The CoWork webinar series is dedicated to the exploitation of the coherence properties of X-rays for advanced materials characterization, with a special focus on inverse microscopy techniques, such as Coherent Diffraction Imaging (CDI), Ptychography and Holography. It is an introduction to Coherent X-ray imaging methods to facilitate the access to advanced microscopy techniques to new users and it welcomes all researchers intrigued by the spectacular coherence properties of X-rays produced at modern synchrotron sources – of which MAX IV is a first example.
When: Thursday June 17, 15.30 - 16.30
Speaker: Antara Pal, Lund University, Sweden
Title: XPCS: A powerful technique to study the dynamics on colloidal length scale
Bio:
Antara’s research interests lie within the broad field of self-assembly and dynamics of experimental soft condensed matter, with a particular focus on amphiphilic and colloidal systems. She started her research career as a doctoral student at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India and obtained her Ph.D. in Physics. The main emphasis of her doctoral research was to investigate the influence of strongly bound counterions and adsorbed polymers on the different self-assembled structures formed by ionic amphiphiles using Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and optical microscopy techniques. Her focus of research shifted to colloidal science when she moved to the Department of Physical and Colloidal Chemistry (FCC) at Utrecht University, Netherlands as a post-doctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Willem Kegel and Dr. Andrei Petukhov. At FCC she developed her expertise in investigating the self-assembly of (an)isotropic colloids using the synchrotron-based (Ultra) SAXS technique.
Since 2015, she is working as a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Peter Schurtenberger at the Division of Physical Chemistry at Lund University, Sweden. Using different scattering techniques such as SAXS, X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS), Dynamic Light Scattering, Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), and microscopy techniques such as Differential Dynamic microscopy and confocal microscopy, she is currently exploring the interplay of self-assembled structures and dynamics of (an)isotropic colloids.
Abstract:
Self-assembly and dynamics on colloidal length scale in systems that are approaching an ordered or kinetically arrested state are ubiquitous in nature. These can be encountered in diverse areas of natural sciences such as cell biology, materials, and food science as well as in nanotechnology. Despite its importance, the dynamics of colloids with anisotropic interactions in dense suspensions is largely an unexplored area. Although the dynamic phenomena such as the glass transition and dynamical arrest or jamming have seen a surge of interest in recent years, a majority of the published work concentrates only on spherical colloids. This is at least partly due to the fact that many colloidal systems are difficult to study with classical methods such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) or confocal microscopy due to the combination of strong scattering and absorption in the visible range of the spectrum. In recent times, synchrotron-based multispeckle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) using coherent X-rays has emerged as an alternative technique to study dynamics in soft matter systems like colloids, polymers, gels, and supercooled liquids. Though the basic principle of XPCS is analogous to that of DLS, the use of X-rays instead of visible light makes it more suitable to circumvent problems related to multiple scattering and absorption that are often encountered in DLS when opaque systems like inorganic colloids are being investigated. In this seminar, I will give an overview of the colloidal dynamics studied by XPCS. In particular, I will be focussing on our efforts to understand the relation between self-assembled structure and dynamics of different colloidal systems in equilibrium and out of equilibrium conditions investigated using XPCS.
Webinar moderators
Members of the organising group.
Please contact either gerardina.carbone@maxiv.lu.se or asa.grunning@linxs.lu.se for any questions.
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