The Society offers a monthly series of Skills and Training events.
Register here for an upcoming event (21st April 2026): An introduction to Single Crystal X-ray and Electron diffraction techniques by Robert Bannister, Daniel Rainer and Peter Horton (UK National Crystallography Centre, University of Southampton).
Determining the atomic arrangement within crystalline materials is fundamental to understanding their properties and behaviour. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) has long been the gold standard for precise structure determination, offering detailed insights into symmetry and coordination environments. However, the main barrier to the use of SCXRD as a technique is the ability to grow suitably sized crystals of sufficient quality. Due to the significantly increased interaction between electrons and matter, when compared with X-rays, electron diffraction (3DED) allows us to study crystals magnitudes smaller than SCXRD experiments. This enables structure solution from nanocrystalline materials. Together, these methods provide a powerful set of techniques for resolving complex structures, but each comes with its own challenges in data collection, interpretation, and refinement. In this talk we will begin with discussing routine SCXRD experiments and then explore 3DED, in both instances looking at sample preparation, through data collection and into structure solution.
Recordings of some of the presentations will be posted here after the event. See the links below.