Structural identification of cubic iron-oxide nanocrystal mixtures: X-ray powder diffraction versus quasi-kinematic transmission electron microscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces two new methods for identifying the structure of cubic iron-oxide nanocrystals using single TEM images or electron diffraction patterns, offering advantages over traditional powder X-ray diffraction.

Contribution

It presents novel strategies for nanocrystal structural identification from minimal data sources, expanding capabilities beyond powder diffraction techniques.

Findings

Methods successfully distinguish cubic magnetite and maghemite nanocrystals.

Single-image and diffraction pattern techniques outperform traditional powder diffraction.

Strategies are validated through simulations and discussed with advantages.

Abstract

Two novel (and proprietary) strategies for the structural identification of a nanocrystal from either a single high-resolution (HR) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image or a single precession electron diffraction pattern are proposed and their advantages discussed in comparison to structural fingerprinting from powder X-ray diffraction patterns. Simulations for cubic magnetite and maghemite nanocrystals are used as examples. This is an expanded and updated version of a conference paper that has been published in Suppl. Proc. of TMS 2008, 137th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Volume 1, Materials Processing and Properties, pp. 25-32.