Small Angle X-ray Scattering Study of Precipitation Kinetics in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloys

The evolution of microstructure parameters （precipitate size and volume fraction） for two types of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys （7075 and 7055） during aging has been studied by synchrotron-radiation small angle X-ray scattering （SAXS）.The results show that the precipitates are only a few nanorneters for both alloys ageing even at higher temperature of 160℃ for 72 h （4.44 and 5.82 nm, respectively）. The maximum of the precipitate volume fraction increases with in creasing Zn content and is about 0.023-0.028 and 0.052-0.054, respectively. The coarsening of precipitate is consistent with LSW （Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner） model even at the initial stage where volume fraction is still varying.The activation energy of coarsening regime has been determined to be about 1.22±0.02 eV and 1.25±0.02 eV for alloys 7075 and 7055, respectively.

Scanning Microfocus Small Angle X-ray Scattering Study of the Avian Eggshell

Synchrotron microfocus small angle X-ray scattering was used to investigate the nanostructure and microscopic variation of eggshells. It uses a microbeam allowing the ability to probe interactions between the organic and inorganic components at nanometer level and is ideal for mapping over small areas to obtain a detailed analysis of structural variations. Thin sections of eggshells were scanned from the shell membrane （inner） to the cuticle （outer） surface. The data collected was used to produce two-dimensional maps showing microscopic changes within the different layers of the eggshell. The structural alterations ap- parently could have implications at the macroscopic level of the resulting eggshell. As the organic matrix is embedded within the eggshell this may contribute to the variations observed in calcite crystal form and texture, Structural information obtained about a biomaterial at different length scales is important in relating the structure to its functional properties. This knowledge and the principles behind the formation of biomaterials could be used in the attempt of bioengineering new systems.

Small angle X-ray scattering beamline at SSRF

Beamline BL16B1 at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF) is dedicated to studying the microstructure and dynamic processes of polymers, nanomaterials, mesoporous materials, colloids, liquid crystals,metal materials, etc. At present, SAXS, wide angle X-ray scattering(WAXS), simultaneous SAXS/WAXS,grazing incident SAXS, and anomalous SAXS techniques are available for end user to conduct diverse experiments at this beamline. The sample-to-detector distance is adjustable from 0.2 m to 5 m. The practicable q-range is 0.03–3.6 nm-1at incident X-ray of 10 ke V for conventional SAXS whilst a continuous q-region of0.06–33 nm-1can be achieved in simultaneous SAXS/WAXS mode. Time-resolved SAXS measurements in sub-second level was achieved by the beamline upgrating in 2013. This paper gives detailed descriptions about the status, performance and applications of the SAXS beamline.

Characteristics of AOT Microemulsion Structure: a Small Angle X-ray Scattering Study

The method of synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering (SR-SAXS) has been used to obtain structural information on the system of bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/H2O/isooctane. By using the Guinier plot (Ln I (q) versus q(2)) on the data sets in a defined small q range (0.03-0.06 Angstrom (-1)), the gyration radius at different water/surfactant molar ratio, W-0, was obtained. With the increase of W-0, the gyration radius (R-g) increased at the range of 23.2 similar to 52.7 Angstrom.

Probing Nanoscale Morphology of PS/PMMA/CdS &PS/PVC/CdS Polymeric Nanocomposites through Small Angle X-Ray Scattering Analysis

Polymeric nanocomposites of PS/PMMA/CdS and PS/PVC/CdS samples have been synthesized through dispersion solution casting technique. The nanoparrticles of CdS were prepared by simple chemical method using CdCl2 and H2S gas produced from thiourea. The nanoscale morphology of the prepared polymeric nanocomposite samples is probed through small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The SAXS study reveals that CdS nanoparticles take place at voids position in the respective plymer blend matrix and exhibit their nano nature with very little tendency to agglomerates.

INVESTIGATION ON THE CONFORMATION OF THE MAIN-CHAIN NEMATIC POLYMER BY SMALL ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING

The experimental investigation on the conformation of a thermotropic main-chain nematic polymer by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has been carried out. The average radius of gyration of the polymer has been determined in nematic and isotropic state respectively. The experiment shows that the boundary between domains is not sharp but diffuse, and the diffuse-boundary thickness of the polymer as a function of temperature has been given.

Small angle X-ray scattering used in precipitation in AlZnMgCuLi alloy

Small angle X-ray scattering has been used to study the variation of microstructure parameters in an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Li alloy aged at various temperatures for various durations. Coarsening of precipitates was studied by analyzing the curve of kinetics strength vs the cube of radius. The results show that the coarsening of precipitates conforms to LSW principle. In addition, the characteristic of s^3J(s) vs s curves was analyzed. The results show that the curves for samples aged at 160 ℃ for various durations(24, 48 and 96 h) have negative deviation, which maybe results in the formation of certain new precipitate. In the other aging treatment states, the curves conform to Porod principle which means there is sharp boundary between the precipitates and matrix.

