Uncovering hidden bias in neutron diffraction residual strain measurements

This work demonstrates that diffraction-based residual strain calculations and uncertainty estimates depend on how grain populations are sub-sampled, with important implications for interpreting residual stresses in heterogeneous materials with fine-scale microstructure and strain gradients.

X-ray-induced hydride formation in palladium nanowires in a gaseous hydrogen environment

Powder diffraction is used to reveal X-ray-induced hydride formation in palladium nanowires in a gaseous hydrogen environment.

The structure periodicity of [RE(NO₃)₃(H₂O)_n]·xH₂O salts and aqueous solutions with RE = La–Lu, Y. Systematic characterization based on experiments and calculations

This work provides a unified crystallographic description of a series of rare-earth nitrate hydrates, [RE(NO₃)₃(H₂O)_n]·xH₂O (RE = La–Lu, Y), and their aqueous solutions. The findings integrate X-ray diffraction, EXAFS, topological descriptors and computational modelling to offer transferable method­ologies for interpreting structural anomalies in coordination compounds and precursors for functional materials.

Analysis of small-angle scattering data of interacting ellipsoids using pair distance distribution functions

Pair distance distribution functions of interacting ellipsoidal particles can be hard to interpret. This difficulty can be circumvented partially by the generalized indirect Fourier transformation.

Full-profile qu­antitative X-ray diffraction analysis of alumina polymorphs and pseudoboehmite using the Debye scattering equation

A full-profile quantitative X-ray phase analysis method is developed for mixtures of low-temperature aluminium oxides and pseudoboehmite, combining experimental and calculated (via the Debye scattering equation) reference profiles. The approach provides high accuracy for model γ-Al₂O₃/χ-Al₂O₃ and γ-Al₂O₃/AlOOH mixtures and is applicable to complex nanocrystalline oxide and catalyst systems with poorly described diffraction patterns.

Nanostructured coherent systems in Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) tetragonal structures: simulation of diffraction patterns for the first term of RP series A₂BO₄ with correlations in the distribution of RP faults

This study investigates the impact of correlated Ruddlesden–Popper faults on the diffraction patterns of tetragonal A₂BO₄-type structures, using Sr₂TiO₄ as a representative example. Simulations demonstrate that these correlations give rise to distinctive diffraction features – including intensity redistribution, anisotropic peak broadening and diffuse scattering – that distinguish coherent intergrowths of Sr₂TiO₄ and Sr₃Ti₂O₇ from conventional two-phase systems.