ALBA – Page 2 – Lightsources.org

“Vortion”, a new magnetic state able to mimic neuronal synapses

2025/03/042025/03/06

Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have managed to experimentally develop a new magnetic state: a magneto-ionic vortex or “vortion”. The research, published in Nature Communications, allows for an unprecedented level of control of magnetic properties at the nanoscale and at room temperature, and opens new horizons for the development of advanced magnetic devices. Controlling this state paves the way for the creation of more intelligent, reconfigurable and energy-efficient devices that mimic the brain.

The use of Big Data has multiplied the energy demand in information technologies. Generally, to store information, systems utilize electric currents to write data, which dissipates power by heating the devices. Controlling magnetic memories with voltage, instead of electric currents, can minimise this energy expenditure. One way to achieve this is by using magneto-ionic materials, which allow for the manipulation of their magnetic properties by adding or removing ions through changes in the polarity of the applied voltage.

So far, most studies in this area have focused on continuous films, rather than on controlling properties at the nanometric scale in discrete “bits”, essential for high-density data storage. Moreover, it is known that new magnetic phenomena can emerge at the sub-micrometre scale, that do not exist at the macroscopic level, such as magnetic vortices – small swirl-like magnetic structures. These vortices have applications in the way magnetic data are currently recorded and read, as well as in biomedicine. Nevertheless, changing the vortex state in already prepared materials is often impossible or requires large amounts of energy.

Researchers from the UAB Department of Physics, in collaboration with scientists from the ICMAB-CSIC, the ALBA Synchrotron and research institutions in Italy and the United States, propose a new solution that combines magneto-ionics and magnetic vortices. Researchers experimentally developed a new magnetic state that they have named magneto-ionic vortex, or “vortion”. This new object allows “on-demand” control of the magnetic properties of a nanodot (a dot of nanometric dimensions) with high precision. This is achieved by extracting nitrogen ions through the application of voltage, thus allowing for efficient control with very low energy consumption.

Measurements at the ALBA Synchrotron were carried out at the CIRCE-PEEM beamline, whose technique provides an excellent method to confirm the envisaged spin configurations of the vortion state.

These spin configurations and the magnetic properties of the vortices vary as a function of the duration of the applied voltage. Thus, different magnetic states (e.g., vortices with different properties or states with uniform magnetic orientation) can be generated from nanodots of an initially non-magnetic material by the gradual extraction of ions through the application of voltage.

Researchers have shown that by precisely controlling the thickness of the voltage-generated magnetic layer, the magnetic state of the material can be varied at will, in a controlled and reversible manner, between a non-magnetic state, a state with a uniform magnetic orientation (such as that found in a magnet), and the new magneto-ionic vortex state.

Image: Jordi Sort and Irena Spasojević at the UAB, next to the Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) magnetometer that was used for in-situ measurements described in the work.

Improved stability of gold nanoparticles for cancer therapy

2025/01/272025/01/30

A study carried out by researchers from POLYMAT-University of the Basque Country, INIFTA-Universidad Nacional de la Plata and the ALBA Synchrotron has made promising advances in the stabilization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for use in cancer therapy. The work, published in the scientific journal Small, describes the synthesis of anisotropic hybrid particles of gold nanoparticles and nanogel, which overcome the challenges that have held back the clinical application of AuNPs, while maintaining their optical properties for the first time.

Gold nanoparticles are considered a powerful tool in photothermal cancer treatment due to their ability to convert light into heat, which is concentrated on tumor cells to destroy them. However, research has shown that unprotected anisotropic gold nanoparticles are prone to to undergo evaporation and condensation processes that result in the loss of their photothermal properties during the duration of the irradiation treatment. A new study, published in the scientific journal Small, presents a novel approach for stabilizing these particles while preserving their critical optical characteristics and, therefore, with the potential to improve the efficacy of cancer therapies.

