Nick Terrill
Non-Crystalline Diffraction
Nick Terrill is Principal Beamline Scientist on the Small Angle beamline I22. Prior to joining Diamond he was a Senior Beamline Scientist for the Materials Processing beamline, MPW 6.2, on the SRS at Daresbury. While there he carried out research into crystallisation and aggregation of mesoscopic materials including polymers and colloids using Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS).
Email: Nick Terrill
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778047
I22: Non-Crystalline Diffraction
Key research areas
Polymer and Colloid Science, Environmental Science, Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)
Current Research Interests
My scientific interests cover a range of subjects which could potentially benefit from investigation by Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) or one of its derivatives.
Thin films have become of great importance in new polymer technologies. Polymer surfaces and thin films have a wide range of applications, for example, packaging, barriers, membranes, sensors, and medical implants. Working with groups from Sheffield, Cambridge and Cardiff I am developing GI-SAXS (Grazing Incidence SAXS) as a dynamic tool to investigate polymer film formation.
I am also developing in-situ anomalous small-angle scattering (ASAXS) as a tool for materials scientists to obtain scattering information with chemical selectivity and with high time resolution. In collaboration with Dr Rudi Winter at Aberystwyth we will link this with the analogous concept in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cross polarisation, where chemical selectivity is extended to atomic species in immediate proximity. The two contrast variation techniques, ASAXS and CP-NMR, cover the whole length range from the atomic scale to grains of several hundred nanometres. We are hoping to demonstrate the use of contrast variation to understand the kinetics of sol-gel nucleation and growth, ion exchange in grain-matrix composites, and corrosion of refractory ceramics.
Finally, we are using SAXS to look at how the chemical environment affects the kinetics and shape of colloidal particles of iron. Iron is one of the most abundant elements found within soils and sediments and plays a major role in many biogeochemical processes, as both an electron donor and acceptor under different environmental conditions. The chemistry, mineralogy and mobility of iron within low-temperature environments, e.g. aquifers, are controlled strongly by redox conditions. I'm involved in a project to use SAXS to obtain quantitative data and then develop models for the kinetics and mechanisms for the environmentally significant materials "Green Rust" both for formation and oxidative transformation. ASAXS will also play a role in examining the contamination of colloidal iron particles by heavy metals and by what process the heavy metals are absorbed.
Selected Publications
- Davidson, L; Benning, LG; Shaw, S; Terrill, NJ, The effect of arsenic on the nucleation and growth of schwertmannite: An in situ SAXS study, GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, 2005, 69, A773
- Gilbert, EP; Nelson, A; Sutton, D; Terrill, N; Martin, C; Lal, J; Lang, E, Phase separation in the organic solid state: The influence of quenching protocol in unstable n-alkane blends, MOLECULAR CRYSTALS AND LIQUID CRYSTALS, 2005, 440, 93
- Arrighi, V; Holmes, PF; McEwen, IJ; Terrill, NJ; Qian, H, Nanophase-separated regions and side-chain relaxation in dialkyl itaconate copolymers, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY, 2004, 14, 3306
- Cernik, RJ; Barnes, P; Bushnell-Wye, G; Dent, AJ; Diakun, GP; Flaherty, JV; Greaves, GN; Heeley, EL; Helsby, W; Jacques, SDM; Kay, J; Rayment, T; Ryan, A; Tang, CC; Terrill, NJ, The new materials processing beamline at the SRS Daresbury, MPW6.2, JOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, 2004, 11, 163
- Olmsted, PD; Poon, WCK; McLeish, TCB; Terrill, NJ; Ryan, AJ, Spinodal-assisted crystallization in polymer melts, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 1998, 81, 373