Duration
15h Th
Number of credits
| Master in chemistry (120 ECTS) | 2 crédits | |||
| Master in geology (120 ECTS) | 3 crédits | |||
| Master in geology (60 ECTS) | 3 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
1) Introduction: the concept of crystal, symmetry, space groups, International Tables of Crystallography.
2) Basics of X-ray diffraction: production of X-rays, interractions X rays-crystal, the structure factor, systematic absences, the reciprocal lattice, the Ewald sphere.
3) The powder method: Debye-Scherrer camera, the powder diffractometer, phase identification, unit-cell parameters refinement, crystal structure refinement by the Rietveld method.
4) Single-crystal techniques: the rotation technique, Weissenberg camera, precession camera, the 4-circles diffractometer, crystal structure determination.
5) Results interpretation: catomic coordinates, site occupancy factors, temperature factors, calculation of unit-cell content, density and Z calculation, bond-valence sums.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The principal purpose of the course is to give the basic concepts which allow to refine the crystal structure of an inorganic compound, from a single-crystal or from a powder. The last chapter gives the tools necessary to interpret the results of a crystal structure refinement.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Basic concepts of Cristallography and X-ray diffraction techniques.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Numerous practicals are part of this course: resolution of crystal structures from X-ray powder diffraction data (Rietveld technique) or single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (4-circle diffractometer).
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
The teaching timetable is 3h a week. The day and time have to be fixed with the students.
Recommended or required readings
Course notes. References books : -"Crystal structure determination" (W. Massa). - "Crystal structure refinement. A Crystallographer's guide to SHELXTL" (P. Müller et al.). - "International Tables for Crystallography".
Assessment methods and criteria
The examination consists in a report containing the complete structural analysis of a single-crystal, analyzed by the students.
Work placement(s)
None
Organizational remarks
Laptopps, tablets and mobile phones forbidden
Contacts
Prof. Frédéric HATERT
Laboratoire de Minéralogie, B18, B-4000 Liège.
Tel 04/366.21.43
email: fhatert@ulg.ac.be
Assistant Yannick Bruni
04/366.33.95
yannick.bruni@student.ulg.ac.be