A comprehensive perspective study has been published by ICMAB-CSIC and ALBA researchers where they analyze the usefulness of current synchrotron-based techniques for the battery field. The study concludes that, rapid progress in the understanding of batteries at all scales is taking place, which should enable to improve battery performance in the not-so-far future.
Nanocatalysts are key for the future of sustainable chemistry, yet, they typically suffer from rapid deactivation caused by a process called sintering. In a recent study led by the ALBA Synchrotron and Ghent University, researchers have developed an integrated approach where they complement the use of several characterization techniques to study platinum nanoparticle sintering at the micro-, meso- and macroscale. The demonstrated approach shows that mesoscale heterogeneities in the nanoparticle population drive sintering. This work will help broaden the fundamental understanding of nanoparticle sintering and thus design better strategies for catalyst fabrication.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona managed to carry out a structural analysis of the FoxH1 protein in unprecedented detail. The study, with data obtained at the XALOC beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron, has revealed how this protein binds to different DNA sites in embryonic development and in tumors associated with high levels of gene expression. That shows its underlying potential for developing treatments against diseases related with this process.
An international collaboration has performed a novel study of the nature of magnetic spirals in Mn1.4PtSn at the MaReS endstation of BOREAS beamline. They have achieved a novel observation of a complex metastable magnetic phase of mixed character of both Bloch-type helix and Néel-type cycloid. These results have an underlying potential for future applications in spintronic technologies, such as MRAMs, and energy saving technologies.
Researchers from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and ALBA in collaboration with colleagues from IMDEA Nanoscience, CSIC, UAM and the Swiss Synchrotron SLS-PSI, have achieved a direct measurement of the Spin hall effect using element sensitive X-ray detection. The study, performed at the PEEM experimental station of the CIRCE beamline, holds great potential for the development of better, more efficient devices in the field of information technologies.
