MRI: Acquisition of a Powder X-ray Diffractometer for Research and Teaching

凭借这一来自重大研究仪器计划（MRI）的奖项，陈锋和同事乔纳森M。作者：William H. McCarroll，加里A.来自莱德大学的Pajer和Hongbing Sun将收购粉末X射线衍射仪（XRD）系统，以支持多学科研究和教育计划。 XRD将为来自四个学科的教师和学生提供服务。 该仪器将为莱德大学材料科学与化学，物理，地质和环境科学领域的整合提供重点。它将促进纳米技术、固态化学、非线性光学以及地质学和环境科学中石榴石成分和土壤矿物模式的研究。X射线衍射仪可以精确测量分子的三维结构，包括键距和键角，并提供分子相对于相邻分子的空间排列的准确信息。合成具有延伸结构的材料，例如聚合物、无机固体、玻璃或凝胶，通常产生多晶或相不纯的粉末。粉末XRD是可用于此类产品结构表征的最强大工具。粉末XRD图案可以阐明样品中存在的晶相的结构和相对丰度，它可以暴露材料膜相对于结晶基底表面的优选结晶取向（称为织构）的存在，并且XRD线宽可以提供平均微晶（或晶粒）直径的估计。此外，可以通过粉末XRD研究材料的极薄膜（100 nm）的结构，而这种膜不能通过单晶XRD探测。这些研究将在化学、材料和地质学等多个领域产生影响。

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation program (MRI), Feng Chen and colleagues Jonathan M. Husch, William H. McCarroll, Gary A. Pajer, and Hongbing Sun from Rider University will acquire a powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD) system to support multidisciplinary research and education programs. The XRD will serve faculty members and students from four disciplines. The instrument will provide a focus for the integration of materials science with the fields of chemistry, physics, geology and environmental sciences at Rider University. It will enhance research in nanotechnology, solid state chemistry, non-linear optics, and the study of garnet compositions and soil mineral patterns for geology and environmental science.The X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and it provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules. The synthesis of materials having an extended structure, such as polymers, inorganic solids, glasses, or gels, often yields a polycrystalline or phase-impure powder. Powder XRD is the most powerful tool available for the structural characterization of such products. Powder XRD pattern can elucidate the structure and relative abundance of the crystalline phases present in a sample, it can expose the existence of preferred crystalline orientation (called texture) of a film of a material relative to a crystalline substrate surface, and the XRD linewidth can provide an estimate of the mean crystallite (or grain) diameter. In addition, the structure of extremely thin films (100 nm) of materials can be investigated by powder-XRD whereas such films cannot be probed by single-crystal XRD. These studies will have an impact in a number of areas such as chemistry, materials and geology.