Looking into the tiniest deformations of atomic lattices

Looking into the tiniest deformations of atomic lattices

When light hits solar cells, so-called electron-hole pairs are created: the electrons are excited and can move almost freely in the material – i.e. to generate electricity. The electrons will leave ‘positive gaps’, so-called holes, in the semiconductor material. They can also move through the material. Both electrons and holes carry an electrical charge. They deform the surrounding atomic lattice on their way through the material slightly.

An international research team at European XFEL has now been able to directly observe this very weak effect for the first time. “With the help of extremely fast flashes from European XFEL’s X-ray laser, we were able to visualise this barely noticeable change”, explains Johan Bielecki, scientist at the Single Particles Biomolecules and Clusters/Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) instrument at European XFEL, where the experiment was carried out. According to the researchers, this could be an important step in the development of new materials for solar cells or light-emitting diodes, for example.

A so-called quantum dot of caesium, lead and bromine (CsPbBr3) studied by the scientists was only a few millionths of a millimetre in size. A quantum dot is a tiny object whose properties can no longer be described classically, but only with the help of quantum physics.

When light hits this quantum dot, electron-hole pairs are created. Due to their electrical charge, both the electron and the hole pull on the atoms in the crystal – as if two people were tugging on a net and deforming it. In this way, the pair of particles creates a kind of ‘dent’ in the crystal. In physics, this state is called an exciton-polaron.

The lattice deformation only affects a few atoms – but it is decisive for the optical and electronic properties of the material. “The better we understand the deformation, the better we can try to develop improved materials, for example for more efficient displays or more powerful sensors,” says Zhou Shen from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter and lead author of the study.

A particularly precise method is required to detect the lattice deformation at all. The researchers used the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg – the largest X-ray laser in the world. It emits extremely short and intense X-ray flashes. It enables images to be captured within femtoseconds – in other words, within a quadrillionth of a second. “It’s like observing the movement of atoms with a high-speed camera,” says Bielecki.

Read more on European XFEL website

Image: Johan Bielecki at the Single Particles Biomolecules and Clusters/Serial Femtosecond Crystallography (SPB/SFX) instrument of European XFEL, where the experiment was carried out.

Credit: European XFEL

X-rays reveal fossil stealth technology

X-rays reveal fossil stealth technology

Using state-of-the-art X-ray microtomography at the Swiss Light Source SLS, operated by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have gained insights into the silent hunting techniques of a giant ichthyosaur – a marine predator that roamed the dimly lit oceans 183 million years ago.

In the twilight of the Jurassic period, a giant ruled the seas: Temnodontosaurus, an ichthyosaur that was more than ten metres long, with eyes the size of footballs. It glided virtually noiselessly through the dark waters – always on the lookout for prey. This marine predator relied on specialised stealth strategies: no eddies, no noise – advancing silently before making a lightning attack.

What may sound like a scene from a wildlife documentary is actually based on the latest scientific findings. An international research team led by Johan Lindgren from Lund University has managed, for the first time, to analyse the soft tissue structures of an exceptionally well-preserved forefin of one of these marine giants. The structure of the forefin suggests an evolutionary adaptation to suppress noise when swimming – comparable to the serrated flight feathers of an owl, which glides through the night almost without a sound. In order to determine the detailed structure of the soft tissue, the Temnodontosaurus’s forefin was sent on a journey – to undergo X-ray tomography at the Swiss Light Source SLS in Villigen.

From land animal to silent leviathan

Ichthyosaurs lived on Earth between 250 and 90 million years ago, making them one of the most successful groups of marine tetrapods – four-limbed vertebrates – that we know of. Like modern whales, these ancient aquatic reptiles descended from land-dwelling animals that gradually adapted fully to life in the ocean by developing fins and streamlined, almost dolphin-like bodies.

The new study, published in the journal Nature, describes an almost complete forefin of the largest ocean megapredator during the Early Jurassic. “The wing-like shape of the flippers, the absence of bones at the distal end – the part furthest from the body – the longitudinal skin structures and the distinctly jagged trailing edge indicate that this massive animal had developed means of minimising noise when swimming,” explains Johan Lindgren, the study’s lead author, who specialises in the analysis of fossilised soft tissues in marine reptiles. This means that the ichthyosaur must have moved through the water almost noiselessly. “We have never before seen such sophisticated evolutionary adaptations in a marine animal.”

