Structure solution of zeolites by automated electron diffraction tomography – Impact and treatment of preferential orientation

•Nano crystalline material structure determination limits X-ray powder diffraction.•Small grain size leads to peak broadening, preferred orientation to missing data.•Combining ADT and XRPD overcomes these limitations.

In this paper the reliability of structure solution of nano-crystalline porous compounds with preferred orientation based on automated electron diffraction tomography (ADT) is discussed. It will be shown that the limitations of the data acquisition geometry can be overcome by completing the missing diffraction data with additional diffraction information. Apart from different ways of sample preparation, data merging with either additional ADT data sets or intensities derived from X-ray powder diffraction comprise an effective way to improve the accuracy of the structure solution.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide