Millisecond dynamics of colloidal suspension studied by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility

• Published in: Nuclear science and techniques Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Cui, Chen-Hui, Zhou, Zi-Mu, Wei, Lin-Feng, Li, Song-Lin, Tian, Feng, Li, Xiu-Hong, Guo, Zhi, Xu, Yi-Hui, Jiang, Huai-Dong, Tai, Ren-Zhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 2024; Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 201800,China%Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 201800,China; School of Physical Science and Technology,ShanghaiTech University,Shanghai 201210,China; Center for Transformative Science,ShanghaiTech University,Shanghai 201210,China%Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility,Shanghai Advanced Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 201204,China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China%Center for Transformative Science,ShanghaiTech University,Shanghai 201210,China%Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility,Shanghai Advanced Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 201204,China%School of Physical Science and Technology,ShanghaiTech University,Shanghai 201210,China
• Subjects: Beam Physics; Nuclear Energy; Particle Acceleration and Detection; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Brownian motion; Silica suspension; Glycerol; XPCS; SSRF; Millisecond dynamics
• ISSN: 1001-8042; 2210-3147
• DOI: 10.1007/s41365-023-01358-1

X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) has emerged as a powerful tool for probing the nanoscale dynamics of soft condensed matter and strongly correlated materials owing to its high spatial resolution and penetration capabilities. This technique requires high brilliance and beam coherence, which are not directly available at modern synchrotron beamlines in China. To facilitate future XPCS experiments, we modified the optical setup of the newly commissioned BL10U1 USAXS beamline at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). Subsequently, we performed XPCS measurements on silica suspensions in glycerol, which were opaque owing to their high concentrations. Images were collected using a high frame rate area detector. A comprehensive analysis was performed, yielding correlation functions and several key dynamic parameters. All the results were consistent with the theory of Brownian motion and demonstrated the feasibility of XPCS at SSRF. Finally, by carefully optimizing the setup and analyzing the algorithms, we achieved a time resolution of 2 ms, which enabled the characterization of millisecond dynamics in opaque systems.