Analysis of Quartz Content in Paper Using X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Microanalyzer

Abstract

A new method of analyzing printing plate wear, which combines X-ray diffraction and X-ray microanalyzer (XMA), was examined. When plate wear happened, the parallel incident X-ray beam method, which is one of the techniques of X-ray diffraction, was used to analyze small particles adhered to the blanket. As a result of the analysis, a small amount of talc (3MgO・4SiO₂・H₂O) was detected. However, it seemed that only X-ray diffraction was not enough to presume that talc was a causative material because the talc concomitantly contained small amounts of magnesite (MgCO₃), dolomite (CaMg (CO₃) ₂), quartz (SiO₂) and chlorite ( (Mg, Al) ₆ (Si, Al) ₄O₁₀ (OH) ₈). This analytical method was further improved by combining it with elemental mapping observation of Scanning electron microscope (SEM). Using this method, the small amount of quartz in talc was found to be a factor in plate wear. Furthermore, the relationship between quartz content and plate wear in the experiment results matched previously known plate wear evaluation data. This new analytical method, which is a combination of X-ray diffraction and XMA, is a fast screening method that can detect up to 0.1 wt%quartz in samples.