Canadian Light Source (CLS) – Page 3

Making solar cells more weatherproof

2024/12/042024/12/09

Dr. Tim Kelly calls it “the magic of science” – when what you think is going to happen doesn’t, but what you learn in the process promises to inform advances in a new type of solar cell. Solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity, are increasingly being used to power everything from buildings and electric cars, to watches and toys.

In recent experiments at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), Kelly, professor of chemistry at USask, and his team were trying to figure out why solar cells made with lead halide perovskite, rather than silicon, were failing prematurely. Perovskite, he explained, is a new semiconductor material that requires much less energy to produce than silicon, giving it an environmental advantage.

But it was a puzzle: “What makes them unstable? Why were these cells failing?”

Thinking the problem lay in the perovskite formulation, Kelly used a synchrotron technique called x-ray diffraction to visualize the 3D structure of the atoms in the material in real time.

In the experiments, Kelly and his team found cell performance started to decline with the introduction of humidity.

“Like most of your electronics, it turns out getting these things wet is not a good idea.”

Kelly’s research identified possible solutions to address the issue of premature cell failure, including using corrosion-resistant materials for the electrodes, buffer layers to prevent the mobile ions from reaching the electrodes, or fully encapsulating the cell to keep out any moisture.

The CLS was key to solving the cell-failure question, he said.

Detecting osteoarthritis before patients need joint replacement

2024/11/292024/11/29

An imaging technique currently available only at synchrotrons like the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) could one day enable doctors to detect osteoarthritis while patients can still be treated with medication – before they require joint replacement — thanks to research by USask scientist Brian Eames and colleagues.

In a pair of studies, Eames, a professor of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology in the USask College of Medicine, found that phase contrast imaging (PCI) detects very subtle changes in cartilage. He says the technique, which takes advantage of the high-energy light produced by the synchrotron, provides “fantastic” imaging of cartilage.

In the most recent study, Eames and colleagues (Daniel Chen, College of Engineering; Ali Honoramooz, Western College of Veterinary Medicine; Bill Dust, College of Medicine; and PhD student Hamed Alizadeh) used PCI to determine how well 3D-bioprinted cartilage could repair damaged joints. They compared the performance of cells impregnated in two different materials – one a squishy material called hydrogel and the other a hybrid construct combining hydrogel with a stiff plastic material. They hypothesized that the hybrid construct would shield the cells from forces in the recovering joint, so that the proper type of cartilage (hyaline) could form.

When they implanted these materials into animal joints, the researchers found that both helped new cartilage form, with the hydrogel doing slightly better by some measures. The hybrid, however, had one advantage: It formed less fibrocartilage, which was consistent with the team’s hypothesis. Fibrocartilage is a tougher form of cartilage that is created when joints are under stress. Having less fibrocartilage provides better joint function.

Recovering in-demand metals for new electronics

2024/11/192024/11/21

Nearly all technology today—from cellphones to computers to MRI scanners—contains rare earth elements (REEs). The global market for REEs is predicted to reach $6.2 billion (USD) this year and $16.1 billion (USD) by 2034.

High concentrations of one particular REE — lanthanum — are often in find in mine tailings. Runoff from this waste can make its way into nearby bodies of water where it poses a risk to human health and the environment. As a result, researchers are on the hunt for ways to recover the material.

Michael Chan, working under the supervision of Dr. Huu Doan in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), recently discovered that industrial-strength chemical adsorbents can be used to “soak up” lanthanum from that mine waste.

“These ‘fancy sponges’ are about the size of a grain of salt,” says Chan, who is completing his Masters degree at TMU. Working in a lab, Chan and his colleagues found that the metal ions present in a sample of contaminated water trade places with the hydrogen ions present on the surface of adsorbent.

When they filtered the adsorbent out of the water, they were left with cleaner water and recovered lanthanum that could be reformed and reused in new electronics.

The team used a scanning electron microscope at TMU to better understand the ion exchange process, then used the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan to get even more detailed images and to confirm their findings.

