title: Use of wide-angle X-ray diffraction to measure shape and size of dispersed colloidal particles.
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.
authors.affiliation: Materials Physics, Uppsala University, Angströmlaboratoriet, Box 530, 75121 Uppsala, Sweden. Junaid.Qazi@fysik.uu.se
authors.forename: S Junaid S
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Qazi
authors.forename: Adrian R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.forename: Jeremy K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Cockcroft
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vickers