Fast X-ray imaging beamline at SSRF

The fast X-ray imaging beamline(BL16U2)at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF)is a new beamline that provides X-ray micro-imaging capabilities across a wide range of time scales,spanning from 100 ps toμs and ms.This beamline has been specifically designed to facilitate the investigation of a wide range of rapid phenomena,such as the deformation and failure of materials subjected to intense dynamic loads.In addition,it enables the study of high-pressure and high-speed fuel spray processes in automotive engines.The light source of this beamline is a cryogenic permanent magnet undulator(CPMU)that is cooled by liquid nitrogen.This CPMU can generate X-ray photons within an energy range of 8.7-30 keV.The beamline offers two modes of operation:monochromatic beam mode with a liquid nitrogen-cooled double-crystal monochromator(DCM)and pink beam mode with the first crystal of the DCM out of the beam path.Four X-ray imaging methods were implemented in BL16U2:single-pulse ultrafast X-ray imaging,microsecond-resolved X-ray dynamic imaging,millisecond-resolved X-ray dynamic micro-CT,and high-resolution quantitative micro-CT.Furthermore,BL16U2 is equipped with various in situ impact loading systems,such as a split Hopkinson bar system,light gas gun,and fuel spray chamber.Following the completion of the final commissioning in 2021 and subsequent trial operations in 2022,the beamline has been officially available to users from 2023.

Comparison of efficacy of lung ultrasound and chest X-ray in diagnosing pulmonary edema and pleural effusion in ICU patients: A single centre, prospective, observational study

Background and Aims While chest X-ray (CXR) has been a conventional tool in intensive care units (ICUs) to identify lung pathologies, computed tomography (CT) scan remains the gold standard. Use of lung ultrasound (LUS) in resource-rich ICUs is still under investigation. The present study compares the utility of LUS to that of CXR in identifying pulmonary edema and pleural effusion in ICU patients. In addition, consolidation and pneumothorax were analyzed as secondary outcome measures. Material and Methods This is a prospective, single centric, observational study. Patients admitted in ICU were examined for lung pathologies, using LUS by a trained intensivist;and CXR done within 4 hours of each other. The final diagnosis was ascertained by an independent senior radiologist, based on the complete medical chart including clinical findings and the results of thoracic CT, if available. The results were compared and analyzed. Results Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of LUS was 95%, 94.4%, 94.67% for pleural effusion;and 98.33%, 97.78%, 98.00% for pulmonary edema respectively. Corresponding values with CXR were 48.33%, 76.67%, 65.33% for pleural effusion;and 36.67%, 82.22% and 64.00% for pulmonary edema respectively. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of LUS was 91.30%, 96.85%, 96.00% for consolidation;and 100.00%, 79.02%, 80.00% for pneumothorax respectively. Corresponding values with CXR were 60.87%, 81.10%, 78.00% for consolidation;and 71.3%, 97.20%, 96.00% for pneumothorax respectively. Conclusion LUS has better diagnostic accuracy in diagnosis of pleural effusion and pulmonary edema when compared with CXR and is thus recommended as an effective alternative for diagnosis of these conditions in acute care settings. Our study recommends that a thoracic CT scan can be avoided in most of such cases.

DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION STUDIES ON AGING BEHAVIOR OF Zn-Al ALLOYS

Decomposition processes of the quenched Zn-Al alloys were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the stabilities of supersaturated solid solution (SSS) of Zn-Al alloy and α' phase formed by quenching would reduce with the increase of Zn content and the precipitation of η-Zn phases even when aging at ambient temperature, so that the exothermic precipitation peak in DSC curve would disappear. The activation energy of the η-Zn precipitation and the reaction enthalpy were calculated and measured. The kinetics of α' decomposition or η-Zn formation was determined by XRD. The microstructure change during aging was observed by TEM.

Introduction of the X-ray diffraction beamline of SSRF

The X-ray diffraction beamline developed at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF)is located at the BL14B1 bending magnet port of the 3.5 Ge V storage ring. The beamline optics is based on a collimating mirror,a sagittally focused double crystal monochromator and a focusing mirror. Photon flux of 4.43 × 1011phs/s at10 ke V is obtained. The primary instrument equipped in the experimental end-station is a Huber 5021 sixcycle diffractometer. BL14B1 is a general purpose X-ray diffraction beamline and focused on material science,condensed matter physics and other relevant fields looking for structural information.

