Hand-held X-rays for crystallography on the hoof

The 1.5kg device, which is being developed by Dr Graeme Hansford from Leicester University’s Space Research Centre (SRC) and Bruker Elemental, is expected to represent ‘an evolution’ in current handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments.

Dr Hansford explained that such systems posses many capabilities, such as determining the presence of toxic elements in children’s toys and plastics, or for metal analysis.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) occurs when the atomic planes of a crystal cause an incident beam of X-rays to interfere with one another as they leave the crystal.

XRD built into a handheld device will differentiate between minerals that have the same chemical formula, an important factor when used in a mining context.

Dr Hansford added that the entire process would take between one and two minutes and that the sample would not require any special preparation.

The next stage of the project will focus on developing and testing the methodology using samples which are representative of real-world problems encountered in mining, such as determining the relative amounts of iron oxide minerals in ore samples.