Liquids Reflectometer
LIQREF | BL-4B | SNS
The Liquids Reflectometer (BL-4B) supports a range of in-situ and ex-situ sample environments for studying solid, liquid, and solid/liquid interfaces. Beamline staff can help configure or adapt these systems for a specific experiment; contact the instrument team to discuss requirements before you submit a proposal.
Liquid/Solid Cells
Temperature-controlled cells accommodate 2" and 3" diameter substrates for measurements at the solid/liquid interface, including tilted-cell geometries for free liquid surfaces, with sample heating up to 180 °C. Solvent exchange is performed in situ via syringe pumps and/or an HPLC pump.
Electrochemical Cell
A 2-channel Biologic VMP-300 potentiostat/galvanostat, provides electrochemical control for in-situ NR measurements during cycling — for example, tracking interfacial structure evolution in battery electrodes or corrosion layers under applied potential.
Langmuir Trough
A Biolin Langmuir trough, with interchangeable X-small, small, and medium trough sizes (36–163 mL volume), supports studies of monolayers and thin films at the air/water interface with barrier-controlled surface pressure.
Rheometer
An Anton Paar MCR 703 space saver rheometer allows simultaneous shear rheology and neutron reflectivity measurements, in plate/plate and cone/plate configurations for shear studies of complex fluids under flow.
High Voltage Chamber
Enables in-situ NR measurements of thin films under applied electric field, with voltages ranging from −10 kV to +10 kV and temperatures up to 140 °C, used for example to study field-induced reorientation of block copolymer microdomains.
Multi-Environment Chamber
Supports measurements under high vacuum (down to 10⁻⁸ torr) and inert atmosphere (up to 760 torr), with sample temperatures reaching 600 °C — suited to studies of thin film structure under controlled gas exposure or thermal treatment.
High Pressure Sample Cell
Reaches pressures from 0 to 50 MPa and temperatures from 25 to 200 °C, for NR studies of interfacial structure under elevated pressure conditions.
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