Researcher Materials Science Mineralogy

We investigate natural and synthetic nano­crystalline materials, which are often opti­mised for applications. We use electron diffraction measurements, which are analysed in detail to unravel structural details that are often inaccessible with classical approaches to material analysis. Examples include guest molecules in framework structures (e.g. zeolites), the refinement of the Al/Si distribution and the determination of the absolute structure of organic and inorganic crystalline samples. We develop electron crystallography and its methods with the goal to make it a valuable instrument for structural research by incorporating results from simulations into the analytical procedures.

Studied Materials
Micro- and nanocrystalline structures, minerals (mostly silicates), organic compounds, biogenic crystallites, modulated structures

Methods

In addition to classical X-ray diffraction methods we use the transmission electron microscope as electron diffractometer. With this advanced technique we investigate crystallites in the size range between 50 nm and 1 µm. For the analysis of the data, the dynamical scattering theory is taken into account, which is needed to meet the demanding structural challenges.