Neither Sphere nor Cube - Analyzing the Particle Shape Using Small-Angle Scattering and the Superball Model
Abstract
Accurate characterization of the nanocrystal shape with high statistical relevance is essential for exploiting the strongly shapedependent properties of cuboidal nanoparticles toward applications. This work presents the development of a new small-angle scattering form factor based on the superball geometry.
The superball quantifies the characteristic rounding of corners and edges of cuboidal nanoparticles with a single parameter. Applied to small-angle scattering data of sufficiently monodisperse nanoparticles, the superball form factor enables differentiation between the effects of extended particle size distribution and irregular particle shape.
The quantitative application of the superball form factor is validated against microscopy data for a series of monodisperse nanoparticles and implemented into the user-friendly, open-source software Sasview.