Powder Diffraction 

The Chemistry Department at Durham University has state-of-the art equipment for powder diffraction measurements and members of staff have considerable expertise in all aspects of this analytical technique.  

We interact with a number of companies both in the UK and overseas in the application of powder diffraction techniques and with a number of other universities and research institutions on the development of experimental and computational methods in powder diffraction.  

We also host a biennial residential training course on powder diffraction and Rietveld refinement.

Powder diffraction is a key analytical method in a number of different areas of science.  Typical applications include:

• Qualitative phase analysis of unknown samples
• Quantitative phase analysis
• Polymorphism studies in pharmaceutical and other systems
• Particle size/strain analysis
• Cultural heritage studies on archaeological artefacts
• Structure solutions of inorganic, organic and pharmaceutical materials
• Hydration/dehydration studies
• Estimation of amorphous content in materials
• Structure refinements of inorganic oxides
• Studies on phase transitions of materials
• Kinetic studies in the solid state