X-ray diffraction analysis of nanocomposite [formula omitted]/activated carbon by Williamson–Hall and size-strain plot methods

Abstract

Analysis X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of nanocomposite Fe3O4/activated carbon (AC) to determine the crystallite size have been carried out by using various calculations methods; Scherrer, Williamson–Hall (W–H), and Size-Strain plot (SSP). Williamson–Hall (W–H) methods were used three type models; uniform deformation model (UDM), uniform stress deformation model (USDM), and uniform deformation energy density model (UDEDM) which were resulting new important parameters including stress (σ), lattice strain (ε), and energy density (u). Crystallite size is decreases with increasing the amount of AC in the nanocomposites due to the lattice strain and dislocations from the rearrangement bonding connection between the atoms of Fe3O4 and the AC which were confirmed by using TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) image. SSP method in this study shows good agreement with the TEM analysis compared with other methods. In the present paper, we provided for the first time, the crystallite size of nanocomposite Fe3O4/activated carbon (AC) materials by using various methods in the analysis of XRD spectra.