Building materials are very complex samples of worldwide importance; hence quantitative knowledge
of their mineralogical composition is necessary to predict performances. Rietveld quantitative phase
analysis (RQPA) allows a direct measurement of the crystalline phase contents of cements. We highlight
in this paper the use of laboratory X-ray powder diffraction (LXRPD) employing high-energy
radiation, molybdenum (Mo), for attaining the RQPA of cements. Firstly, we evaluate the accuracy
of RQPA employing a commercial calcium sulfoaluminate clinker with gypsum. In addition to
MoKα1 and MoKα1,2 radiations, Cu and synchrotron patterns are also analyzed for the sake of comparison.
Secondly, the assessment of the accuracy of RQPA results obtained using different radiations
(synchrotron, Mo, and Cu) and geometries (reflection and transmission) is performed by analyzing
two well-known commercial samples. As expected, for LXRPD data, accuracy in the RQPA results
improves as the irradiated volume increases. Finally, three very complex aged hydrated cements have
been analyzed using MoKα1-LXRPD and Synchrotron-XRPD. The main overall outcome of this
work is the benefit for RQPA of using strictly monochromatic MoKα1 radiation. Best laboratory results
arise from MoKα1 data as the effective tested volume is much increased but peak overlapping is
not swelled
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