Although many unusual ichthyosaurs have been found in which the soft tissue has been preserved, even including some with complete body outlines, the known soft parts have so far been restricted to a small group of dolphin-sized species. The new discovery is remarkable in that it represents the first soft tissue of a large ichthyosaur. Also, the structure of the flipper is unlike that of any other known aquatic animal, living or extinct. Its jagged rear edge is reinforced by novel rod-like mineralised structures, which the team refers to as “chondroderms”. The fossilised fin was discovered by chance at a road construction site near Dotternhausen in southern Germany – by fossil collector Georg Göltz, a co-author of the study, who was looking out for other fossils there.

High-tech methods reveal prehistoric stealth technology

To better understand the structures preserved in the fossil, the fin underwent a series of highly sensitive procedures. Synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography at the TOMCAT beamline of the SLS at PSI played a key role. “The high resolution and high contrast of our tomography procedure meant that we were able to visualise the fine internal structure of the chondroderms in three dimensions,” says Federica Marone, a beamline scientist at PSI’s Center for Photon Science. “This imaging technique was crucial to helping us understand the mechanical function of the rod-like reinforcements –particularly their role in minimising noise while swimming.”

Read more on SLS website

Image: This is what the silent Jurassic hunter might have looked like: Temnodontosaurus in action.

Credit: Adobe Stock

Revealing quantum fluctuations in complex molecules

Revealing quantum fluctuations in complex molecules

Due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum physics, atoms and molecules never come completely to rest, even in their lowest energy state. Researchers at European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg have now been able to directly measure this quantum motion in a complex molecule for the first time. For this, however, as they report in the journal Science, they had to make the molecule explode in the process.

Absolute standstill only exists in classical physics. In the quantum world, even the ground state with the lowest energy is characterised by persistent fluctuations. This is due to a quantum-mechanical principle discovered by Werner Heisenberg a hundred years ago during the development of quantum mechanics. The so-called zero-point fluctuations are a quantum effect that prevents atoms from remaining precisely at a fixed position, even at temperatures near absolute zero. At European XFEL in Schenefeld, researchers have now made the previously invisible directly observable – and the quantum world a bit more tangible.

An international team led by Rebecca Boll from the SQS (Small Quantum Systems) instrument at European XFEL in Schenefeld, Ludger Inhester from the DESY research centre, and Till Jahnke from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, succeeded in visualising the collective trembling of an entire molecule. Using a sophisticated experiment and refined data analysis, they were able to measure the quantum fluctuations of the 2-iodopyridine molecule (C5H4IN), which consists of eleven atoms – a milestone in molecular imaging. They describe their work in the renowned journal Science.

The researchers employed a method as spectacular as its name: Coulomb Explosion Imaging. The ultrashort, extremely intense X-ray laser pulses of European XFEL strip numerous electrons from the atoms of individual 2-iodopyridine molecules very rapidly. The remaining atomic cores become positively charged, repelling each other. The result resembles a microscopic big bang: the atomic cores fly apart in an explosion.

Read more on European XFEL website

Image: Visualisation of collective quantum fluctuations of a complex 2-iodopyridine molecule

Credit: European XFEL / Tobias Wüstefeld)

How Molecules Break and Form Bonds

How Molecules Break and Form Bonds

Researchers at European XFEL in Germany have tracked in real time the movement of individual atoms during a chemical reaction in the gas phase. Using extremely short X-ray flashes, they were able to observe the formation of an iodine molecule (I₂) after irradiating diiodomethane (CH₂I₂) molecules by infrared light, which involves breaking two bonds and forming a new one. At the same time, they were able to distinguish this reaction from two other reaction pathways, namely the separation of a single iodine atom from the diiodomethane, or the excitation of bending vibrations in the bound molecule. The results provide new insights into fundamental reaction mechanisms that have so far been very difficult to distinguish experimentally.

So-called elimination reactions in which small molecules are formed from a larger molecule are central to many chemical processes—from atmospheric chemistry to catalyst research. However, the detailed mechanism of many reactions, in which several atoms break and re-form their bonds, often remains obscure. The reason: The processes take place in incredibly short times—in femtoseconds, or a few millionths of a billionth of a second.

An innovative experimental approach was now used at the SQS instrument at European XFEL to visualize such reaction dynamics. The researchers irradiated diiodomethane molecules with ultrashort infrared laser pulses, which triggered the molecular reactions. Femtoseconds later, intense X-ray flashes shattered the molecules, causing their atomic components to fly apart in a “Coulomb explosion.” The trajectories and velocities of the ions were then recorded by a detection device called the COLTRIMS reaction microscope (COLd Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy)—one of the detection instruments at the SQS experimental station that is made available to users.