Finetuning fertilizers to boost crop yields

2024/11/142024/11/15

Worldwide, many agricultural soils are deficient in the nutrient zinc – despite the fact that farmers use fertilizers enriched with the element. This limits crop yields and reduces food quality. It’s estimated that roughly a third of the global population consume foods low in zinc, which can increase sickness and death in early childhood, as well as impaired growth and cognition.

Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia investigated how to manufacture more efficient zinc-enriched fertilizers. The HXMA beamline at CLS enabled the researchers to examine at the molecular level what happens to the water solubility of zinc (its ability to dissolve in water) when it’s added to ammonium phosphate fertilizer.

“Going in to the project, our group thought the type of zinc compound would be a good predictor of a fertilizer’s solubility” says Rodrigo da Silva, from the University of Adelaide. “However, the CLS beamline enabled us to understand that the agronomic performance cannot be predicted based on what form of zinc is present in the fertilizer granules. Instead, the pH drives the fertilizer zinc solubility and availability to the crops.”

Dr. da Silva and colleagues found that when zinc is added to phosphate fertilizer, it forms a range of different zinc phosphate compounds. However, its solubility was not related to the relative abundance of these compounds, but to fertilizer pH. This means that zinc added to more alkaline phosphate fertilizers such as diammonium phosphate will have very low solubility and hence low agronomic effectiveness for crop uptake.

Improving pulse flours for consumer use

2024/11/072024/11/08

UManitoba researchers use synchrotron light to determine optimal particle size for milling chickpeas, lentils, beans, and peas

Chickpeas, lentils, beans and peas are a fast-growing food market, with new uses going well beyond bean salads and hummus – think brownies, vegan meats, and salad dressing. Researchers like Chitra Sivakumar are working to drive dining innovation by studying the tiniest details of flours made from these pulses.

“This is what I want to create, what the research is about: a specific flour for a specific product,” says Sivakumar, who conducted her doctoral research on pulse flours under the supervision of Dr. Jitendra Paliwal at the Grain Storage Research Lab at the University of Manitoba. The study explored how particle size, protein and starch, and other micro-properties of milled pulse flour influence the quality of the end product. Processing rice and wheat flours is standardized because century-old research on these crops has helped establish and optimize particle size for milling; however, pulse flours have not received the same attention.

Sivakumar explains that consumers and food producers are interested in pulse-based food products because beans and lentils are great sources of fibre and protein. They’re also good for the environment: Pulse Canada estimates that growing 10 million acres of pulses can capture 4.1 million tonnes of CO2 emission per year – the output of approximately 1.2 million passenger vehicles.

“Many consumers want to switch to the pulse-based proteins rather than animal-based proteins. But when they are looking in the grocery store they do not have many options,” says Sivakumar. She is using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to conduct specialized research aimed at changing that. The work is sponsored by the Canadian Pulse Science Research Cluster.

Protecting northern water supplies from toxic metals in thawing permafrost

2024/10/302024/11/01

Water released by permafrost contains uranium, arsenic in levels unsafe for drinking

As the climate warms and arctic permafrost thaws, some of the toxic elements locked away in it are starting to emerge and could contaminate the water supplies that many northern communities rely on.

Elliott Skierszkan, a geologist at Carleton University, and his colleagues recently measured the concentrations of naturally occurring uranium and arsenic in water released from permafrost samples collected in the Yukon.Video: Protecting northern water supplies from toxic metals in thawing permafrost

“Our samples had levels of uranium and arsenic in the water beyond what would be considered safe,” he says. The work was published in two papers, in Environmental Science and Technology, and ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.

Using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan, Skierszkan also probed the chemical composition of the elements in the solid portion of the permafrost. They found that uranium was largely associated with organic carbon in the soil, while arsenic was associated with iron oxides. “The synchrotron was essential to understanding the chemistry of these elements and their potential to be mobilized,” says Skierszkan.

The results showed that the fate of both elements was linked to organic carbon. As the permafrost thaws, the organic matter it contains breaks down, which can release associated uranium. This decaying organic matter can also cause the iron oxides and the arsenic associated with them to dissolve into the water.

