scholarly journals Application of Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Scattering and Spectroscopy to Soft Matter

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1624
Author(s):  
Atsushi Takahara ◽  
Yuji Higaki ◽  
Tomoyasu Hirai ◽  
Ryohei Ishige

Light produced by synchrotron radiation (SR) is much brighter than that produced by conventional laboratory X-ray sources. The photon energy of SR X-ray ranges from soft and tender X-rays to hard X-rays. Moreover, X-rays become element sensitive with decreasing photon energy. By using a wide energy range and high-quality light of SR, different scattering and spectroscopic methods were applied to various soft matters. We present five of our recent studies performed using specific light properties of a synchrotron facility, which are as follows: (1) In situ USAXS study to understand the deformation behavior of colloidal crystals during uniaxial stretching; (2) structure characterization of semiconducting polymer thin films along the film thickness direction by grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering using tender X-rays; (3) X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis of the formation mechanism of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT); (4) soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopic analysis of water structure in polyelectrolyte brushes; and (5) X-ray photon correlation spectroscopic analysis of the diffusion behavior of polystyrene-grafted nanoparticles dispersed in a polystyrene matrix.

1997 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-M. Dubuisson ◽  
T. Decamps ◽  
P. Vachette

An evacuated, temperature-controlled cell has been built for use on the small-angle X-ray scattering instrument D24 at the synchrotron radiation facility LURE. The sample is placed in a quartz capillary sealed in a stainless-steel holder using a vacuum-tight glue. Several O rings provide a vacuum path upstream and downstream from the cell, so that the X-ray beam only meets the capillary walls and the solution under study between the slits and the beam stop, while the sample is maintained under atmospheric pressure. The cell temperature is controlled via a water circulation through a copper sheath in tight contact with the steel holder. The use of this cell results in a marked reduction of the background, as observed in two series of parallel experiments using a conventional cell and this evacuated cell. The decrease ranges from a factor of 2 at s 1 values larger than 0.008 Å−1 to more than 15 at s = 0.00116 Å−1, where s is the modulus of the scattering vector (s = 2sin θ/λ, 2θ is the scattering angle and λ is the wavelength of the X-rays).


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Morita ◽  
Yoshitada Tanaka ◽  
Kazuki Ito ◽  
Yoshihiro Takahashi ◽  
Keiko Nishikawa

A novel apparatus has been developed that enables the simultaneous determination of the absorption factor during measurement of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) intensities of a sample. It was designed especially for the use of relatively low-energy X-rays at SAXS beamlines of synchrotron facilities. The X-ray intensity of transmittance is measured by a silicon PIN photodiode, which is implanted in a direct beamstop set in a vacuum chamber. Since the assembly transmits an attenuated direct beam to a detector during the scattering measurement, a zero-angle position can be monitored without additional operation. It was confirmed that the linearity between the signal from the photodiode and the intensity of X-rays is good and the photodiode is applicable for the desired purpose. For a performance test, the absorption factors of a supercritical fluid were measured with a wide density range.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Warwick ◽  
Yi-De Chuang ◽  
Dmitriy L. Voronov ◽  
Howard A. Padmore

The optical design of a two-dimensional imaging soft X-ray spectrometer is described. A monochromator will produce a dispersed spectrum in a narrow vertical illuminated stripe (∼2 µm wide by ∼2 mm tall) on a sample. The spectrometer will use inelastically scattered X-rays to image the extended field on the sample in the incident photon energy direction (vertical), resolving the incident photon energy. At the same time it will image and disperse the scattered photons in the orthogonal (horizontal) direction, resolving the scattered photon energy. The principal challenge is to design a system that images from the flat-field illumination of the sample to the flat field of the detector and to achieve sufficiently high spectral resolution. This spectrometer provides a completely parallel resonant inelastic X-ray scattering measurement at high spectral resolution (∼30000) over the energy bandwidth (∼5 eV) of a soft X-ray absorption resonance.


2008 ◽  
Vol 599 ◽  
pp. 107-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Müller

X-ray scattering techniques have been a very useful tool for the non-destructive analysis of the wood structure. X-rays are sensitive to structural parameters such as the composite structure of wood cell walls, the crystal structure of cellulose microfibrils and their helical arrangement in the cell wall, which is usually described by the microfibril angle (MFA). With the availability of synchrotron radiation sources novel experiments on wood have become possible. The increased flux of X-rays makes the in situ and time-resolved investigation of structural changes upon mechanical stress possible. The low-divergence synchrotron radiation X-rays can be focused down to sub-micrometer size, enabling scanning studies of the wood nanostructure with (sub-)microscopic position resolution. This chapter highlights very recent advances in the understanding of wood micro- and nanostructure, which were only possible using synchrotron radiation. Examples include the MFA determination in the individual layers of the secondary cell wall, the imaging of the helical structure of the cellulose microfibrils in the cell wall, lattice strain as induced by applied mechanical stress and the structural changes of different wood types under external tensile stress.


1986 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Röber ◽  
R. Gehrke ◽  
H. G. Zachmann

IntroductionThe possibility of using synchrotron radiation as a source of X-rays for scattering experiments has considerably improved the methods of the characterisation of the molecular orientation and molecular order in polymers. In another publication [1], it has been shown that the morphology of ultra highly drawn polyethylene is correlated to the kinetics of isothermal melting, as determined by X- ray scattering employing synchrotron radiation. In this paper we present some results on chain orientation and orientation of crystal lamellae surfaces in uniaxially and biaxially drawn films of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET). These results were obtained by inserting a pole figure goniometer into the synchrotron radiation beam and measuring the wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and small angle X- ray scattering (SAXS) with different angles of incidence of the primary beam onto the sample.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Savchenko ◽  
Iulia Emilia Brumboiu ◽  
Victor Kimberg ◽  
Michael Odelius ◽  
Pavel Krasnov ◽  
...  

AbstractQuenching of vibrational excitations in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra of liquid acetic acid is observed. At the oxygen core resonance associated with localized excitations at the O–H bond, the spectra lack the typical progression of vibrational excitations observed in RIXS spectra of comparable systems. We interpret this phenomenon as due to strong rehybridization of the unoccupied molecular orbitals as a result of hydrogen bonding, which however cannot be observed in x-ray absorption but only by means of RIXS. This allows us to address the molecular structure of the liquid, and to determine a lower limit for the average molecular chain length.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1353810
Author(s):  
Roberto Fumagalli ◽  
Abhishek Nag ◽  
Stefano Agrestini ◽  
Mirian Garcia-Fernandez ◽  
Andrew C. Walters ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takamichi Shinohara ◽  
Tomoko Shirahase ◽  
Daiki Murakami ◽  
Taiki Hoshino ◽  
Moriya Kikuchi ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Braicovich ◽  
N. B. Brookes ◽  
G. Ghiringhelli ◽  
M. Minola ◽  
G. Monaco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  

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