Progress in technology and methodology

Scattering studies have, however, a fundamental drawback. Unlike microscopic studies, in this case the information concerning the nanostructure is not suggestive. Scattering patterns dwell in the reciprocal space. In order to draw conclusions concerning the physical space, inversion is necessary either by 

Published papers indicate the rapid progress of radiation sources, but also a considerable backlog as far as the advance of data analysis in the field of polymer nanostructure studies by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is concerned. In several fields of materials science, the importance of method developments has been early recognized and supported. For instance, the great success of protein crystallography is mainly based on the development and standardization of methods for the evaluation of synchrotron radiation data [10], which evidenced an unparalleled precision in crystal structure studies. A similar awareness is still insufficient in the field of polymer materials science. 

This chapter aims not only at the illustration of X-ray methods, which may be suitable for the investigation of a special class of TPEs, but also at drawing the reader s attention to the perspectives of an advanced analysis of scattering data. 

In this chapter, a poly(ether ester) (PEE) synthesized in the laboratory of Fakirov and characterized elsewhere [11], as well as a commercial material (Arnitel by DSM) are denoted by two numbers, e.g., PEE 1000/43. The first number indicates the molecular mass of the soft blocks, while the second one gives their weight fraction (in percent). 

The poly(ether amides) (commercial PEBAX by Elf Atochem) are listed in Table 1. 

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