Advances in nanotechnology
Analysing and characterising nanoscale materials currently involves mainly destructive testing or surface based methods, which are limited to near surface inspection or 2D analysis. The NANOXCT (Compact X-ray computed tomography system for non destructive characterization of nano materials) initiative has developed a non-destructive method to analyse and characterise nanomaterials. Researchers applied a combination of X-ray computed tomography (CT) and K-edge absorptiometry for characterising the structure and the elemental decomposition of nanomaterials. The NANOXCT consortium developed a new X-ray source, detector and software for the system, and provided solutions for the required precision positioning of the components as well as the specimen during the scan,, which is of core relevance for nanoscale characterization. Furthermore, the consortium successfully implemented K-edge absorptiometry for elemental decomposition. This imaging method features a number of advantages over other imaging methods and didn't require additional hardware. The NANOXCT initiative showed that it is possible to analyse and identify features and defects of nanomaterials using the proposed methods. This advance will ultimately impact various fields using nanotechnology, such as nanoelectronics and nanorobotics.
Keywords
Nanomaterials, NANOXCT, X-ray computed tomography, non-destructive, absorptiometry
