MAX IV and BESSY II initiate new collaboration to advance materials science
Great joy among the partners of MAX IV and HZB after signing the Cooperation agreement. From left Olof Karis, Director at MAX IV, Antje Hasselberg, authorized signatory at HZB and Bernd Rech, Scientific Director at HZB. © HZB /Ronja Grünke
The Cooperation agreement was signed during a meeting between researchers from MAX IV and BESSY II in Berlin. © HZB
Swedish national synchrotron laboratory MAX IV and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) with BESSY II light source jointly announce the signing of a 5-year Cooperation Agreement. The new agreement establishes a framework to strengthen cooperation for operational and technological development in the highlighted fields of accelerator research and development, beamlines and optics, endstations and sample environments as well as digitalisation and data science.
The new agreement increases accessibility and overall opportunities for users to conduct advanced materials science investigations at MAX IV and BESSY II in a smooth, integrated manner. Facility collaboration through project-based initiatives may include, among others, reciprocal exchange of knowledge, instrumentation development and usage, data handling, scientific and technical staff, research initiatives, and PhD programme activities.
“Decades of collaboration between Sweden and HZB—rooted in, for example, shared work on energy-relevant materials and enabling methods and technologies—have continually advanced our field. The Cooperation Agreement we sign today gives MAX IV and HZB a solid platform to keep advancing synchrotron science into the 2030s and beyond”, says Olof Karis, Director of MAX IV.
Bernd Rech, Scientific Director at HZB highlights: “The development of new materials is key for a climate-neutral future, we are striving to achieve through science and innovation. I am delighted about the close relationship we have built up between MAX IV and HZB over the years. Thanks to this agreement, we will ensure that bright minds continue to work together, for example to investigate new types of materials and accelerator technologies.”
About the facilities
MAX IV Laboratory is a national large-scale research facility in Lund, Sweden providing scientists with the most brilliant X-rays for research in the materials and life sciences. The synchrotron is hosted by Lund University and is primarily funded by Swedish and international research funders, consortia, and Swedish research universities.
> MAX IV
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB) is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in Germany and focuses on energy materials research and the further development of accelerator facilities.
HZB operates BESSY II light source as well as modern laboratories and instruments for the investigation of structures and processes in materials.
> Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
- Porous Radical Organic framework improves lithium-sulphur batteriesA team led by Prof. Yan Lu, HZB, and Prof. Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulphur batteries. The material is based on polymers that form a framework with open pores (known as radical-cationic covalent organic frameworks or COFs). Catalytically accelerated reactions take place in these pores, firmly trapping polysulphides, which would shorten the battery life. Some of the experimental analyses were conducted at the BAMline at BESSY II.
- Metallic nanocatalysts: what really happens during catalysisUsing a combination of spectromicroscopy at BESSY II and microscopic analyses at DESY's NanoLab, a team has gained new insights into the chemical behaviour of nanocatalysts during catalysis. The nanoparticles consisted of a platinum core with a rhodium shell. This configuration allows a better understanding of structural changes in, for example, rhodium-platinum catalysts for emission control. The results show that under typical catalytic conditions, some of the rhodium in the shell can diffuse into the interior of the nanoparticles. However, most of it remains on the surface and oxidises. This process is strongly dependent on the surface orientation of the nanoparticle facets.
- KlarText Prize for Hanna TrzesniowskiThe chemist has been awarded the prestigious KlarText Prize for Science Communication by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.