Atomic-Scale Structure of Nanocrystals by High-Energy X-ray Diffraction and Atomic Pair Distribution Function Analysis: Study of FexPd100-x (x = 0, 26, 28, 48) Nanoparticles

Knowledge of the atomic-scale structure is an important prerequisite to understanding and predicting properties of materials. With bulk crystals it is routinely obtained by X-ray diffraction. With nanocrystals, however, traditional X-ray crystallography fails because of their substantially limited length of structural coherence. Here we illustrate, step by step, how a nontraditional approach involving high-energy X-ray diffraction and atomic pair distribution function analysis is applied to determine the atomic-scale structure of a typical nanocrystalline material Fe x Pd 100- x ( x = 0, 26, 28, 48) nanoparticles exhibiting useful magnetic properties.