Characterization of Polymer Materials by Synchrotron Radiation Hard X-ray Scattering Technology: The Development and Application of in situ Instruments

The synchrotron radiation hard X-ray scattering technology is a powerful tool to characterize the crystalline and other ordered structures of polymer materials. For the high temporal and spatial resolutions, modern synchrotron radiation light sources own the powerful capability of real-time, in situ, dynamic and non-destructive characterization. Thus, it gives the synchrotron radiation hard X-ray scattering technology a huge advantage for the study of structural evolutions far away from the equilibrium during the processing and service of polymer materials. To give full play to this advantage, the reasonable design of in situ instruments and the control of sample environments during the in situ synchrotron radiation experiments are critical. In this review, we first introduce the whole procedures of in situ experiments through a specific research case, including the design of in situ synchrotron radiation experiments, the development of in situ instruments, operation skills and data processing. We hope that the detailed introduction can help the audiences establish a fundamental cognition of the in situ synchrotron radiation experiments. Finally, we select several representative polymer material systems and the corresponding sample environments, and briefly overview the applications of the synchrotron radiation hard X-ray scattering technology in studying the multi-scale structural evolutions of these polymers under complex processing fields. We believe that these applications would inspire the audiences to think and deepen their understanding on the synchrotron radiation in situ experiments by using in situ instruments. Undoubtedly, it is beneficial to further expand the applications of the synchrotron radiation hard X-ray scattering technology on the characterization of polymer materials.