“Using this method, we were able to precisely track how the iodine atoms assemble while the methylene group is cleaved off,” explains Artem Rudenko from Kansas State University, USA, the principal investigator of the experiment. The analysis revealed that both synchronous and asynchronous mechanisms contribute to the formation of the iodine molecule—a result that was supported by theoretical calculations.

Remarkably, “Although this reaction pathway only accounts for about ten percent of the resulting products, we were able to clearly distinguish it from the other competing reactions,” explains Rebecca Boll from the European XFEL’s SQS (Small Quantum Systems) instrument in Schenefeld near Hamburg. This was made possible by the precise selection of specific ion fragmentation channels and their time-resolved analysis.

Read more on European XFEL website

Zinc detected in clogged syringes

Zinc detected in clogged syringes

Employees of the technology transfer centre ANAXAM and researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI used the unique analytical methods available at PSI to look inside pre-filled syringes. They found that, in rare cases, zinc from the needle shield can leach into the drug solution to be injected and possibly contribute to syringe clogging.

The task which the employees of the technology transfer centre ANAXAM set themselves, together with colleagues at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, can be likened to looking for a needle in a haystack. They were asked by the pharmaceutical company MSD (a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA) to find out whether tiny amounts of the element zinc can get inside the needles of pre-filled syringes and, if so, where it lodges in the needles.

The background is the observation that, in rare cases, the needles of pre-filled syringes (PFS) can become blocked, for example if the syringes are not stored in a cool enough environment. This phenomenon has been known for some time and has already been studied by ANAXAM. However, what has remained unclear is exactly what triggers the blockage. One suggestion was that zinc from the needle shield – the rubber cap into which the needle is inserted when the syringe is manufactured – could leach into the drug solution to be injected, making it more viscous, which would ultimately lead to blockages. 

To investigate this theory, the team led by ANAXAM has now resorted to sophisticated methods of detection. These allowed them to look inside the blocked hypodermic needles and check whether and where zinc was present. The results have now been published in the journal Pharmaceutical Research. 

Convenient pre-filled syringes

Pre-filled syringes are widely available, practical and easy to use, both for healthcare professionals and for patients. The amount of solution to be injected is precisely measured, which virtually rules out dosing errors, for example. The fact that their needles can become clogged, especially when the solution to be injected is highly concentrated, is a well-known issue in the pharmaceutical industry and has also been raised during licensing applications. There have also been cases of clogged needles which have led to products being recalled. “So Merck was very interested in knowing whether zinc could in fact find its way into the needles and cause the blockage,” says Vlad Novak, project manager at ANAXAM. 

This meant that several questions had to be answered. Is there zinc inside the needle? And if so, where do they come from? What does the inside of a clogged needle look like? And is the zinc also present in the solution being injected, which could ultimately lead to the blockage?

Read more on the PSI website

Image: Employees of the technology transfer centre ANAXAM and researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI used the unique analytical methods available at PSI’s large research facilities to look inside pre-filled syringes.

Credit: © Adobe Stock

Robust supercrystals for the LEDs of the future

Robust supercrystals for the LEDs of the future

Nanometre-sized crystals of perovskite offer great potential for applications in the field of light-emitting diodes, solar cells and optical switching elements. A particularly interesting arrangement occurs when a large number of these nanocrystals join to form a larger structure – a supercrystal. Researchers at the University of Tübingen have now found a novel way of achieving this. They resorted to a clever technique to produce perovskite supercrystals that are particularly stable and therefore useful. Some important analyses were carried out at DESY: Using its X-ray source PETRA III, the team managed to determine the precise structure of the supercrystals. They are now presenting their findings in the journal ACS Nano.

Perovskites, named after the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski, are a class of crystalline materials with a characteristic lattice structure. Lead halide perovskites are particularly promising, as they can be produced relatively easily by chemical methods and have remarkable optoelectronic properties – which is why these materials are the subject of intensive research. The first practical applications now appear to be within reach: Experts are working on high-performance solar cells based on perovskites, as well as on a new generation of highly efficient LEDs and laser chips.

Perovskite nanocrystals are a particularly exciting area of research. “Their optoelectronic properties depend heavily on their size – which is typical of quantum behaviour,” explains Jonas Hiller from the University of Tübingen, one of the authors of the study. “Because of this, their properties can be specifically customised. The energy of the light they absorb or emit varies depending on their composition and their size.”

Under certain conditions, these perovskite nanocrystals can form larger structures, creating a supercrystal. “This is a crystal made up of crystals,” Hiller explains. “You can compare it to a Rubik’s Cube which is made up of several smaller cubes.” The exciting thing is that while the individual nanocrystals retain their desired quantum properties, they can be handled as a macroscopic unit and thus deployed in practical applications.

