XRD vs.TEM Analysis

XRD stands for x-rays diffraction & TEM stands for transmission electron microscopy

The XRD and TEM are very closely techniques used to calculate the properties of nanomaterials such as crystal structure, crystallinity of the materials, impurities, size, shape, defects, and many more.

1. Both XRD and TEM uses the same diffraction (scattering) phenomena to explore the properties of the nanomaterials

2. A sample (nanomaterials) may appear amorphous to XRD, and a similar sample appears crystalline in the case of TEM.

Moreover, the XRD method could not resolve the issue of difficult crystal, and therefore, electron microscopy is required. Electron diffraction techniques such as TEM are usually complementary to powder XRD.

The XRD data can be confirmed with results obtained in TEM, and both techniques are complementary to each other.

The following are the key differences:

In XRD, x-rays are used as a probe , while in TEM, electrons used as probe

XRD only studies big crystals (micrometer-sized crystals) while TEM is able to study small crystals (nanometer range)

XRD is an indirect method, however, provides more reliable information from the statistical point of view. It is a bulk technique.

On the other hand, TEM is a direct method and observes the image, but sometimes particle boundaries can not always be seen precisely

In XRD, it is difficult to reveal defective crystals while, TEM or HRTEM reveal defective crystals

XRD generally provides good estimation for the average sample, whereas TEM allows to obtain local structure information

In TEM, ~10000 times stronger electron’s atomic scattering factor than x-rays in XRD make it suitable for electron diffraction to observe light atoms in the presence of much heavier atoms.

Working Principle:

Both XRD and TEM work on the same technique, i.e., scattering or diffraction. XRD uses x-rays while TEM uses electron