What Is Nanoparticle Agglomeration? A single crystal grain or amorphous sphere obtained from synthesis is called a primary particle; when several primary particles touch and bind together into a larger unit, an agglomerate is formed. Agglomerates are usually divided into two classes according to the strength of the bonding: soft agglomerates are held together mainly by weak physical interactions s...
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How Does EDS Identify the Spectral Lines of Light Elements? Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is usually fitted to a scanning or a transmission electron microscope. An incident electron ejects an inner-shell electron from a sample atom; an outer electron then drops into the vacancy, and the energy difference between the two levels is emitted as a characteristic X-ray. A silicon drift dete...
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What Size Do XRD, SEM and TEM Actually Measure? X-ray diffraction (XRD) records how a crystal scatters X-rays, conventionally with the diffraction angle 2θ on the horizontal axis and diffracted intensity on the vertical axis. A periodic arrangement of atoms produces diffraction peaks, and the width of a peak is related to the distance over which that arrangement remains coherent. The coherent doma...
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