Several compositions of the solid solutions (CaxSr1−x)CuO2 and (CaxSr1−x)2CuO3, both of which are found as minor phases in the high-temperature superconductors, were prepared by solid-state reaction. X-ray powder-diffraction patterns for three compositions of (CaxSr1−x)CuO2 and two for (CaxSr1−x)2CuO3 are presented.

The X-ray powder diffraction pattern for the title compound is reported in the range 5 ≤ 2θ ≤ 125°. The sample was prepared through solid-state reaction of BaCO3, CuO, and Pr6O11, and characterized with respect to oxygen content through iodometric titration. Refined parameters for the orthorhombic (space group Pmmm) unit cell are a = 3.8587(2) Å; b = 3.9302(1) Å; c= 11.7126(3) Å; a/b = 0.98181(6); a/c = 0.32945(2); b/c = 0.33555(1); Z = 1; Dx = 6.705(2) Mg m−3; V = 177.62(1) Å3; formula wt. = 717.48(16) g mol−1; SS/FOM: F30 = 48(0.005,127).

I had just completed my BS in chemistry at Northwestern University in 1928 and had passed the Civil Service Chemistry Examination, and my fiance had passed an examination for the Civil Service Commission and had been offered a job at that agency in Washington. So we got on a train and came to DC, arriving 15 March 1928. I went to the Civil Service Commission (now called the Office of Personnel Management) and was directed to NBS where there were a number of openings for a P1 chemist. There I talked to Dr. Wichers in Chemistry and to J. Murray in the Lime and Gypsum Section. I took a job in the latter. On 31 March, we got married and on Monday, 2 April 1928, I started work in the Lime and Gypsum Section of the Clay and Mineral Products Division.

The crystal structures of Mek[Fe(CN)6];l·mH2O where Me = Cu, Ni and Co, have been refined from X-ray (CuKa) powder diffraction data by means of Rietveld analyses in space group . The Fe and Me ions are octahedrally coordinated by C and N atoms respectively, forming three-dimensional bimetallic networks with the CN-groups as bridging ligands. The Me(l) sites (k = 2, l=1) and the Fe sites (k = 3, l = 2) are partially occupied. Water oxygens were placed in alternative, empty metal sites.

A wide range of transition metal oxide solid solutions have been prepared and characterised using powder X-ray diffraction (MnxCo1−xFe2O4, FexCo1−xFe2O4, NixCo1−xFe2O4, FeFexCr2−xO4, MnFexCr2−xO4, MnxFe1−xCr2O4, MnxFe1−xFe2O4, NixFe1−xFe2O4). Calibration curves have been obtained relating oxide composition to unit cell parameter or d spacing. From these curves it is possible to identify the composition of oxides formed on steel surfaces in varied industrial environments. Even when poor diffraction patterns are obtained and little sample is available, an estimate of composition can be made.

Based on the crystal structure determination of orthorhombic Ba2CuF6 (space group Cmca), the previous X-ray powder patterns given for Ba2CuF6 (PDF 21-809) and Pb2CuF6 (PDF 22-654) are reindexed.