Latest news from Analytic City Adlershof
New findings on the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries
Distribution of lithium isotopes serves as a ‘fingerprint’ for aging processes:
The service life of lithium-ion batteries is limited by complex aging processes, the causes of which are often difficult to distinguish from one another. Researchers at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and…
High-resolution insights into individual biomolecules and catalysts
Nanoscale infrared spectroscopy improves the ability to study biological and chemical processes at BESSY II:
Very small biological samples and even individual biomolecules can now be examined under near-physiological conditions with high confidence at the BESSY II infrared beamline with a newly validated and improved…
New insights into sodium transport in sodium-ion batteries
Measurements reveal movements and chemical changes in the material:
Sodium-ion batteries are regarded as a promising alternative to today’s lithium-ion batteries. Sodium is widely available and could play an important role, particularly in large-scale stationary energy storage…
Three recipes for the medicine of tomorrow
Osypka Medical, SEMDATEX, and Hofmann & Sommer are developing solutions for the medical sector in Adlershof:
The future of medicine looks promising. Three Adlershof-based companies show what it could look like. Though they are active in very different fields, they have a common goal: detecting diseases earlier, treating them…
When the chemistry is right
Christoph Arenz at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin researches a special class of lipids:
Christoph Arenz, professor at the HU Department of Chemistry, researches a special class of lipids. What sounds abstract at first glance has very concrete applications in medicine. In this way, basic research becomes…
Comprehensive EUV optical constants dataset published
Result of an international collaboration led by PTB and involving eight partner institutions:
Optical constants, as fundamental material parameters, form an important basis for the development and optimisation of optical components, including applications in semiconductor lithography, at synchrotron and…
New sample environment at BESSY II allows glimpse into thermocatalytic processes
A novel measurement cell allows, for the first time, X-ray investigations under high pressures and temperatures:
A novel measurement cell allows, for the first time, soft and hard X-ray investigations under high pressures of up to 20 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C. This provides new insights into thermocatalytic processes,…
New insights into quantum materials using magnetic imaging
Micro-flowers increase the local magnetic field and expand the range of applications for photoemission electron microscopy:
Materials with magnetic nanostructures have many potential applications such as in spintronics. To explore such materials, nanoscale magnetic-sensitive imaging techniques are very useful, but up to now only weak…
Materials research: BESSY and the bronze sword
A historic artefact was examined at the Adlershof Particle Accelerator:
A weapon is not the sort of object you would expect to find at a particle accelerator. Yet earlier this year, a Bronze Age sword found its way to Berlin: 60 centimetres long, richly decorated, more than 3,400 years…
BAM takes a key role in major European research project
The EU project MaterialsCommons is establishing a networked data and AI infrastructure for materials research:
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is taking on a central role in the major European project “MaterialsCommons”, which kicked off in June. Coordinated by Fraunhofer IWM, 26 research…
ISO honors Michael Krumrey for excellence
The International Organization for Standardization recognizes the PTB scientist for his many years of leadership:
The head of the department 7.2 “X-ray metrology with synchrotron radiation” at the National Metrology Institute of Germany, PTB, in Adlershof, Dr Michael Krumrey, has received the ISO Excellence Award. The award…
Superconducting TES array X-ray spectrometer goes into operation at BESSY II
The instrument is around 100 to 1,000 times more efficient at detecting photons than conventional devices:
The TES-Spectrometer was developed within a collaboration between the HZB, the MPI-CEC (Mühlheim-an-der-Ruhr, Germany) and the NIST (Boulder CO, USA) and is now in operation at BESSY II, as the only TES-Spectrometer…
Tutorial on the analysis of liposomes and lipid nanoparticles published
PTB contributes to the measurement of key structural parameters for the characterisation of materials:
Liposomes and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are frequently used as carriers in drug delivery and are able to encapsulate active substances such as nucleic acids and peptides and transport them to the site of treatment in…
X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbols
At HZB, a work by painter Erich Mercker was examined:
Erich Mercker was a successful painter during the Nazi era and in the years that followed. After 1945, he covered up Nazi symbols in at least one of his paintings. With an interdisciplinary team, physicist Dr Ioanna…
Radiation damage or intrinsic material change?
PTB study reveals dose limits for reliable X-ray analysis of battery materials:
X-ray radiation provides insight into the chemical changes in battery materials during battery operation ("operando"), but is also the cause of radiation-generated effects that can superimpose and falsify measurement…