Quantitative Phase Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Through the quantitative analytical chemistry, people can readily obtain the elemental compositions of a material, but usually to distinguish the chemical identity of various phases in a mixture and to determine the precise amounts of each phase present are of great difficulty. Powder X-ray diffraction analysis, on the other hand, is seemingly the perfect technique for the crystalline-mixture analysis, because each component of the mixture produces its characteristic pattern independently and makes the identification of various components possible. Moreover, the intensity of the pattern of each component is proportional to the amount present, so the quantitative analysis of various components is developed. Now analytical determinations of quartz in the presence of mineral silicates, mixed alloy phases of different proportions of the same elements, and the relative amounts of polymorphs in a mixture are handled routinely by the diffraction technique, while these determinations are difficult, or impossible, by using chemical methods [26-30]....