IUCr Commission on Powder Diffraction

A round robin on the analysis of powder diffraction data for the derivation of quantitative phase abundance has been organized by the IUCr Commission on Powder Diffraction (CPD). The general goals of the round robin are to document the methods and strategies commonly employed in Quantitative Phase Analysis (QPA), to access levels of accuracy and precision, and lower limits of detection, to identify specific problem areas and develop practical solutions, to formulate recommended procedures for QPA using diffraction data and to create a standard set of samples for future reference. The round robin will address questions on types of analysis, sampling, data collection and data analysis. The samples used in the study will consist of mixtures of major and minor components covering a wide range of analytical complexity. The involvement of participants in the round robin can vary depending on the amount of time available to each individual lab. However, since the success of the round robin will depend on the number of results returned, full participation is encouraged. Participants will be asked to return results using 'standard' reporting forms. To return diffraction data to the CPD as an ASCII format file for re-analysis with a 'standard' Rietveld code. Samples and data will be distributed to participants in June '97 and results reported in Dec '99. Preliminary results will be presented at EPDIC-6 Aug '98, and the final results at Glasgow IUCr Congress Aug '99. For details contact: I. Madsen, CSIRO Minerals, PO Box 124, Port Melbourne, Victoria 3207, Australia; FAX: 61 3 9646 3223 e-mail: qpa.rr@minerals.csiro.au.