LiXEdrom
XES, XAS, RIXS, micro-jet station
The LiXEdrom experimental station was designed to study functional materials mainly in solution by means of soft X-ray photon-in-photon-out spectroscopy. Therefore the LiXEdrom offers a high variability in its sample environment: micro-jet, flat-jet, flow cell, catalytic cell, transmission cell.
Selected Applications:- Investigate Hydrogen-bond network and Hofmeister effects in aqueous solutions
- Determine interfacial electronic properties (electron delocalization) at the solute-solvent interface
- Observe of electronic structure changes of catalysts in solution and electrolytes along the reaction path
- Investigate the surface chemistry of nanoparticles in solution activated by different surfactants
- State of the art in situ and operando spectrochemical investigation of catalytically active materials
Methods
Remote access
not possible
| Station data | |
|---|---|
| Temperature range | Room temperature |
| Pressure range | Operating pressure in main chamber: 1-3 x 10-5 mbar; detector chamber: 10-8 mbar |
| Detector | CCD camera coupled with MCP stack and Fluorescence Screen |
| Manipulators | high precision CF 100 manipulator |
| Sample holder compatibility | No compatibility – everything is unique |
| Additional equipment | o micro-jet
o flat-jet (two nozzles/ chip nozzle) o flow cell (tripled) o catalytic cell (three electrode setup) o transmission cell o transfer from glovebox into vacuum o multiple pumps (HPLC, syringe, peristaltic) o Bipotentiostat |
| Applicable at beamline(s) | |
| UE51_PGM-1 | |
| UE51_PGM-2 | |
The liquid solution is pumped into the experimental chamber through a circular glass capillary of 15-25 µm diameters at a flow rate of 0.35 - 1.5 ml/min and flow speed of around 40 m/s. The continuous freshly introduced solution enables experiments on samples free of synchrotron radiation damage which is a crucial prerequisite for investigating soft matter and biological systems. To preserve the ultra-high vacuum conditions required for soft X-ray experiments the LiXEdrom station is equipped with multi-stage pumping and liquid nitrogen cryo-traps that reduce the effective pressure by several orders of magnitude. Operating pressure in the main chamber is low 10-5 mbar, while at the connection to the beamline a pressure of 5·10-9 mbar is realized by the implementation of several pin-holes that reduce the high pressure flow toward the beamline section.
The X-ray spectrometer operates at grazing incidence angles and Rowland circle geometry. It is equipped with four gratings that cover the whole soft X-ray energy range from 30 eV to 1200 eV. To increase further the energy resolution, the spectrometer is operated at higher (2nd and 3rd) diffraction orders.
The detector consists of a stack of micro-channel plates (MCP), a phosphorous screen, and a charge coupled device (CCD). The MCP plates have a very small pore size of 5 µm and a small bias angle in order to increase spatial/energy resolution and detection efficiency at the CCD. They are coated with a thin film of cesium iodide to increase the number of secondary electrons and to enhance the overall detection efficiency. The CCD itself consists of an array of 1040 x 1392 pixels with a pixel size of 4.4 µm in order to match the resolving power of the grating with the spatial resolution of the CCD.
For more details and current status of the experimental station please contact the Instrument Scientist(s).