Nano-scale pore distribution characterisation of coal using small angle X-ray scattering

In the process of coal seam fracturing with liquid nitrogen(LN_(2)),the change of coal pore structure has an important influence on the efficiency of coalbed methane(CBM)extraction.The nano-scale pore size distribution(PSD)in coal particles before and after freezing with LN_(2) are experimentally studied in this work.Coal samples are collected from four coal mines,where coal and gas outburst accidents have occurred.Small angle X-ray scattering technology(SAXS)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)are used to study the pore structure changes of coal samples quantitatively and qualitatively.It is found that the scattering intensity of coal samples increases after freezing.The PSD of all samples significantly changes in the range of 0.8–7 nm,showing new pore spaces in 0.8–4 nm and fewer pores in the 4–7 nm range.Both the pore fractal dimension and the radius of gyration of coal samples increase after freezing and are mainly affected by the changes in pores and the anisotropy of the coal matrix.Crack expansion and pore connections are observed in the surface structure of the coal sample using SEM.This study provides a better understanding of the nano-scale mechanism of coal seam fracturing with LN_(2) for the prevention of coal and gas outbursts.

Growth Kinetics of Nanocrystals and Nanorods by Employing Small-angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and Other Techniques

In this article, we report the results of our detailed investigations of the growth kinetics of zero-dimensional nanocrystals as well as one-dimensional nanorods by the combined use of small angel X-ray scattering （SAXS）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） along with other physical techniques. The study includes growth kinetics of gold nanocrystals formed by the reduction of HAuCl4 by tetrakis（hydroxymethyl） phosphonium chloride in aqueous solution, of CdSe nanocrystals formed by the reaction of cadmium stearate and selenium under solvothermal conditions, and of ZnO nanorods formed by the reaction of zinc acetate with sodium hydroxide under solvothermal conditions in the absence and presence of capping agents. The growth of gold nanocrystals does not follow the diffusion-limited Ostwald ripening, and instead follows a Sigmoidal rate curve. The heat change associated with the growth determined by isothermal titration calorimetry is about 10 kcal·mol^-1 per I nm increase in the diameter of the nanocrystals. In the case of CdSe nanocrystals also, the growth mechanism deviates from diffusion-limited growth and follows a combined model containing both diffusion and surface reaction terms. Our study of the growth kinetics of uncapped and poly（vinyl pyrollidone） （PVP）-capped ZnO nanorods has yielded interesting insights. We observe small nanocrystals next to the ZnO nanorods after a lapse of time in addition to periodic focusing and defocusing of the width of the length distribution. These observations lend support to the diffusion-limited growth model for the growth of uncapped ZnO nanorods. Accordingly, the time dependence on the length of uncapped nanorods follows the L3 law as required for diffusion-limited Ostwald ripening. The PVP-capped nanorods, however, show a time dependence, which is best described by a combination of diffusion （L^3） and surface reaction （L^2） terms.

Small angle X-ray scattering of the colloidal crystal

The monodisperse polystyrene spheres are assembled into the colloidal crystal on the glass substrate by vertical deposition method, which is aimed at the so-called photonic crystal applications. The structural information of the bulk colloidal crystal is crucial for understanding the crystal growth mechanism and devel- oping the various applications of colloidal crystal. Small-angle X-ray scattering （SAXS） technique was used to obtain the bulk structure of the colloidal crystal at Beamline lW2A of BSRF. It is found that the SAXS pattern is sensitive to the relative orientation between the colloidal sample and the incident X-ray direction. The crystal lattice was well distinguished and determined by the SAXS data.

Characterization of the nanopore structures of PAN-based carbon fiber precursors by small angle X-ray scattering

The nanopore structures in precursors Four carbon-fiber precursors are prepared. They are crucial to the performance of PAN-based carbon fibers are bath-fed filaments （A）, water-washing filaments （B） hot-stretching filaments （C） and drying-densification filaments （D）. Synchrotron radiation small angle X-ray scattering is used to probe and compare the nanopore structures of the four fibers. The nanopore size, discrete volume distribution, nanopore orientation degree along the fiber axis and the porosity are obtained. The results demonstrate that the nanopores are mainly formed in the water-washing stage. During the processes of the subsequent production technologies, the slenderness ratio of nanopores and their orientation degree along the fiber axis increase further and simultaneously, the porosity decreases. These results are helpful for improving the performance of the final carbon fibers.

