’m very open to be educated here) but it doesn’t seem convincing enough to look at some microscopic images with atomic level resolution where APBs are found as a straight line (or arbitrarily curved line as in Figure 7 in ref. 1) forming a boundary/wall between the two domains in the same particles, while there is no disorderliness of any sort around and away from the APB.
The reason I’m raising this point is that particle surface is usually more disordered than any kind of defects in the bulk. In fact, it’s even well established that the surface of solid particles behave more or less like a liquid layer [3], and the smaller the particle size the thicker the liquid layer at the surface. And yet, in the TEM images of nanoparticles that I have seen in some articles there is(are) only the APB(s) visible, and no sign of the bigger unavoidable inherent surface disorder.
Is it possibly due to the fact that in TEM, the electrons pass through the particles and form an image which is influenced by the bulk of the particle? If so, why then the rest of the atomic arrangements within the domains look nearly perfect (i.e. as if it’s a single layer of pointy ordered atoms)?
And as for diffraction data, APBs affect some of the reflections selectively but usually there are different broadening contributions which make it challenging to disentangle. Nevertheless, at least the existence of planar defects like APBs is indicated in diffraction patterns.
Any input would be appreciated.
3)
Article Observation of Surface Melting
I am taking XRD samples at various pressures. I want to compare my sample with established literature.
I know you can download .cif files and view them at different energies using VESTA or mercury, but is there a way to do this at different pressures?
I have synthesized graphene oxide by following modified hummers method. in PXRD, for a gaphene oxide, generally peak appered around 2(theta)= 11 degree. Eventhough graphite peak also appeared at 26 degree (002) , some of them inicate graphene oxide(GO) peak as (002) or (001). attachment of functional groups definitly will increase the graphene interlayer spacing and shifting peak to lower end in the diffractogram. but how can we assign a plane to graphene oxide?. so, what is the best way to explain the origin of graphene oxide peak as well as suitable plane ? (001) or something else ?

Hello everyone,
I have PXRD data and want to convert them to a CIF file. If someone help me.
Many thanks for considering my request.
- For instrumental broadening correction, we use caglioti formula which relates FWHM and diffraction angle (2theta).
- How can the same instrumental broadening correction be introduced when I am using integral breadth instead of FWHM?
Hi all,
I have an alumina sample in powdered form, and I'm trying to characterize it (the only information I have is that it's alumina). The XRD pattern of this sample is attached.
Below are some of the things that I've noticed but have trouble understanding:
- Is the slope between 0 - 10 degrees normal? If not, how should I solve this issue? For my other crystalline samples I've never observed something like this.
- The peak intensity is less than 200, which seems quite low to me. The background noise also seems quite signficant, but there are still some identifiable peaks between 30 - 70 degrees. I'm therefore having doubt about whether this a good quality XRD pattern that I can use, or is this a bad quality/invalid result?
- Also, is there a possibility for this to be amorphous alumina?
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

I have synthesized convert graphite to graphene oxide(GO) and then GO to reduced graphene oxide(rGO) using the modified Hummer method. During PXRD characterization I found that GO XRD peak comes very intense, sharp but rGO XRD peak comes weak, less intense and broad. Why?
Here is commercial TiO2 (Rutile sample) , I am facing a problem fitting 110 reflection peak as its quite relative intensity in MAUD software. I have used some guidance that was provided by a few tutorials but that is not working to fit.
I have done modifications in texture, I have selected E-WIMV as well, and adjusted PHI as well but still was not resolved.

