ChemCentre’s Forensic Chemist and Mineralogist Dr Kari Pitts said the Malvern Panalytical Empyrean III x-ray diffractometer (XRD) uses next generation detectors to produce significantly better data, significantly faster.
“This instrument combines incident and diffracted optics options with new detection technology, so we can determine the precise mineralogy of a sample.”
“In simple terms, when combined with our elemental analysis, we can tell you not only what elements are in a sample, but how those elements are put together as a mineral, and we can do this significantly faster than previously.”
“Another advantage is that smaller sample sizes can be analysed, without it taking 36 hours to collect a single sample.”
“This is an amazing technological advance; what used to take one and half hours of analysis now takes less than a minute! And if I do a 5 minute analysis, the quality of the data is significantly enhanced.”
The Malvern Panalytical Empyrean III x-ray diffractometer (XRD) is currently being used by ChemCentre’s soils and mineralogy forensic science specialist.
However, ChemCentre is also expanding its capacity to apply this technology to mining and environmental projects.
Examples of recent ChemCentre research projects which have utilised XRD analysis include characterising nuisance dusts to identify their source and identifying the impact of geology on mine pit lake water quality.