X. B. Zengl, F. Liul, F. Xie\ G. Ungar\ C. Tschierske2, 1. E. Macdonald3I Department of Engineering Materials, Sheffield University, Sheffield Sl 3JD, United Kingdom2 Institute of Organic Chemistry, University Halle, Kurt-Mothes-Strasse 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, United Kingdom Some recent work carried out in our research group on complex structures found in polymers andsupramolecular systems, using Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering (SAXS and SANS) methods, are reviewed.These include, Combined SAXS and SANS study of superlattice structures in pure and mixed model polymers; Real-timeSANS study of transient phases during polymer crystallization; Columnar phases with polygonal cross-sections inT-shaped polyphilic compounds;Complex 3-d phases formed by packing spherical objects (e.g. micelles self-assembledfrom tree-like molecules), including the recently discovered liquid quasi-crystals which possess 12-fold rotationalsymmetry. Examples of powder, fibre or surface oriented, and single-domain diffractions will be given. Reconstructionof electron density maps as well as computer modelling are also applied to help solving various complex structures.Keywords: SAXS, SANS, GI-SAXS, supramolecules, liquid crystal
