Ultra Small-Angle X-ray Diffractometer

• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 504929269

Small-angle X-ray scattering has always been a key method for elucidating the structure of nanoscale systems in the fields of soft and biological matter or materials science. Technological progress in the field of intense X-ray sources and highly dynamic detector systems has opened up new scientific application areas in the last decade, which could previously only be addressed using large-scale research facilities (synchrotron sources). In this context, an application is made for an ultra-small-angle X-ray diffractometer, which will be used primarily by five research groups from the Institutes of Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry at the University of Stuttgart to work on current and future research projects. These include the investigation of new, hierarchically structured chitin materials (ChitinFluid project), the characterization of functionalized mesoporous support materials for molecular heterogeneous catalysis (SFB 1333) but also the investigation of novel complex fluids such as ionic liquid crystals, lyotropic liquid crystalline gels, microemulsions and emulsions. This broad spectrum of both isotropic and anisotropic nanoscale systems requires not only two-dimensional measurements over a wide range of scattering vectors (from 0.01 nm^(-1) to 40 nm^(-1)) and length scales (from several 100 nm to 0.1 nm), respectively, but also different measurement geometries and sample environments. With regard to its measurement range as well as its intensity, brilliance and construction (air gap, user-specific sample environments), the proposed instrument will open up those possibilities which are indispensable for the planned research projects (ChitinFluid, SFB 1333).

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Ultra-Kleinwinkelröntgendiffraktometer
• Instrumentation Group: 4010 Einkristall-Diffraktometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Stuttgart
• Leader: Professor Dr. Frank Gießelmann