Last week, we discussed identifying and characterizing local structures in amorphous phases using total scattering. For those that joined, and especially those that missed it, the recording is available. Share with you colleagues, and let us know what topics would interest you most!

Identification & characterization of amorphous phases via total scattering

YouTube video by Momentum Transfer

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Super interesting, will try to join! Also, "bad metal" sounds like a new sub-genre that we should be listening to.

STOE News@stoenews.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🚨 Final STOE User Talk of the 2025/2026 season! 📅 Mar 19 | 3 PM CET 🎤 Prof. Constantin Hoch What can bad metals teach us about powder diffraction? Join us for insights from amalgam model systems and a comparison of synchrotron vs. in-house data. 👉https://stoe.clickmeeting.com/hoch/register

𝗪𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵-𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 for phase ID from XRPD, available on app.momentum-transfer.com   • Free   • Easy to use   • No installation   • Seamlessly connects with data measured by us at the ESRF In case you missed our webinar, we posted the tutorial video showing how to use it.

Crystal phase identification for minerals & advanced materials: search-match on the web

YouTube video by Momentum Transfer

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DAMN that's cool, great work!

James Le Houx@thebeamline.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Enceladus (Saturn's 6th largest moon) vents its subsurface ocean into space. In our latest preprint, we used synchrotron X-ray CT and diffraction to map the rapid freezing of Enceladean brines as they are ejected through tectonic plumes. doi.org/10.21203/rs.... 1/4

This is fantastic, hope to see a wide adoption! We also hope to see more standardized characterization community-wide, with X-ray diffraction measurements to higher angles, good signal-to-noise, and proper plotting of the low intensity regions for phase verification.

The Cheungsters@thecheungsters.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Our work on "Material Preparation Information File (MPIF)" is now published in Advanced Materials. Please share this with all your colleagues! Thank you to COST Action EU4MOFs and all co-authors! #Chemistry #MOF #synthesis #NobelPrize #COF #research #DataScience doi.org/10.1002/adma...

We're very grateful for support from @oscarsproject.bsky.social helping us build an open database for high quality XRPD and PDF patterns. We've collected a huge amount of data over the last year, which has also contributed to our users' research. We'll be launching the database later this year.

Screening 3d metals for A-site solid solution in MAX phases. These is a really nice demonstration of the benefits of screening over a large chemical/parameters space with high-throughput diffraction measurements for materials discovery & property optimization.

Screening of 3d metals as A-elements in MAX phase Nb2SnC and their effects on the magnetic properties of the solid solutions of Nb2(Sn1−xAx)C

The chemical versatility of MAX phases has increased almost exponentially over the last two decades, especially because of the synthesis/discovery of new solid solution phases. Many elements challenge...

pubs.rsc.org

For those interested in quantitative modeling of microstructure, atomic structure, and local correlated motion: this is a comprehensive example on iron–chromium alloy and a possible reference standard for line profile analysis of nanomaterials! journals.iucr.org/j/issues/202...

A reference material for X-ray diffraction line profile analysis

A nanocrystalline Fe–1.8%Cr steel powder is proposed as a reference material for testing different powder diffraction instruments and configurations, as well as different data-analysis methodologies.

journals.iucr.org

Don't forget that on Thursday 2pm CET, we are hosting a short webinar to present our new search match tool for phase identification using XRPD. The tool will be online (no download) and free to use on app.momentum-transfer.com Register for the webinar here: my.demio.com/ref/MXHJ3rGX...

Two very cool mechanisms for generating porous microstructures, and those are some really spiffy diffraction patterns used for the phase ID ;) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Microstructure design of insulating ceramic refractories via Kirkendall effect and dealloying-inspired selective volatilization

This work explored novel strategies for producing refractory ceramics with controlled microstructures for high-temperature insulation. The first focus…

sciencedirect.com

Missed the Deadline? Snow Problem! We've extended abstract submissions to February 22, 2026. One more week to get your research into IUCr2026. No registration required to submit. Papers first, logistics later. 📅 New deadline: Feb 22 👉 Submit now: event.fourwaves.com/...

The National Crystallization Center is offering a 2 day macromolecular crystallization workshop at its Buffalo NY facility - The workshop is designed to immerse you in crystal growth methods to jumpstart your structural biology efforts - Learn More zurl.co/zGs0c

Another recent webinar to share -- a primer on the topic of getting started with total scattering and pair distribution function analysis. Share with you students and colleagues looking to expand their toolbox for structure analysis. youtu.be/BuS5xX24Z5s

Getting started with pair distribution function analysis

YouTube video by Momentum Transfer

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We recently started some webinars to discuss total scattering applications in catalysis and how to get started with pair distribution function analysis. In case anybody is interested, we recorded the sessions and you can check them out too.

