A cloudy route for shipping in the Arctic

The melting of polar ice due to climate change will open global shipping routes through the Arctic in summer by mid-century, according to experts. More ships in the remote area means greater pollution impacts on the marine ecosystem. What will these impacts look like? In a first commissioning experiment at MAX IV’s SoftiMAX beamline, Swedish researchers analysed the cloud-forming abilities of particle exhaust from ships using low-sulphate fuels as well as high-sulphate fuels conditioned with wet scrubbers. Their findings indicate the fuel types produce different, but unintended effects on particle emissions and therefore, our atmosphere.

Combination of techniques for effective pharmaceutical formulation 

The environment in your gastrointestinal tract affects the properties and effectiveness of medicines. Researchers have used MAX IV to investigate a technique for studying these changes. They found that the structural properties of the anti-inflammatory drug Indomethacin changed in the presence of common biomolecules.

ForMAX beamline celebrates 1 year in operations

November 1 marks one year since ForMAX beamline officially opened for user experiments. Congratulations to ForMAX and everyone involved in making ForMAX possible! It has been one exciting first year.

Honeycomb silicon carbide: a research surprise

While physicists and materials scientists have been trying to produce large-area, two-dimensional, high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) for some time with little to no success, a recent study at Bloch beamline made an unexpected breakthrough.

Size of support particles is key to catalytic converter efficiency

In a study conducted at MAX IV and other European synchrotrons, researchers from the Netherlands and Belgium show that the catalytic activity of highly distributed palladium depends on the size of the cerium dioxide support particles. Optimising particle size can lead to a more effective conversion of toxic carbon monoxide exhaust even in challenging cold start conditions. The study was published in the journal SCIENCE. 

ReMade@ARI Call for Proposals

Are you motivated to develop materials for a circular economy? Do you have an innovative scientific idea, potentially even with an industrial impact? The ReMade project is committed to supporting the development of innovative, sustainable materials by providing scientists with analytical tools to explore the properties and structure of materials right down to atomic resolution.

X-ray eyes on artifact from shipwreck Gribshunden

When history meets present-day science fascinating things reveal themselves. In such a case, a sample of chain mail from the 15th century Danish flagship, Gribshunden, was recently analysed at MAX IV’s NanoMAX beamline. Researchers from Lund University want to know more about the structural and chemical makeup of the metal to give us a window into Sweden’s past.