Is it possible to have different relative peak intensities in the xrd patterns of a sample taken with two different instruments and consequently with two different operators?And how is it possible?
Shouldn't the relative intensity be independent of the instrument conditions?
Thanks in advance for your helps
I am attempting to perform XRD analysis on the 21R Sialon polytype, by seeing how much aluminium nitride is within each sample. Although, I cannot perform Rietveld refinements on this as I have no XRD data for pure 21R. I have been unable to find any data through research.
What data do I need to perform this task, and is it possible to perform Rietveld calculations if it does not exist within my Match database.
I am using Match! to attempt to perform these calculations.
I have prepared solid sol by taking 14 mol% Ytterbium in Titania. I know the Yb3+(0.860 Angstrom) radii is quite large compare to Ti4+(0.605 Angstrom). I did not observed any peak shift when I compared the XRD with undoped titania.
I general statement if doping occurs with larger radii with bigger ion than we observed peak shift in lower 2theta.
So, does It means no doping occurs?
My prepared titania is not highly crystalline material with composition of two pahse anatse and bronze.
I also observed seperate Yb2O3 XRD peaks which clears there is formation of seperate phase but when I refined the parameter of my volume of anatase and Bronze phase it shrinks.
Although Bronze phase is quite open structure with voids.
What could be reason for the lattice parameter to get reduce where is the possibilty of Yb can be in lattice so no such peak shift and lattice parameter varied without peak shift.
My group start some research on the development of new biodegradable nanoparticles based zinc. We where intersted to observe that based powder X-ray diffraction analysis, it was almost no differences between the Zn oxide and the Zn hydroxide.
What is key to differentiate between both following your experiences based powder X-ray diffraction analysis!
Hello,
Does anybody know whether any polymorphic form (other than form A) of fluoxetine hydrochloride exist?
If yes, could you please provide reference?
Thanks,
Antonio
pXRD measurements of my nanomaterial showed that the peak intensity (minor/no shifting) changed with change in pH. The nanomaterial was dispersed in water and the measurements were performed at pH 6, 8, 10 and 12 (the concentration was same). The measurement conditions were kept identical.
I have an XRD pattern of valleriite. This mineral consist of brucite (P-3m1) and nukundamite (R-3m) layers. The layers are not "fit" perfectly, so the pattern repeats after ~21 brucite unit cells or 17 nukundamite unit cells in layer ("a" lattice constant). I have constructed this structure in VESTA combining 2 different phases. But the supercell seems too big for a direct Rietveld refinement in TOPAS.
I can refine my XRD using brucite-like and nukundamite-like phases separately, but reflections (0 0 l) are less intensive than it should be.
Are there any possibility to take into account the (0 0 l) reflections in TOPAS or refine less complicated and big hybrid structure with shift between brucite and nukundamite layers? Or is there any software what can refine this kind of structures?
Thank you for your answers.
Can we measure Herman’s orientation factor (H) in PXRD instrument? If it is possible then how to measure it? Please suggest.
I found maximum publications related to the electron distribution are done by the maximum-entropy method (MEM) through Rietan-FP software. But the Rietveld refinement using FullProf is also able to do the electron density mapping through GFourier technique.
Hence, I would like to know, if someone calculates electron density mapping from GFourier (FullProf.), then will it be acceptable for publication in a good journal? If so, please share some published articles related to the electron density mapping from GFourier/FullProf for references.
Hope you will share your valuable thoughts & discussion. Thank you all in advance.
Williamson-Hall methods is used to find crystallite size and micro strain of milled powder. However in the case of iron powder, the line broadening is not a monotonous function of diffraction angle. Due to this, the W-H plot of milled iron powders gives scattered points corresponding to each reflection plane and it is difficult to draw a best linear fit line with these points. So how can I calculate micro strain developed into iron powder due to ball milling?
I have a .cif file of a C3S-M1 structure and I need to see its Powder Diffraction Pattern. Does someone know if it is possible to do this?
Thanks
Hi everyone,
In the Rietveld refinement of mixtures, topas gives by default the percentage content of each phase on the graphics window without any standard error. How can I get the standard error for that? I'm using input files.
Thank you for your answer in advance!
Jamal
Hello all,
I’m fairly new at XRD analysis. Recently I tried to perform Rietveld refinement of newly synthetized spinel-based material using FullProf software .
The material that was obtained by me (magnetite analog) was analyzed by XRD. Diffractograms (peak positions and intensity) were quite similar for those I could find in the literature for such materials.
But when I tried to perform the Rietveld refinement on Fullprof using data from the literature, I couldn’t obtain a theoretical diffractogram that could fit into the measured one.
I tried to import CIF file into Fullproff and Vesta and, while Vesta is displaying values of site occupancy factor for all atoms as 1, occupancy factors in Fullprof have fractional values. (attached screenshot)
As far as I see, Fullprof is using Wyckoff positions form CIF to calculate occupancy factors featured in program.
So, I have another question. How I can calculate occupancy factors knowing Wyckoff positions, in a way this program is doing it?

