Crystal structure analysis of natural materials in building materials using XRD (X-ray diffraction)

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia
² Directorate of Nuclear Facility Management, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Natural building materials such as cement, sand, clay bricks, and lightweight bricks are widely used in Indonesia and play an important role in construction and material engineering applications. Understanding their crystallographic characteristics is essential, as crystal structure influences the physical and mechanical properties of materials. This study aims to identify the dominant crystalline phases and crystal systems of common building materials collected from several regions in Indonesia. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was employed, and qualitative phase identification was conducted using Match! 4.0 software, with crystal structure visualization performed using Mercury 3.8. The results indicate that cement, clay brick, and lightweight brick samples are predominantly associated with phases belonging to the monoclinic crystal system, while sand samples are mainly characterized by an orthorhombic crystal system. The phase identification is qualitative in nature and based on diffraction pattern matching with standard reference databases. This study provides preliminary insight into the crystallographic characteristics of commonly used building materials in Indonesia and may serve as a basis for further quantitative investigations to better relate crystal structure to material performance and potential applications.