小角度掠射X-Ray Diffraction用于离子注入后金属材料的物相鉴定

用小角度掠射 Ｘ 光法对工业纯铝，４５＃ 钢等材料表面经离子注入改性后的表层物质进行了物相分析，这一方法可以准确确定材料表层厚度为几十 ｎｍ 时的物相结构 ，从而为确立材料表层改性的机制提供了较为可靠的依据． 对比实验表明，采用小角度掠射 Ｘ 光衍射法比常规衍射仪法更加突出了表层物质对衍射谱的贡献，这为表面物理的研究提供了一种有效的方法．

Thermal expansion of kyanite at ambient pressure:An X-ray powder diffraction study up to 1000℃

The thermal expansion coefficients of kyanite at ambient pressure have been investigated by an X-ray powder diffraction technique with temperatures up to 1000 ℃. No phase transition was observed in the experimental temperature range. Data for the unit-cell parameters and temperatures were fitted empirically resulting in the following thermal expansion coefficients： αa = 5.8（3） × 10^-5, αb = 5.8 （1）× 10^-5, αc = 5.2（1）× 10^-5, and αv = 7.4（1） × 10^-3 ℃ 1 in good agreement with a recent neutron powder diffraction study. On the other hand, the variation of the unit-cell angles α, β and γ of kyanite with increase in temperature is very complicated, and the agreement among all studies is poor. The thermal expansion data at ambient pressure reported here and the compression data at ambient temperature from the literature suggest that, for the kyanite lattice, the most and least thermally expandable directions correspond to the most and least compressible directions, respectively.

The Physical Meanings of 5 Basic Parameters for an X-Ray Diffraction Peak and Their Application

This paper derives the physical meanings of peak position, peak width and height of an X-ray diffraction peak from the analyses of the Bragg’s equation, the Scherrer’s formula and the principle of peak intensity calculation. The geometric characteristics of an asymmetric peak are clarified by means of experiment. The relationships between peak shape and domain size/lattice strain have been verified by geological events. Therefore this paper integrates the physical meanings of all 5 basic parameters for an X-ray diffraction peak. Applications of these 5 parameters are exemplified.

X-ray Diffraction of Dust Particles in Spring Beijing

X-ray diffractometry was utilized to study the mineralogical characteristics of the inhalable particles （PM10） sampled during two dust storms in Beijing city on March 18th and May 21st, 2008. We confirm, for the first time, that there stably exists ammonium chloride in the atmosphere when temperature is low. The total sulfates particles were affected by relative humidity. Both species and concentration of sulfates decreased first and then grew back by the end of each dust storm. Koninckite, a phosphate mineral never reported as particulate aerosol before, was identified. Meanwhile, our result shows that a chemical modification on dust minerals occurs during long range transportation. PM10 samples collected during the period of dust storms were dominated by crustal minerals such as quartz, illite/smectite, illite, chlorite, feldspar and calcite, and were notably higher in concentration than that in normal periods of time. The amounts of total sulfates, calcite and feldspar altered in each dust storm. It is derived from 24-hour isentropic backward trajectories that two dust events in spring 2008 originated in different sources.

AN EXTERNAL STANDARD METHOD OF QUANTITATIVE PHASE ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLE CONTAINING AN AMORPHOUS PHASE BY X—RAY DIFFRACTION

A new method of the quantitative phase analysis of the sample containing an amorphous phase or a standardless phase by X-ray diffraction is proposed in the paper. The addtion of a reference phase or some analytical phase to the analyzed sample is not required in this method and the experimental results are satisfactory.

Investigation of Peak Separation for X-ray Diffraction Profiles of Spinodal Decomposition by a Kind of Optimized Voigt Function

The intensity and position of sidebands (satellites) on both sides of main diffraction peak in a great number of X-ray diffraction profiles of alloys always change with progress of aging. The sidebands position is determined by a newly optimized Voigt function in present investigation. Furthermore, for Cu-4 wt pet Ti alloy aged at 400℃ for 720 min and 1080 min, after introducing the weight factor of above two satellites intensity, the relative error between the fitting curves and X-ray diffraction profiles is less than 0.185%, which is more precise than the previously calculating result.

