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Neutron Workshop on Biological and Soft Matter Science

Neutron Total Scattering for Disordered Macromolecules in Solution and Melt

Speaker

He Cheng , Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Time

13 May, 14:30 - 15:00

Abstract

Neutron Total Scattering now facilitate structural measurements that continuously cover the length scale from 0.01 angstrom to 10 nanometres. Because of the deuterium-labelling technique, neutron total scattering can get more scattering profiles with the same atomic structure for the same sample in reciprocal space. More precise atom-atom pair correlation functions can thereby be solved. Therefore, it has advantage in characterizing multi-scale structures in disordered macromolecules. When combined with deuterium-labelling techniques and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, neutron total scattering allows us to connect the most-probable all-atom positions with the macromolecule conformation. Recently, we are developing the new technique to study the most-probable all-atom structures in macromolecule dilute solution, melt and glasses. In the poly(N,N’-diethylacrylamide) ethanol-water dilute solution system, the resultant most-probable all atom structures enable us to clarify the origin of cononsolvency; in polystyrene melt and glass, the method give us a first static scattering picture of the dynamic nature of glass transition.