GranuSAS: Software of rapid particle size distribution analysis from small angle scattering data

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ae37f4

Abstract Small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) is an advanced technique for characterizing the particle size distribution (PSD) of nanoparticles. However, the ill-posed nature of inverse problems in SAXS data analysis often reduces the accuracy of conventional methods. This article proposes a user-friendly software for PSD analysis, GranuSAS, which employs an algorithm that integrates truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD) with the Chahine method. This approach employs TSVD for data preprocessing, generating a set of initial solutions with noise suppression. A high-quality initial solution is subsequently selected via the $L$-curve method. This selected candidate solution is then iteratively refined by the Chahine algorithm, enforcing constraints such as non-negativity and improving physical interpretability. Most importantly, GranuSAS employs a parallel architecture that simultaneously yields inversion results from multiple shape models and, by evaluating the accuracy of each model's reconstructed scattering curve, offers a suggestion for model selection in material systems. To systematically validate the accuracy and efficiency of the software, verification was performed using both simulated and experimental datasets. The results demonstrate that the proposed software delivers both satisfactory accuracy and reliable computational efficiency. It provides an easy-to-use and reliable tool for researchers in materials science, helping them fully exploit the potential of SAXS in nanoparticle characterization.

Keywords: small angle x-ray scattering data analysis software particle size distribution inverse problem

Received: 30 September 2025
Revised: 09 January 2026
Accepted manuscript online: 14 January 2026

PACS:	78.70.Ck	(X-ray scattering)
	88.40.fc	(Modeling and analysis)
	75.50.Tt	(Fine-particle systems; nanocrystalline materials)
	02.30.Zz	(Inverse problems)

Fund: We thank Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Facility (RSoXS endstation, Jinhua beamline BL05UB, NSRL) for help in the scattering experiments. Project supported by the Project of the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2308085MA19), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA0410401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52202120), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2023YFA1609800), and USTC Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiative (Grant No. YD2310002013).

Corresponding Authors: Changda Wang, Xuechen Ji
E-mail: wchda@ustc.edu.cn;xjiao@ustc.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Qiaoyu Guo(郭桥雨), Fei Xie(谢飞), Xuefei Feng(冯雪飞), Zhe Sun(孙喆), Changda Wang(王昌达), and Xuechen Jiao(焦学琛) GranuSAS: Software of rapid particle size distribution analysis from small angle scattering data 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 027802

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GranuSAS: Software of rapid particle size distribution analysis from small angle scattering data

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