An Alternative Method for Estimating the Phase Fraction of Multiphase Nanomaterials: Analysis from X-ray Diffraction

Abstract

The presence of multiple phases/ components within a nanocomposite material impacts the properties of a nanomaterial. Therefore, there is a need to estimate the phase fraction of each component present in a sample. Spurr-Myers proposed a valuable formula for estimating the rutile and anatase phase fraction of a TiO 2 sample from X-ray diffraction. However, this formula is dedicated to TiO 2 and is inapplicable to samples that contains more than two phases. The present research work proposed a simple method for quantifying the phase fraction of all types of nanomaterials that consist of two or more phases. Precision/ accuracy test carried out by multiplying the grand total intensity of all the diffraction peaks present in a sample with the value of the phase fraction of individual components showed that the proposed method gave precision values that were equivalent to the sum of the intensity of the peaks of each component. Whereas the S-M gave precision values that were significantly inconsistent with the sum of the intensity of the peaks of each component. The study showed that the proposed method was valid for a wide range of 2 𝜃 values and can be deployed to obtain reasonable and reliable values of phase fraction that could assist to understand the material phase fraction-properties relationship.