Basic X-Ray Scattering for Soft Matter

X-ray scattering is a well-established technique in materials science. Several excellent textbooks exist in this field, but these texts are typically written by physicists who use mathematics to make things clear. Consequently these books appeal less to students and scientists in the field of soft matter (polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, self-assembled organic systems) who usually have a more chemical-oriented background with limited mathematics. Moreover, they need to know about the technique of x-ray scattering, but do not intend to become an expert. The aim of this book is to explain basic principles and applications of x-ray scattering in a simple way using many practical examples followed by more elaborate case studies. The book contains a separate chapter on the different types of order/disorder in soft matter that play such an important role in modern self-assembling systems. Finally the last chapter treats soft matter surfaces and thin film that are increasingly used in coatings and in many technological applications, such as liquid crystal displays and nanostructured block copolymer films. This book has been written for the large community of soft matter students and scientists.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction and overview 2: Basic scattering by particles 3: Order/disorder in soft matter 4: Diffraction physics - Scattering by crystals 5: Applications to soft matter 6: Soft matter surfaces and films

About the Author :
Wim de Jeu dedicated most of his scientific life to studying soft matter, starting with liquid crystals at Philips Research (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) in the early days of liquid-crystal displays. At a later stage he established the group Order/Disorder in Soft Matter at the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam, in combination with a serving as a professor of Physical Characterization of Polymers at the Eindhoven University of Technology. He investigated problems in polymer and liquid-crystal physics, including phase transitions and ordering in films and at surfaces, using modern x-ray methods. He played an active role at various synchrotrons, in particular the ESRF (Grenoble, France), and was regularly invited as speaker.

Review :
This book is very helpful to get a basic understanding of X-ray scattering in view of its most common applications to soft matter. It is written with the intention to help users of the technique enter the field, and should fulfil this intention very well. The stated aim is to provide a guide to the essential principles of X-ray scattering methods for new users such as graduate students who are interested in soft matter without any emphasis on either detailed theory or elaborate description of experimental methods. The book, in general, meets this goal admirably. Beyond doubt, Wim de Jeu's attempt accomplished a short account with a well-balanced evaluation of theoretical foundations and experimental studies. ... [He] has written a useful account to introduce the field of X-ray scattering for soft matter, which avoids all unnecessary details and still succeeds in addressing a broad audience. [I]t shows illustrative examples from a wide range of soft matter systems without being oversimplifying. ... It is an excellent source of information for researchers who wish to employ x-ray scattering once in a while as a method of structure determination, but who do not need to be familiar with every little aspect of the theory and methodology. And frankly, at this price, you cannot go wrong; it is definitely a very valuable addition to every researcher's bookshelf. Wim H. de Jeus book is truly dedicated to the next generation of scientists who need to carry out diffraction experiments to analyze the structure of soft matters but may not have a physics background. Professor de Jeu explains the various scattering physics in an enthusiastic fashion as only he can. One of the most valuable aspects of this book is the detailed experimental setup used in various experiments from the stand-alone facility in a standard laboratory setting to the synchrotron used in national facilities. The analysis of polymer crystals is extremely effectively done. It includes case studies of polymers quite familiar to most of us; however, the analysis of the degree of crystallinity is unique to this book. This book is suitable for any scientist who wishes to use diffraction as a tool but does not wish to study all the background physics in detail. With a unique approach, Wim de Jeu fills a gap between experimental physicists and synthetic chemists. This outstanding book gives us all the basic knowledge on x-ray scattering we need to study our novel functional molecular systems.