Versatile X-ray powder diffraction platform for materials science.

The proposal concerns versatile instrumentation for determining crystallinity, unit cell size and structure of organic, metal-organic and inorganic materials. Several groups at UAntwerp have a pressing need for fast, reliable, X-ray diffraction data, at low angles to determine large unit cells, and preferably in 2D to determine sample homogeneity. The envisaged machine has a Cu K alpha source, horizontal sample platform (Bragg-Brentano geometry), capability for measuring down to low angles (theta = 0.5°), and a fast and sensitive 2D solid state area detector. It will be used for materials research and characterization in inorganic porous materials (zeolites, templated silicas and titanias), metal organic materials (crystalline metal-organic frameworks), organic materials (fatty acids, PUR building blocks) and identification and characterisation of pigments for study and conservation of old masters' paintings. In addition, through the use of the PDF (probability density punction), the machine can generate experimental information through x-ray scatterineg on average short-range order in non-crystalline materials such as glasses and amorphous powders.

Keywords:X-RAY DIFFRACTION

Disciplines:Crystallography, Chemical characterisation of materials, Destructive and non-destructive testing of materials, Material science for conservation-restoration