Materials Diffractometry

Modern methods of materials diffractometry will be described as a basic tool in chemical, physical and biological laboratories, as well as in industrial R&D and quality control units.

The diffractometric methods are very powerful, and allow one to characterize materials as simple as metals and as complex as biopolymers and advanced composites. Diffractometry is indispensable in pharmaceutical production, and in production of electrical batteries, control of fatigue of electronic and mechanic parts, geological practice and in the search for new materials.

The LECTURE will include the methods of x-ray, neutron and electron diffraction in university and industrial labs as well as in multinational facilities with synchrotron and nuclear reactors, where atomic structures of substances can be determined in microseconds.

LABORATORY classes will include practical exercises on x-ray powder diffraction qualitative and quantitative analyses, grain-size determination in powders, structure of biocrystals in bones and shells, and visits in industrial x-ray labs.

Learning outcomes: Students will get a general knowledge about materials analysis, and relations between structural properties of materials and the range of applicable diffraction methods. Practical skills of performing qualitative and quantitative x-ray powder diffraction analysis, supported by the usage of crystallographic databases, as well as texture and grain-size analyses and electron microscopy applications.