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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 45(3)

Rietveld-based mineralogical quantitation of deferrified oxisol clays

M. E. Alves A E , Y. P. Mascarenhas B , D. H. French C and C. P. M. Vaz D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Ciências Exatas, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘Luiz de Queiroz’ – ESALQ/USP, Caixa Postal 09, 13418-900 Piracicaba (SP), Brasil.

B Departamento de Física e Informática, Instituto de Física de São Carlos – IFSC/USP, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970 São Carlos (SP), Brasil.

C CSIRO Energy Technology, Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre, PMB 7, Bangor NSW 2234, Australia.

D Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária, Caixa Postal 741, 13560-970 São Carlos (SP), Brasil.

E Corresponding author. Email: mealves@esalq.usp.br

Australian Journal of Soil Research 45(3) 224-232 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR06123
Submitted: 12 September 2006  Accepted: 26 March 2007   Published: 18 May 2007

Abstract

Although the mineralogical quantitative analysis of the soil clay fraction can provide useful information for the improvement of soil management practices, the quantitation of all clay components normally requires a combination of different analytical techniques, which makes this determination expensive and time-consuming. One alternative for more expeditious mineralogical quantitations consists of using the Rietveld method for the treatment of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. In this study we evaluate the accuracy of the mineralogical quantitative analyses of oxisol deferrified clays carried out with the application of the Rietveld method to XRD data obtained for both non-spray- and spray-dried samples. Linear regression analyses were carried out for comparing the XRD-Rietveld results with those calculated from X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) data. Correspondence was observed between the XRD-Rietveld and XRF-derived data, confirming the potential utility of the Rietveld method for soil clay mineralogical quantitative analysis. Although sample preparation by using the spray drying procedure tended to improve XRD mineralogical quantitation, accurate results can be also achieved when this procedure is not available in the XRD laboratory.

Additional keywords: disordered clay minerals, kaolinite, weathered soils, X-ray diffraction.


Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to FAPESP for the financial support to this research and to the two anonymous referees for their constructive comments on the manuscript. The assistance of Renê de Oste on the laboratory work is also much appreciated.


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