Research

Hierarchical materials show ordering on many length scales for an optimized functionality as illustrated on the example of bone. With tensor tomography the orientation of nanostructure in each subvolume or voxel is mapped over an extended macroscopic sample in three dimensions. Compared to standard computed tomography, where each sub volume, called voxel, contains a grey scale value, tensor tomography aims to reconstruct a tensor in each voxel.

In order to create hierarchical structures with a controlled architecture, flow-fields can be used to induce an alignment of nanostructures, as used in ink-based 3D printing or extrusion processes. We use microfluidic devices to simulate processes within the 3D printing nozzles and use optical birefringence and scanning small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to map the nanostructural arrangement in flow. 

Many biological tissue are hierarchical materials with structures spanning from meters down to atomic scales. Small- angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) imaging is in particular valuable for such heterogeneous samples. The SAXS patterns provide statistical information about the nanostructure in each scan point, thus this method is complementary to high-resolution imaging techniques, such as electron microscopy.

Investigating the micro- and nanostructure of polymer materials have been of interest in recent decades since it defines the functionality of the material. Understanding the structure is key to optimize material usage and to further increase the quality of the product.

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a bottom-up approach in which a part is manufactured layer by layer from a 3D computer model. In the SMAM group, we study the influence of the processing parameters on the microstructural evolution during the printing process. This is achieved by ultra-fast operando X-ray diffraction and radiography, combined with state-of-the-art post-processing characterisation techniques. 

The mechanical properties of materials are to a large extend determined by their microstructure. It is therefore crucial to understand how the microstructure evolves when the material is subjected to an external thermo-mechanical treatment. Over the past two decades various new tools have been developed to perform in situ mechanical testing at synchrotrons X-ray and neutron facilities.