Forming a supercrystal in two phases

Until now, supercrystals like this have been created by allowing a solvent containing the perovskite to slowly evaporate. The resulting structures form very gradually on the substrate. “However, the supercrystals are produced at random sites around the substrate,” explains the project manager Ivan Zaluzhnyy from Tübingen. “Also, the individual nanocrystals are surrounded by a protective layer of organic molecules which makes the entire supercrystal very soft.” As a result, they break very easily when you try to move them around mechanically. This poses a real obstacle for applications in which the positioning of the materials is crucial, such as between two electrodes in an electrical component.

To solve this problem, the team opted for an alternative approach: two-phase diffusion. A solution containing the nanocrystals is layered on top of a second liquid: acetonitrile. This acts as an anti-solvent for the perovskite crystals. As it slowly penetrates the solution containing the nanocrystals, it gradually reduces their solubility. “This results in crystal growth beginning at the boundary surface between the two phases,” explains Jonas Hiller. The acetonitrile displaces the organic molecules coating the crystals, resulting in a firmer, more stable structure.

In order to examine the structure of these supercrystals more closely, the team used the narrow X-ray beam at GINIX, an instrument installed at the PETRA III beamline P10. “The beam diameter of just 300 nanometres makes it possible to examine different regions within a supercrystal with high precision,” explains DESY physicist Wojciech Roseker. And Jonas Hiller adds: “The extremely high quality of the diffraction data was a key element of this study. It enabled us to analyse the structure of the supercrystals in great detail.”

The team found that the supercrystals produced, typically had an area of 10 by 10 square micrometres but were significantly thicker than the comparatively flat structures that could be achieved using the old method. Their height was more than five micrometres which improves their stability. This makes the supercrystals robust enough to be gripped with micromanipulators and moved to other locations – a first for perovskite structures.

Read more on DESY website

Image: Like a crystal rubik’s cube: The research team has found a way to create ordered perovskite supercrystals.

Credit: University of Tübingen, figure from original publication

Finetuning perovskites for new applications in solar cells, LEDs and semiconductors

Finetuning perovskites for new applications in solar cells, LEDs and semiconductors

Perovskite is a rising star in the field of materials science. The mineral is a cheaper, more efficient alternative to existing photovoltaic materials like silicon, a semiconductor used in solar cells. Now, new research has shown that applying pressure to the material can alter and fine-tune its structures — and thus properties — for a variety of applications.

Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan, a team of researchers observed in real time what happened when they “squeezed” a special type of perovskite between two diamonds. 2D hybrid perovskite is made up of alternating organic and inorganic layers. It’s the interaction between these layers, says Dr. Yang Song, professor of chemistry at Western University, that determines how the material absorbs, emits, or controls light.

The research team found that applying pressure significantly increased the material’s photoluminescence, making it brighter, which Song says hints at potential applications in LED lighting. The team also observed a continuous change in its colour from green to yellow to red. “So you can tune the colour.” Being able to observe changes to the material as they happen using ultrabright synchrotron light was critical to their research, said Song.

One of the biggest changes in the material came when the researchers applied a very large amount of pressure to the perovskite: It started glowing differently, signaling that its ability to handle light had improved. They also found the material squished more in one direction than others and that its internal structure became less twisted. Most similar materials become more twisted when they’re squeezed. The findings of the research, which also involved the Advanced Photon Source (APS)  at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, were published recently in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.

Read more on CLS website

Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY II

Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY II

The Mongolian collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin contains a unique Gungervaa shrine. Among the objects found inside were three tiny scrolls, wrapped in silk. Using 3D X-ray tomography, a team at HZB was able to create a digital copy of one of the scrolls. With a mathematical method the scroll could be virtually unrolled to reveal the scripture on the strip. This method is also used in battery research.

Buddhism in Mongolia has developed its own traditions that are linked to nomadic culture. Many families had a small portable shrine that they took with them wherever they went. As well as statues, images and decorative objects, these shrines sometimes contained relics and small, tightly rolled scrolls inscribed with prayers, known as ‘dharanis’. During the revolutionary period from 1921 to 1930, this cultural practice was almost completely eradicated with many shrines being destroyed.