Influence of supersaturation on structure of sodium aluminate solutions with medium concentration: a solution X-ray diffraction study

Influence of supersaturation on the structure of a series of freshly prepared supersaturated sodium aluminate solutions with medium concentration was investigated by solution X-ray diffraction. Experimental results show that the basic Al-containing species in all kinds of supersaturated solution is four-coordinated ions. Opposite to Al-O distance contracted in highly concentrated solution, a little expand of the Al-O distance from 1.75 *@ to 1.85 *@ occurs with increasing supersaturation, which is consistent with the occurrence of oligomeric aluminate species. Meanwhile, O-O distance in the first shell of H 2O-H 2O(OH) in supersaturated sodium aluminate solution is obviously longer than in hydroxide sodium solution and becomes longer and longer with increasing supersaturation. Na-O bond length is about 2.4 *@ and changes little with supersaturation. The reason for Al-O bond expanding with supersaturation and its influence on the stability of solution was discussed.

MULTI-PEAK MATCH INTENSITY RATIO METHOD OF QUANTI-TATIVE X-RAY DIFFRACTION PHASE ANALYSIS

A new method for quantitative phase analysis is proposed by using X-ray diffraction multi-peak match intensity ratio. This method can obtain the multi-peak match intensity ratio among each phase in the mixture sample by using all diffraction peak data in the mixture sample X-ray diffraction spectrum and combining the relative intensity distribution data of each phase standard peak in JCPDS card to carry on the least square method regression analysis. It is benefit to improve the precision of quantitative phase analysis that the given single line ratio which is usually adopted is taken the place of the multi-peak match intensity ratio and is used in X-ray diffraction quantitative phase analysis of the mixture sample. By analyzing four-group mixture sample, adopting multi-peak match intensity ratio and X-ray diffraction quantitative phase analysis principle of combining the adiabatic and matrix flushing method, it is tested that the experimental results are identical with theory.

X-ray Multiple Diffraction Topographic Imaging Technique For Growth History Study of Habit Modifying Impurity Doped Crystals

A novel crystal characterization instrument has been built up in which a combination of X-ray multiple diffraction and X-ray topography is applied to enabling the cross-correlation between micro-crystallographic symmetry and its spatial dependence in relation to lattice defects. This facility is used to examine, in a self-consistent manner, growth sector-dependant changes to both the crystallographic structure and the lattice defects associated with the action of habit-modifying additives in a number of representative crystal growth systems. In addition, the new instrument can be used to probe micro-crystallographic aspects(such as distortion to crystal symmetry) and relate these in a spatially resolved manner to the crystal defect structure in crystals doped with known habit modifiers.

Structure of MgSO_4 in Concentrated Aqueous Solutions by X-Ray Diffraction

Detailed time-and-space-averaged structure of MgSO4 in the concentrated aqueous solutions was investigated via X-ray diffraction with an X’pert Pro θ-θ diffractometer at 298 K, yielding structural function and radial distribution function（RDF）. The developed KURVLR program was employed for the theoretical investigation in consideration of the ionic hydration and ion association. Multi-peaks Gaussian fitting method was applied to deconvolving the overlapping bands of Differential radial distribution function（DRDF）. The calculation of the geometric model shows that octahedrally six-coordinated Mg（H2O）62＋, with an Mg2＋…OW bond length of 0.201 nm dominates in the solutions. There exists contact ion-pair（CIP） in the more concentrated solution（1：18, H2O/salt molar ratio） with a coordination number of 0.8 and a characteristic Mg…S distance of 0.340 nm. The result indicates the hydrated SO42– ion happens in the solution. The S…OW bond distance was determined to be 0.382 nm with a coordination number of 13. The fraction of CIP increases significantly with the increasing concentration. The symmetry of the hydration structure of sulfate ion is lowered by forming complex with magnesium ion.

In situ X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 synthesized via co-precipitation method

LiNi0.9Co0.15Al0.05O2 （NCA） material is successfully synthesized with a modified co-precipitation method,in which NH3,H2O and EDTA are used as two chelating agents. The obtained LiNi0.9Co0.15Al0.05O2 materialhas well-defined layered structure and uniform element distribution, which reveals an enhanced electro-chemical performance with a capacity retention of 97.9% after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, and reduced thermalrunaway from the isothermal calorimetry test. In situ X-ray diffraction （XRD） was employed to capturethe structural changes during the charge-discharge process. The reversible evolutions of lattice parame-ters （a, b, c, and V） further verify the structural stability.