Anisotropic gold nanoparticles are non-spherical photothermal particles that can be designed for thermal conversion by near-infrared irradiation, which is particularly advantageous in medical applications because of their high penetration depth in biological tissues and low toxicity to normal cells. However, their structural instability precludes prolonged therapeutic use. For this reason, previous studies have attempted to coat gold nanoparticles in gels such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). Yet, while these coatings improved stability, they also altered the unique shape and optical properties of the gold nanoparticles, significantly reducing their photothermal efficacy.

In this new study, researchers from POLYMAT-University of the Basque Country, INIFTA-La Plata National University, and the ALBA Synchrotron, devised a one-pot synthesis method that stabilizes anisotropic gold nanoparticles by coating them in an ultra thin, in situ polymeric nanogel. Using polyacrylamide (pAA) and poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM), the team achieved nanogel shells between 2–8 nanometers thick around each individual gold nanoparticle. This ultra thin coating preserved the nanoparticles’ dimensions and shape, ensuring that their unique optical and photothermal properties were unaffected. Notably, rod-shaped and star-shaped nanoparticles retained their structural integrity and optical characteristics, with rod-shaped hybrids showing particularly promising stability and efficiency for photothermal applications. The researchers also found that pNIPAM coatings offered the best protection for the nanoparticles, while pAA coatings exhibited optimal photothermal conversion efficiency.

ALBA participates in CiSMA project to produce 100% recycled steel

2025/01/102025/01/13

The European project CiSMA, coordinated by the technology centre Eurecat and with a budget of nearly €4.5 million, is to develop 100 percent recycled steel made from scrap and produced in an electric arc furnace to help cut CO2 footprint, boost circular economy and reduce EU’s dependency to critical raw materials in the automotive, professional laundry equipment and other industries.

The European steel industry is targeting a 50 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Electric arc furnace steel production, which replaces the traditional blast furnace process, “will make possible to produce high-performance steels for mass-market products,” says Jaume Pujante, PhD, CiSMA’s technical coordinator and head of the Metals Processing research line in the Metallic and Ceramic Materials Unit at Eurecat. “This will help to cut down emissions by more than 75 percent and use up to 100 percent scrap loads.”

To do this, the project will “tackle the challenge of producing high-performance steel with electric arc furnaces, a technology which is currently limited by the fact that low-performance scrap materials contain unwanted trace elements which adversely affect steel quality” adds Begoña Casas, PhD, CiSMA project coordinator at Eurecat.

CiSMA will maximize the use of low-quality scrap, separating undesired inclusions with a focus on copper. To validate the project’s developments, two pilot tests will be run to verify that the material and process are compliant to the market and also to demonstrate the technologies developed and quantify the environmental improvements compared to the current product.

One of the pilots will test components from a Volvo Cars vehicle and the other will evaluate components for Electrolux Professional washing machines.

The CiSMA project is additionally to “develop technologies that enable introducing these scrap-based, electric arc furnace steel products into mass-market sheet metal consumer goods”, notes Montse Vilaseca, PhD, director of Eurecat’s Metallic and Ceramic Materials Unit.

10 years of research on magnetism at MISTRAL: visualization of hyperbolic Bloch points

2024/12/122024/12/18

The vector tomography method developed at MISTRAL beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron enables to visualize with nanometric resolution the orientation of the magnetization in magnetic singularities located in magnetic films or multilayers. After 10 years of research, it is reported the first observation of hyperbolic Bloch points, attractive entities for magnetic information transport.

About 70% of all the digitally stored data in the world are located in magnetic bits on disks that have to rotate to reach the location of movable reading sensors. This storage technology, thirty years old, consumes energy and dissipates heat at undesired levels. The search for more efficient methods has been, and still is, an active field of investigation.

Instead of movable parts as disks that require electrical motors, one aims to move the magnetic domains in magnetic ultra-thin films by applying electrical currents or other excitations reducing the operating powers by orders of magnitude. Within this general approach, known as spintronics, the magnetic domains and the walls that separate domains with opposite magnetization are very important actors.

The magnetic structure of the domain walls historically classified in Bloch and Neel types, includes singularities namely skyrmions, merons and Bloch points among others, that have only been observed in recent years. The structure of the magnetization in these singularities may confer them enough energetic stability to be considered as possible dynamic entities for spintronic-based magnetic memories.

