Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Single-crystal-like diffraction data from polycrystalline materials
Wessels1, Baerlocher, McCusker
1Laboratorium fur Kristallographie, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A method for solving structures from powder diffraction data was developed, and its validity was demonstrated on three complex structures. The method uses a textured sample and exploits the high intensity and parallel nature of synchrotron radiation. In principle, crystal structures as complex as those routinely solved by single-crystal methods can be determined with this approach. For example, the as-synthesized form of the zeolite UTD-1, with 69 nonhydrogen atoms in the asymmetric unit, could be solved directly. With this method, a larger range of structural complexity becomes accessible to scientists interested in the structures of polycrystalline materials that cannot be grown as single crystals.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Emission Spectra
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples
According to Bragg's law, when X-rays strike the sample positioned on a stage, the rays are scattered by the electron clouds around the sample atoms. The X-ray diffraction or scattering is caused by constructive interference of the X-ray waves that reflect off the internal crystal...
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
Determination of Crystal Structures

