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.
- 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.
- BESSY II: Phosphorus chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties in phosphorus. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.