X-ray scattering

This chapter will give the reader the necessary background to appreciate what information X-ray diffraction can provide on systems of nano and microparticles in liquid crystals. We give a brief introduction to scattering of X-rays on an isolated object (Sec. 1), on an isotropic liquid or glass (Sec. 2) and on the nematic liquid crystal (Sec. 3). This is followed by a description of small-angle scattering (SAXS) on particles of spherical shape (Sec. 4) and on anisometric particles (platelets, rods and ellipsoids). Selected examples of SAXS studies of such particles in thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals are given in Sec. 6. Diffraction on periodic particle arrays (2-d and 3-d) is introduced in Sec. 7, while in Sec. 8 we deal with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and Xray reectivity. Finally selected examples of X-ray studies of periodic nanoparticle arrays in liquid crystals are described in Sec. 9. Although not specifically stated, most of the material covered by this chapter also applies to neutron scattering.