However, one of these shrines ended up in Germany, where it was stored in the Ethnological Museum’s archives. Little was known about its origins. When Birgit Kantzenbach, a restorer at the Ethnological Museum, began researching the shrine a few years ago, she found that nothing was in its place; fabric flowers, relics, small statues and three small scrolls lay in a jumble. She first travelled to Mongolia. ‘An object always means only what people see in it; that’s what’s important,’ she says. She then turned to HZB physicist Tobias Arlt to examine the small scrolls wrapped in silk.

Non destructive investigation at BESSY II

Until a few years ago, such scrolls would simply have been unwrapped and unrolled to check for inscriptions However, this carries the risk of damaging the material and causing irreversible changes. Tobias Arlt examined the Dharani scrolls at the tomography station of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) at BESSY II. ‘The high-resolution 3D images show that there are around 50 windings in each scroll, with strips measuring over 80 centimetres that are wound tightly and carefully,’ says Arlt.

Virtual unrolling

Using a mathematical method developed at the Konrad Zuse Institute and the corresponding Amira software, he was able to virtually unroll the strip from the 3D data of the rolled sample. Originally, this process took a long time to complete, but with the help of artificial intelligence, it is now considerably faster. ‘We are continuing to optimise this complex process of virtual unrolling,’ says Arlt. ‘We also use this method in our own research, for example to analyse changes in tightly wound or folded batteries.’

Read more on HZB website

Image: The scroll was examined at the BAMline at BESSY II and virtually unrolled. The unrolled strip is slightly longer than 80 cm. ‘Om mani padme hum’ appears on the unrolled strip.

Credit: DOI: 10.1016/j.culher.2025.06.009

New bizarre Triassic reptile with a feather-like crest discovered

New bizarre Triassic reptile with a feather-like crest discovered

A new species of early reptile from the Triassic period has been discovered, with unique structures growing from its skin that formed an alternative to feathers. This ‘wonder‘ fossil changes our understanding of reptile evolution. The team of scientists, led by the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, published the description of the new species in the journal Nature. The skull of the reptile was scanned at the new beamline BM18.

The 247-million-year-old reptile is called Mirasaura grauvogeli, which means ‘Grauvogel’s Wonder Reptile’, in honour of the fossil collector who found it, Louis Grauvogel. The fossil was found in the 1930s in Alsace (France) and transferred to the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart in 2019. The bizarre creature shows characteristics from reptiles but presents a dorsal crest with previously unknown, structurally complex appendages growing from its skin, with some similarities to feathers.

The crest was probably used for display to other members of the same species. The finding shows that complex skin structures are not only found in birds and their closest relatives but may predate modern reptiles. This discovery changes our understanding of reptile evolution. “At first scientists were puzzled about the crest, but after preparation, a reptile skull was revealed. We can now safely say that is a new species from a very strange group reptiles called drepanosaurs”, explains palaeontologist Stephan Spiekman, first author of the study, from the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany.

In order to analyse the specimen, which was a few centimetres in length and less than 0.5 millimetres in width, the team came to the ESRF’s new experimental station BM18. There, they scanned the skull using X-ray tomography, which revealed a bird-like shape with a narrow, mostly toothless snout, large forward-facing eye sockets and a large, domed skull. Kathleen Dollman, scientist at the ESRF and co-author of the publication, says: “The fossil is incredible and showed these feather-like structures beautifully. I knew that imaging such fine details was going to be challenging, but when we started to see the first images on BM18 I knew that we had found something special”.

Spiekman adds: “Without the ESRF we could not have been able to do the reconstruction of the skull, because the fossil is so small that it is incredibly difficult to scan – it took me four months of working on the data to get the full reconstruction!”. This is the first Nature publication stemming from research carried out at the new BM18 beamline.

With the findings, the team hypothesized that the snout was probably used to extract insects from narrow tree holes, the big forward-facing eyes are typical of animal living in trees and the domed skull shows a fontanelle, which indicates that the specimen was very young when it died. It also had teeth in the roof of the mouth, as many different groups of extinct reptiles do.

Not hairs, not feathers, but something similar

Body coverings such as hair and feathers have played a central role in evolution. They enabled warm- bloodedness by insulating the body, and were used for courtship, display, deterrence of enemies and, in the case of feathers, flight. Their structure in mammals and birds is characterised by longer and more complex skin outgrowths that differ significantly from the simple and flat scales of reptiles.

The crest of Mirasaura consists of individual, densely overlapping appendages that each possess a feather-like contour with a narrow central ridge. While real feathers consist of many delicate branched structures called barbs, there is no evidence of such branching in the appendages of Mirasaura. Because of this, the team believes that the structure of the complex, unique skin appendages of Mirasaura evolved largely independently of those of birds.