As their sizes are nanometric and their magnetic conformation is in general complicated, state of the art microscopy methods are required to visualize them. At the MISTRAL beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron this topic has been investigated since already ten years and progressively the accuracy of the description of magnetic entities has been improved. The experimental method, known as vector magnetic tomography, allows to visualize with nanometric resolution the orientation of the magnetization in magnetic singularities located in magnetic films or multilayers. It is based on the angular dependence of the dichroic magnetic absorption (different X ray absorption for right and left handed circularly polarized photons).

A promising step forward for the deployment of sodium-ion batteries

2024/11/262024/12/09

CNRS chemists synthesized and studied new compositions of materials for positive electrodes of sodium-ion batteries that constitute a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries. These new electrodes have an increased energy density. A scientific advance recently published in the journal Nature Materials.

Faced with the growing demand for energy storage systems, high-performance lithium-ion batteries have become unbeatable on the market. However, their environmental impact and the uneven distribution of lithium resources raise questions. Their “cousins”, sodium-ion batteries, seem to be a promising alternative given the abundance and more homogeneous distribution of sodium. The various possible electrode materials are thus the subject of numerous studies to increase their performance, power and energy densities. In particular, NaSICON (sodium super ionic conductor) type materials composed of sodium, vanadium and phosphate are attracting keen interest as positive electrode materials because they have a particularly robust crystalline structure.

Magnetization Switching in Highly Magnetostrictive Microstructures

2024/10/222024/11/21

Using several x-ray probes at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers learned how the size, shape, and orientation of microstructures affect how they switch magnetization directions in response to an applied voltage.

The work advances our understanding of strain-responsive composite materials for use in energy-efficient electronic applications such as memory devices, sensors, and actuators.

Beyond the current approach

Today’s memory and logic devices require large electric currents to flip magnetic domains that store binary data. Unfortunately, this current-driven approach results in significant energy losses through heating. A more energy-efficient alternative is to control magnetization using voltage, through the use of multiferroic heterostructures—that is, a ferromagnetic layer coupled to a ferroelectric substrate. One promising material for the ferromagnetic layer is an iron-gallium alloy (Fe-Ga, or galfenol), known for its large magnetostrictive effect: its magnetization can significantly change in response to mechanical strain.

Composite Fe-Ga/PMN-PT samples

In this work, researchers explored the magnetoelectric behavior of tiny epitaxial Fe-Ga structures on a piezoelectric (PMN-PT) substrate, using multiple synchrotron x-ray probes. Studying such structures at small scales is vital to understanding how to manipulate them using voltage, with significant implications for the development of energy-efficient applications such as memory devices, sensors, and actuators.

The microstructures were designed to have different sizes (1–6 µm), shapes (square and elliptical), and crystallographic orientations with respect to the PMN-PT. A subnanometer-thick iron seed layer was used to initiate well-ordered Fe-Ga crystal growth, and a platinum capping layer was deposited to prevent surface oxidation.

Previous studies on epitaxial Fe-Ga-based multiferroic heterostructures have demonstrated impressive voltage-driven magnetic reorientation capabilities, but they focused on either continuous thin films or large structures of epitaxial Fe-Ga—far from the small features required for real-world devices.

Multimodal ALS experiments

To visualize voltage-driven magnetic reorientation in the Fe-Ga microstructures, the researchers used photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) at ALS Beamline 11.0.1.1, with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) as a contrast mechanism. This beamline provides the ability to apply a voltage across the sample during measurement—ideal for studying electrically driven magnetic responses—as well as the ability to thin the platinum capping layer to about 0.5 nm just before the measurement.

At ALS Beamline 12.3.2, the researchers used x-ray microdiffraction to measure micron-scale, voltage-induced strains in the piezoelectric substrate. The beamline’s integrated fluorescence mapping capability enabled the researchers to focus on the area right under the Fe-Ga microstructures, essential for correlating the local strains with the magnetic switching events observed using XMCD-PEEM.

Finally, at ALS Beamlines 4.0.2 and 6.3.1, x-ray magnetic spectroscopy was used to gain additional insight into the characteristics of the epitaxial Fe-Ga.

