Powder X-ray diffraction unit for the characterization of food and soft materials

粉末X射线衍射仪是一种广泛应用于多学科的仪器。它主要用于晶体和液晶材料的指纹图谱。用这种技术还可以研究晶格应变和微晶尺寸。在食品科学中，X射线衍射仪被广泛用于研究食用脂肪的多态、淀粉和其他多糖聚合物的结晶度，如纤维素类。它还用于研究包装薄膜，其中聚合物的晶态和非晶态的平衡对包装机械性能和渗透性有很大影响。该仪器在学术研究人员中很受欢迎，但工业界(国内和国际)对它的需求也很高，因为工业界很少/从来没有这样的仪器。Marangoni实验室被认为是世界上研究食用脂肪和脂肪模拟物的固态结构和纳米结构的主要实验室之一。使用2002年用CFI基金购买的Rigaku Multiflex衍射仪，在这些材料的结晶学方面取得了许多进展。该仪器现在已经失败，不再得到Rigaku的支持。具体地说，仪器中的压力计和流量计损坏，测角器上的齿轮磨损和松动，测角器是仪器的“心脏”。因此，不可能再精确地控制角度分辨率。这种仪器是Marangoni由NSERC资助的发现计划的核心和关键，他所在小组的所有学生、博士后和技术人员都使用这种仪器，更不用说Guelph大学其他使用这台机器的人了。我们目前也不能接受更多的工业合同。这一故障发生在9月中旬，一直是一个严重的“表演障碍”。我们也不能支持彭西尼、赖特、罗杰斯·乔伊、林、基纳和其他人的工作。从积极的方面来看，新的粉末X射线衍射仪，即MiniFlex机器，确实令人惊叹。首先，这些机器现在是台式机器，大约是原始尺寸的五分之一--大型变压器和哈斯基斯制冷机组已经不复存在。探测器速度超快，将分析时间缩短了十分之一，允许研究过程的动力学！该仪器配备了专门的Anton Paar冷却和加热单元，Rigaku最近增加了一个特殊的镜头，允许在1摄氏度2℃以下进行测量。(近)小角X射线散射工作现在可以可靠地进行了！所有这些，加上用于光谱分析的软件的新进展，使这台仪器成为一笔令人惊叹的交易，售价15万加元。这一新仪器将保证Guelph食品科学和工程系研究项目的持续高生产率和世界级质量，将继续帮助支持加拿大食品制造业，并帮助开发未来的食品。

A powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) unit is a widely-used instrument in multiple disciplines. It is mainly used to fingerprint crystalline and liquid crystalline materials. Lattice strain as well as crystallite size can also be studied with this technique. In Food Science, XRD is widely used to study the polymorphism of edible fats, the crystallinity of starch and other polysaccharide polymers, like cellulosics. It is also used in the study of packaging films where the balance of crystalline and amorphous states of polymers strongly influence package mechanical properties and permeability. The instrument is popular among academic researchers, but it is also in very high demand by industry (national and international), since industry rarely/never has such instruments in-house. The Marangoni lab is considered to be one of the main laboratories in the world for the study of the solid-state structure and nanostructure of edible fats and fat mimetics. Many advances in the crystallography of these materials have taken place here, using a Rigaku Multiflex diffractometer purchased with CFI funds in 2002. The intrument has now failed and is not supported by Rigaku any longer. Specifically, the pressure and flow gauges in the instrument are damaged and the gears on the goniometer, the "heart" of the instrument, are worn down and loose. Thus, it is not possible to accurately control angular resolution anymore. This instrument is central and essential to Marangoni's NSERC-funded Discovery program and used by all of the students, post-docs and technicians in his group, not to mention everyone else at the University of Guelph who uses the machine as well. We cannot accept any more industrial contracts at this time either. This breakdown happened in mid September and has been a bit of a serious "show-stopper". We cannot support the work of Pensini, Wright, Rogers Joye, Lim, Keener and others either. On a positive note, the new powder X-ray diffraction, the Miniflex machine, is truly remarkable. First of all, these machines are now benchtop machines about 1/5th of the original size - gone are the large transformers and Haskis refrigeration units. The detectors are ultra-fast, cutting down on analysis time by 1/10th of the time, allowing for the study of the kinetics of processes! The instrument comes with a dedicated Anton Paar cooling and heating unit, and Rigaku has recently added a special lens, allowing measurements to be made below 1 degree 2theta. (Near) small-angle X-ray scattering work can now be reliably carried out! All of this plus new advances in the software used for the analysis of spectra, makes this instrument an amazing deal for CAD$150,000. This new instrument would guarantee the continued high productivity and world-class quality of the research programs in the Departments of Food Science and Engineering at Guelph, would continue help support the Canadian Food Manufacturing Industry, and help develop the foods of the future.