Abstract：
Diffuse soft matter interfaces take many forms, from end-tethered polymer brushes or adsorbed surfactants to self-assembled layers of lipids. These interfaces play crucial roles across a multitude of fields, including materials science, biophysics, and nanotechnology. Understanding the nanostructure and properties of these interfaces is fundamental for optimising their performance and designing novel functional materials. In recent years, reflectometry techniques, in particular neutron reflectometry, have emerged as powerful tools for elucidating the intricate nanostructure of soft matter interfaces with remarkable precision and depth. This review provides an overview of selected recent developments in reflectometry and their applications for illuminating the nanostructure of diffuse interfaces. We explore various principles and methods of neutron and X-ray reflectometry, as well as ellipsometry, and discuss advances in their experimental setups and data analysis approaches. Improvements to experimental neutron reflectometry methods have enabled greater time resolution in kinetic measurements and elucidation of diffuse structure under shear or confinement, while innovation in analysis protocols has significantly reduced data processing times, facilitated co-refinement of reflectometry data from multiple instruments and provided greater-than-ever confidence in proposed structural models. Furthermore, we highlight some significant research findings enabled by these techniques, revealing the organisation, dynamics, and interfacial phenomena at the nanoscale. We also discuss future directions and potential advancements in reflectometry techniques. By shedding light on the nanostructure of diffuse interfaces, reflectometry techniques enable the rational design and tailoring of interfaces with enhanced properties and functionalities.
摘要：
弥漫性软物质界面有多种形式，从末端束缚的聚合物刷或吸附的表面活性剂到自组装的脂质层。这些接口在众多领域发挥着至关重要的作用，包括材料科学，生物物理学,和纳米技术。了解这些界面的纳米结构和特性对于优化其性能和设计新型功能材料至关重要。近年来,反射技术，特别是中子反射计，已成为强大的工具，可以以惊人的精度和深度阐明软物质界面的复杂纳米结构。这篇综述概述了反射计的最新发展及其在照射漫射界面纳米结构方面的应用。我们探索中子和X射线反射的各种原理和方法，以及椭圆光度法，并讨论其实验设置和数据分析方法的进展。对实验中子反射测量方法的改进使动力学测量和剪切或约束下的扩散结构的阐明具有更大的时间分辨率，虽然分析协议的创新大大减少了数据处理时间，促进了来自多个仪器的反射计数据的共同改进，并为拟议的结构模型提供了比以往任何时候都更大的信心。此外，我们强调了这些技术带来的一些重要的研究成果，揭示了组织，动力学,和纳米级的界面现象。我们还讨论了反射计技术的未来方向和潜在进步。通过在漫射界面的纳米结构上发光，反射技术能够合理设计和定制具有增强的属性和功能的接口。
