Speaker
Description
The properties of functional composite materials are heavily a↵ected by the arrangement of the different material phases within their 3D structure. The ability of visualizing their structures with high sensitivity and nanometric spatial resolution can improve the engi- neering of these composites. Ptychography is coherent X-ray imaging technique that has revolutionized this type of characterization[1]. We will show that ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (PXCT) is the key imaging technique to reconstruct quantitative 3D images of heterogeneous materials in such a critical length scale and with rela- tively large field-of-view[2-6]. PXCT provides 3D images from which we can extract the localization of the different material phases, the intermaterial pore space[1,2], and the composition of each constituent material of the composite without the need of additional spectroscopic measurements[4,5]. We will present a few examples of applications such as the analysis of the structure of technical catalysts bodies for the oil industry[2,3], the quantitative characterization of the hydration products of cement pastes[4,5], and the characterization of metallic alloys for aerospace industry[6]. We will also be discussing rapidly the future possibilities of using coherent X-ray beams in the new generation of synchrotron sources and development prospects at ESRF’s FAME and D2AM French CRG beamlines.
[1] J. da Silva et al., Opt. Express 23, 33812-33821 (2015). [2] J. da Silva et al., ChemCatChem 7, 413-416 (2015).
[3] J. Ihli et al., Nat. Communications 8, 809 (2017).
[4] J. da Silva et al., Langmuir 31, 3779-3783 (2015).
[5] A. Cuesta et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 121, 3044-3054 (2017). [6] J. Haubrich et al., Appl. Surf. Sci. 433, 546-555 (2018).
