Kategori: SIC

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SIC synchrotrons

Miguel presents his thesis project in a startup seminar

Miguel Kofoed, who started his PhD in Applied Physics in November, presented his plans for his thesis work in a seminar today. Miguel is part of the PRISMAS Graduate School, a national network coordinated by the MAX IV Laboratory and funded by the EU through an MSCA Cofund project. His project is a collaboration between MaU and MAX IV, where he will work on the integration of diffraction and scattering methods at the Balder beamline, with special focus on the diffraction anomalous fine structure (DAFS) technique. DAFS can give atomic-scale information about materials like catalysts and batteries during operation, and so should help us to improve these technologies. Welcome Miguel and best of luck!

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SIC synchrotrons

Electrocatalysis experiments at PETRA III

Dorotea, Harald and Lindsay were at the PETRA III synchrotron in Hamburg last week, making high-energy surface X-ray diffraction measurements on model electrocatalysts – simplified materials that should help us understand how to improve the performance of electrolyzers and fuel cells. The experiments were part of a collaboration with Prof. Gary Harlow from the Oregon Center for Electrochemistry at the University of Oregon (go Huskies!). The X-ray measurements were made at the Swedish Materials Science beamline P21. Also joining the experiment was Andrea Grespi, PhD student from Lund University.

View across the “Max von Laue” ring hall at the PETRA III synchrotron, Hamburg, Germany.
Samples were initially prepared at the DESY Nanolab (thanks Heshmat and colleagues!) before transferring to the synchrotron for measurements. Dorotea was in charge of this part of the experiment. Here she is moving the freshly-prepared sample (which you can’t see) through the ultra-high vacuum system.
The samples are very delicate, so we try to avoid exposure to too much air. Here’s the improvised solution for this experiment: a bag sealed around the entry door to the vacuum system. The bag is filled with dry nitrogen and the sample transferred into an airtight jar, which we can then take to a proper glove box to load into the electrochemistry cell.
After getting the sample loaded into the electrochemistry cell (the beige thing on the pedestal here with tubes coming out), this is mounted at the X-ray beamline for measurements. Here you see the setup almost ready; Gary is adjusting the camera we use to monitor the surface of the sample during measurements.
Gary and Harald watching as the X-ray diffraction data come in.
X-ray diffraction pattern from the sample, which is a material only a few atomic layers thick. The pattern of spots tells us about the atomic structure, and we can follow changes in real time while we change the conditions.
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SIC synchrotrons

Surface X-ray diffraction experiments at SOLEIL

Lindsay and Harald were at the SOLEIL synchrotron last week to perform measurements at the beamline SixS. They used X-rays to study the surface structure of an alloy of platinum with tin. The experiment was part of a collaboration with Lund University and the University of Bremen.

The X-ray diffraction instrument at SixS used to study surfaces in ultra-high vacuum.
The sample being heat-treated in the vacuum chamber. It’s the red-orange disc in the middle of the rectangular yellow-orange plate.
Surface X-ray diffraction signal. The vertical streak is called a ‘rod’, and is characteristic for X-ray scattering from two-dimensional structures.
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CMS SIC

Two new projects financed by the Swedish Research Council

Results from the Swedish Research Council’s annual call in Natural and Engineering Sciences came this week and two projects from the materials group will get funding: Pär Olsson’s project concerns degradation of plasma-facing materials used in fusion reactors, where the highly aggressive environment with e.g. high temperatures and high-energy neutron radiation leads to unique and difficult-to-predict changes in microstructure and mechanical properties. Lindsay Merte’s project concerns the atomic-scale structures of two-dimensional catalyst materials and how these structures are affected by exposure to gas and liquid environments during reactions. The projects each run for 4 years and are expected to finance new PhD students in the group. Congrats Pär and Lindsay!

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SIC synchrotrons

MAX IV Student Science Award to Harald

Harald Wallander won the Student Science Award at the annual MAX IV User’s Meeting. He presented his work looking at platinum-tin surface alloys with ambient-pressure XPS, based on experiments done at the HIPPIE beamline. Congrats Harald!

Harald presenting his work at the plenary session.
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