Crystal structure of Li2SrSiO4 was reinvestigated by laboratory X-ray powder diffraction. The title compound was trigonal with space group P3121, Z=3, unit-cell dimensions a=0.502 281 (4) nm and c=1.245 520(8) nm, and V=0.272 129(3) nm3. The initial structural model was derived by the direct methods and further refined by the Rietveld method. The maximum-entropy method-based pattern fitting (MPF) method was used to confirm the validity of the structural model, in which conventional structure bias caused by assuming intensity partitioning was minimized. The final reliability indices calculated from MPF were Rwp=8.04%, S=1.22, Rp=6.01%, RB=1.50%, and RF=0.66%. Atomic arrangements of the final structural model were in excellent agreement with the three-dimensional electron-density distributions determined by MPF.

A novel hexaborate, Na2ZnB6O11, has been successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction and ab initio crystal-structure analysis has been completed using powder X-ray diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group Cc with lattice parameters a=10.7329(2) Å b=7.4080(3) Å, c=11.4822(2) Å, and β=112.16(2)°. The number of chemical formula per unit cell is Z=4 and the calculated density is 2.768(3) g/cm3. It represents a new structure type in which double-bridge-ring [B6O11]4− groups were found as fundamental building units. The infrared spectrum confirms the presence of both [BO3]3− groups and [BO4]5− groups.

The crystal structure of Ag2GeO3 was determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data (Cu Kα1) using the Rietveld method. The title compound is orthorhombic with space group P212121, Z=4, unit-cell dimensions a=0.463 09(1) nm, b=0.713 93(2) nm, and c=1.040 79(3) nm, and V=0.344 10(2) nm3 . The final reliability indices were Rwp=5.58%, S=1.26, Rp=4.20%, RB=0.67% , and RF=0.35% . The GeO4 tetrahedra form infinite chains of [Ge2O6] along the a axis, with two tetrahedra per identity period of 0.463 nm. Individual chains are connected by Ag atoms, one-half of which are almost linearly coordinated by two O atoms and the rest are coordinated by three O atoms. The relatively short Ag-Ag distances of 0.299 to 0.339 nm indicate Ag(I)-Ag(I) interaction. This compound is isostructural with Ag2SiO3.

The crystal structure of Sb(C2O4)OH has been solved by charge flipping in combination with difference Fourier techniques using laboratory X-ray powder data exhibiting significant preferred orientation and refined by the Rietveld method. The compound crystallizes in Pnma with a=5.827 13(3), b=11.294 48 (10), c=6.313 77(3) Å, V=415.537(5) Å3, and Z=4. The crystal structure contains pentagonal pyramidal Sb3+ cations, which are bridged by hydroxyl groups to form zigzag chains along the a axis. Each oxalate anion chelates to two Sb in approximately the ab plane, linking the chains into a three-dimensional framework. The H of the hydroxyl group is probably disordered in order to form stronger more-linear hydrogen bonds. The highest energy occupied molecular orbitals are the Sb3+ lone pairs. The structure is chemically reasonable compared to other antimony oxalates and to Bi(C2O4)OH.

Biaxial residual stress in a 〈111〉 textured cubic TiN polycrystalline thin film was analyzed by linear least-squares refinement using the method proposed by Yokoyama and Harada [J. Appl. Crystallogr. 42, 185–191 (2009)]. Values of the unstressed (or stress-free) unit-cell parameter a0=4.2332±0.0006 Å and the stress components of σ11=397(88), σ22=401(88), and σ12=−110(100) were obtained. The values of the in-plane stresses σ11 and σ22 presented in the TiN film are practically the same, while σ12 is relatively small. The results obtained in this study confirm that the above theoretical prediction by Yokoyama and Harada can be used to obtain reliable values of stress-free unit-cell parameter and three biaxial stress components of a textured cubic thin film.

This paper describes a method to determine the equilibrium transformation temperatures in low C steels using the in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction technique. The samples were heated and then cooled from 1000 to 720 °C in a stepwise manner decreasing to −10 °C. Austenite and ferrite fractions were determined by a quantitative method using the integrated intensities of austenite (111)γ and ferrite (110)α peaks from X-ray diffraction patterns. The effect of the temperature on interplanar d spacings of (111) and (110) crystallographic planes was determined using 2θ maximum positions of the austenite (111)γ and ferrite (110)α peaks. The equilibrium transformation temperatures were determined to be Ae1=720 °C and Ae3=950 °C. The results are in excellent agreement with those obtained by dilatometric analysis and Thermo-Calc phase diagram simulation software. In addition, the results were supported by microstructural observations: the formation of thin ferrite films (5–10 μm) was observed at temperatures near to experimental Ae3.

