Chapter 4: Structure-property correlations of inorganic nanomaterials by different X-ray related techniques

Substantial development in the nanoscience and nanotechnology has been evinced in the last few years due to the availability of sophisticated physical methods to characterize nanomaterials. Among the various physical techniques, X-ray related characterizations are superior for the understanding of the crystal structure, size, shape, composition and electronic structure of inorganic nanomaterials. These techniques include X-ray diffraction, small angle X-ray scattering, X-ray reflectivity, pair distribution function analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and others. Characterization of the nanomaterials includes not only the determination of size and shape but also the atomic and electronic structures as well as other important properties. In this article we describe some of the important X-ray related methods employed for characterization of nanostructures. In order to provide a feeling for the use of these methods, a few case studies are given.