I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9157]
Abstract: To advance the scientific understanding of bacteria-driven mercury (Hg) transformation processes in natural environments, thermodynamics and kinetics of divalent mercury Hg(II) chemical speciation need to be understood. Based on Hg LIII-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic information, combined with competitive ligand exchange (CLE) experiments, we determined Hg(II) structures and thermodynamic constants for Hg(II) complexes formed with thiol functional groups in bacterial cell-membranes of two extensively studied Hg(II) methylating bacteria: Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132. The Hg EXAFS data suggest 5% of the total number of membrane thiol functionalities (Mem-RStot = 380 ± 50 µmol g−1 C) are situated closely enough to be involved in a 2-coordinated Hg(Mem-RS)2 structure in Geobacter. The remaining 95% of Mem-RSH are involved in mixed-ligation Hg(II)-complexes, either with low molecular mass (LMM) thiols like Cys, Hg(Cys)(Mem-RS) or with neighboring O/N membrane functionalities, Hg(Mem-RSRO). We report log K values for the formation of the structures Hg(Mem-RS)2, Hg(Cys)(Mem-RS), and Hg(Mem-RSRO) to be 39.1 ± 0.2 , 38.1 ± 0.1 and 25.6 ± 0.1, respectively, for Geobacter; and 39.2 ± 0.2 , 38.2 ± 0.1 and 25.7 ± 0.1, respectively for ND132. Combined with results obtained from previous studies using the same methodology to determine chemical speciation of Hg(II) in presence of natural organic matter (Suwannee River DOM) and 15 LMM thiols, an internally consistent thermodynamic data set is created, which we recommend to be used in studies of Hg transformation processes in Bacterium–NOM–LMM thiols systems.
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Jun 2020
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B07-C-Versatile Soft X-ray beamline: Ambient Pressure XPS and NEXAFS
B18-Core EXAFS
I20-EDE-Energy Dispersive EXAFS (EDE)
I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Rachel H.
Blackmore
,
Maria Elena
Rivas
,
George F.
Tierney
,
Khaled M. H.
Mohammed
,
Donato
Decarolis
,
Shusaku
Hayama
,
Federica
Venturini
,
Georg
Held
,
Rosa
Arrigo
,
Monica
Amboage
,
Pip
Hellier
,
Evan
Lynch
,
Mahrez
Amri
,
Marianna
Casavola
,
Tugce
Eralp Erden
,
Paul
Collier
,
Peter P.
Wells
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[20129, 20200, 22063, 15151]
Open Access
Abstract: The use of mechanochemistry to prepare catalytic materials is of significant interest; it offers an environmentally beneficial, solvent-free, route and produces highly complex structures of mixed amorphous and crystalline phases. This study reports on the effect of milling atmosphere, either air or argon, on mechanochemically prepared LaMnO3 and the catalytic performance towards N2O decomposition (deN2O). In this work, high energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), X-ray emission, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been used to probe the electronic structural properties of the mechanochemically prepared materials. Moreover, in situ studies using near ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS, to follow the materials during catalysis, and high pressure energy dispersive EXAFS studies, to mimic the preparation conditions, have also been performed. The studies show that there are clear differences between the air and argon milled samples, with the most pronounced changes observed using NAP-XPS. The XPS results find increased levels of active adsorbed oxygen species, linked to the presence of surface oxide vacancies, for the sample prepared in argon. Furthermore, the argon milled LaMnO3 shows improved catalytic activity towards deN2O at lower temperatures compared to the air milled and sol–gel synthesised LaMnO3. Assessing this improved catalytic behaviour during deN2O of argon milled LaMnO3 by in situ NAP-XPS suggests increased interaction of N2O at room temperature within the O 1s region. This study further demonstrates the complexity of mechanochemically prepared materials and through careful choice of characterisation methods how their properties can be understood.
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Jun 2020
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I15-1-X-ray Pair Distribution Function (XPDF)
I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[15696, 16508]
Open Access
Abstract: In situ studies on the physical and chemical properties of Au in inverse ceria alumina supported catalysts have been conducted between 295 and 623 K using high energy resolved fluorescence detection X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy and X-ray total scattering. Precise structural information is extracted on the metallic Au phase present in a 0.85 wt% Au containing inverse ceria alumina catalyst (ceria/Au/alumina). Herein evidence for the formation of an Au hydride species at elevated temperature is presented. Through modelling of total scattering data to extract the thermal properties of Au using Grüneisen theory of volumetric thermal expansion it proposed that the Au Hydride formation occurs synergistally with the formation of a cerium oxyhydride. The temperature reversible nature, whilst remaining in a reducing atmosphere, demonstatrates the activation of hydrogen without consumption of oxygen from the supporting ceria lattice.
