Progress of Cryogenics and Isotopes Separation , ISSN: 1582-2575
2008, Volume 11, Issue 21+22

Diffraction Line Broadening Analysis of Supported Gold Catalysts. Comparative Study

Abstract

Distortions of the regular crystal lattice as well as a finite size of the coherently scattering domains lead to a significant broadening of the X-Ray diffraction line profile. By using physical model describing the individual types of broadening it is possible to relate the broadening of the X-Ray diffraction line profile to the microstructure of the material.

In this study a microstructural analysis of powder diffraction data was carried out for supported Au/SiO₂ catalysts, prepared by deposition-precipitation and impregnation methods, respectively [1,2]. The supported Au catalysts were studied using different X-ray line profile diffraction methods in order to obtain a number of interesting microstructural parameters. The line profile analysis methods gave similar size and strain values for the analyzed samples. The quantity of polycrystalline gold was calculated using the whole pattern fitting method.