Advanced Synchrotron Techniques for Soft and Nanomaterials

Dear Colleagues,

Materials in the 21^st century have been revolutionised by the advent of nanomaterials and soft matter. These two concepts strongly overlap, although some subtle differences exist, for example not all nanomaterials are seen as soft, while practically all soft matter systems have a structure at the nanoscale. This nanostructuring provides unprecedent opportunities for the engineering of mechanical, optical, electronic and magnetic properties. Some authors prefer to identify their experimental systems as nanomaterials, and others prefer the soft matter concept instead. To welcome both groups, “Soft and Nanomaterials” are introduced in the title of this issue.

Further progress in the fields of nanomaterials and soft matter crucially depends on the availability of advanced experimental techniques that allow the characterisation of various aspects of the nanoscale structure and its relation to material properties. This Special Issue is devoted to recent developments in analytical tools using synchrotron radiation. Small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) is one of the indispensable tools at the nanoscale. Recent developments in this area towards ultra-small angles and microradian resolution allow us to broaden the range of available spatial scales. Faster detectors and higher-brightness sources have recently improved the time resolution of in-situ studies. Micro- and nano-sized beams can be applied to obtain local spatially-resolved data. The improved coherence of X-ray beams promotes the application and further development of coherent techniques such as X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) and coherent diffraction imaging (CDI). Grazing-incidence SAXS (GISAXS) and x-ray reflectivity (XRR) allow researchers to study surfaces including soft and liquid interfaces. Spectromicroscopy using X-rays close to the adsorption edge of a specific element has been shown to provide element-specific chemical information with nanometric resolution. The hard X-ray microscopy with a much larger penetration depth is shifting to the nanoscale. X-ray spectroscopy is slowly progressing to meet the challenges of nanomaterials, soft matter and biological materials. Much progress has recently been seen in the development of the sample environment. I believe that this issue will contribute to the discussion of recent developments of techniques similar to those mentioned above and of their recent applications for soft matter and nanomaterials.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Full papers, communications and reviews discussing recent developments and applications of Advanced Synchrotron Techniques for Soft and Nanomaterials are welcome.

Prof. Andrei V. Petukhov
Guest Editor

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