X-ray diffractometric determination of crystalline phase content in bioactive glasses

A rapid routine determination of the content of crystalline CaF2 and Al2O3 inclusions in bioactive glass ceramics is performed using X-ray diffractome try with a standard addition technique. Multiple ratio analysis, even using peaks with different broadenings, indicates that differences in crystallit e properties (e.g., crystal imperfection, particle size and morphology, pre ferred orientation) between the unknown sample and standard do not bias the result. In this respect, an exact match between their crystallographic int egrities does not seem to be required for a reliable estimation of the crys talline content with a relative standard deviation of 7%. (C) 2001 John Wil ey & Sons, Inc.