Hello friends, recently I saw GSAS II can do Rietveld refinement and it's free. I wanted to ask, can it do phase quantification to tell how much of each phase is in the XRD data? Can it load multiple CIF files to do refinement? is there also other free, open-source software out there that can do these functions?
I have resolved several aromatic compounds' absolute structures in single-crystal x-ray, and all of them showed cofacial/slipped close-packing/stacking of the aromatic rings.
Later, I used VESTA to visualize the PXRD spectra, hoping to grab a quantitative value for the d-spacing of the close-packed aromatic rings:
1. Generate PXRD spectrum from single crystal .cif data in VESTA.
2. From the PXRD list, I identify the (hkl) of d-spacing around 3.6~3.1 Ang., with moderate~strong PXRD intensity
3.Visualizing the (hkl) on the absolute structures and confirm the miller plane is parallel/overlapping with planar aromatic molecules.
The d-spacing I have identified in my compounds were as small as 3.14, 3.15, 3.20, etc. The values seem quite small compared to those reported ones, 3.3~3.6. I want to confirm if my way of grabbing d-spacing is correct?
Thanks in advance.
Which will be the best way to characterize MOF? Is P-XRD useful to identify MOF? MOF peak should come before 10 in XRD pattern?
I need the following reference pattern files for XRD analysis. Where can i find them?
Reference Pattern = 96-210-1125
Reference Pattern = 01-074-2329
Can anyone share (or DOI of research article) a X- ray diffractogram with proper phases (analyzed) of commercially avilable powder Nb2O5 (−325 mesh, 99.9% trace metals basis, Sigma Aldrich). because i have a boubt about calculting phases of Nb2O5 which i used in my study. Highly appreciate your responces.
Greetings all scientist!!
I would like to know, which is the best software for Rietveld refinement among FullProf vs Rietan FP.
Thank you all for Your wonderful opinions in advance.
Hi,
I recently measured XRD of intermediate temperature prepared gamma-alumina and of course got 3 typical peaks (311), (400) and (440) on the pattern (d-spacing by XRD peaks is correct).
However, the positions of the rings in the SAED image seem not to match this XRD pattern. For example, the common d-spacing of (311) is around 0.239 nm (2.39 Ang.) whereas the most closed number of the ring is around 0.225 nm. The numbers of the other two peaks are also slightly lower than common figures.
Or SAED ring of (311) is not obvious, so instead of (311), this ring (0.225 nm) could possibly be (222)? But in this case, peak (222) on XRD is not that obvious.
Is this possible? I wonder if the machine I used has been well-calibrated?
Many thanks.
I used the first PANalytical powder XRD to determine the XRD pattern of my samples. my sample is a metal organic framework crystals, the instrument setting as below:
Miniumum step size Omega:0.0001; Scan step time [s]: 96.3900; Divergence Slit Size: 0.2177 degree. Generator settings: 40mA, 40kV.
Unfortunetaly, the first PANalytical powder XRD instrument was broken.
I tried to used the 2nd PANalytical powder XRD instrument and the measurement conditions:
Miniumum step size Phi:0.1; Scan step time [s]: 148.9200; Divergence Slit Size: 0.0573 degree. Generator settings: 40mA, 45kV; Spinning: Yes. The other measurement conditions of the first and second PXRD instrument are same.
The results shows that the overall peak intensity of XRD pattern from 2nd instrument is very weak compare to the first instrument.
Should I change the measurement conditions of the 2nd instrument?
Where can I find XRD central facility for low cost? My neighbouring university charging INR 1500/- per sample. It is too high for me to bear as there are more samples to follow. My parent university doesn't has the facility. Now I have 3 samples only.
Can any one help me in this regard?
These first three samples are base for my work and based on the results I have to move ahead in my Ph.D. work.
Any help in this regarding is highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Vara Prasad
What are the limitations of the Debye Scherrer formula? Can it be applied to rod-shaped particles?
I have been having issues with missing peaks in XRD spectrum of Antigorite (and other serpentines for that matter). The best is to illustrate with an example of Antigorite taken from the RRUFF database and one from COD, see the attached picture. You can see that many peaks are missing in the RRUFF spectrum (top). When I measure my sample, I get a very similar spectrum to the one in the RRUFF database rather the one in COD. Especially the intensity of the peak around 36 deg 2 theta is unusual. I tried the other COD samples with similar result (the one in the plot is sample # 9003103.
Can this be related that RRUFF and mine are powder data while the samples in the COD seem to be single crystal diffraction? Or what would be the reason?
Also, similar issues are with samples from the PDF database and all those samples are marked as low quality.

Peak values over a broad range of 2theta is obtained. This is to obtain d spacing values for layered silicate in a polymer. Now to find d spacing which value of 2theta should I consider ? What could be the reason for this phenomenon ?
Respected Researches, I was wondering how to draw AA and AB stacking models and their simulated PXrd for Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs). Any recommendation will be highly appreciated. Thanks
While doing profile matching in full prof chi-square value is stuck at 12. When I try to refine u,v,w parameters their value reaches up to 38. What might be the possible reasons for the non-refinement of these parameters?
Can we predict/explain fluorescence behavior (conventional steady-state fluorescence spectra) of a material like quantum dot, perovskite, etc. from its pXRD data? Whether the lattice plane arrangement have a major role in fluorescence behavior of these type of materials?
I measured PXRD pattern of thin film.
I saw abnormally high intensity at low diffraction angle (<7.5º) like picture.
For what reason does this phenomenon occur?
What is the solution?

