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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Small and Wide Angle X-Ray Scattering Studies of Biological Macromolecules in Solution
Published on: January 8, 2013
Use of wide-angle X-ray diffraction to measure shape and size of dispersed colloidal particles
S Junaid S Qazi1, Adrian R Rennie, Jeremy K Cockcroft
1Materials Physics, Uppsala University, Angströmlaboratoriet, Box 530, 75121 Uppsala, Sweden. Junaid.Qazi@fysik.uu.se
Abstract:
Laboratory X-ray diffraction is used to investigate the size and shape of dispersed plate-like and spherical colloidal particles. Analysis of the wide-angle diffraction data provides information about the size and shape of crystals from the width of the Bragg peaks according to the Debye-Scherrer formula. The measurements, data analysis, and evaluation are discussed. It is shown that X-ray diffraction with conventional laboratory equipment on dispersed particles is feasible as a tool to determine both particle size and shape. Data for two samples--gold colloids and nickel (II) hydroxide particles are presented. The advantages and limitations of the method are discussed. X-ray diffraction measurements that are made in combination with dynamic light scattering can be used to estimate the thickness of stabilizing layers of polymers.
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