Treated municipal wastewater often contains nitrogen, which has been linked to algal blooms that can devastate coastal ecosystems. In a recent study, researchers characterized the primary nitrogen-removal pathways in a horizontal levee, an engineered subsurface water-treatment system consisting of a gently sloping strip of land adjacent to storm-control levees. Read more »
ALS Work Using XANES
X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy is form of x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) that reveals the structures of molecules bonded to surfaces. It focuses on prominent features in the "near-edge" region of a spectrum (about 30 eV above the K-shell absorption edge). This "fine structure" can be correlated with specific molecular bond types, lengths, and orientations. XANES, also known as near-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, is often performed as part of a STXM experiment.
Additive Lithography–Organic Monolayer Patterning Coupled with an Area-Selective Deposition
This scene depicts the layer-by-layer growth of an inorganic film in a selected area. The alternation of a chemical agent (blue) deposits on a gray substrate to form an inorganic film. A cross-linked organic material (tan) locally inhibits this reaction and prevents film deposition. Furthermore, the pattern-wise cross-linking of this organic film enables nanoscale pattern generation. Read more »
Molecular Complex Removes Copper Ions from Water
X-ray analyses provided key insights into the copper uptake mechanisms in a new organic-inorganic hybrid material that quickly and selectively removes copper ions from water. The material provides an efficient tool for copper remediation as well as a blueprint for creating other hybrid materials for removing toxic metals from water. Read more »
Survival of T. rex Microvascular Structures from Deep Time
Researchers used several analytical techniques at the ALS to demonstrate how soft-tissue structures may be preserved in dinosaur bones, countering long-standing scientific dogma that protein-based body parts cannot survive more than one million years. Read more »
Berkeley Lab Helps Reveal How Dinosaur Blood Vessels Can Preserve Through the Ages
A team of scientists used infrared and x-ray imaging performed at the Advanced Light Source to determine the chemical mechanisms that allow soft tissue structures to persist in dinosaur bones—countering the long-standing scientific dogma that protein-based body parts can’t survive more than 1 million years. Read more »
ALS Confirms Mechanism for Improved Fuel Cell Catalysis
Aided by x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the ALS, researchers from Toyota and the University of Akron have uncovered a new catalysis mechanism to improve oxidation-reduction reactions in certain fuel cells by 40%. This enhancement, based on tin oxide, will support efforts to increase fuel efficiency in electric vehicles. Read more »
Clues to the Early Solar System Preserved in a Meteorite
Scientists analyzing a tiny carbon-rich pocket inside a meteorite found unexpected chemical signatures. Their findings are the first direct evidence that material from the outer solar system may have traveled inward long before planets formed, providing insight into the early solar system. Read more »
From Moon Rocks to Space Dust: Berkeley Lab’s Extraterrestrial Research
Berkeley Lab has a well-storied expertise in exploring samples of extraterrestrial origin. This research—which has helped us to understand the makeup and origins of objects within and beyond our solar system—stems from long-standing core capabilities in structural and chemical analyses and measurement at the microscale and nanoscale. Read more »
Ingredients for Life Revealed in Meteorites
X-ray absorption spectroscopy and other techniques were used to measure the organic chemical components in a pair of meteorites that crashed to Earth in 1998. The study treads new ground in solar system history and asteroid geology, surfacing exciting possibilities for the existence of life elsewhere in Earth’s neighborhood. Read more »
Ingredients for Life Revealed in Meteorites That Fell to Earth
Two wayward space rocks, which separately crashed to Earth in 1998 after circulating in our solar system’s asteroid belt for billions of years, share something else in common: the ingredients for life. They are the first meteorites found to contain both liquid water and a mix of complex organic compounds such as hydrocarbons and amino acids. Read more »
