Think differently, or in some cases, look at the problem from an entirely new angle. An international research group from PETRA III synchrotron in Germany and MAX IV has developed a new method for the scanning lens-less imaging technique known as ptychography. The system is designed for various sample environments, in situ and in operando conditions, and is portable, enabling usage at different beamlines or synchrotrons.
A deeper view of catalysis
Catalytic materials are found across industry and in most production of household chemicals, fuels, and in the cleaning of vehicle exhaust. When trying to understand and optimise a process, all the attention is usually put towards the surface of the catalytic material. A recent study shows, however, that what happens in the layers under the surface may be even more essential.
Unique biomaterial found in a lizard
Researchers have found a biomaterial with surprising features in the skin of a lizard. The material is hard like enamel but is structured differently. Understanding the material on the nanoscale opens up new routes in designing for hard-wearing applications.
Essential closer look at nanosized drug carriers
Researchers have developed a protocol for studying how drug carrying nanoparticles called cubosomes behave in the body. The results show nanoparticle stability and confirm localisation in the cell. The study represents a significant step forward in the development of novel pharmaceuticals.
Research grants for structural biology at MicroMAX
User opportunities for studies of structural biology at the new X-ray crystallography beamline MicroMAX just got an upgrade. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is now offering funding for researchers affiliated with a Danish research institution to apply for grants for academic use of the beamline. The programme is called ‘MicroMAX Collaborative Research Grants.’
Inventive AI and robotic self-driving lab accelerates material discoveries
To find solutions to real-world challenges, researchers often need to do labour-intensive work that requires a time-consuming trial-and-error process. Developing a synthesis method for custom-made materials is one of them. The process can take years and is very hard to replicate. But what if technology could help solve this and accelerate the application of new functional materials? An international collaboration led by Andy Sode Anker from the Technical University of Denmark came to MAX IV and accomplished just that.
The great planetary reset: Mapping glass pearls
Their days were numbered, all manner of Cretaceous life in kingdom plantae and animalia. Those that survived the impact winter became our modern groups of terrestrial and aquatic plants, animals, and marine plankton. Scientists want to understand how the Chicxulub asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago changed the conditions for life on the planet and veiled the sun for so many years, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Secrets to this understanding are locked in the asteroid’s physical composition. An international research group has now produced a unique elemental map of the spherules formed by the asteroid impact, with data from MAX IV’s Balder and NanoMAX beamlines. The findings may better explain the aerosol cloud formation that catalysed extinction-level climate change.
Seventy times faster charging possible for Lithium-ion batteries
A research team from the Netherlands and the UK have used MAX IV to investigate a material that could make charging of lithium-ion batteries seventy times faster than today. It is a promising development for future electric vehicles and renewable energy.
A path to polymerize metallic hydrogen?
An international research group reports in Nature the observation of the phase transition of a hexagonal close-packed (HCP) crystal structure of hydrogen to a 6-fold larger hydrogen supercell. The findings describe polymerization activity at extreme pressures which reveals how atoms arrange themselves in solid hydrogen and offers clues to the formation of metallic hydrogen. The study includes X-ray diffraction (XRD) data from MAX IV’s NanoMAX beamline.
High-resolution imaging provides clues to lung disease
Researchers have imaged lung tissue affected by Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) with nanometre resolution. They managed to capture differences in the distribution of trace elements compared to a healthy lung. The result is a step towards better understanding the body at the nanoscale and managing this and other currently untreatable diseases.