Recipes are given to assist in setting up rigid bodies for common molecules and coordination polyhedra, to define satellite groups, to perform rotations around arbitrary axes through the origin of the rigid body, and to refine intramolecular degrees of freedom under consideration of the special needs of powder diffraction. To the greatest possible extent, the notation follows that of the well known Rietveld refinement program GSAS (Larson and Von Dreele, 1994).

Chromite grains in ores from the Great Dyke, Zimbabwe, exhibit varying degrees of shearing when viewed by optical microscopy. High resolution diffraction data revealed that line broadening from powder samples of sheared chromites is largely due to two or more spinel phases with slightly different cell parameters, the number of phases increasing with the degree of shearing. The dominant or “parent” phase, with parameters ranging from 8.3123(2) to 8.2676(2) Å, constitutes 57% to 76% of most samples. The cell parameters of secondary phases are generally less than that of the parent phase by δa/a0 in the range −1.3 to −4.0×10−3, the difference again tending to increase with shearing. Most reflections for the parent phase are relatively sharp whereas those for the secondary phases exhibit line broadening that could be analyzed in terms of crystallike (domain) size and rms strain. The crystallite diameters, assuming spherical particles, are relatively large for the parent phases [260(2)–100(5) nm], while those for the secondary phases range from 165(70) to 70(25) nm. The rms strain is not large for any sample and is negligible or small for the unsheared and weakly sheared material. The microstrain in secondary phases is greater than that in the parent phase and tends to increase with shearing, the maximum rms strain being 1.6(3)×10−3. Two new forms of chromite in highly sheared material are reported, one with a slight (0.33%) tetragonal distortion and the other with a cell parameter of 17.561(2) Å, greater than that of normal spinel chromites by a factor of about 3/√2, and a lowering of symmetry from Fd3¯m to Fm3¯m. Changes in chemical composition, indicated by a range in cell parameter, are attributed to tectonics that affected much of the Great Dyke. The strain is partitioned between failure by brittle deformation of the chromite grains and stress-induced cation migration leading to cells with slightly different composition.

In order to exploit X-ray powder spectro-diffractometry, the program RIETAN-97ß for refining crystal structure and lattice parameters by the Rietveld method was modified extensively. The resulting software can be used to refine anomalous scattering factors, fr and fi, for specified crystallographic sites near the X-ray absorption edge of a particular element. The effectiveness of the modified software was tested by using powder diffraction patterns simulated by the original RIETAN-97ß software and a series of measured powder diffraction patterns of Fe3O4 with incident X-ray energies near the absorption edge of iron.

The combustion synthesis of the common ferroelectric material, BaTiO3, was developed using the stoichiometry: BaO2+0.2 Ti+0.8 TiO2→BaTiO3+0.3 O2. An adiabatic temperature, Tad, of the reaction was calculated from known thermodynamic data to be 1917 °C. Real time chemical changes in the formation of BaTiO3 during the reaction have been monitored using time-resolved X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation as the X-ray source. A time resolution of 250 ms was achieved. The combustion synthesis of BaTiO3 was followed by observing the intensities of reactant and product Bragg diffraction peaks in order to qualitatively identify the phases present. Because BaTiO3 forms initially as a cubic phase, X-ray diffraction of the product was monitored for a period of 20 min after the reaction to observe the phase transformation to the tetragonal form. This transformation is evident in these post-reaction scans as the cubic 110 and 220 peaks are split to the tetragonal 101/110 and 202/220 ones, respectively.

The present paper establishes that the ratio between the XRD pulse counts of cement clinkers at d=0.278 and 0.274 nm bears a distinct relationship with the degree of sintering of the clinker, which is one of the factors that determine the cement quality. The paper also presents a rapid and accurate method for predicting both 3- and 28-day compressive strength (CCS) of cement mortar cubes based on XRD of the cement clinkers. The method is based on an index Xn derived from the XRD pulse counts at d=0.2959 and 0.287 nm corresponding to alite (hkl=202) and belite (hkl=102) phases of the clinker, respectively. The regression equation derived for a particular plant is (1) 3 day CCS=Xn×240 kg/cm2, when Xn<1 and 240+26 (Xn−1) kg/cm2, when Xn>1, where Xnmaximum=5.5. (2) 28 day CCS=C+C×In/100, where C=3 days CCS estimated by XRD (1), In=90−10Xn, where Xnmax=5.5. Calculated CCS values, in average, vary from the conventional test values by +5.9% to −5.4% and +3.8% to −3.5% in cases of 3- and 28-day CCS, respectively.

The phase decomposition occurring during the heating of rapidly quenched Al–Ge–Si alloys has been investigated in situ by means of synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction. The metastable Al–Ge phases formed in the as-quenched state transform during heating to Al and Ge. The addition of silicon decreases the transformation temperature. A Ge(Si) solid solution is indicated by a systematic change in the lattice constant of Ge as a result of the diffusion of Si from the Al matrix into the phase-separated Ge matrix.