Read more on ESRF website

New material could improve safety in nuclear reactors

New material could improve safety in nuclear reactors

Nuclear reactors and spacecraft are exposed to high levels of radiation and high temperatures, so it’s critical the metals they’re made of are strong and stable.

Researchers at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) are studying a special type of metal called high entropy alloy (HEA), which is made by combining several different metals together.

While previous research has shown HEA is extremely tough and can handle exposure to radiation better than regular metals, little is known about what happens inside HEA under such extreme conditions.

Dr. Qiang Wang and colleagues from CNL set about to change that. They used the ultrabright synchrotron light of the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan to study a HEA composed of chromium, iron, manganese and nickel.

“It has to be stable, so it won’t change the microstructure at high heat, and have a certain resistance to irradiation,” Wang said. “That’s why we chose this material. And also because it is reasonably easy to manufacture.”

The group bombarded their special recipe HEA with high-energy particles called protons at  400°C and 600°C and exposed it to different amounts of radiation. Using synchrotron X-rays, Wang and the team looked closely for tiny changes.

They discovered small plate-shaped defects, called “Frank loops,” which were more common at lower temperatures but larger at higher temperatures. The team also found that the metals started to separate, especially at higher temperatures; some areas in the metal lost more manganese, while others gained more nickel and iron. Their findings, says Wang, provide new insight into specifically how HEAs stand up under extreme conditions.

“We did find some advantages and some things we didn’t expect to happen, so obviously this material needs to be better studied to fully understand the applications,” Wang said.

However, he added, this material exhibited fewer defects than stainless steel exposed to similar conditions. Stainless steel is approved for and commonly used in nuclear applications.

To Wang’s knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in Canada — and the alloy itself was manufactured in this country. Time will tell, he says, whether the alloys will be used for equipment manufacturing or shielding.

Read more on CLS website

Insights into patient healing after placement of dental implants

Insights into patient healing after placement of dental implants

Griffith University researchers investigated the biological process involved in healing after dental implant placements using imaging data from the Australian Synchrotron. 

Dental implant placements often have lengthy healing periods and risks of other complications. The success of dental implant healing relies on bone tissue connecting with the surface of the implant in a process is known as osseointegration. 

Osseointegration is dependent on tiny living cells that maintain the bone matrix, osteocyte lacunae. The arrangement of these cells allows the bone to adapt and remodel to dental implants.

The team comprising Dr Yuqing Mu, and Prof Dr Yin Xiao used the Micro-Computed Tomography beamline to generate high-resolution 3D images that revealed the structure of osteocyte lacunae around implants in animal bone tissue, during the osseointegration process.  

“The MCT beamline can produce high resolution, three-dimensional images in micron size to visualise small things like osteocyte lacunae. It allowed researchers to see the healing between bone and the implant” explained Dr. Benedicta Arhatari, MCT beamline scientist. 

By understanding the role of osteocyte lacunae in the healing process, scientists can improve design of implant surfaces and materials. This will improve the integration of dental implants, leading to better outcomes for patients.

“Researchers can take MCT images of several different implant material or surface roughness and see how the bone heals to decide which implant material and surface is best for bone healing” added Dr. Arhatari. 

Read more on ANSTO website

UK and France ministers back AI drug discovery at Diamond

UK and France ministers back AI drug discovery at Diamond

The UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, Feryal Clark, visited Diamond to gain insights into the groundbreaking work planned by the OpenBind consortium.  An ambitious initiative that aims to revolutionise drug discovery through artificial intelligence. 

Ms Clark, who is the Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, was accompanied by Clara Chappaz, France’s minister delegate for artificial intelligence and digital affairs. 

OpenBind, which recently secured £8 million in anchor funding from DSIT’s Sovereign AI Unit, will generate the world’s largest dataset on drug-protein interaction – twenty times larger than any previous effort in the field. This data will be used to train next-generation AI models capable of identifying new drugs faster and more affordably, promising to significantly reduce development costs.  

Ms Clark and Ms Chappaz toured the facility with Diamond’s CEO Gianluigi Botton to observe key research instruments. The ministers visited the I04-1 beamline, which will be integral to OpenBind’s ambitions. 

It was great to visit Diamond Light Source with our French partners, to see some of the work making the UK a global hub for AI-driven drug discovery. The OpenBind consortium is a brilliant example of how world-leading UK capabilities are unlocking new AI models that can identify new treatments, faster.

Backed by our Sovereign AI Unit, this cutting-edge work, applying AI tech to biosciences, has huge potential to unlock new avenues to attract international investment and help rebuild our NHS. This is critical work in support of our Plan for Change.

