Atomic-scale structure of nanocrystals by the atomic pair distribution function technique

Abstract

The approach of the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) technique to determine the atomic-scale structure of nanocrystalline materials is introduced and illustrated with results of studies on V₂O₅ nanotubes and clusters of Cs atoms intercalated inside the pores of the zeolite ITQ-4. We find that V₂O₅ nanotubes are built of double layers of V-O₅ and V-O₄ units. Inside the channels in ITQ-4 Cs atoms are found to assemble in short-range ordered zigzag chains.

Keywords:

• Structure determination
• X-ray diffraction
• Bragg peaks
• V2O5 nanotubes

Acknowledgements

The work was supported in part by NSF through grant DMR 0304391(NIRT). APS is supported by DOE under Contract W-31-109-Eng-38. NSLS is supported by DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886. The author thanks S.J.L. Billinge, M.G. Kanatzidis, J. Dye, P. Zavalij, T. Vogt and S. Shastri for the fruitful cooperation.