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ALS Work Using Scattering/Diffraction

These techniques make use of the patterns of light produced when x-rays are deflected by the closely spaced lattice of atoms in solids and are commonly used to determine the structures of crystals and large molecules such as proteins.

 

Gemini Beamline 2.0.1 Banks Its First Protein Structure

A protein structure obtained from ALS Beamline 2.0.1 (“Gemini”) has recently been published in the literature and deposited into the Protein Data Bank (PDB)—two significant firsts for this beamline. The structure helped provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in triggering certain inflammatory diseases. Read more »

Doped Nickelate Enters a New Phase with Spintronics Potential

Rare-earth nickelates are known to undergo a metal-to-insulator phase transition as temperature decreases, the mechanism of which is not well understood. Here, researchers observed a new low-temperature phase that’s both metallic and antiferromagnetic—an unusual combination with potential value in spintronics. Read more »

Chatbot-Style AI Designs Novel Functional Protein

Researchers used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, similar to those used in natural-language (“chatbot”) models, to design a functional protein that was then structurally validated at the ALS. The work could speed the development of novel proteins for almost anything from therapeutics to degrading plastic. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

Intrinsically Chiral Twist-Bend Nematogens: Interplay of Molecular and Structural Chirality in the NTB Phase

Cartoon depiction of the formation of the heliconical chiral twist-bend nematic phase (N*TB) from its constituent bent molecules. The presence of a single enantiomer of the chiral, lactate-based liquid crystal dimers biases the formation of helices with only one handedness, unlike in the conventional NTB phase, observed for achiral molecules, for which the left- and right-handed helices are doubly degenerate. Read more »

Electric Vehicle Batteries Could Get Big Boost With New Polymer Coating

Scientists have developed a conductive polymer coating—called HOS-PFM—that conducts both electrons and ions at the same time. This ensures battery stability and high charge/discharge rates while enhancing battery life. The coating also shows promise as a battery adhesive that could extend the lifetime of a lithium-ion battery from an average of 10 years to about 15 years. Read more »

Under Pressure, Gold Nanoclusters Reveal Structure-Property Relationship

Metal nanoclusters have unusual optical properties that are of interest for fundamental reasons as well as for applications like diagnostic imaging and 3D printing. To better understand how nanocluster structure relates to optical properties, researchers performed high-pressure diffraction studies on single crystals of gold nanoclusters. Read more »

How a Record-Breaking Copper Catalyst Converts CO2 Into Liquid Fuels

Scientists know that copper has a special ability to transform CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels. But for many years, they struggled to understand how. Now, a research team has gained new insight by capturing real-time movies of copper nanoparticles as they convert CO2 and water into renewable fuels and chemicals: ethylene, ethanol, and propanol, among others. Read more »

Percolating Puddles in Rich Quantum Landscapes

Combining x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) with scanning micro x-ray diffraction (SµXRD), researchers found that charge density wave domains (known as “puddles”) in a nickelate material exhibit two types of dynamics: small puddles actively “percolate” (fluctuate in size and shape), while large puddles are more static. Read more »

Surface Charge and Nanoparticle Chromophore Coupling to Achieve Fast Exciton Quenching and Efficient Charge Separation in Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) and Photothermal therapy (PTT)

Organic semiconductor nanoparticles (OSNs) convert absorbed light into heat, and are commonly used in photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging. Here, the OAN, Y6, is shown to form strong intermolecular packing, manipulated by surface charge under restrained sizes, yielding new pi-pi stacking and fast exciton quenching. The temperature of the tumor area can rise to more than 70 degrees under NIR irradiation, which can effectively ablate a tumor. Read more »