Generating femtosecond coherent X-ray pulses in a diffractionlimited storage ring with the echo-enabled harmonic generation scheme

To study ultrafast processes at the sub-picosecond level, novel methods based on coherent harmonic generation technologies have been proposed to generate ultrashort radiation pulses in existing ring-based light sources. Using the High Energy Photon Source as an example, we numerically test the feasibility of implementing one coherent harmonic generation technology, i.e.,the echo-enabled harmonic generation(EEHG) scheme, in a diffraction-limited storage ring(DLSR). Two different EEHG element layouts are considered, and the effect of the EEHG process on the electron beam quality is also analyzed. Studies suggest that soft X-ray pulses, with pulse lengths of a few femtoseconds and peak powers of up to1 MW, can be generated by using the EEHG scheme, while causing little perturbation to the regular operation of a DLSR.

Operando X-ray diffraction analysis of the degradation mechanisms of a spinel LiMn2O4 cathode in different voltage windows

The understanding of reaction mechanisms of electrode materials is of significant importance for the development of advanced batteries.The LiMn2O4 cathode has a voltage plateau around 2.8 V(vs.Li^+/Li),which can provide an additional capacity for Li storage,but it suffers from a severe capacity degradation.In this study,operando X-ray diffraction is carried out to investigate the structural evolutions and degradation mechanisms of LiMn2O4 in different voltage ranges.In the range of 3.0-4.3 V(vs.Li^+/Li),the LiMn2O4 cathode exhibits a low capacity but good cycling stability with cycles up to 100 cycles and the charge/discharge processes are associated with the reversible extraction/insertion of Li^+from/into LixMn2O4(0≤x≤1).In the range of 1.4-4.4 V(vs.Li^+/Li),a capacity higher than 200 mAh/g is achieved,but it rapidly decays during the cycling.The voltage plateau around 2.8 V(vs.Li^+/Li)is related to the transformation of the cubic LiMn2O4 phase to the tetragonal Li2Mn2O4 phase,which leads to the formation of cracks as well as the performance degradation.

Evaluation of zirconia–porcelain interface using X-ray diffraction

The aim of this study was to determine if accelerated aging of porcelain veneering had an effect on the surface properties specific to a tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation（TMT） of zirconia restorations. Thirty-six zirconia samples were milled and sintered to simulate core fabrication followed by exposure to various combinations of surface treatments including as-received（control）,hydrofluoric acid（HF）, application of liner plus firings, application of porcelain by manual layering and pressing with firing, plus accelerated aging. The quantity of transformed tetragonal to monoclinic phases was analyzed utilized an X-ray diffractometer and one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze data. The control samples as provided from the dental laboratory after milling and sintering process had no TMT（X m5 0）. There was an effect on zirconia samples of HF application with TMT（X m5 0.8%） and liner plus HF application with TMT（X m5 8.7%）. There was an effect of aging on zirconia samples（no veneering） with significant TMT（X m5 70.25%）. Both manual and pressing techniques of porcelain applications reduced the TMT（manual, X m5 4.41%, pressing,X m5 11.57%）, although there was no statistical difference between them. It can be concluded that simulated applications of porcelain demonstrated the ability to protect zirconia from TMT after aging with no effect of a liner between different porcelain applications.The HF treatment also caused TMT.

An in situ high-pressure X-ray diffraction experiment on hydroxyapophyllite

The compression behavior of a natural hydroxyapophyllite is investigated up to about 10.01 GPa at 300 K using in situ angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction and a diamond anvil cell at the High Pressure Experiment Station, Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility （BSRF）. Over this pressure range, no phase change or disproportionation is observed. The isothermal equation of state is determined for the first time. The values of zero-pressure volume V0, isothermal bulk modulus K0, and K0＇ refined with a third-order Birch-Mumaghan equation of state are V0 = 1276.3 ± 0.9 A3, K0 = 71± 3 GPa, and K0＇ = 8 ±1. Furthermore, we confirm that the values of linear compressibility β along the a and c directions of hydroxyapophyllite are elastically anisotropic.

In-situ high pressure X-ray diffraction studies of orthoferrite SmFeO_3

The high-pressure behaviors of SmFeO3 are investigated by angle-dispersive synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction under a pressure of up to 40.3 GPa at room temperature. The crystal structure of SmFeO3 remains stable at up to the highest pressure. The different pressure coefficients of the normalized axial compressibility are obtained to be βa = 0.60 × 10-3 GPa-1,βb = 0.79 × 10-3 GPa-1, βc = 1.28 × 10-3 GPa- 1, and the bulk modulus （B0） is determined to be 293（3） GPa by fitting the pressure-volume data using the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. Furthermore, the larger compressibility of the FeO6 octahedra suggests the evolution of the orthorhombic structure towards higher symmetry configuration at high pressures.