Experimental setup for in situ X-ray SAXS/WAXS/PDF studies of the formation and growth of nanoparticles in near- and supercritical fluids

The growing interest in inorganic nanoparticles for a wide range of applications is spurring a need for synthesis methods that allow a highly specific tailoring of material properties. Synthesis in supercritical fluids holds great promise for solving this problem, but so far the fundamental chemical processes taking place under these conditions are to a large extent unknown. Here the design, construction and application of a versatile experimental setup are reported; this setup enables in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering/wide-angle X-ray scattering/pair distribution function (SAXS/WAXS/PDF) studies of the formation and growth of nanoparticles under supercritical fluid conditions.