Feryal Clark, Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government

OpenBind exemplifies Diamond’s integral role in harnessing home-grown AI expertise to drive global innovation and impact. By combining Diamond’s world-class capabilities with advanced AI technologies, we are not only improving drug development but also delivering on the UK’s technological ambitions.

Diamond CEO Gianluigi Botton

The OpenBind consortium represents the ambitions laid out in the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which calls for investment in AI to drive economic growth, transform public services and position the UK as a global leader in responsible AI innovation. OpenBind’s collaborative approach, bringing together academia and internal expertise, also reflects the importance of EU partnerships, ensuring that scientific breakthroughs are shared across borders to tackle global challenges in health and sustainability. 

Read more on Diamond website

Image: Diamond Head of Industrial Liaison Elizabeth Shotton; French Minister Delegate for artificial intelligence and digital affairs Clara Chappaz; Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government Feryal Clark; and Diamond CEO Gianluigi Botton.

Universal vaccine of the future

Universal vaccine of the future

Researchers from the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology have developed an innovative, modular nanoparticle that could become the foundation of a universal vaccine. By using a phage capsid and antigens derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, along with immune response-enhancing elements, the new technology allows for rapid adaptation of the vaccine to emerging pathogens. The structural part of the project was carried out at the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the National Synchrotron Radiation Centre SOLARIS.

Researchers have developed a nanoparticle is based on a phage capsid that has been devoid of its own genetic material and instead equipped with antigens derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus: specifically, the RBD (Receptor Binding Domain) protein. The research team, led by Dr. Antonina Naskalska, enhanced the nanoparticles with elements that could potentially boost the immune response: short, single-stranded DNA fragments or longer, coding mRNA sequences. The nanoparticle was designed in a modular fashion, allowing for the replacement of antigens displayed on its surface or molecules packed inside the capsid. The advantage of such a vaccine design lies in its ability to be rapidly adapted to an emerging pathogen or a new virus variant.


One of the key aspects of the presented vaccine prototype is the trimeric form of the RBD protein—identical to the form found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. An organism vaccinated with such an antigen has a greater chance of producing effective antibodies that, in the event of exposure to the virus, will protect it from infection. Demonstrating the trimeric form of the RBD antigen on the surface of the presented nanoparticles was made possible through structural studies using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), conducted at the National Synchrotron Radiation Centre SOLARIS.

Read more on SOLARIS website

2014 Nobel Prize idea used to reach super-resolution

2014 Nobel Prize idea used to reach super-resolution

In a leap forward for atomic-scale imaging, researchers have introduced a novel X-ray technique that could transform our understanding of electron motion at the microscopic level. This cutting-edge method, developed by an international team of scientists, uses the unique properties of European XFEL at Schenefeld near Hamburg, Germany—the largest X-ray laser in the world—to capture detailed snapshots of atomic interactions. The results of this research were now published in Nature.

The technique, called stochastic Stimulated X-ray Raman Scattering (s-SXRS), turns noise into valuable data, offering snapshots of the electronic structures of atoms. This advancement sets the stage for breakthroughs in chemical analysis and materials science.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, of European XFEL and others developed this innovative approach to X-ray spectroscopy, achieving unprecedented detail and resolution.

“For a long time, chemists have dreamed of seeing how electrons move when they’re in excited states, as these movements are what drive chemical reactions,” says Linda Young, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and professor at the University of Chicago. “Our technique brings us closer to realizing that dream.”

The key innovation is a super-resolution technique that greatly improves the detail in X-ray spectroscopy, a method for studying electron placement around atomic centres. This advancement helps scientists identify closely spaced energy levels in atoms, offering a clearer view of their electronic structures, which determine chemical properties.

“Think of it like upgrading from a standard-definition television to an ultra-high-definition screen,” Young explains. “We’re now able to see the fine details of electronic motion that were previously blurred or invisible.”

The practical applications of stochastic Stimulated X-ray Raman Scattering are wide-ranging. For example, it can provide insights into how chemical bonds form or break, offering a deeper understanding of fundamental processes relevant to chemical analysis. This knowledge is essential for developing new materials with specific electronic properties, impacting industries like electronics and nanotechnology.

