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The X-Ray Laboratory onboard the R/V JOIDES Resolution (Foc's'le deck) performs diffraction analyses of minerals and rock powders using a . The laboratory uses a Bruker AXS D4 Endeavor XRD (a.k.a. Bruker or D4) and a PANalytical Aeris XRD (a.k.a. Aeris) diffractometers (Figure 1).
Bruker-associated softwares, DIFFRACplus XRD CommanderEVA, from Bruker AXS. Associated software, DIFFRACplus and TOPAS, allow for powder diffraction analysis of minerals and rock powders; , including peak-matching and mineral & and chemical compound identification. The XRD XRD scans from the Bruker can also be analyzed using HighScore Plus software (used for the Aeris measurements). The X-Ray lab provides scientists with a quick and reliable tool for mineral identification; it is particularly useful for identifying bulk mineralogy, clays, fine-grained minerals or mixtures of alteration minerals that cannot be easily identified with other techniques onboard. XRD can also secondary minerals. In addition, XRD can be used to determine the proportions of minerals present.mineral proportion.
Figure 1. A. Bruker D4 Endeavor XRD. B. PANalytical Aeris XRD in the X-Ray lab
Apparatus and Materials
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–Haskris water-water chiller for X-ray tube
–Cahn Model 29 or 31 microbalance
–Mettler-Toledo XS204 dual-balance system
–Powdering equipment: Agate mortar and pestle, Ball mill, Shatterbox, X-Press
–Glass bottles
–Sonic dismembrator
–Glass rod
–Glass beakers
–Pastuer pipette/eye dropper
–Centrifuge and glass centrifuge tubes
–Dessicator
Reagents
–Ethylene glycol (clay glyconation)
–HNO3 (glass cleaning)
–2 M HCl: 16.4% v/v (carbonate dissolution)
–Glacial acetic acid, 10% solution (v/v) (carbonate dissolution)
–Distilled (reagent) water (DI)
–1% Calgon solution (w/v)
Instrument Hardware
–Bruker AXS D4 Endeavor XRD with Goniometer, X-ray source, Tube housing, Mount, and Sample holders
–Vantec-1 detector with Optics and Slit systems
Instrument Software
–DIFFRAC.EVA evaluation software
–DIFFRAC.TOPAS software for diffractogram analysis
See XRD User Guide for information on the Bruker D4 Endeavor X-Ray diffractometer and Aeris Advanced User Guide for information on the PANalytical Aeris X-Ray diffractometer.
Sample Preparation
Sample preparation techniques may include the following:
–Drying and powdering solid samples
–Mounting smear slides for small samples
–Removing carbonate from high-carbonate samples
–Separating the clay fraction from larger grain size particles
–Expanding swelling clays with ethylene glycol
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Solid samples are prepared for X-ray diffraction by grinding, which can be accomplished by several different methods. Appropriate method is dependent on sample matrix, size, and/or quantity:–Soft clay
- Soft sediment: Agate mortar and pestle
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- Hard solids: Mixer Mill
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- Hard solids in bulk quantities: Shatterbox
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- . Hard samples too large for the Shatterbox
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- are preliminarily crushed with the X-Press
Grinding Solid Samples
1. | Freeze-dry sample(s) for at least 12 hr before grinding. |
2. | Grind solid samples to a fine talc-like powder using one of the following methods: |
3. | Transfer the powdered sample to an appropriate labeled glass bottle or sample bag. |
4. | Unless the sample material is very small (see next section); Select the steel or plastic XRD sample holder. |
5. | Fill an empty XRD sample holder with enough powdered sample. Gently press the powder flush with the sample holder using a glass slide.
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More information on bulk sample preparation is found at:
XRD Sample Preparation of Bulk Sediment
XRD Sample Preparation Hard Rock
Sample Slurry/Smear Slide Mount for Small Sample Amounts
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1. | Grind the sample to a talc-like powder (<0.062 mm). |
2. | Place a small amount of sample in the center of the quartz disk. Two quartz disks will adequately fill the sample holder. The upper quartz disk will be used for the slurry. |
3. | Add 2–3 drops of acetone, isopropyl alcohol, or distilled water to the sample. |
4. | Create a thin layer of sample material using a glass rod (rolling it over the sample works well). |
5. | Place sample in desiccator to dry. |
More information on sample slurry/smear slide for small sample amounts is found at:
XRD Sample Preparation for a small amount of material
Clay Separation Sample Preparation
Removing Carbonates before Clay Separation
In some sediments, to identify clay minerals it is necessary to dissolve carbonates. The goal is to remove as much carbonate as possible in order to analyze and isolate the material contained within.
