Case Study:  Determination of the degree of oxidation in fine Mg powders

Magnesium (Mg) is an active metal. Mg metal in a powder form can oxidize in atmospheric conditions.  However, the amount of oxidation was difficult to measure because each batch of Mg powder becomes a sphere consisting of a surface oxide shell and a metal core.  In one of the applications, it became critical for our client to find out how much of the powders had already converted into oxides.  Technical staff at EMSL developed a novel XRD method, and successfully determined the weight percentage of magnesium oxide in the samples.