Here is a fascinating article from our partners at the Spallation Neutron Source Science Center in China: H et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2025, 17, 16, 24220–24228 on null matrix alloys --- specialized high entropy alloys designed to produce no peaks in neutron diffraction!

High-Entropy V-Based Null Matrix Alloys─Short/Long-Range Structural Features, Chemical Stabilities, and Mechanical Properties

Null matrix alloys are special types of alloys with no peaks in the neutron diffraction patterns. These types of materials have tremendous applications in the neutron scattering community as main components for manufacturing advanced reaction vessels for in situ measurements. In the literature, null matrix alloys are often reported to be composed of two different elements/isotopes. In other words, null matrix alloys with more than two elements/isotopes have never been reported. One main reason was the limited solubility of dopants in the parent phases. As such, their physical/chemical properties could not be easily modified through the conventional doping strategies. For the first time, a new family of high-entropy V-based (HEV) alloys, composed of more than five elements, were developed using a two-step arc-melting method. The six investigated samples included V0.939Nb0.010Ta0.011Al0.020Fe0.008Sn0.012 (HEV1), V0.941Nb0.010Ta0.011Al0.020Fe0.008Mo0.011 (HEV2), V0.937Nb0.010Ta0.011Al0.020Sn0.012Mo0.011 (HEV3), V0.949Nb0.010Ta0.011Fe0.008Sn0.012Mo0.011 (HEV4), V0.939Nb0.010Al0.020Fe0.008Sn0.012Mo0.011 (HEV5), and V0.939Ta0.011Al0.020Fe0.008Sn0.012Mo0.011 (HEV6). All six HEV alloys did not show any diffraction peaks in the neutron diffraction patterns. The dopants were found to be homogeneously distributed over the 2a sites of the Im3̅m structure of V by the Rietveld refinement on high-resolution X-ray diffraction data. X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) ruled out the possibility of chemical ordering or clustering in the investigated samples. Based on the chemical oxidation analysis of O2 at high temperatures, the HEV alloys are found to be more resistant than that the binary V-based alloys. Among the investigated HEV alloys, HEV4 was found to have the highest engineering yield strength. This work provides an important guideline of designing complex null matrix alloys/materials with novel properties.

doi.org

We're proud to provide data for scientists all over the world, and want to highlight publications from our users. Check out this recent article on site selectivity and clustering in a high entropy oxide by Masina et al. Inorg. Chem. 2026, 65, 4, 2410–2418.

Revealing Site Selectivity and Clustering in the Compositionally Complex (Cr,Mn,Fe,Mg,Ni)3O4

Cubic spinel high-entropy oxides are compositionally complex, multifunctional materials that continue to garner incredible research interest. They offer tunable magnetic properties, enhanced catalytic...

doi.org

Ok, last post for now. You may be interested in phase identification using X-ray diffraction. We are launching a new web based search match tool that is free to use on our platform. We're hosting a webinar to provide a demonstration next Thursday 2pm CET. You can register here:

Crystal phase identification for minerals & advanced materials: search-match on the web

Learn how to see what's really in your samples

my.demio.com

If you want to learn more about us, you can check out a recent episode of the Materialism podcast where we sat down with host Prof. Taylor Sparks to discuss our service, current projects, and future applications. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRvA...

Episode 114: Synchrotron XRD on Demand

YouTube video by Taylor Sparks

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Many of you may know that we're a service for rapid access synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction measurements & advanced structure analysis. For those that do not know us, or have not worked with us yet, you can measure five samples for free the first time. Register below:

Last year, we hosted our first International Workshop on Powder Diffraction with a group of fantastic instructors in Bari. For current and new practitioners of X-ray powder diffraction and pair distribution function analysis, we have posted the lecture video series online. Check it out!

1 Rizzi Theoretical Concepts - Powder XRD: Theoretical Basic Concepts | IWPD 2025

YouTube video by Momentum Transfer

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Hello everyone. We heard there's a great materials science community on bluesky, so we've entered the arena. We'll be primarily posting educational content on X-ray scattering, synchrotron access, and about measurement opportunities and releases of data analysis tools for the community.