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.
Controllable droplets carry promise for self-assembled nanodevices
Metal patterns printed on a III-V semiconductor material can control the appearance and positions of droplets arising on its surface when heated. The result is a significant step forward for controlled device fabrication on a chip.
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.
Bacterial biomass conversion for renewable fuels
Imagine this future. Vehicles and machinery primarily powered by renewable organic matter, a resource far better for the planet’s health than today’s predominate fossil fuels. What factors stand in the way for a global power transition to competitive, industrial-scale biomass conversion? A study in Nature Communications reveals one key piece of the puzzle using bacterial enzymes. At MAX IV’s BioMAX beamline, an international team of scientists has determined important rate-limiting steps of lignocellulose breakdown, a major hurdle in efficient biomass processing. The discovery holds promise for a significant reduction in manufacturing costs and faster adoption of new biomass-derived fuels to market.
Student engagement at MAX IV with MATRAC School
Forty-five university students recently got an exciting opportunity to visit MAX IV and PETRA III, attend lectures, and explore beamline technologies hands-on through the MATRAC I School. The educational programme, held in March this year, provides knowledge on the application of neutron and X-ray radiation in engineering materials science.
Fragment-based research on potent, non-covalent inflammatory drugs goes forward
Researchers’ collaborative efforts from Denmark and Germany used BioMAX beamline to discover selective, non-covalent inhibitors of Keap1– a common target against oxidative stress and inflammation. The result is a potent antithesis of the currently available drugs acting as covalent inhibitors.
New potential drug for type 2 diabetes treatment explored at MAX IV
The drug discovery company Implexion Pharma and researchers from Lund University have explored new potential drug candidates for type 2 diabetes using X-ray crystallography research techniques at MAX IV.