Image: Protecting northern water supplies from toxic metals in thawing permafrost

Credit: Canadian Light Source

New research on gut bacteria could lead to helpful new probiotics

2024/10/242024/10/28

There are trillions of bacteria in the human gut microbiome. When we eat fruits and vegetables, some of these bacteria break down the dietary fiber and provide us with metabolites, small molecules our body can use for energy or cell repair.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to study a particular bacterium commonly found in the gut of people who eat a plant-rich diet.

The specifics of how bacteria break down our food is still a “black box,” according to Dr. Harry Brumer, the UBC professor who led this research. “Our team is trying to determine what molecular machinery the bacteria have that give them the unique ability to break down dietary fiber,” he said.

Using ultrabright synchrotron X-rays at the CLS and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in California, Brumer and colleagues determined the three-dimensional structure and function of the proteins and enzymes this bacterium uses to break down food, and the details of that process.

New compounds to combat antibiotic resistance

2024/10/182024/11/06

To address the global threat of antibiotic resistance, scientists are on the hunt for new ways to sneak past a bacterial cell’s defence system. Taking what they learned from a previous study on cancer, researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) have developed novel compounds that trigger bacterial cells to self-destruct.

The new form of antibiotics is designed to target a naturally occurring enzyme — caseinolytic protease proteolytic subunit, ClpP, for short — which chews up old or defective proteins and plays an essential role in cellular housekeeping. The new compound kicks the ClpP enzyme into overdrive, so it begins chewing up proteins that it is not supposed to, eventually killing its own cell from the inside out. Video: New compounds to combat antibiotic resistance

“Most antibiotics inhibit a process,” says Dr. Walid A. Houry, professor of biochemistry at the University of Toronto. “With this approach, we are dysregulating a process, and this allows us to develop this new class of compounds that we eventually hope to get into a clinic.” Houry worked closely with Dr. Robert Batey and colleagues to build upon their previous work in this area.

Novel drug molecule to treat Parkinson’s disease in young patients

2024/09/192024/09/20

More than 100,000 Canadians currently live with Parkinson’s disease. A novel drug molecule being studied by researchers from McGill University could reactivate housekeeping functions in brain cells of young Parkinson’s patients, paving the way for potential future treatments for this incurable, degenerative disease.

Developed by the biotech company Biogen, the new compound has shown promising results activating parkin, a key protein in the brain responsible for “cleaning up” and recycling damaged mitochondria – the energy powerhouse of the cell. When parkin doesn’t work properly, these damaged mitochondria accumulate, leading eventually to Parkinson’s disease.

In studies published in 2013 and 2018, Gehring shed light on the functions of parkin based on data collected at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).

In this new follow-up study, Gehring used the CMCF beamline at the CLS to determine how the Biogen compound activates parkin. They found that it glues together parkin and a natural activator present in the cell. This molecular-level information is essential for the drug’s future development.

“The way the drug molecule turns on parkin is through a secondary route, which is effective for specific mutations of parkin that occur in younger patients,” he said.

After turning proteins into tiny crystals, Gehring and his team used a technique called protein crystallography to identify their 3D structures and learn where the novel drug binds and how it affects the proteins. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

“We need quality data to solve the protein structures and see their 3D pictures. It takes a facility like the CLS to take Canadian research to an international level,” said Gehring.

Freshwater oysters key to developing stronger, “greener” adhesives

2024/09/172024/09/17

If you think oysters are just a delicious seafood, think again. Freshwater oysters produce an adhesive that may hold the secret to developing more environmentally friendly glues with applications from dental care to construction and shipping. An international research team recently used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to determine what the unique adhesive is made of.

Thriving in African rivers and lakes, Etheria elliptica oysters produce a special material that helps them stick to wood or other oysters, creating complex underwater reefs. Never studied before, this oyster glue has characteristics rarely found in similar organisms: it’s made of a mineral called aragonite that the oyster arranges so that it is soft on the outside and progressively harder on the inside.

“These oyster shells aren’t exactly like our teeth and our bones, but there are a lot of similarities,” says Rebecca Metzler, professor of physics at Colgate University in New York State. “And so, if the adhesive can work for the oyster shell, maybe it could work pretty well for what’s happening inside of us.”

