QUALX2.0: a qualitative phase analysis software using the freely available database POW_COD

Abstract

QUALX2.0is the new version ofQUALX, a computer program for qualitative phase analysis by powder diffraction data. The previous version ofQUALXwas able to carry out phase identification by querying the PDF-2 commercial database. The main novelty ofQUALX2.0is the possibility of querying also a freely available database, POW_COD. POW_COD has been built up by starting from the structure information contained in the Crystallography Open Database (COD). The latter is a growing collection of diffraction data, freely downloadable from the web, corresponding to inorganic, metal–organic, organic and mineral structures.QUALX2.0retains the main capabilities of the previous version: (a) automatically estimating and subtracting the background; (b) locating the experimental diffraction peaks; (c) searching the database for single-phase pattern(s) best matching to the experimental powder diffraction data; (d) taking into account suitable restraints in the search; (e) performing a semi-quantitative analysis; (f) enabling the change of default choices and strategiesviaa user-friendly graphic interface. The advances ofQUALX2.0with respect toQUALXinclude (i) a wider variety of types of importable ASCII file containing the experimental diffraction pattern and (ii) new search–match options. The program, written in Fortran and C++, runs on PCs under the Windows operating system. The POW_COD database is exported in SQLite3 format.