By growing superlattices consisting of ferroelectric and non-ferroelectric transition metal oxides and releasing them from their underlying substrates, researchers explore polarization patterns in curved geometries.
Deciphering corrosion resistance of superalloys
To develop longer-lasting metallic materials for harsh operating conditions requires understanding of their surface composition, structure and properties. A Swedish research group investigated the surface chemistry and thickness of the protective native oxide layer of nickel superalloys at MAX IV’s FlexPES beamline.
Understanding NUDT15: lessen the efficacy of HCMV treatment
Ganciclovir, a regular medicine used to treat human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections, was found less efficient when reacting to human’s NUDT15 enzyme — based on a recent BioMAX study. This finding gives further insight into pharmaceutical treatments’ efficacy in HCMV cases. Although being regarded as a common disease, HCMV infections might cause severe consequences for immunocompromised
Aarhus scientists investigate secrets behind mantis shrimp clubs at DanMAX
Mantis shrimp or stomatopods, intrigue humans due to their beauty but also fierce predatory behavior.
Strong coupling of thin ferromagnet to Manganese Gold compound yields successful antiferromagnetic read-out
Scientists demonstrated a strong coupling of very thin ferromagnetic permalloy layers to the antiferromagnetic spintronics compound Manganese Gold. This enabled them to apply well-established read-out methods commonly applied to ferromagnets in antiferromagnetic spintronics as well.
Using strain to control echoes in ultrafast optics
Researchers at MAX IV measured echoes produced by silicon crystals using the coherent X-ray based technique, tele-ptychography, at NanoMAX imaging beamline. Their findings reveal that strain can be used to tune the time delay of echoes, an important step for tailoring ultrafast X-ray optics.
Method to map catalyst structure and local gas environment simultaneously enables depiction of transitional surface structures
One of the key challenges in catalysis research is to understand how catalysts’ structure and function relate to each other. Regardless of the type of catalyst in question, structure and function are dynamic with a strong dependence on the localized reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, and gas composition just above the catalyst surface. Now, researchers developed a new event-averaging-based method employing time-resolved ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy to map catalyst structure and local gas environment simultaneously while reaction conditions change rapidly.
Identifying chemical content to increase the usefulness of solid waste ashes
Fortum Waste Solutions, Sysav, Eon, Stena and NOAH, in collaboration with Researchers from RISE and Chalmers, used beamline Balder to identify chemical species of copper and zinc in ashes that remain after burning solid waste. Not all forms of the metals in ashes pose the same risk to the environment. Therefore, more detailed knowledge can increase the possible uses of the ashes.
Honeycomb borophene: myth or reality?
Scientists examined whether honeycomb boron can function as a structural analogue 2D material to graphene. Employing core-level X-ray spectroscopies, scanning tunneling microscopy, and DFT calculations, they analyzed the structure and electronic properties of honeycomb boron after its reaction with aluminum. They found that although it resembles graphene in electronic structure to some extent, it fails to form a quasi-freestanding monolayer on aluminum. This lack of a freestanding state is a clear difference from the behavior of graphene or monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on lattice-mismatched metal surfaces.
Designing a Model Catalyst for Large-Scale Biofuel Production
The future of efficient biofuel production is within reach. With measurements from MAX IV’s SPECIES beamline, a group from Lund University and RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden, has successfully developed a model catalyst that, once tuned, holds the potential to significantly improve the treatment process for the large-scale manufacture of viable biofuels from lignin. Lignin is a plant polymer only secondary in abundance to cellulose in nature.