A comparative study of particle size dependency of IR and XRD methods for quartz analysis

Quartz (SiO2) is considered a probable carcinogen. In order to enforce health and safety standards, techniques that can accurately determine the quartz content of materials are necessary. Currently, two techniques dominate quartz analysis--the infrared (IR) spectrophotometry method and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. Unfortunately, there are problems associated with these techniques, such as sample preparation and particle size effect. This study focuses on particle size effect on quartz determination by both IR and XRD. Seven size groups of pure quartz samples, with mean diameters from 1.5 to 20 microns, were used. A set of samples with different quartz masses was prepared for each size group and subjected to both IR and XRD analysis. Two sets of calibration curves, one each from IR and XRD, were obtained. It was found that both IR and XRD methods are size-dependent but in an opposite way. As particle size increases, IR peak height decreases and XRD peak height increases for the same quartz content (mass). Since both methods are particle size-dependent, it is important that the standard quartz sample and samples of interest have similar particle size distributions. Specifically, when coal dust samples are ashed before analysis, the after-ashing particle size distribution should be used. Particle size distribution will change after ashing and it is the after-ashed particles that directly affect the IR and XRD analysis.