PNNL

Abstract

The ring angular correlation function is a characteristic feature determined by the particle structure. Averaging over a large number of ring angular correlation functions calculated from x-ray diffraction patterns will cancel out the cross correlations between different particles and converge to the autocorrelation functions of single particles. Applied on heterogeneous disordered ensembles, the retrieved function is a linear combination of a single-particle autocorrelation function multiplied by the molar ratios in a heterogeneous system. Using this relation, the ring angular correlation functions of the individual component particles in the heterogeneous system can be retrieved through the high throughput fluctuation x-ray scattering technique. This method is demonstrated with a simulated heterogeneous system composed of nanorods, nanoprism, and nanorice.