Acquisition of High Resolution Powder X-Ray Diffractometer

部分资金用于购买高分辨率粉末X射线衍射仪，以支持宾夕法尼亚州立大学化学、化学工程和粘土矿物学项目的教师进行材料化学的基础研究。主要用户将是8名教师和43名研究生，博士后研究员，本科生和研究助理。该仪器将具有特殊的能力，低角度X射线衍射的材料与大单位细胞的尺寸;和薄膜的层状材料。它将有一个Peltier探测器，用于提高灵敏度，一个掠射角附件，用于研究聚合物基质中含有小晶粒的纳米复合材料，以及用于已知相库搜索、索引、峰拟合和晶体结构轮廓细化的现代软件。该大学现有的X射线衍射设备不足以进行许多拟议的实验，例如，金属有机薄膜、聚合物多层结构、具有大层间距的插层粘土、新的中孔分子筛和来自粉末X射线衍射数据的晶体结构的从头算解决方案的研究。这些设备将专门用于非常规研究问题。将继续在现有的衍射仪上对多晶样品进行常规的定性相鉴定。研究新的固态化合物和复合材料的主要目的，无论其最终应用如何，都是确定物理性质与结构和/或表面组成之间的关系。X射线衍射是最普遍适用和强大的技术，用于这一目的。

Partial funding is provided for the acquisition of a high resolution powder x-ray diffractometer to support basic research in materials chemistry by faculty in the Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Clay Mineralogy programs at Pennsylvania State University. The primary users will be eight faculty and 43 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduates, and research associates. The instrument will have special capabilities for low-angle x- ray diffraction of materials with large unit cell dimensions; and for thin films of layered materials. It will have a Peltier detector for increased sensitivity, a glancing angle attachment for the study of nanocomposite materials containing small crystallites in polymer matrices, and modern software for library searching of known phases, indexing, peak fitting, and profile refinement of crystal structures. The x-ray diffraction equipment currently available at the University is not adequate for many of the proposed experiments, e.g., studies of metal-organic thin films, polymer multilayer structures, intercalated clays with large interlayer spacings, new mesoporous molecular sieves, and ab initio solution of crystal structures from powder x-ray diffraction data. This equipment will be dedicated to non-routine research problems. Routine qualitative phase identification in polycrystalline samples will continue to be conducted on the existing diffractometers. A primary objective in the study of new solid state compounds and composite materials, regardless of their ultimate application, is the determination of the relationship between physical properties and the structure and/or surface composition. X-ray diffraction is the most generally applicable and powerful technique for this purpose.