溶液小角散射技术在软物质研究中的应用与展望

Solution Small-Angle Scattering in Soft Matter: Application and Prospective

溶液小角散射实验方法是表征溶液体系多尺度时空结构的研究利器,在软物质研究领域已得到广泛应用.溶液小角散射包括X射线散射和中子散射,可以在纳米到微米空间尺度以及毫秒时间尺度对溶液软物质微观结构进行表征.微纳尺度结构与研究对象的宏观性能密切相关,利用同步辐射X射线小角散射高通量、快速时间分辨以及中子小角散射无损、深穿透性的特点,可以在不同环境变量下系统研究软物质体系的纳米结构及演变过程.系统介绍了溶液小角散射实验方法的发展现状以及溶液小角散射的基本原理.结合典型的应用案例,展望了溶液小角散射技术的发展趋势及其在软物质领域研究中的应用前景.

Solution small-angle scattering(SAS)is a powerful tool for elucidating the structural properties of soft matter systems.SAS includes X-ray scattering(SAXS)and Neutron scattering(SANS)techniques which allow determination of the material’s properties at a scale ranging from few Angstroms to hundreds of nanometers.Wide time scales ranging from real time(milliseconds)to several minutes can be also covered by these techniques.In recent years,solution SAS techniques have had versatile applications in several research fields,especially in structural biology and in probing self-assembling nanomaterials.Probing the structure of materials at micro-and nano-scales provide an insight on the macroscopic properties of the material.The high throughput and fast time resolution offered by SAXS in combination with the neutron penetrating ability in SANS can offer a great potential to cover different soft-matter systems and processes(i.e.probing the kinetic of self-assembly).Here we review the solution SAS(both synchrotrons and Neutron Sources)capabilities which have been established in China's Mainland,and cover scattering theoretical developments.Recent advances in solutions SAS used in soft matter will also be discussed.Given the potential offered by the next generation X-ray and Neutron sources,further developments in this field are expected,with a proliferation of solution SAS applications.