Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2013
The capability of whole-powder-pattern decomposition in the quantitative phase analysis (QPA) of natural products was investigated using three- to six-component mixtures and pottery bodies. Here, the term pottery body means plastic clay suitable for making pottery and it is compounded of ceramic raw materials. Average errors of the weight fractions for each phase were within 1 weight percent in each mixture of natural products. The amounts of reduced oxides in pottery bodies derived from the X-ray diffraction technique were in good agreement with results obtained by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The present procedure does not require knowledge of crystal structures; it appears adequate for the QPA of natural products.