Crystal data and results of structure refinement, using powder X-ray diffraction and Rietveld analysis, for ε-ordered structures near 75 at. % Ga are reported. The structures are based on the AlB2-type with deviation from stoichiometry due to pairwise substitution of rare earth (RE) atoms by gallium. Weak reflections which are forbidden in the AlB2-type structure were observed and indicate the existence of positional ordering of Ga2 pairs located in the basal planes preserving the hexagonal symmetry (S.G. P6/mmm). This ordering results in a new unit cell with parameters a′, c′, in which a′=a√3 and c′=c. The experimental data of the cells parameters are: a=7.467(2)Å, c=4.276(3)Å for Nd1−xGa2−x (x=0.18), and a=7.400(3)Å, c=4.184(2)Å for Gd1−xGa2+2x (x=0.165).

The two ternary phases W5As2.5P1.5 and Ni4Nb5P4 have been investigated by X-ray powder diffraction. Precise data for the two compounds were collected using CuKα1 radiation over the range 11°–140° 2θ. Unit cell refinements (space group I4/m) led to a=9.4729(3) Å, c=3.2414(2) Å (Dx=13.16 gcm−3) with M20=127, F30=91(0.0092,36) for W5As2.5P1.5 and a=9.9304(4) Å, c=3.5243(3) Å (Dx=7.87 gcm−3) with M20=179, F30=138(0.0068,32) for Ni4Nb5P4.

The structure and powder diffraction data of Hägg-carbide (χ-Fe5C2) have been redetermined and improved by X-ray diffraction. Experimental values of 2θ, corrected for systematic errors, relative peak intensities, lattice spacings, and the Miller indices of 27 observed reflections up to 100° 2θ are reported. The unit cell is monoclinic (space group C2/c, Z=4) with a=11.588 Å, b=4.579 Å, c=5.059 Å, and β=97.75°. The crystal structure has been refined by Rietveld analysis, resulting in Rwp=0.073.

In the framework of the study of the relationship between crystal packing of solid dyes and their visible reflectance spectra, the crystal structure of 3-methoxy-7H-benz[de]anthracen-7-one (Disperse Yellow 13, C18H12O2) has been determined using a combined set of Bragg–Brentano diffractometer and Guinier–Johannson photographic data with the grid search procedure. Parameters of the orthorhombic cell (P212121, No.19, Z=4) at 295 K are a=15.265(9) Å, b=20.524(9) Å, c=3.990(2) Å. Rietveld refinement gave Rp=0.085, Rb=0.135. The molecules form stacks along [001] with an interplanar spacing of 3.46 Å.

An indexed powder diffraction pattern and related crystallographic data are reported for secnidazole [C7H11N3O3, IUPAC name: 1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole], which is not represented in the Powder Diffraction File. The unit cell dimensions were determined from diffractometer methods, using monochromatic CuKα1 radiation, and evaluated by indexing programs. The monoclinic cell found for 1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole is: a=12.426(2) Å, b=12.173(2) Å, c=6.656(1) Å, β=100.19(1)°, Z=4, space group P21/c (No. 14), Dx=1.271 g/cm3. Crystallization of an anhydrous powdered sample of secnidazole in a buffer solution of Na2B4O7 and NaOH (pH 10.4) resulted in crystals that contained water of crystallization, as shown by single crystal structure determination. Secnidazole exhibits crystal pseudopolymorphism, because the experimental powder pattern of the anhydrous form and the calculated pattern from the structure determination of the hydrate form are similar. Observed powder diffraction data for this drug were interpreted with the aid of a calculated pattern based upon the crystal structure determined. The cell found by TREOR90P for anhydrous secnidazole is in good agreement with that of the hemihydrate form determined from single crystal diffraction: a=12.424(2) Å, b=12.187(2) Å, c=6.662(1) Å, β=100.9(1)°; Z=4.

An indexed powder diffraction pattern and related crystallographic data are reported for cefotaxime sodium salt: 5-thia-1-azabicyclo[4.2.0]oct-2-ene-2-carboxylic acid, 3-[(acetyloxy)methyl]-7-[[(2amino-4-thiazolyl)(methoxyimino)-acetyl]amino]-8-oxo, monosodium salt, [6R−[6α,7β(Z)]], C16H16N5NaO7S2. The unit cell dimensions were determined from diffractometer methods, using monochromatic CuKα1 radiation, and evaluated by indexing programs. The monoclinic cell found for cefotaxime sodium was a=13.063(2) Å, b=8.916(2) Å, c=9.726(2) Å, β=107.34(2)°, Z=2, space groups: P21 (No. 4) or P21/m (No. 11), Dx=1.467 g/cm3.

An X-ray diffraction pattern for ErNi2Ge2 at room temperature is reported. ErNi2Ge2 is tetragonal with lattice parameters a=4.0191(2) Å, c=9.7643(2) Å, space group I4/mmm, and Z=2. The lattice parameters derived from Rietveld analysis agree well with the results of a least-squares refinement.