Neutron and X-ray scattering from aqueous solutions

Abstract

The total X-ray or neutron diffraction pattern from an aqueous solution containing a salt dissolved in water represents an average of all ten pair correlation functions for the system. As such, it is a complicated quantity and difficult to interpret in terms of the local order. Recently, however, the techniques of isotopic enrichment have been combined with neutron diffraction to isolate particular structural features. In this paper the complementary roles of X-ray and of neutron diffraction combined with isotopic substitution will be emphasized.