Resolving material-specific structures within Fe₃O₄|γ-Mn₂O₃ core|shell nanoparticles using anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering

Here it is demonstrated that multiple-energy, anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS) provides significant enhancement in sensitivity to internal material boundaries of layered nanoparticles compared with the traditional modeling of a single scattering energy, even for cases in which high sca...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Krycka, L. Kathryn, Borchers, Julie A., Salazar-Alvarez, German, López-Ortega, Alberto, Estrader i Bofarull, Marta, Estradé Albiol, Sònia, Winkler, Elin, Zysler, Roberto D., Sort, Jordi, Peiró Martínez, Francisca, Baró, M. D., Kao, C. C., Nogués, Josep
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/176409
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/176409
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Nanopartícules
Dispersió de neutrons
Difracció de raigs X
Òxids
Nanoparticles
Neutrons scattering
X-rays diffraction
Oxides
Descripción
Sumario:Here it is demonstrated that multiple-energy, anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS) provides significant enhancement in sensitivity to internal material boundaries of layered nanoparticles compared with the traditional modeling of a single scattering energy, even for cases in which high scattering contrast naturally exists. Specifically, the material-specific structure of monodispersed Fe₃O₄|γ-Mn₂O₃ core|shell nanoparticles is determined, and the contribution of each component to the total scattering profile is identified with unprecedented clarity. We show that Fe₃O₄|γ-Mn₂O₃ core|shell nanoparticles with a diameter of 8.2 ± 0.2 nm consist of a core with a composition near Fe₃O₄ surrounded by a (Mn(x)Fe(1-x))₃O₄ shell with a graded composition, ranging from x ≈ 0.40 at the inner shell toward x ≈ 0.46 at the surface. Evaluation of the scattering contribution arising from the interference between material-specific layers additionally reveals the presence of Fe₃O₄ cores without a coating shell. Finally, it is found that the material-specific scattering profile shapes and chemical compositions extracted by this method are independent of the original input chemical compositions used in the analysis, revealing multiple-energy ASAXS as a powerful tool for determining internal nanostructured morphology even if the exact composition of the individual layers is not known a priori.