X-Ray diffraction structure diagnostics of nanomaterials

The review concerns the development and applications of the X-ray diffraction method of the radial electron density distribution based on the integral analysis of X-ray diffraction in studies of nanomaterials, in particular, oxide supports for catalysts. The method provides information on the interatomic distances and coordination numbers in the structure and allows one to detect and estimate the size of nanostructures (phases) less than 3 nm in size, which cannot be detected by conventional powder X-ray diffraction analysis. The method is sensitive to the changes in the local structure measuring 1–3 unit cells; therefore, it is successfully used to identify various defects in nanoobjects of any chemical composition.