X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy as an in-situ Tool in Materials Science

In addition to being an established technique for ex-situ structural studies, x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has recently been realized to be a powerful tool for in-situ time-resolved investigations in materials science. This paper describes two complementary techniques: quick-scanning EXAFS (QEXAFS) and energy-dispersive XAS (DXAS) which offer time resolution in the seconds and milliseconds range, respectively. Formation of a heterogeneous catalyst from a solid-state reaction of a precursor is presented as an example of a time-resolved XAS application.