The purpose of the work was to become familiar with qualitative and quantitative X-ray powder analysis in practice. Vitamin and mineral preparations were chosen for the samples. Vitamins and minerals are very important in our daily life for the healthy functioning of our organism. Since our body doesn’t produce them in sufficient quantity, we introduce them into the body with a varied diet or with vitamin and mineral products. I analysed 10 samples of vitamin and mineral preparations in the form of effervescent and regular, solid tablets.
Tablets were ground and homogenized in an agate grinder. The diffraction patterns of the samples were then measured with a PANalytical X'Pert PRO MPD X-ray powder diffractometer. I determined the phase composition of the samples by comparing the diffraction pattern of the sample with those of the standards from the PDF-2 database. I performed the qualitative analysis with the Crystallographica Search-Match (CSM) program. I calculated the mass fractions of the compounds in the samples by the quantitative phase analysis with the Topas program, using the Rietveld method.
The samples of effervescent tablets contained a lot of citric acid and sodium hydrogen carbonate and only a small amount of active ingredients or food supplements. Samples of regular solid tablets contain a higher proportion of active ingredients than samples of effervescent tablets. In addition to vitamins and minerals, I also determined the type and amount of sweeteners present. Some other components, e. g. dyes, I could not identify. Either because their amount in the samples is so small that they are below the detection limit for X-ray powder analysis, or they were in an amorphous form.
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