Hydrochloric Acid Treatment
The simplest method for removing carbonate is treatment with HCl. However, treatment using strong acids can attack the structure of the clay minerals, particularly tri-octahedral minerals. Be aware that this treatment may affect clay crystallinity.
1. | Place undried sample on a glass slide or quartz disk. |
2. | Using a pastuer Pasteur pipette, slowly drop 2 M HCl on the sample until bubbling/fizzing stops. |
3. | Desiccate and transfer sample to sample holder for analysis. |
Acetic Acid Treatment
A slightly more involved, but less destructive, method (from Kitty Milliken, UT-Austin) is as follows.
1. | Place ~2 cm3 cm3 of undried sample into a centrifuge tube with 25 mL of acetic acid (10% solution). |
2. | Mix well, and let sit until the reaction ceases (using the agitator in the chem lab helps). |
3. | Shake well again to ensure the reaction has stopped (i.e., no more bubbles). |
4. | Spin sample in the centrifuge (15 min at 1500 rpm) |
5. | Decant the acetic acid solution and dispose of the acid solution properly. |
6. | Add 25 mL of DI to the centrifuge tube and centrifuge again for 15 min at 1500 rpm. |
7. | Decant the clear water. |
8. | Repeat the "wash cycle" (Steps 5 and 6) with DI. Wash at least 3X3 times. |
Separating Clay
There are various methods for separating clay from coarser material. Those listed below are methods used onboard. Discuss with the scientist(s) if other methods should be used.
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1. | Add 25 ml of 1% Borax solution to the clay plug |
2. | Dismembrated Dismembrate the sample (machine is auto set on time), to remove the >2 um μm clay fraction |
3. | Centrifuge for 4 mins at 750 rpm, decant the suspended liquid into a separate centrifuge tube (you should end up with a ~full centrifuge tube of suspended clay) |
4. | Repeat steps 1-3 on the remaining >2 um μm fraction |
5. | Centrifuge the <2 um μm fraction for 15 mins at 1500 rpm to remove the Borax solution |
6. | Decanted Decante and add 25 ml of nanno pure nanopure water |
| 7. | Centrifuged Centrifuge for 60 mins at 3000 rpm, the liquid decanted decantes before loading onto a zero background silica disk |
Treating with Ethylene Glycol
Ethylene glycol can be used to expand swelling clays (e.g., smectites, montmorillonite, nontronite and beidellite), some mixed-layer clays, and vermiculite as an aid to mineral identification. There are two ethylene glycol treatment methods: Vapor treatment and Quick treatment.
Vapor Treatment
The advantage of the vapor treatment is less disturbance of the sample and less amorphous scattering of X-rays by excess liquid.
Note: Glyconation may only last 4 hours after the samples are removed from the glyconation container.
1. | Find the "Glycolator" container stored in the ICP prep sink cupboard. |
2. | Pour ethylene glycol to a depth of ~1 cm in the bottom of the container. |
3. | Place the samples onto the shelf |
4. | Place glycolator (with samples) in oven at 60°–70° overnight. |
5. | Keep samples in glycolator until ready to analyze. |
Quick Treatment
1. | Using a glass rod or eye dropper, apply a drop of ethylene glycol directly to the surface of the sample mount. |
2. | Samples are ready to be analyzed as soon as the glycol is uniformly absorbed. |
Running Samples
Running a regular XRD sample requires the following steps:
–Scan the samples on the XRD
–Convert the raw sample results to an .uxd file
–Print the raw scan to a png file
–Upload the raw, uxd, and png files to LIMS
Scanning Samples
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1.
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Open XRD Commander > Jobs tab > Create jobs.
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2.
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Under Positions, enter the position of the sample (A1–A6 up to K1–K6).
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3.
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Use the Text ID. Use the barcode scanner to enter the Sample ID.
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4.
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Select the appropriate instrument.dql file under Parameter. If needed, use the XRD Wizard to set up a new parameter file (2θ span between 2.5°2θ and 80°2θ).
Note: Several .dql files are already created under C:\Documents and Settings\daq\Desktop\XRD Expedition Files\.
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5.
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Specify the path to save the raw results file, for example C:\data\xrd\in. Use the sample's Text ID as the file name.
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6.
Select the appropriate instrument settings:
–Script: measure.vbs, located in the DIFFPLUS folder (should open automatically)
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–Time Scale: 1.0
More information on Clay Separation is found at:
XRD Sample Preparation Clay Separations (update in progress)
Scanning Samples
Samples can be scanned with either the D4 or the Aeris. Samples are usually front-loaded for the D4 and are back-loaded for the Aeris.
As the XRD scanning procedure for these two instruments differ, the user is referred to the following guides for more information regarding how to run samples for XRD analysis.
