Abstract
Angular X-ray cross-correlation analysis (AXCCA) is a technique which allows quantitative measurement of the angular anisotropy of X-ray diffraction patterns and provides insights into the orientational order in the system under investigation. This method is based on the evaluation of the angular cross-correlation function of the scattered intensity distribution on a two-dimensional (2D) detector and further averaging over many diffraction patterns for enhancement of the anisotropic signal. Over the last decade, AXCCA was successfully used to study the anisotropy in various soft matter systems, such as solutions of anisotropic particles, liquid crystals, colloidal crystals, superlattices composed by nanoparticles, etc. This review provides an introduction to the technique and gives a survey of the recent experimental work in which AXCCA in combination with micro- or nanofocused X-ray microscopy was used to study the orientational order in various soft matter systems.
Highlights
Soft matter, which includes polymers, liquid crystals, colloidal systems, membranes, foams, and granular materials, covers a broad range of possible condensed matter structures between periodic crystals and completely disordered liquids
We report on basic concepts and recent applications of angular X-ray cross-correlation analysis (AXCCA) [7], a novel method which is capable to provide insights into orientational order in the system and characterize it quantitatively
The structural studies of soft matter systems include an analysis of the pair correlation functions between particles in the system
Summary
Soft matter, which includes polymers, liquid crystals, colloidal systems, membranes, foams, and granular materials, covers a broad range of possible condensed matter structures between periodic crystals and completely disordered liquids These systems are characterized by relevant length scales above interatomic distances and weak interparticle interactions, which are typically of the order of thermal energies at room temperature [1,2]. The strong response to external stimuli and rich phase diagrams has given rise to numerous applications of soft matter materials in electronics, display devices, photonics, photovoltaics, coatings, and adhesives, to name a few Another important property of many, but not all, soft matter systems is their ability to self-assemble, i.e., form complex ordered structures from basic units, such as nanoor colloidal particles [4].
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