Dr. Raül Garcia Diez received poster award at the international synchrotron conference SRI 2018
Raül Garcia Diez is awarded the poster prize. © SRI 2018
HZB researcher introduces unique operando characterization by soft X-ray spectroscopy
The HZB physicist Raül Garcia Diez has been awarded a poster prize at the international conference "Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation 2018" (SRI 2018) in Taiwan. He presented how the HZB team intends to observe the reactions in electrocatalysts under "operando" conditions with soft X-rays from BESSY II.
“Operando" analysis is of vital importance for investigating catalytic processes in materials and getting insights into the chemical reaction. This enables researchers to understand the mechanisms that limit the performance and stability of electrocatalyst materials. However, "operando" characterization techniques for catalysts and liquid environments - especially for soft X-ray applications - have to been pushed beyond the current limits first.
"Operando" investigations in a wide energy range
Dr. Raül Garcia Diez is part of Dr.-Ing. Marcus Bär's young investigator research group, which is developing this experimental setup in the EMIL laboratory. This includes a compact X-ray spectrometer (HiTS: "High transmission soft x-ray emission spectrometer") and a flow-cell suited for electrochemistry. The X-ray optics designed for the HiTS spectrometer enable material investigations over an extremely wide energy range (from 50 to 2,000 eV).
"Our design sets new standards in the field of soft X-ray spectroscopy. I am happy that I could report at the conference about the progress made in developing the EMIL infrastructure for “operando” measurements. The poster award is a recognition of our work," says Raül Garcia Diez.
The International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation takes place every three years. With approximately 800 participants, it is the largest conference in this field; almost all synchrotron facilities in the world were represented at this year's conference with talks and posters.
- The future of corals – what X-rays can tell usThis summer, it was all over the media. Driven by the climate crisis, the oceans have now also passed a critical point, the absorption of CO2 is making the oceans increasingly acidic. The shells of certain sea snails are already showing the first signs of damage. But also the skeleton structures of coral reefs are deteriorating in more acidic conditions. This is especially concerning given that corals are already suffering from marine heatwaves and pollution, which are leading to bleaching and finally to the death of entire reefs worldwide. But how exactly does ocean acidification affect reef structures?
Prof. Dr. Tali Mass, a marine biologist from the University of Haifa, Israel, is an expert on stony corals. Together with Prof. Dr. Paul Zaslansky, X-ray imaging expert from Charité Berlin, she investigated at BESSY II the skeleton formation in baby corals, raised under different pH conditions. Antonia Rötger spoke online with the two experts about the results of their recent study and the future of coral reefs.
- Energy of charge carrier pairs in cuprate compoundsHigh-temperature superconductivity is still not fully understood. Now, an international research team at BESSY II has measured the energy of charge carrier pairs in undoped La₂CuO₄. Their findings revealed that the interaction energies within the potentially superconducting copper oxide layers are significantly lower than those in the insulating lanthanum oxide layers. These results contribute to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity and could also be relevant for research into other functional materials.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.