X-ray Diffraction Techniques for Mineral Characterization: A Review for Engineers of the Fundamentals, Applications, and Research Directions

Abstract

X-ray diffraction (XRD) is an important and widely used material characterization technique. With the recent development in material science technology and understanding, various new materials are being developed, which requires upgrading the existing analytical techniques such that emerging intricate problems can be solved. Although XRD is a well-established non-destructive technique, it still requires further improvements in its characterization capabilities, especially when dealing with complex mineral structures. The present review conducts comprehensive discussions on atomic crystal structure, XRD principle, its applications, uncertainty during XRD analysis, and required safety precautions. The future research directions, especially the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, for improving the effectiveness and accuracy of the XRD technique, are discussed for mineral characterization. The topics covered include how XRD patterns can be utilized for a thorough understanding of the crystalline structure, size, and orientation, dislocation density, phase identification, quantification, and transformation, information about lattice parameters, residual stress, and strain, and thermal expansion coefficient of materials. All these important discussions on XRD analysis for mineral characterization are compiled in this comprehensive review, so that it can benefit specialists and engineers in the chemical, mining, iron, metallurgy, and steel industries.

Comprehensive Study of the Ammonium Sulfamate–Urea Binary System

“…The XRD analysis is used to identify crystalline phases and determine their relative concentrations in mixtures, unit cell parameters of a known substance for detecting isomorphic impurities, parameters and possible space groups of new compounds, etc. [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Compositionally Disordered Crystalline Compounds for Next Generation of Radiation Detectors

“…Unlike liquid, gaseous, and organic media, which are also used to detect ionizing radiation by the scintillation method, inorganic materials make it possible to combine high density, i.e., stopping power for ionizing radiation, with a wide variation in spectral and luminescent parameters due to the choice of material composition and activating ions. The widespread application of modern analytical methods for studying materials at the submicron level [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and measuring electronic excitation transfer processes in the subpicosecond range [ 5 , 6 ] made possible the development of materials at a new level. It is worth noting the progress in the development of the theory of scintillations [ 7 , 8 ], and the use of big data analysis of spectroscopic data [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] to identify patterns in scintillation properties when varying the composition of relatively simple compounds.…”

Impact of bridging oxygens formation on optical properties of Fe3+ doped Li2O–Al2O3–SiO2–TiO2 glasses

“…Accordingly, interaction of EW in each region could be attributed to the resonance or absorption of EW by electrons, atoms, molecules, spin of electrons etc. Each of them could be interpreted for the structural evaluation [5][6][7][8]. In advanced technologies, heavy doped materials are utilized for production of the small, high power optical devices [9,10].…”