It is possible, but a better way would be to perform a TGA analysis.

The CH is the notation of portlandite or calcium hydroxide. To calculate the amount of the phases in your cement  you should know the crystal structures of the phases and perform the structural refinement with the Rietveld method. The crystallographic files (CIF) of the different phases of a cement are present in the databases, so you should  have no problems. I have performed many refinements on cements containing up to 8 phases without problems.

Deep thanks for your kind answers.

Regards

It is possible, but a better way would be to perform a TGA analysis.

Thanks dear Dr Tristana . I already have the CH% from the thermogravimetric analysis.

Regards

it should be no problem.

Dear Mahmoud,

One challenge you may want to bear in mind is that the result you will get with quantitative XRD may not reflect accurately the total amount of free CH because of the difficulty in detecting "amorphous CH" that may persist in cement matrix. You may want to compare your result from QXRD/Rietveld method with the TG result already obtained and even chemical analysis results. I will not be surprised if the result from XRD is lower.

Best wishes 

Dear Mahmoud

As pointed out by Monday you will have to consider amorphous phases for quantitative analysis. In OPC as I assume you want to characterize the most notable contributions will inevitably be poorly crystalline C-S-H and if not perfectly dry you will also have to consider the water in your cement. Inevitably you will have to use so called (external or internal) standard methods for your quantification. Additionally CH will most of the time crystallize as rather large crystals in OPC exhibiting graininess/spotiness and or at least preferred orientation in your powder pattern, which makes a meaningful quantification rather challenging. To answer your question it is possible to attain quantitative result by XRD but for a meaningful analysis of CH TGA is by far the more reliable and easier way.     

Deep thanks to all the participants. Qiang Yuan, Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo and Dominique Ectors accept my regards.

Mahmoud, the best method to quantify the various phases present in your sample is the Rietveld method. There are various free softwares available on the net which you can use or you can use download some which provide you a trial version for couple of months like, FullProf, Match etc . But, to use this method you will have to learn it as there are many factors involved in the quantitative analysis, on which you need to have a good understanding before using it otherwise the results obtained could be wrong. I suggest in addition to reading about Rietveld mehod, it would be best to go for a training if possible otherwise atleast watch some youtube videos available on net, they are quite handy to give you a basic understanding.

Because our XRD is not combined by Rieveld method, I always make parallel analysis using TG/DTG/DTA (this is a simultaneus thermoanalytical method similar to TGA) to check the amount. This thermoanalytical method is the most appropriate way to measure (not calculate) the amount of portlandite (CH). (Pay attention that during the sample preparation there is a considerable carbonation of the phasis)

Deep thanks dears Rajeev Roychand and Katalin Kopecskó .

Just to complete answer from Katalin, to prevent carbonation, it is possible to operate in a box where nitrogen is used to get an inert atmosphere during sample preparation.

Many thanks dear Andre Garnier for your note.

Reference intensity ratio (RIR) and Rietveld methods is available. Detailed mathematical methodology can be found in the book "Powder Diffraction: Theory and Practice" by Robert E. Dinnebier et. al. See chapter 11 in the book.

Dear Yeonung Jeong, thanks for your kind suggestions.

Many researchers have tried to use XRD to quantify the CH content in the hydrated product, I think you could refer to this literature "Influence of polymer on cement hydration in SBR-modified cement pastes" 

Many thanks Zichen Lu.