This technology is a method of using electron diffraction data for structural characterization of crystalline, nanocrystalline, and amorphous compounds.
While structural characterization of nanostructured materials can be achieved via pair-distribution-function (PDF) analysis, this approach usually requires special x-ray instrumentation that is costly and rarely found in laboratories. Using transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) for PDF analysis can overcome this instrumental barrier, but several challenges prevent the realization of quantitatively reliable characterization from electron diffraction data, such as the strong tendency for electrons to diffract dynamically, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient powder averages from small volumes of material, and the propensity for the electron beam to damage samples. Thus, there is a need for methods that can enable the use of electron diffraction data for reliable PDF analysis of nanostructured compounds.
This method enables the acquisition of quantitatively reliable electron PDFs from molecular solids. By carefully setting illumination conditions and limiting the exposure of sample material to the electron beam, this approach facilitates minimal beam damage, sufficient counting statistics, and good powder averages. Moreover, the method is more cost-effective than existing approaches that depend on rare, costly instrumentation and can greatly broaden the application of PDF analysis for nanostructured compounds. Additional advantages of this technology over existing approaches include smaller sample quantity requirements, specific area selection on the sample, analysis of samples with unique geometries, and leveraging other capabilities enabled by using electron microscopes, such as simultaneous elemental analysis and image recording.
This technology has been demonstrated with organic and organo-metallic complexes.
Patent Issued (US 8,921,783)
Patent Pending (US 20140114602)
IR CU12264, M09-040, CU12001, CU13342
Licensing Contact: Beth Kauderer