The researchers directed the X-ray pulses of European XFEL through neon gas and used a spectrometer to collect the resulting radiation. The small, 5-millimeter gas cell was designed by the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics The intense beam created tiny holes in the cell’s entrance and exit windows, allowing the X-rays to pass through to a grating spectrometer—a device that separates light into its different wavelengths—provided by collaborators from Uppsala University in Sweden. The European XFEL experts have taken on a vital role in coordinating the installation and performing thorough pre-experimental testing. “This ensured optimal focusing conditions, which were crucial for efficiently acquiring a large amount of data during the experiment” explains Michael Meyer, group head of the Small Quantum Systems (SQS) instrument at European XFEL and a researcher in the Cluster of Excellence ‘CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter’.

As the X-rays pass through the gas, they amplify the Raman signals—a type of X-ray fingerprint that provides information about the excited electronic states of atoms or molecules—by nearly a billion-fold. This amplified signal provides detailed information about the electronic structure of the gas on a femtosecond timescale, or one quadrillionth of a second. By analysing the relationship between the incoming pulses and the resulting Raman signals, scientists can create a detailed energy spectrum from many individual snapshots, rather than scanning slowly across different energy levels.

“The large number of pulses in each X-ray flash not only boosts the measurement signal but also holds the key to the highest spectral resolution by averaging over many photon impacts on the detector at once,” says Thomas Pfeifer from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics.

“This approach, pinpointing the centre position of broad but distinct spectral spikes much more precisely than the width of the spikes, is similar to the super-resolution microscopy technique that won the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry”, Pfeifer adds.

Read more on European XFEL website

Image: An incoming X-ray light wave (left) made up of a chaotic distribution of very fast spikes interacts with atoms (purple dots) in a gas to amplify specific spikes (right) in the light wave.

Credit: Illustration by Stacy Huang/Argonne National Laboratory

Tracking how tiny metal contaminants can foul up a fuel cell

Tracking how tiny metal contaminants can foul up a fuel cell

Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising candidate to replace internal combustion engines, especially for heavy-duty vehicles like long-haul trucks and forklifts. Rather than burning fuel, the hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity much like a battery, while creating no carbon dioxide emissions.

But as the fuel cells operate, they get contaminated by tiny, positively-charged particles of metal – also known as metal cations – that can degrade their performance. These particles can come from anywhere – impurities in the hydrogen, degradation of metal parts of the cell, or even the air – and they are “bad news,” says ChungHyuk Lee, a chemical engineer at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“They accumulate in the catalyst layers of the cell, and get in the way of the chemical reaction,” he says.

To figure out how exactly these cations behave in a fuel cell, Lee and his colleagues added cobalt ions to a fuel cell and used the ultrabright light of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to track their movement through a simplified version of a fuel cell. Using the BioXAS beamline at the CLS was critical for the experiment, said Lee, because the cations move so quickly that no other device is fast enough to record their movement.

They used those measurements collected at CLS to build a mathematical model to predict how far and how fast they would travel in a real cell under different conditions.

They found that the cations were particularly mobile under more humid conditions, which are common in fuel cells and thus make it more difficult to control the contaminants. And they tended to get stuck within the thin but “twisty and tortuous” catalyst layers, where they interfere with the reactions that produce electricity.

Read more on CLS website

Wearable tech that’s safe for the body and kind to the environment

Wearable tech that’s safe for the body and kind to the environment

The world of wearable technology – such as sensors and energy-producing devices – is expanding, thanks to new research into a unique combination of materials that are flexible, safe to use on or inside the human body, and environmentally friendly.

Dr. Simon Rondeau-Gagné, along with a team of collaborators and graduate students, used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to show that semiconducting polymers and collagen – the main component of human skin – can be combined to create organic devices “that are more efficient, more conformable and specifically…more green as well.”

Collagen provided both the skin-like rigidity and elasticity (or bendability) the researchers were looking for in “a platform that can be integrated with something like the human body,” said Rondeau-Gagné, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Windsor. Incorporating a polyester polymer gave the devices weeks-long stability but also eventual biodegradability. The research results were recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

“We want our devices to be stable enough that they can be used, but unstable enough to not end up accumulating and not creating any kind of problems in the environment, such as microplastic pollution,” he said. “We’re concerned about the environmental footprint and what happens when you dispose of these future technologies.”

Rondeau-Gagné says that, now that they shown their materials are flexible and match the performance of devices made from non-biodegradable components, the sky’s the limit in term of possible applications for organic electronics. In the short term, such a device could be attached to plants to measure, for example, leaf growth. “As the leaf grows, the stretchable device could measure that and provide data about various growing conditions in a greenhouse or in the field.”

This research is part of the Agriculture UWindsor Centre of Excellence (AGUWin), an initiative dedicated to advancing agricultural research, skills training, and sustainable practices.

Read more on CLS website