Synchrotron Powder Diffraction at P02.1 at PETRA III: From Electron Density Distributions to in situ Total Scattering

The excellent photon beam quality provided at 3rd generation synchrotron sources opens up new opportunities in materials chemistry using X-ray powder diffraction. Techniques that cover the range from very detailed structure analysis to the observation of rapid structural changes during chemical reactions in real time have become viable. Recent experiments carried out at the High Resolution Powder Diffraction Beamline P02.1 at PETRA III (DESY) demonstrate how to effectively exploit the highly collimated, very intense X-rays of high energies for chemistry and materials science. Two studies are described in detail, which illustrate the outstanding performance of the instrument: the determination of charge density distributions from powder patterns, and atomic rearrangements followed in situ during the formation of metallic and oxide nanoparticles in solution.