BCA: Non ambient condition

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The British Crystallographic Assn (BCA) Industrial Group held a workshop on controlled environments in June 2000 at Birkbeck College, chaired by D. Taylor (djtaylor@lineone.net) and J. Cockcroft (cockcroft@img.cryst.bbk.ac.uk). The workshop covered high and low temperature X-ray diffraction techniques (HTXRD), instrumentation and environment stages (M. Vickers); data handling (A. Jupe) and the use of synchrotron/neutron sources to study in-situ dynamic processes. The programme was presented via Microsoft PowerPoint and Internet web pages. Factors influencing the development of HTXRD were discussed, including sources and X-ray optics, solid state electronics detectors, and automation through computers. Reasons to employ the techniques are chemical (oxidation, reduction, corrosion, hydration, phase transitions, reaction kinetics) and physical (crystallite size, thermal expansion, strain, reorientation, heating and induction methods).
J. Kelly, BCA Newsletter, No. 75, December 2000