November 27, 2020 – The Woodlands, Texas. The November 2020 edition of The Bridge newsletter from Rigaku Corporation is now online, accessible on the company’s global website. The Bridge focuses on materials analysis, featuring the latest news, techniques, and instrumentation related to X-ray based materials science.
The new Rigaku SmartLab intelligent multipurpose X-ray diffractometer
The latest newsletter edition offers previews of several upcoming virtual events, including the 2020 MRS Virtual Spring/Fall Meeting & Exhibit, during which Rigaku will present a discussion on XRD Solutions for Battery Research, and the upcoming Advanced Topics in Practical Crystallography lecture series. The technical article for the month presents an overview of the principles of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and explains what can be evaluated by method. The instrumentation and applicable evaluation items are also described.
Featured application notes include a report describing the analysis of coal fly ash as carried out by the fusion bead method using a high-performance wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer. Another application report presents the analysis of trace elements in aqueous solutions using the advanced Cartesian geometry energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) in conjunction with the patented Rigaku UltraCarry® sample preparation technique. Materials Analysis in the News, a collection of news reports related to materials science from around the world, includes a story about a new way to decipher the atomic-level structure of materials based on data gathered from ground-up powder samples.
For the study, X-ray powder diffraction experiments were performed at the ALBA synchrotron in Barcelona, Spain. Another news item reports that scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy are finding new, low-cost ways to make better metal alloys and composites. Much of the success comes from using solid-phase processing approaches to create materials with improved properties. Profiles of analytical instrumentation, as well as links to useful resources and a featured video, are also provided. Readers can subscribe to the newsletter or view the current issue online at https://www.rigaku.com/subscribe