BM01
BM01 is a multipurpose diffraction beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, FRANCE) focused on diffraction and structural studies. The complexity of modern materials implies that structural phenomena at various time and space scales hierarchically co-exist and co-determine properties. BM01 offers a set of diffraction tools that probe different spatial length scales, combining high intensity time-resolved and high-resolution measurements with a broad range of in-situ conditions and different functional forms of the crystalline materials.
The high intensity of the focused synchrotron beam, low noise large area detectors, and flexible sample environment makes it possible to go beyond “sample characterization” and provides us with unique information on the structural features ranging from local atomic disorder (diffuse scattering) to macroscopic domain structures (high-resolution reciprocal space mapping). Currently, the portfolio of diffraction probes available at BM01 includes single crystal diffraction, powder diffraction and diffraction from surfaces; all the probes can be applied in optimal scattering conditions for a given project, thanks to flexibility of the diffraction platform. A complimentary small angle diffraction option operating in parallel with the above techniques will be available soon.
The beamline provides a large range of possibilities to control conditions on the sample: temperature (5K – 1000C), pressure (from mbars to few GPa), electric field (up to 18 kV/cm), gas flow and gas pressure cells, and electrochemical battery cells. We have also developed a set of SNBL software tools to deal with the diffraction data that makes experiments and data processing very efficient and user friendly.
Our user community is very versatile and deals with physics, chemistry, and physical chemistry of materials and processes of both practical and fundamental interests. Our data are reported in ~80 papers per year that makes BM01 one of the most productive beamlines at ESRF.
Representative scientific cases are i) crystal structure of MOFs and thermodynamics of guest uptake and release, ii) stability and phase transformations of photovoltaic materials and thin films, iii) in-situ ferroelectrics – from synthesis to domain engineering.
Please visit www.snbl.eu for more details
| Serre, C. et al. Role of solvent-host interactions that lead to very large swelling of hybrid frameworks SCIENCE 10.1126/science.1137975 Steele, J. A. et. al. Thermal unequilibrium of strained black CsPbI3 thin films SCIENCE 10.1126/science.aax3878 Tagantsev, A. K. et. al. The origin of antiferroelectricity in PbZrO3 NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 10.1038/ncomms3229 |
BM31
About the beamline. BM31 is a hard X-rays beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, FRANCE) specialized in combining X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements to probe materials in liquid, solution, or solid state. While XRD provides information about the long-range order of crystalline materials, XAS is a powerful, element specific, technique that brings electronic and structural insights into the short-range order of both crystalline and amorphous materials. We have extensive experience in performing multi-element, time- and space-resolved in-situ and operando (i.e., with simultaneous measurement of the catalytic activity using a mass spectrometer, MS) XAS-XRD studies.
To add more complementarity to the beamline and to provide support for scientists with the characterization of their, very often, complex functional materials with atomic order that may be limited to the nanoscale domain, the beamline has recently received an upgrade. Total scattering / pair distribution function (TS/PDF) can now be used alongside the XAS-XRD in a quasi-simultaneous manner. PDF analysis can investigate both short- and long-range ordered materials and has no requirement whatsoever on the periodicity of the samples subjected to characterization.
As no “one technique”, alone, can give you all the answers for the structure and active sites of your (multi-) functional materials, BM31 is using a multiple length scale approach to analyze samples under an extremely diverse sample environment (e.g., heating, cooling, high-pressure, dynamic gas atmosphere). Very frequently, the scientists coming on the beamline are trying to tackle some of the current hottest topics for the research community world-wide in the fields such as catalysis, materials synthesis, electrochemistry, porous materials, or batteries.
Some scientific cases. In the fields of catalysis and electrochemistry, a few, more recent, examples can include the use of two common greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) , to produce a valuable chemical feedstock (syngas) via the reaction of dry reforming of methane1,2 or the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to generate methanol (CH3OH) as a potential energy carrier by using a more sustainable process3–5. The potential role that ammonia (NH3) can play in a hydrogen (H2) economy has also been investigated6, as well as H2 generation through the electrochemical water splitting process7.
On the materials synthesis and development side, a combined XAS-XRD approach has been employed to identify polymer lamellae as reaction intermediates in the formation of (colloidal) copper nanospheres8. By fine-tuning the lamella structure, full control can be gained over the final shape of the copper nanocrystals9, a largely used catalyst material in e.g., the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. Other examples include advances made in the battery field by the discovery of e.g., stable anodes for sodium-ion alternatives to the well-established lithium-ion existent solutions10, or the synthesis of a new, regenerable, metal–organic framework (MOF) for sampling excess fluoride levels in drinking water11.
For more information, scientific or technical, do not hesitate to contact us (snbl.eu).