Laboratory X-ray powder diffraction was used to investigate mineralogical compositions of green pigments labeled by suppliers as “green earths.” It was found that glauconite and celadonite—minerals historically considered as the main ingredient of this pigment—were present only in Bohemian green earth, green earth from Thuringen (glauconite), and Bavarian green earth (celadonite). Other investigated pigments consist of mineralogical-component minerals with added synthetic organic colorants. The obtained results may be useful for scientists, restorers, and artists in proper choices of the pigments they use in their works.

CaMnO3 is a parent compound for numerous multicomponent manganese perovskite oxides. Its crystallographic data are of primary importance in the science and technology of functional CaMnO3-based materials. In the present study, data were collected for a CaMnO3 sample at 302 K. The crystal structure refinement yields accurate absolute values of lattice parameters, a=5.281 59(4) Å, b=7.457 30(4) Å, and c=5.267 48(4) Å, leading to orthorhombic distortion of (c/a, √2c/b)=(0.997 33,0.998 95). The orthorhombic distortion of the CaMnO3 structure is discussed on the basis of comparison of our unit-cell size with data already published. At a graphical representation of the distortion, it is observed that there is a considerable scatter of the distortion values among the literature data but, interestingly, a considerable fraction of experimental results (including the present one) for stoichiometric samples are grouped around the distortion (c/a, √2c/b)=(0.9973,0.9990), which lies close to a maximum in the extent of orthorhombicity. The influence of off-stoichiometry on the orthorhombic distortion is discussed on the basis of available experimental data. Simulations, employing a mean-field approach for low temperatures, predict an increase in cell volume and structural distortions with the concentration of oxygen vacancies when the additional electrons are localized on the manganese. A simple model of delocalization produced the opposite effect, which is expected to combine with lattice vibrations to recover the cubic phase at high temperatures.

The ICDD sponsored a round robin on the quantitative Rietveld phase analysis of pharmaceuticals. 11 participating laboratories from the pharmaceutical community submitted both raw data and processed quantitative results. The purpose of the round robin was to evaluate current practices in laboratories, so procedures and methods were not specified, but they were recorded. Cluster analysis tools were applied to all the data sets and their use helped identify the root causes of several types of errors in specimen preparation, data treatment, and Rietveld analysis. The authors considered this round robin to be difficult. Sample homogeneity was an issue and molecular orientation was observed in many data sets. Each material studied has structural polymorphs so the selection of starting parameters and their refinement was nontrivial. Similar to prior round robins on inorganic materials and minerals, this round robin identified operator errors as the major contributor to poor results. Four laboratories achieved excellent results on all phases in all three samples, with accuracy within relative errors of 5% to 10%.

The increasing use of microanalysis techniques to analyze particles has demanded more rapid phase identification methods for samples in the 10 μm size range. The XRD analysis of such particles is routinely accomplished using a Rigaku combination instrument combined with particle handling methods. Several case studies show the variety of material analysis problems that can be solved with this technique including identification of multiple mineral phases, corrosion components, and paint samples.

1-N-(4-pyridylmethyl)amino naphtalene was synthesized by means of a reaction of alpha-naphthylamine, 4-pyridylcarboxyaldehyde, in anhydrous ethanol to obtainN-(4-pyridylen)-alpha-naphthylamine and that was reduced with NaBH4 to produce the wanted compound. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern for the new compound 1-N-(4-pyrydylmethyl)amino naphtalene was obtained. This compound crystallizes in a monoclinic system with refined unit cell parameters a=10.375(5) Å, b=17.665(6) Å, c=5.566(2) Å, β=100.11(3), and V=1004.3(5) Å3, with space group P2/m (No. 10).

New bismuth yttrium gadolinium oxide, Bi1.8Y0.1Gd0.1O3, synthesized from a stoichiometric mixture of Bi2O3, Y2O3, and Gd2O3, was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. The compound was determined to be tetragonal, with space group P421c (114), unit-cell parameters of a=7.793 08(29) and c=5.665 71(40) Å, and the number of formulas per unit cell Z=4. Bi1.8Y0.1Gd0.1O3 is isostructural with β-Bi2O3.