QXRD Rietveld will provide only the average bulk composition of the glassy phase. Despite this drawback this information can be used in mix design of alkali-activated fly ash. This recent article provides an overview:

https://www.ceramic-science.com/articles/all-articles.html?article_id=100567

For a more profund characterization one would need scanning SEM/BSE on polished sections combined with EDX mapping. Multiple images would need to be taken, which allows the classification of the difefrent glass compositions present in fly ash. More information is given in this recent article:

Article A New Quantification Method Based on SEM-EDS to Assess Fly A...

Thanks Dr Frank Winnefeld, I will go through the suggested papers and revert back.

Dear Rakesh,

please note that geopolymers aren’t alkali activated materials. Technologies aren’t the same while are really very different. If you want to understand better why geopolymers aren’t alkali activated materials have a look on geopolymer.org , the site of Geopolymer Institute where Prof. Davidovits explains during 4 videos all differences very clearly.

Kind regards

Alex Reggiani

Have you tried HighScore Plus from Malvern Panalytical? It has various features to account for profile shape fitting and Rietveld analysis. You can request a demo version which works for 2 weeks from website:

https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/products/category/software/x-ray-diffraction-software/highscore-with-plus-option

It provides amorphous quantification by three methods:

1) K-factor method

2) Internal standard method

3) PONCKS method

Some useful webinars in general for HighScore Users:

https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/events-and-training/webinars/W20200529XRD

Some other webinars:

https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/events-and-training/webinars/W20200611XRD

https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/events-and-training/webinars/W20200702XRD?

https://www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/learn/events-and-training/webinars/W20200728XRD.html