If the single crystal X ray diffraction did not give the same results of powder X ray diffraction, how we use single crystal X ray diffraction to calculate the unit cell dimensions?
I performed Rietveld Refinement using GSAS - II , the resulting .lst file contains following values:
Final refinement wR = 5.17%
Other residuals: R = 4.21%, R-bkg = 4.86%, wR-bkg = 5.17% wRmin = 4.73%
Can someone explain what do these parameters represent?
I am completely new to this and will highly appreciate any input.
Thank you in advance.
The average size of metal complexes is higher using SEM analysis. while XRD analysis shows lower in size; what is the reason behind it.
Basically for Ag nanoparticles. 111 is sharp and single but 200 (44.29 and 44.41), 220 (64.45 and 64.62), 311 (77.37 and 77.60) are showing sharp, kind of equal intensity doublets.
For example, if someone prepares a powder sample, by ball milling/any technique using two different raw materials, and performs heat treatment to that powder at a specific temperature. Simultaneously he characterizes that powder by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to analyze its phase details.
So, in this case, is it possible to co-exist two different kinds of crystalline structures or two different phases (namely, monoclinic/triclinic or cubic/any other) at the same time for that powder sample??
Thank you for your precious answer in advance.
#XRay_Diffraction #XRD #Crystal_Structure #Crystallinity #Phase_formation
Hi all,
I found our group has an "old" XRPD humidity chamber connected to some moisture-control system. The moisture-control system has a sensor that detects the humidity of the air it sends to the chamber, but we would like to be able to check the humidity in the chamber as well to be sure at which RH we run our XRPD.
Does any of you know if/how this is usually done? Is there a reference substance that one can use?
Thanks in advance for your help!
/V
I need to perform Residual stress measurement by XRD using sin2 ψ method for SLM components, So what are the inputs (like sample size.....) I should give to the XRD operator, and what outputs I will get from there
Can someone (Those who did the experiment) explain this 🙏🏻🙏🏻, Your answer can help my research.
If possible I will send a direct message to the commentators, to ask more questions in this
Thanks in adavance 🙂
I am contemplating purchasing this software and would like people's opinion.
For example, in the laboratory, the Ni(II)-Complex was prepared. The tests proved that the complex is octahedral and the coordination number is hexagonal, but when testing the XRD analysis, the complex showed a monoclinic crystal system. Does this contradict the results because it is supposed to appear cubic or hexagonal and its derivatives, not monoclinic
I have UV spectra of metallic nanoparticles and I want to get DLS data about it using calculations as it's possible
this is due to " I got sizes using SEM, TEM, XRD that are very smaller than obtained of DLS"
I think the DLS is not correct and I want to be sure from UV spectra
How can I make sure of this?
I'm trying to refine LaB6 PXRD data from a Guinier camera in asymmetric transmission configuration to calibrate the instrumental corrections using TOPAS. The emission profile has both Ka1 and Ka2. The doublet structure in the diffractogram is not uniform due to the asymmetric configuration. The incident beam is focused at 45° on the image plate and so the doublets are superimposed in the range from 30 to 60° but above 60° they progressively grow apart (also for angles smaller than 30°). This is a problem in that I cannot introduce such a doublet profile for the entire pattern. I have used two emission profiles, as well as Cu-Ka4 from the TOPAS directories. The fit is far from good on the extremes. Can somebody give me some advise please? How to adopt the doublet structure to the observed pattern?
I measured a fluconazole drug sample and found 2 phases. Then, for the first time, I tried to apply the rietveld refinement method using Match! and got relatively high values for both R bragg factor (9.5) and Chi-square (20.8). The peaks seem to be fitting the 2 phases well in relation to 2-Theta, but as you can see in the graffic, the intensities on some of them are not fitting too well, but even after trying to solve the preferred orientation problem, those values are the ones I got so far. Can someone give me some advice on how to lower them even more and make the model acceptable?


Hello Everyone, I have carried out the XRD analysis of clay minerals on oriented samples. Now i want to do the semi quantitative analysis as well as calculating the illite crystallinity using the TOPAS software. Can anyone from the research community guide me how to carry out this process on TOPAS. I am new to this software and also i couldn't find any tutorials regarding the semi quantitative analysis of clay minerals of on any platform.
Any guidance would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
I refined the X-ray diffraction pattern by High Score. But I don't lknow to export to get calculated data, example data, Bragg peak position.
Anyone can help me?
Dear members, please recommend the best and easy way for structure refinement from a given single crystal or powder x-rays integration peaks.
mean how to refine fully solved structure from X-rays data.
After the synthesis of a compound at the mono Crystal form I process by structural determination. I ground the product and passed in XRD powder, when I calculated the distance and the lattice planes with HKLgen (using the cell parameters found for the single crystal), I cannot index my spectrum powder? (I did the same for three other hybrid compounds is always the same).
Hello all,
I am working on CdSe XRD analysis and I recently lost my JCPDS database CD to get the reference card, I am wondering if someone can help me with JCPDS #77-0021 reference files.
Thanks in advance.
Can I apply this method in general for such objects?