For the Bruker D4 XRD: XRD User Guide
For the PANalytical Aeris XRD: Aeris Advanced User Guide
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7.
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Check that the samples are loaded correctly and nothing is blocking the sample handler.
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8.
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Click Start.
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1. Click the Raw File Exchange software icon on the desktop.
2. On the left panel or "Source", select the .raw file(s) of interest from the drop-down menu.
Note: Raw files should be stored in C:Data/in.
3. On the right panel or “Target”, select the .uxd file type from the “convert to” drop-down menu
4. Under the “Target” panel, choose C:/Data/in for the location of the new exported .uxd files
5. Click F9 Convert (bottom right corner)
Printing Scan to PDF
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Double-click on the .raw file, which automatically opens the file in the DIFFRAC.EVA software.
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Go to File > Print.
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Export as a .PNG file.
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Uploading Files to LIMS
The XRD files are uploaded using the MegaUploadaTron 5000 (MUT) program located under the Start menu. There on the desktop of the X-Ray lab computer.
- For samples scanned with the D4, there are three files for each scan to upload: a .raw file (
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Open MUT.
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Click File > Open Upload Directory to select the directory in which the files are saved.
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Ensure that all files to be uploaded are checked in the uploader window.
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Click Upload.
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- readable by Diffrac.EVA software), a .uxd file (which can be read by other software such as HighScore Plus), and a .png file (diffractogram).
- For samples scanned with the Aeris, there are two files for each scan to upload: a .xrdml file (readable by HighScore Plus software), and a .jpg file (diffractogram)
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- .
QA/QC
The corundum standard NIST 1976 should be run with every scan for quality assurance and quality control. See the XRD Bruker User Guide for more information on running and evaluating this standard.
Several other standards (powdered concentrates of minerals) are located in the XRD standard drawer in the XRD X-Ray laboratory. Discuss which, if any, standards the scientists would like to have measured.
See the Aeris Advanced User Guide for QA/QC.
Health, Safety, and Environment
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Disposal of batteries from electronic boards must comply with safety regulations.
Emergency Stop
- Bruker D4 Endeavor XRD: The Emergency Stop Button located on the front of the D4 Endeavor, when pressed, stops all control electronics, the high-voltage generator, and all components connected to the three mains sockets on the mains distribution unit. The X-ray source is turned off and all moving drives will stop immediately. Use only in an emergency.
Chemical Hazards
Ethylene Glycol
Ethylene glycol is toxic and should not be ingested. It is also harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin and eyes. Proper personal protective equipment should be used when handling this compound.
Calgon
This chemical largely consists of potassium sulfate and is not expected to be a health hazard.
Nitric Acid, Concentrated, or 10%–15% for the Water Bath
Concentrated nitric acid (~50%–70% HNO3 v/v) is very dangerous. It can cause severe tissue damage on contact, is highly toxic, and the fumes present risks of poisoning and chemical burns. Always add acid to water! When mixed with water, large quantities of heat are liberated, so appropriate care should be taken when diluting. Nitric acid is a strong oxidizing agent, so waste should not be mixed with any organic materials.
Note: although diluted from concentrated strength, the 10-15% nitric acid used in the water bath is still dangerous and should be treated with the appropriate care.
Hydrochloric Acid, Concentrated, or 2 M for Carbonate Dissolution
Concentrated hydrochloric acid (~12 M) is dangerous. It can cause severe tissue damage on contact, is highly toxic, and the fumes present risks of poisoning and chemical burns. Always add acid to water! When mixed with water, hydrochloric acid liberates large quantities of heat, so appropriate care should be used when diluting this compound.
Note: the 2 M hydrochloric acid used in the carbonate dissolution procedure is still dangerous and should be treated with care.
Acetic Acid, Glacial, or 10% for Carbonate Dissolution
- Malvern PANalytical Aeris XRD: Switch off the instrument by pressing the Power button and turning the HT Keyswitch counter-clockwise.
Chemical Hazards
Exist for Clay Separation procedure. Refer to XRD Sample Preparation Clay Separations (update in progress)Glacial acetic acid (100%) is highly dangerous. It can cause severe tissue damage on contact. Always add acid to water! When mixed with water, glacial acetic acid liberates large quantities of heat, so appropriate care should be used when diluting this compound. Glacial acetic acid is also a flammable liquid and should be stored away from oxidizers (e.g., HNO3{~}). When diluted to ~10% concentration, it is very similar to white vinegar, so while it is still acidic and could cause tissue damage, it is not as hazardous.
Credits
This document originated from Word document XRD_QSG_374.doc (see Archived Versions below for a pdf copy) that was written by H. Barnes and K. Bronk; later edited by N. Lawler and A. Armstrong. Credits for subsequent changes to this document are given in the page history.
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