Image: Based on the x-ray microdiffraction data from the PMN-PT substrate, the researchers obtained strain maps corresponding to lattice distortions along the [100]_P direction, before and after a voltage was applied.

Synchrotron light impact on battery materials during real-time analysis

2024/10/222024/10/23

A multi-centre study carried out by ALBA Synchrotron, ICMAB-CSIC, CIC energiGUNE and BRTA researchers has uncovered critical beam-induced effects in battery materials studied using synchrotron light. The team demonstrated that X-ray radiation can inhibit electrochemical activity in common lithium-ion battery electrodes during characterization studies.

Efficient energy storage is critical to achieving a clean energy future, since large-scale batteries will enable the storage and distribution of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. Global efforts to optimize battery performance include the development of new materials, which are often characterized using synchrotron-based operando techniques. These real-time measurements examine the performance of the battery as it charges and discharges. However, the potential impact of high-intensity X-ray beams on the materials under study had not been fully understood until now, raising concerns about the accuracy of results from these powerful techniques.

A new study, published in Chemistry of Materials, sheds light on this issue by systematically investigating how synchrotron radiation affects two widely used battery electrode materials based on lithium: LiNi_0.33Mn_0.33Co_0.33O2 (NMC111) and LiFePO₄ (LFP). The research reveals that the X-ray beams produced at synchrotron facilities and used in these experiments can alter the electrochemical activity of these materials, and in extreme cases, this may lead to incorrect conclusions about the performance of the materials.

Researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), the Centre for Cooperative Research on Alternative Energies (CIC energiGUNE), the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) and the ALBA Synchrotron collaborated to investigate the electrochemical behavior of NMC111 and LFP—two key components of commercial lithium-ion batteries—under X-ray radiation. Using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) at the MSPD and NOTOS beamlines of ALBA, they observed how the materials reacted to different radiation intensities while undergoing charge and discharge cycles.

The results showed that at high doses, the synchrotron radiation caused a localized inhibition of the electrochemical reactivity at the irradiated areas. In other words, the X-ray beam interfered with the normal functioning of the battery material, slowing down or halting the expected chemical reactions. The effects were found to be dose-dependent, with higher radiation doses leading to more significant inhibition. Importantly, the study demonstrated that these effects were reversible. Once the beam was moved to a different area or when the radiation intensity was reduced, the materials returned to their normal activity. This suggests that the materials were not permanently damaged by the beam, but rather their activity was temporarily “paused” due to X-ray exposure.

These findings corroborate already known beam-induced effects in operando measurements with synchrotron light. Nevertheless, thanks to the systematic investigation they also enable researchers to propose several strategies to mitigate them. For example, reducing the intensity of the synchrotron beam by using attenuators, such as aluminum foils to lower the photon flux reaching the sample. The researchers also found that thinner battery electrodes were less affected by the beam, suggesting that the thickness of the materials being studied influences their radiation tolerance. Additionally, they observed that controlling the exposure time and introducing rest periods between measurements could help prevent the build-up of beam effects.

This study, the first to use the NOTOS beamline for advancing battery research, not only provided a first systematic analysis of the beam-induced effects when using synchrotron light to study materials under actual working conditions, but also has broader implications for improving the accuracy of synchrotron-based characterization techniques across many fields of materials science. As scientists work to develop new and more efficient battery materials—especially for applications like electric vehicles and renewable energy storage—synchrotron specialists around the world will continue refining high-brilliance X-ray techniques to provide accurate, real-time data for understanding the complex chemical processes that take place during battery operation.

Microscopic study of milk teeth reveals mystery of death of Iberian culture newborns buried inside homes

2024/10/092024/10/10

A UAB study in collaboration with the UVic-UCC and the ALBA Synchrotron concludes that the Iberian culture (8th to 1st centuries BCE) newborns buried within domestic spaces died of natural causes, such as complications during labour or premature births, and not due to ritual practices. Researchers applied an innovative methodology, based on the study of the neonatal line of baby teeth using optic microscopy and microflourescence with synchrotron light, to analyse the teeth from 45 infant skeletal remains and precisely identified the moments of both birth and death.

