Disposable Polymer Sample Holder for X-ray Diffraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current x-ray scattering and diffraction techniques face challenges with expensive, fragile, and difficult-to-clean glass or quartz capillaries, which hinder the analysis of samples, especially in liquid phases, due to breakage, contamination risks, and complex sample recovery.
Innovation Solution
A sample holding device utilizing polymer, polymeric, cellulose, or cellulosic materials for receptacles that are inexpensive, easy to manufacture, and disposable, allowing for reliable sealing and sample recovery without contamination, using materials with low melting points for heat sealing and flexible designs for easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If glass or quartz capillaries are used for sample containment, then sample sealing and beam transmission are achieved, but the device becomes expensive, fragile, and difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable polymer capillaries that are inexpensive and can be discarded after single use, eliminating the need for costly glass or quartz capillaries and their associated cleaning and maintenance requirements. The polymer capillaries are designed to be used once and then disposed of, ensuring no contamination between samples while maintaining low device cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from glass/quartz to polymer, which fundamentally alters the properties: polymers are flexible rather than fragile, have lower melting points enabling heat sealing, and are inherently disposable. This material substitution resolves the contradiction by providing reliable sealing through heat fusion while eliminating the fragility and high cost of traditional capillaries.
2Reliability
If glass or quartz capillaries are used, then sample containment is achieved, but sample recovery becomes complex or impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible polymer capillaries that can be easily cut or opened to retrieve samples. The flexibility and cutability of polymer materials allow researchers to simply cut the capillary and remove the sample, whereas glass or quartz capillaries require complex breaking procedures that risk sample loss or contamination.
3Reliability
If heat sealing is applied to glass or quartz capillaries, then sample containment is achieved, but the high heat damages or degrades sample materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material from glass/quartz to polymer, which has a much lower melting point. This allows heat sealing to be performed at temperatures that do not damage or degrade temperature-sensitive samples, while still achieving reliable containment through the polymer's thermal sealing capability.
4Reliability
If glass or quartz capillaries are used, then beam transmission is achieved, but contamination of subsequent samples occurs due to incomplete cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable polymer capillaries that are discarded after single use, completely eliminating cross-contamination between samples. Each new sample is analyzed in a fresh, uncontaminated capillary, ensuring no residual samples or cleaning agents affect subsequent measurements while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables cost-effective, robust, and contamination-free x-ray scattering and diffraction testing by providing a disposable sample holder that can withstand vacuum conditions and facilitate sample recovery, improving the viability of beam scattering and diffraction techniques across a wider range of applications.
Implementation Method 1
The polymer, cellulose, polymeric, or cellulosic sample receptacles can be easily mass-produced so that researchers may dispose of the sample receptacle after a single use. The polymer, cellulose, polymeric, or cellulosic sample receptacles are much less expensive and do not easily shatter like quartz or glass tubes.
Implementation Method 2
Beam scattering and diffraction involve the use of an energy source that produces a beam, usually of x-rays. The beam is passed through a sample, which is entrained in a receptacle. The beam is diffracted in the sample, and then continues on to a detector which reads the scattered or diffracted beam.
Implementation Method 3
When the sample consists of spatially correlated or ordered particles, such as atoms or molecules, the interaction of light or a beam with said sample is called diffraction.
Data Source
AI summary
A sample holding device and related method designed to facilitate inexpensive and reliable testing of materials or specimens with beam diffraction and scattering techniques. The device features a sample receptacle that is made out of a polymer, cellulose, polymeric material, or cellulosic material. The flexible nature and low melting point of the sample receptacle allows for reliable sealing against the vacuum or gaseous environment used for beam diffraction or scattering analysis. The sample holding device can be considered disposable because of its low cost, eliminating the need for complex or unreliable cleaning procedures.