Metzler and her team found that the oyster glue is so sticky because it combines the aragonite with special proteins that the oyster produces. This information could pave the way for the development of better synthetic, “green” glues that mimic the properties of the oyster’s adhesive.

“Because I’m looking at this biological tissue, I need a certain energy range, and the Canadian Light Source has that sweet spot of having both the microscope and the energy range,” says Metzler. “You can look at your sample, get the spectral data that you need to be able to answer questions about what is this made up of, and how these things are structured.”

Her team discovered that the oyster glue is made up of tiny particles of aragonite that clump together into crystals of random shapes, sizes and orientation, information, says Metzler, that can be used to create synthetic versions in a lab. This research, which also relied on data gathered at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron, is published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

Recovering rare earth elements from coal ash for clean energy technologies

2024/09/122024/09/16

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, the demand for rare earth elements (REEs) is only going to increase. These elements are vital to the production of technologies that will make the transition to green energy possible. While REEs are not technically rare, large deposits are found in only a few locations around the world – mostly in China – and they are difficult to extract.

“If we want to switch to electric vehicles by 2035 and be net-zero by 2050 we’re going to need new sources of these metals,” says Brendan Bishop, a PhD candidate studying REEs at the University of Regina.

Bishop and his colleagues have been studying one potential new source of these valuable elements: the ash that is produced as waste from coal-fired power plants. Researchers have looked into REEs in coal waste in the United States and China, but there has been little work done on ash from Canadian coal.

The team analyzed samples of ash from coal plants in Alberta and Saskatchewan to determine how much REEs the ashes contained, and how they could be extracted. While the concentration of REEs in Canadian coal ash is on par with that found in ash from other parts of the world, questions remained about whether the REEs are dispersed evenly throughout the ash particles or concentrated in certain minerals found within the ashes.

Using the powerful X-ray beamlines at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), Bishop probed the ash, in search of a rare earth element called yttrium. They found it was distributed in specific mineral phases within the ash particles, most often in the form of silicates or phosphates such as xenotime which remain unchanged when the coal is burned. The work was published in Environmental Science and Technology.

$Reducing risk of bone fracture in people with rare genetic disorder$

Reducing risk of bone fracture in people with rare genetic disorder

2024/09/092024/09/10

Our bones are the internal framework of our body. They’re typically dense – providing the support we need to walk, run, and jump — and they’re resistant to fracture. But in people with the rare genetic disorder Marfan Syndrome (MFS), bones are less dense and those in their arms and legs grow longer than normal.

Researchers from McGill University and Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada recently used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to study the bones of mice with MFS, in the hopes of better understanding the condition in humans.

Bones are porous, meaning they’re built like sponges, with tiny holes inside that allow fluid to move through them. Zimmerman and her team found that, in the bones with MFS, the pores were much smaller than those in typical bones. “The Canadian Light Source played a huge role in our research,” says Zimmermann. “We were able to identify the mechanics and structure of the bone with MFS at an incredibly small and detailed level.”

Based on what they learned, they are now turning to exploring whether MFS causes changes in mechanosensation, the process by which bones sense mechanical force – specifically the pressure of the fluid flowing through the bones’ pores.

“When astronauts go to space, they actually lose bone density, because there’s no force being put on their bones,” explains Dr. Bettina Willie, professor at McGill and investigator at Shriners Hospitals. “Another example is the tennis player, as they have more dense bone in their playing arm than their non-playing arm, because there’s so much more force being put on the arm they hit the ball with.” Because people with MFS have much smaller pores in their bones, causing fluid to move through the bone differently, mechanosensation is a possible explanation for why they’re at increased risk for fractures.

How farming practices can help mitigate climate change

2024/09/042024/09/10

With carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increasing in recent decades, there is a growing urgency to find strategies for capturing and holding carbon.

