Scientific highlights from QUOKKA, 40m pinhole small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument

QUOKKA is the 40 m pinhole SANS instrument located at the OPAL reactor in Australia, serving the growing needs of both domestic and international users [1, 2]. Calibrated absolute scattering intensity measurements may be made over a standard range of scattering vectors, q (4 x 10-3 Å-1 < q < 0.7 Å-1) using 5 Å wavelength. This range can be further extended to low q of 4 x 10-3 Å -1 using focusing optics with 8.1 Å. In the sample position Quokka supplies the user community with a range of measurement environments both standard and unique in the small angle scattering community. Some of these sample environments are, a Rapid Heat Quench Cell enabling a sample to be studied in situ following a thermal shock (-120 ºC to 220ºC) [3]; The neutron Rapid Visco Analyser (nRVA) [4] enables SANS to be measured simultaneously with viscosity via an RVA– an instrument widely used within the food industry; In-situ Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) [5]; A stopped flow cell, and a RheoSANS. In 2016, over 220 days of user experiments were run on QUOKKA. Outputs from QUOKKA have been published that cover such diverse fields as magnetism, structural biology, mineralogy, polymers, food science and soft matter [6]. We present here a selection of recent scientific highlights.

Keywords

OPAL Reactor, Australia, Small angle scattering, Wavelengths, Optics, Thermal shock, Viscosity, Calorimetry

Citation

Mata, J., Wood, K., Wu, C.-M., Garvey, C. J., & Gilbert, E. P. (2017). Scientific highlights from QUOKKA, 40m pinhole small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument. Paper presented at ICNS 2017 (International Conference on Neutron Scattering), Daejeon, South Korea, 9 to 13 July 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.icns2017.org/program.php

URI

http://www.icns2017.org/program.php
https://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/11375

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