The Iberian culture inhabited the eastern and southern coastal regions of the Iberian Peninsula during the Iron Age (8th to 1st centuries BCE). The most common funeral ritual of the Iberians was the cremation of the deceased and subsequent disposal of the remains in urns that were buried in necropolises. However, archaeologists have also discovered burials with remains of newborns who had not been cremated, but were rather located in areas used for housing or production purposes. These burials have generated controversy among experts. Hypotheses suggested that they could have died of natural causes, be proof of infanticide, or even of ritual sacrifices.

A study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science now provides very precise evidence in favour of the hypothesis that these newborn infants died mainly from natural causes and that, therefore, are a reflection of the high infant mortality during the first year of life in the period studied.

Researchers reached this conclusion after studying 45 infant skeletal remains from five Catalan archaeological sites from the Iberian period: Camp de les Lloses (Osona), Olèrdola (Alt Penedès), Puig de Sant Andreu and Illa d’en Reixac (Baix Empordà), and Fortalesa dels Vilars d’Arbeca (Lleida).

Researchers have applied an innovative methodology based on the histological and elemental analysis (tissue and chemical composition) of the deciduous or primary teeth present in the infant skeletal remains. By means of optical microscopy, researchers were able to visualise the growth lines of the dental crown generated in the formation of teeth during intrauterine life and until shortly after birth. This led them to identify the presence of the neonatal line that is produced at the moment of birth.

The analysis allowed them to identify the moment of birth of the individuals and their survival, as well as to determine very precisely the chronological age at the moment of death. The chronological age takes into account the time elapsed since birth and not the biological development of the skeleton.

Almost half of the infants died during the perinatal period, specifically between the 27th week of gestation and the first week of life. The vast majority of perinatal deaths did not survive the moment of birth, and many of these infants died due to premature births.

Researchers also observed that of the twenty or so infants that survived beyond the first week of life, the longest lived 67 days.

Image: Burial of a perinatal individual from the Fortalesa dels Vilars (Arbeca, Lleida) site.

Credit: ARQHISTEC-GIP, UdL.

A step closer to low-cost green energy

2024/09/062024/09/11

An international study with researchers from China, Spain, Germany and Korea advances low-cost, efficient green energy solutions. They describe how, in alkaline environments, nickel sulfide (NiS) electrodes transform into a mix of Ni3S2 and NiO, creating highly active sites that enhance hydrogen production. Synchrotron light experiments at CLAESS beamline were key to observe this transformation in real time, providing insights into how these changes improve the catalyst’s performance.

Unlocking hydrogen as an energy source is essential for the global green transition. However, current hydrogen production methods remain extremely energy-intensive and produce significant carbon dioxide emissions. Water electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy, offers a promising solution. To improve this process, developing low-cost, high-performance electrocatalysts is crucial. These catalysts speed up reactions and lower the activation energy required, particularly in the alkaline conditions common in industry. Current research focuses on creating efficient catalysts with dual active sites using inexpensive, abundant materials like metal chalcogenides, phosphides, and carbides. Despite progress, understanding the exact reaction mechanisms and active sites in alkaline conditions remains challenging.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers revealed that nickel sulfide (NiS) electrodes transform during use in alkaline conditions, forming highly active dual sites at the Ni3S2/NiO interface. This restructuring greatly enhances catalytic activity, significantly improving their efficiency in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The work involved researchers from Xiamen and Fudan Universities (China), IMDEA Energy (Spain) alongside scientists from the ALBA Synchrotron, the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) (Republic of Korea).

New insights to advance targeted brain cancer therapy

2024/06/112024/06/20

Despite an increase in new chemotherapies, the overall prognosis for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains extremely poor, with just 5% of patients surviving for more than five years. This aggressive form of brain cancer is highly resistant to treatment, prompting researchers to explore new treatment avenues. Riluzole, a drug that has already been approved by the FDA to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is currently being explored as a treatment for several cancers including GBM. However, there is a need for novel drug delivery methods to enhance riluzole’s effectiveness and overcome barriers to targeted therapy, including minimizing harmful side effects in healthy cells, and maintaining the drug’s anti-cancer efficacy until it reaches tumor cells.

