Irena, a tool suite for analysis of both X-ray and neutron small-angle scattering (SAS) data within the commercial Igor Pro application, brings together a comprehensive suite of tools useful for investigations in materials science, physics, chemistry, polymer science and other fields. In addition to Guinier and Porod fits, the suite combines a variety of advanced SAS data evaluation tools for the modeling of size distribution in the dilute limit using maximum entropy and other methods, dilute limit small-angle scattering from multiple noninteracting populations of scatterers, the pair-distance distribution function, a unified fit, the Debye-Bueche model, the reflectivity (X-ray and neutron) using Parratt's formalism, and small-angle diffraction. There are also a number of support tools, such as a data import/export tool supporting a broad sampling of common data formats, a data modification tool, a presentation-quality graphics tool optimized for small-angle scattering data, and a neutron and X-ray scattering contrast calculator. These tools are brought together into one suite with consistent interfaces and functionality. The suite allows robust automated note recording and saving of parameters during export.

It is easy to understand the self-assembly of particles with anisotropic shapes or interactions (for example, cobalt nanoparticles or proteins) into highly extended structures. However, there is no experimentally established strategy for creating a range of anisotropic structures from common spherical nanoparticles. We demonstrate that spherical nanoparticles uniformly grafted with macromolecules ('nanoparticle amphiphiles') robustly self-assemble into a variety of anisotropic superstructures when they are dispersed in the corresponding homopolymer matrix. Theory and simulations suggest that this self-assembly reflects a balance between the energy gain when particle cores approach and the entropy of distorting the grafted polymers. The effectively directional nature of the particle interactions is thus a many-body emergent property. Our experiments demonstrate that this approach to nanoparticle self-assembly enables considerable control for the creation of polymer nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical properties. Grafted nanoparticles are thus versatile building blocks for creating tunable and functional particle superstructures with significant practical applications.

Nika is an Igor Pro-based package for correction, calibration and reduction of two-dimensional area-detector data into one-dimensional data ('lineouts'). It is free (although the user needs a paid license for Igor Pro), open source and highly flexible. While typically used for small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data, it can also be used for grazing-incidence SAXS data, wide-angle diffraction data and even small-angle neutron scattering data. It has been widely available to the user community since about 2005, and it is currently used at the SAXS instruments of selected large-scale facilities as their main data reduction package. It is, however, also suitable for desktop instruments when the manufacturer's software is not available or appropriate. Since it is distributed as source code, it can be scrutinized, verified and modified by users to suit their needs.

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We critically explore the role of particle dispersion on the melt state mechanical properties of nanocomposites formed by mixing polystyrene homopolymers with polystyrene grafted silica nanoparticles. We selected this system since we previously showed that nanoparticle spatial distribution can be controlled through judicious choices of the brush and matrix parameters. Here we focus on the temporal evolution of the nanoparticle self-assembly dispersion state and its effect on mechanical reinforcement using rheology, electron microscopy, and the measurement of nanoscale particle dynamics using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Nanoscale and macroscopic experiments show that a composite with percolating sheets of particles displays "gel-like" or solid-like mechanical behavior at lower particle loadings than one with uniform particle dispersion. This conclusion allows us to conjecture that mechanical reinforcement is primarily controlled by interparticle interactions (including those facilitated by the grafted chains) and that the matrix plays a relatively minor role. This statement has far-reaching consequences on the design of polymer nanocomposites with desired properties.