Distinguishing crystallite size effects from those of structural disorder on the powder X-ray diffraction patterns of layered materials

• DOI: 10.1007/s12039-010-0063-2
• Publication Date: 2010-10-15T16:02:31Z
• Authors: Sylvia Britto; Sumy Joseph; P. Vishnu Kamath
• Keywords: Powder Diffraction

Both crystallite size effects and structural disorder contribute to the broadening of lines in the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns of layered materials. Stacking faults, in particular, are ubiquitous in layered materials and aside from broadening also induce peaks due to select reflections to shift away from the Bragg positions. The effect of structural disorder has to be suitably discounted before the application of the Scherrer formula for the estimation of crystallite size.