English Abstract

Principle of Small-angle X-ray Scattering and Application to Rubber Materials

Katsuhiro YAMAMOTO
Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan
Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2021),94(4),136-141 General Review in Japanese

Small-angle X-ray scattering is a method to measure scattered X-ray interference by the spatial scattering length density fluctuation in the sample. One can investigate, for example, the radius of gyration of polymer in solution, size and shape of a protein in aqueous solution, the structure of micelle (size and shape, its distribution), microphase separated structure (period and morphology), crystal lamella, the network structure of gels, nanoparticles. SAXS is a non-destructive method for observing the nanometer-scale structure and is suited for various in-situ measurements. Here, the principle of small-angle X-ray scattering is introduced, and a few examples of SAXS experiments related to the rubber materials will be given.

Keywords: Small-angle X-ray Scattering, Electron Density Fluctuation, Form Factor, Structure Factor, Guinier Law, Unified Guinier, Power-law Approach, Porod Law, Mass- and Surface Fractal Dimension