Influence of energy bandwidth of pink beam on small angle X-ray scattering

Background Compared with the traditional monochromatic synchrotron radiation beam,a pink beam is a quasimonochromatic beam which can be obtained by screening a harmonic of the undulator.The energy bandwidth(E/E)of a pink beam is about 10−2.Despite the intensity gain from the quasi-monochromatic beam,the decrease in the energy resolution will lead the collected data to be smeared.Purpose To study the influence of the energy bandwidth on the small angle X-ray scattering(SAXS)by experiments and verify the feasibility of SAXS with a pink beam.Method Firstly,the influence of different energy bandwidths on SAXS has been studied by simulation and experiment.Then,TEM tests have been performed and compared with the experimental results.Result It has been shown that the scattering curves deviate slightly from the traditional monochromatic ones.This deviation does not influence the data processing for the maximum deviation of the results is just less than 2%.In return,the gain in the intensity(one to two orders of magnitude)makes the pink beam very important for the time-resolved SAXS.Further,the results of TEM and SAXS have shown an excellent agreement.Conclusion Thiswork proves that the pink beam could be used for SAXS directly without a desmearing procedure.Benefiting from the increase in the beam intensity,the exposure time can be greatly shortened,thus enhancing the utilization efficiency of the synchrotron radiation.

DETERMINATION OF SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF THE CRYSTALLINE PARTICLE IN AGED METALLIC GLASS BY SMALL ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING

Ⅰ. INTRODUCTIONAlthough many authors have investigated the structure of annealed metallic glass by means of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), there has been no report in which size distribution of the crystalline particle in aged metallic glass is determined. Determining size distribution of the crystalline particle will be beneficial to understanding the nucleation and growth process of the crystalline particle. In this note, size distribution of the crystalline parti-

DETERMINATION OF THE SHAPE AND DIMENSION OF PRECIPITATE FROM AGED Lc4 ALUMINIUM ALLOY BY SMALL ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING

Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is extensively used for determining the dimension of a particle, but rarely used for determining its shape. The difficulty is that it needs to do extensive calculations. In addition, it can only be carried out for the mono-dispersion system. In re cent years, Reuther et al. succeeded in determining the shape and dimension of the particle of a polymer gel.

Stability of the Dividing Distribution Function Method for ParticleSize Distribution Analysis in Small Angle X－Ray Scattering

The Dividing Distribution Function (DDF) method is one of the methods by which the particle size distribution of ultrafine powder can be evaluated from its small angle X-ray scattering data. In this paper, the stability of the solution obtained from DDF method has been investigated through optimizing the coefficient matrix, introducing a damping factor and a least square treatment. All calculations were accomplished with a microcomputer. It was shown that the average deviations of the size distribution obtained are not larger than the assigned random errors to the scattering intensities as long as the corresponding requirements are satisfied.

Studies on microdomain structure in segmented polyether polyurethaneureas by positron annihilation lifetime and small-angle X-ray scattering

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Quantitative evaluation of equatorial small-angle X-ray scattering for cylindrical fibers

Elongated microvoids, internal fibrillar structure, and edge scattering from both surface refraction cause an equatorial streak in small angle X-ray scattering. A model for analyzing the edge scattering of fibers is proposed. Simulation results indicate that the intensity of edge scattering from surface refraction of a cylindrical fiber is strong and makes an important contribution to the equatorial streak. Two factors influence edge scattering intensity. One is the sample-to-detector distance （D）; edge scattering intensity increases with increasing D. The equatorial streak becomes weak when D is shortened. The other factor is the refraction index. Edge scattering intensity increases as the real component of the refraction index decreases. In experiment, weak or even no equatorial streaks were found for samples measured in a roughly index-matching fluid. Edge scattering can be eliminated or weakened, and it can be calculated by comparing the intensities of a cylindrical fiber when it is measured in air and in index-matching fluid. The simulation data are basically in agreement with the experimental data.

Synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering study on the conformation of polystyrene in compressed CO_2-toluene mixture

Synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was performed to investigate the effect of dissolved CO2 in toluene on the conformation of polystyrene (PS) in the solution. It has been found that the second virial coefficient A2 and the radius of gyration Rg decrease with the increasing antisolvent CO2 pressure. The scattering intensity of PS chain followed l(h)∞h-αunder different antisolvent pressures (0, 0.6, 1.5, 2.4, 3.3, and 4.2 MPa), suggesting that the PS chain has self-similar structure behavior or a fractal structure in the presence of antisolvent CO2.All this reveals a large effect of antisolvent pressure or the solubility of CO2 in the solution on PS structure. The fractal dimensions increase with the increasing antisolvent pressure, indicating that the polymer chain changes from a swollen coil into a rather dense globule in the course of adding antisolvent CO2.