[May 16. 2019] Nano Structure Analysis by Synchrotron Small Angle X-ray Scattering Technique

Nano Structure Analysis by Synchrotron Small Angle X-ray Scattering Technique

The Small- & wide- angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a small-angle scattering (SAS) technique where the elastic scattering of X-rays (wavelength 0.06 ~ 0.2 nm) by a sample which has inhomogeneity in the nm-range, is recorded at very low angles (typically 0.1 - 10°). In this angular range, the X-ray scattering signals contains the information for the shape and size of macromolecules, characteristic distances of partially ordered materials, pore sizes, and other data. Thus, SAXS is capable of delivering structural information of macromolecules between 1 and 25 nm, of repeat distances in partially ordered systems of up to 250 nm. Moreover, it is capable of examining materials with short measuring time and various in-situ condition, enabling researchers to understand morphology in real time and under realistic sample environments. For these reasons, the SAXS technique have offered great opportunities to study the nanostructure and dynamic process in various materials science, such as polymer, biomolecules, liquid crystals, steels and lithium ion battery. Here, we will briefly introduce the Transmission SAXS (TR-SAXS) and Grazing Incidence SAXS (GI-SAXS), which are common SAXS techniques available in PAL, and show practical examples of various scientific applications including various in-situ or in-operando measuring system.