In this study, which was led by Tanja Dučić, scientist in the MIRAS beamline team at the ALBA Synchrotron, and published in ACS Omega, researchers engineered carbon-based nanoparticles, or carbon dots, made of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS). This organic delivery system (AMPS-CDs NPs) showed biocompatibility with glioblastoma cells, and researchers were keen to test its potential to act as a nanocarrier for the drug riluzole.

Several Spanish institutions and researchers collaborated in this project, including Manuel Algarra from INAMAT2 (Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics), at the Public University of Navarra; Elena Gonzalez-Munoz, Maria Soledad Pino-González and Juan Soto from the University of Malaga; Pablo Guerra from the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC); and Tanja Dučić from ALBA.

The study demonstrates the successful complementarity between synchrotron light and electron microscopy. By combining the MIRAS beamline and the Cryo-TEM at IBMB-CSIC, part of the Joint Electron Microscopy Center at ALBA (JEMCA), the collaboration achieved its first publication using both instruments. Pablo Guerra, coordinator of the Cryo-TEM, performed the microscope data acquisition. “Using the Cryo-TEM we confirmed the nanoparticles’ shape and size, with a diameter of 4.5-5 nm, which was impossible to observe with other methods”, says Tanja Dučić.

The nanoparticles were extensively characterized to determine their exact surface composition using techniques that included XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, as well as cryo-transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles are covered in sulfonated, carboxylic, and substituted amide groups. These functional groups make the AMPS-CDs potentially suitable nanocarriers for riluzole.

Image: Researchers Tanja Dučić from ALBA and Pablo Guerra from IBMB-CSIC at the control room of the EM01-Cryo-TEM of the Joint Electron Microscopy Center at ALBA

Credit: JEMCA

Mechanisms of electrical switching in antiferromagnets

2024/05/292024/05/30

The electronic devices we use on a day-to-day basis are powered by electrical currents. Data processing and computation also relies on information provided by electrons. This is what we call electronics. In recent years, a new field called spintronics emerged to overcome the limitations of traditional electronics, offering a leap towards high-density data storage and ultrafast computing dynamics. Spintronics employs a different concept. Instead of store information using the charge of electrons of the materials, the spintronic approach is to exploit their magnetic moment, in other words, their spin, to store and process information – aiming to make the computers of the future more compact, fast, and sustainable.

Antiferromagnets are considered very promising materials for future spintronic applications, offering unique properties to overcome limitations posed by current systems using ferromagnets. Lack of stray fields favor denser packing and high internal frequencies could allow faster operation. However, these properties at the same time make it more difficult to operate in terms of writing information, i.e. the switching part.

Now, a study lead by researchers from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany), in collaboration with the Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo (Japan) and the ALBA Synchrotron aims to understand the underlying antiferromagnetic switching mechanisms. The study disentangles two different switching mechanisms in an antiferromagnet material -cobalt (II) oxide or CoO- when subjected to a current pulse. One is due to the fundamental spin-orbit torque and the other is a heat-induced thermomagnetoelastic effect.

Image: XMLD-PEEM imaging of cobalt (II) oxide (CoO) sample after the application of high current-density pulses along different directions, revealing two different switching mechanisms. Images obtained at CIRCE beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron.

Users of ALBA create the most porous zeolite to date

2024/04/022024/04/04

A team from the Materials Science Institute of Madrid -CSIC) leads an international research that synthetized a zeolite with extra-large pores by expanding and connecting silica chains. This material has applications in water and gas decontamination and catalysis. Experiments carried out at the MSPD beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron had a key role in determining the structure of the zeolite.

A team from the Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) leads an international research that has succeeded in creating the world’s most porous zeolite. The study, published yesterday in the journal Nature, opens up new avenues for water and gas decontamination and “demonstrates that it is possible to make more porous materials that are stable,” says Miguel Camblor, researcher at the ICMM-CSIC and lead author of the study.