Researchers from Kansas State University (K-State) are exploring how different farming practices can affect the amount of carbon that gets stored in soil. Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, California, they analyzed soil from a cornfield in Kansas that had been farmed with no tilling for the past 22 years. During that time, the farm used a variety of different soil nitrogen management practices, including no fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, and manure/compost fertilizer.

As has been shown in other studies, the K-state researchers found that the soil enhanced (treated) with manure or compost fertilizer stores more carbon than soil that received either chemical fertilizer or no fertilizer. More exciting though, says Hettiarachchi, the ultrabright synchrotron light enabled them to see how the carbon gets stored: they found that it was preserved in pores and some carbon had attached itself to minerals in the soil.

AI finds a cheaper way to make green hydrogen

2024/08/282024/08/29

Researchers at the University of Toronto are using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in the search for sustainable energy. They used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) to confirm that an AI-generated “recipe” for a new catalyst offered a more efficient way to make hydrogen fuel.

To create green hydrogen, you pass electricity that’s been generated from renewable resources between two pieces of metal in water. This causes oxygen and hydrogen gases to be released. The problem with this process is that it currently requires a lot of electricity and the metals used are rare and expensive.

Researchers are searching for the right alloy, or combination of metals, that would act as a catalyst to make this reaction more efficient and affordable. Traditionally, this search would involve trial and error in the lab, but when you are trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack, this approach takes too much time.

The AI program the team developed took over 36,000 different metal oxide combinations and ran virtual simulations to assess which combination of ingredients might work the best. Abed then tested the program’s top candidate in the lab to see if its predictions were accurate.

The team used the CLS’s ultra-bright X-rays to analyze the catalyst’s performance during a reaction. “What we needed to do is use that very bright light at the Canadian Light Source to shine it on our material and see how the atomic arrangements would change and respond to the amount of electricity that we put in,” said Abed. The researchers also used the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.

Got sour milk? Printed electronics will tell you

2024/08/192024/10/23

Imagine knowing your milk has gone bad without having to open your fridge. A technology called printed electronics could one day make innovations like this possible.

Printed electronics refers to electronic circuits in sheets that are thin and bendable. The technology is already being used to make everything from solar cells for vehicle roofs to flexible displays on smart phones.

Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), a team of researchers from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and USask developed a material that stores up to 1,000 times more charge than current forms of printed electronics.

The group’s work could move the concept of the Internet of Things another step closer to reality. The Internet of Things involves adding printed electronics to the everyday objects in our lives – for example, milk cartons and fridges – to enable communication between these objects and our smart phones and computers. Such an advance could open up a world of technological possibilities. For the food industry alone, this would help to minimize waste and spoilage at all levels of the supply chain.

Making the Internet of Things a reality will require the type of circuitry and advanced operations that are only possible with electronics that can function in both positive and negative voltage modes. That’s where the material developed by Loren Kaake, associate professor in SFU’s Department of Chemistry, and his team shows promise.

“That is a place where it definitely outperforms even the most cutting-edge materials,” Kaake said. “I think this material enables and really gives a much stronger case for the commercial potential of printed electronics.”

The team used the intensely bright synchrotron light at the CLS to analyze their material and improve its performance. They published their findings in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Canadian Light Source appoints leading researcher as Chief Science Officer

2024/08/162024/08/21

The Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has appointed Dr. Ingrid Pickering as its new Chief Science Officer. A professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Molecular Environmental Science at USask, Pickering is appointed for a 5-year term.

With more than 225 peer-reviewed publications and 21,500 citations, Pickering leads a cross-disciplinary research team that uses and develops synchrotron techniques to investigate the roles and impact of essential and toxic elements in the environment and human health.

“We conducted a global search for the best scientist for this crucial role at this important juncture in the life of our facility, and I’m so pleased Ingrid will join us,” said Bill Matiko, CLS CEO. “She brings a unique combination of scientific prowess, a proven record of building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, expert familiarity with Canada’s funding ecosystem, and more than three decades of using synchrotron facilities.”

Pickering holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Imperial College London (UK). Following an industrial postdoctoral fellowship in New Jersey, US and an appointment at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, she moved to USask in 2003.

Image: Dr. Ingrid Pickering