Applications of Soft X-ray Spectromicroscopy in Material and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

In soft X-ray spectromicroscopy, significant advances were made during last few decades, as a result of improvements in X-ray optics and greater availability of third-generation synchrotron sources. These advancements made this spectromicroscopic technique as one of the important analytical tools in several scientific disciplines (e.g., environmental and material sciences), since nanometer-scale chemical information under in situ conditions, which has not previously been available from other tools, can be obtained using this technique. Therefore, an increasing number of applications for imaging and quantification of chemically distinct components in a wide range of specimens, such as fully hydrated environmental and biological specimens, polymer composite materials with nanostructures, and novel nanomaterials is being reported. In this review, recent developments and applications of soft X-ray spectromicroscopy, with focus on scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), are described. Brief descriptions of the basic principles and generic instrumental setups of soft X-ray spectromicroscopy will be followed by various recent application examples of soft X-ray spectromicroscopy in material science, environmental science, etc., where knowledge of the heterogeneous distributions of chemical species and elemental compositions is considered important in understanding and explaining phenomena in each scientific disciplines.