Zeolites are microporous crystalline silicates. These are materials with applications in decontamination, catalysis, gas adsorption, and cation exchange. For decades, obtaining stable zeolites with greater porosity and, therefore, capacity for absorption and processing of large molecules, has been an important scientific goal. However, this is not a simple challenge: “until recently, it challenged our synthetic capacity,” indicates Camblor.

The team already developed in recent years two zeolites with “extra-large” pores in the three spatial directions that also exhibited high stability. On this occasion, they have created a stable aluminosilicate zeolite with extra-large pores open through rings of more than 12 tetrahedra, capable of processing even larger molecules.

“The structure of this zeolite presents unprecedented characteristics and demonstrates that with different methods, things that were believed impossible can be found, such as this world record in porosity,” highlights Camblor, who indicates that they have already used the zeolite for the absorption of volatile organic compounds.

To determine the structure of the zeolite, the research team has combined electron diffraction techniques and powder X-ray diffraction, the latter available at the MSPD beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron. The X-rays produced at the ALBA’s accelerator provided crucial information on the position of the atoms in the zeolite structure.

Image: Structure of the zeolite called ZEO-5

Credit: Nature

A New Method to Control Magnetic Dynamics in Nanomagnets

2024/02/072024/03/20

An ASI (artificial spin ice) is typically an array of small nanomagnets which interact with each other and with external magnetic fields. ASIs are a class of metamaterials (so-called materials of the future), engineered to exhibit unique electromagnetic properties through structured arrangements, differing significantly from the natural behavior of their constituent materials. Recently, ASIs have shown promise for device applications, such as substrates for computation.

These magnetic systems get their name from water ice, where the magnetic moments, or spins, align similar to the hydrogen bonds of ice molecules. ASI nanomagnets are typically blocked (frozen) at room temperature, as the thermal energy is not enough to change their magnetic state. Because there are many magnets, the overall system can have many different states which can be prepared using external magnetic fields.

However until now, these methods have been rather coarse, i.e. they were changing many magnets at a time, in an uncontrolled manner. Or the magnets are written individually, in a non-practical manner, using a scanning probe tip.

Now, scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have devised a new method called “astroid clocking” that uses a special external field sequence which is able to exactly switch only those elements which are at the border of two regions within the ASI with different states. Thus, it is possible to finely control the state of the ASI array.

The method takes its name from the Stoner–Wohlfarth astroid, a curve that characterizes the critical switching field of a nanomagnet as a function of the angle of the applied magnetic field. By using this information, the method introduced by the research team make use of the magnetic properties of the individual magnets (the Stoner-Wohlfarth astroid) and the interaction between them (dipolar interaction). This approach enables precise targeting of only the border magnets in a given clock cycle. As the border advances in each cycle, the whole array can be addressed.

$XAIRA gets its first protein diffraction data set$

XAIRA gets its first protein diffraction data set

2023/12/222024/01/11

Just before the Winter shutdown, XAIRA beamline achieved another key milestone: the first data set being collected from a protein crystal. A great success that highlights the steady advance of the beamline, reached thanks to the efforts of many people!

At XAIRA beamline, the largest efforts for the last two months have been devoted to the installation of the beamline End Station, which includes all the instrumentation required for positioning of the sample and the actual recording of diffraction data. Previously, the beamline optics had also been commissioned, to filter the X-rays in the synchrotron light produced by the insertion device (the XAIRA source) and focus them onto the sample position.

Thanks to all this previous work, on December 1^st the focused X-ray beam was used to illuminate a crystal of hen egg-white lysozyme, leading to the first protein diffraction of the beamline. To collect oscillation data, the sample, which is held on a diffractometer, was rotated during data collection. The XAIRA diffractometer is a set of high-precision stages combined with an air/helium-bearing goniometer, has been designed and built in-house, with the purpose of maintaining the sample within the beam path with a high level of precision, even when turning at speeds of 1 turn per second or even higher.

