Light Scattering and Absorption Complementarities to Neutron Scattering: In Situ FTIR and DLS Techniques at the High-Intensity and Extended Q-Range SANS Diffractometer KWS-2

Applied Sciences, vol. 11, pp. 5135

Abstract

Understanding soft and biological materials requires global knowledge of their microstructural features from elementary units at the nm scale up to larger complex aggregates in the micrometer range. Such a wide range of scale can be explored using the KWS-2 small-angle neutron (SANS) diffractometer. Additional information obtained by in situ complementary techniques sometimes supports the SANS analysis of systems undergoing structural modifications under external stimuli or which are stable only for short times. Observations at the local molecular level structure and conformation assists with an unambiguous interpretation of the SANS data using appropriate structural models, while monitoring of the sample condition during the SANS investigation ensures the sample stability and desired composition and chemical conditions. Thus, we equipped the KWS-2 with complementary light absorption and scattering capabilities: Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy can now be performed simultaneously with standard and time-resolved SANS, while in situ dynamic light scattering (DLS) became available for routine experiments, which enables the observation of either changes in the sample composition, due to sedimentation effects, or in size of morphologies, due to aggregation processes. The performance of each setup is demonstrated here using systems representative of those typically investigated on this beamline and benchmarked to studies performed offline.

Authors 5

1. Livia Balacescu Aachen Physikalisches Institut

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), 85747 Garching, Germany

   Physikalisches Institut (IA), Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Otto-Blumenthal Str., 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Georg Brandl

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

   Affiliation as printed

   Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), 85747 Garching, Germany

3. Fumitoshi Kaneko

   The University of Osaka

   Affiliation as printed

   Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

4. Tobias E. Schrader

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

   Affiliation as printed

   Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), 85747 Garching, Germany

5. Aurel Rădulescu corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

   Affiliation as printed

   Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), 85747 Garching, Germany