Diffraction data was collected with XAIRA’s state-of-the-art detector, an Eiger2 XE 9M hybrid pixel-array detector, at 100 Hz (that is, 100 frames per second, which means 1 frame every 0.01 seconds). The whole experiment lasted just 36 seconds, during which 3600 images (~8 GB of data) were collected. Data was then processed using the beamline fast data processing pipeline.

Image: Close up view of the sample environment. The sample pin is shown in the centre, on top of the diffractometer; next to it, the cryostream nozzle is blowing cold nitrogen gas to the sample, to keep it under cryogenic conditions. To the right of the sample, the sample visualisation system. On the left, the detector (behind the slatted cover) and the beam diagnostics.

First operando battery characterization experiment performed at MIRAS

2023/12/212024/01/11

A research team lead by the Institut de Ciències de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) has published a new study on polyimides, a promising material for cathodes in metal-organic batteries, a more sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Operando measurements were performed, for the first time, at the MIRAS beamline.

Organic positive electrodes, in addition to being the most sustainable and potentially low-cost candidates, compared with their inorganic counterparts, currently present the best electrochemical performances in calcium and magnesium batteries. Unfortunately, organic positive electrodes suffer from relatively low capacity retention upon cycling, the origin of which is not yet fully understood.

ICMAB-CSIC scientists tested a plastic material called polyimide (specifically1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride-derived polyimide or PNTCDA) in lithium (Li), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) cells. In particular, the electrochemical performance of PNTCDA was evaluated as positive electrode for Li⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺-ion batteries in organic electrolytes; for the sake of comparison in terms of redox potential, gravimetric capacities, capacity retention, and rate capability.

The redox mechanisms were also investigated by means of operando infrared experiments at the MIRAS beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron, and a parameter affecting most figures of merit has been identified: the presence of contact ion-pairs in the electrolyte. Moreover, operando infrared assisted experiments on Li⁺ and Ca²⁺ ion cells allowed scientists to observe the reversible enolation/carbonylation processes of the carbonyl bonds in the imide functionalities in real time.

Image: Operando Cell (ECC-Opto-Std, EL CELL)

Grape pomace, a waste of viticulture, is effective for nematode pest control on crops

2023/11/222023/11/28

Researchers from Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences – CSIC proved the potential of wine production residues as biopesticides in agriculture, thus reducing the waste management problem and contributing to a circular economy. Their work shows that recycled biochar from grape pomace is effective to reduce the parasitic nematode infection of tomato plants in pots. Biochar characterization by synchrotron light infrared spectroscopy was performed at MIRAS beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron.

Cerdanyola del Vallès, 22nd November 2023 The large amount of grape waste generated after wine production can be transformed into a valuable product such as biochar, a form of charcoal. A new published study shows that biochar soil amendments can help to control the infection of a group of plant parasitic nematodes: the root-knot nematodes.

Nematodes are a big group of invertebrates also known as roundworms. They are among the most widespread pests and can be found in almost every crop worldwide, causing annual global agriculture losses of approximately $125 billion. In particular, root-knot nematodes parasite plants penetrating the roots and inducing knots or galls. The plant becomes their host and will nourish them until life cycle completion.

Root-knot nematode infection is difficult to eradicate and usually requires the use of toxic nematicides that are banned in most countries. In this sense, the research team, formed by scientists from the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha (UCLM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ICA-CSIC), proposes the use of biochar as an environmentally friendly and economic alternative.

To run the studies, tomato plants were infected withMeloidogyne javanica, a root-knot nematode, and grown in hydroponic system over a clay sandy substrate mixed with different proportions of biochar. After several days of post-inoculation, nematode infection progression was analysed. The infective and reproductive traits of a Meloidogyne javanica population in tomato were significantly reduced (egg masses and eggs per plant) for the biochar pyrolyzed at 350ºC.

In parallel, researchers performed a complete characterization of biochar after a thermal treatment (pyrolysis at 350ºC and 700ºC) by determining their elemental composition and analysing the particulate structure. To do so they use, among other techniques, infrared spectroscopy at MIRAS beamline of ALBA. The analysis with synchrotron light enabled scientist to visualize the large changes in the biomolecular composition of biochar, occurring during grape pomace pyrolysis.