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Apr 2020
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[23538]
Open Access
Abstract: Phase‐pure and highly crystalline CaFe2O4 with a sponge‐like macroporous structure is synthesized for the first time via facile solution‐based microwave reaction and subsequent short thermal treatment. The formation mechanism of the orthorhombic phase (Pnma) and the pore network is investigated in detail and reveals a complex formation of this p‐type semiconductor. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy confirm the phase changes by altered magnetic properties. Furthermore, the optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the material were investigated. The material has a bandgap of 1.9 eV and sufficient band positions for water splitting. Valence‐to‐core X‐ray emission spectroscopy is used to support the band positions obtained from Mott–Schottky analysis. Photocathodes prepared from macroporous CaFe2O4 generate photocurrents under illumination with light of up to 600 nm.
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Feb 2020
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17787]
Abstract: The Zn 1s valence-to-core (VtC) X-ray emission spectra of six ionic liquids have been measured experimentally and simulated based upon time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. The seven ionic liquids were made by mixing [C8C1Im]X and Zn(II)X2 at three different ZnX2 mole fractions (0.33, 0.50 or 0.67) for X=Cl or Br, and a further ionic liquid was made by mixing [P6,6,6,14]Cl and a mole fraction of ZnCl2 of 0.33. Calculations were performed for the [ZnX4]2-, [Zn2X6]2- and [Zn4X10]2- ions to capture the expected metal complex speciation. The VtC emission spectra showed three bands arising from single electron processes that can be assigned to emission from ligand p-type orbitals, zinc d orbitals and ligand s-type orbitals. For all seven ionic liquids, the highest occupied molecular orbital arises from the ligand p orbitals, and the spectra for the different size metal complexes for the same X were found to be very similar, in terms of both relative peak intensities and peak energies. For both experiments and TDDFT calculations, there was an energy difference of 0.5 eV between the Cl-based and Br-based metal complexes for the ligand s and p orbitals, while the Zn 3d orbital energies were relatively unaffected by the identity of the ligand. The TDDFT calculations find that for the ions with symmetrically equivalent zinc atoms ([Zn2X6]2- and [Zn4X10]2-), the most appropriate core-ionised reference state has a core-hole that is localised on a single zinc atom. In this framework, the spectra for the larger ions can be viewed as a sum of spectra for the tetrahedral complex with a single zinc atom with small variations in the structure of the coordinating ligands. Since the spectra are relatively insensitive to small changes in the geometry of the ligands, this is consistent with the small variation in the spectra measured in experiment.
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Oct 2019
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[16508]
Abstract: The reaction between ceria and hydrogen has been subject to numerous theoretical and experimental studies due to its importance as a catalytic material. Here we present dynamic and reversible evolution of the cerium oxidation states observed through X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy experiments in addition to the investigation of associated lattice expansion and contraction through X-ray diffraction and PDF methods. Employing a novel calculation of the temperature dependence of the Gibbs free energy through consideration of the relationship between the instantaneous thermal lattice expansion and the rate of change of the cerium oxidation state, the unusual redox chemistry is reported here. This unusual behaviour is interpreted as due to the formation of a metastable cerium oxyhydride as suggested.
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Aug 2019
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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George F.
Tierney
,
Donato
Decarolis
,
Norli
Abdullah
,
Scott M.
Rogers
,
Shusaku
Hayama
,
Martha
Briceno De Gutierrez
,
Alberto
Villa
,
C. Richard A.
Catlow
,
Paul
Collier
,
Nikolaos
Dimitratos
,
Peter
Wells
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17283]
Open Access
Abstract: Sol-immobilization is increasingly used to achieve supported metal nanoparticles (NPs) with controllable size and shape; it affords a high degree of control of the metal particle size and yields a narrow particle size distribution. Using state-of-the-art beamlines, we demonstrate how X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) techniques are now able to provide accurate structural information on nano-sized colloidal Au solutions at μM concentrations. This study demonstrates: (i) the size of Au colloids can be accurately tuned by adjusting the temperature of reduction, (ii) Au concentration, from 50 μM to 1000 μM, has little influence on the average size of colloidal Au NPs in solution and (iii) the immobilization step is responsible for significant growth in Au particle size, which is further exacerbated at increased Au concentrations. The work presented demonstrates that an increased understanding of the primary steps in sol-immobilization allows improved optimization of materials for catalytic applications.
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May 2019
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Open Access
Abstract: Diamond Light Source (DLS) I20-Scanning is a high flux X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline optimized for challenging samples, operating between 4keV and 20keV. The principal detector used for collecting XAS in fluorescence mode is a Canberra 64-pixel Monolithic Segmented Hyper Pure Germanium Detector (HPGe) historically partnered with the STFC Xspress2 Digital Pulse Processor (DPP). Prior signal analysis had shown that key parameters such as Energy Resolution and Peak-to-Background ratio are compromised by pixel-to-pixel crosstalk within the detector, especially at higher count rates (>250kcps per pixel). The DLS Detector Group have developed the new Xspress4 DPP to address such issues. This results in typically a factor 3-7 increase in detector system count rate for the same Energy Resolution and Peak-to-Background ratio compared to the previous state-of-the-art DPP. An overview of the complete detector system is given and recent results obtained during the commissioning on the beamline are shown. Further, comparative results from challenging experiments are also shown, demonstrating the improved performance attainable at the previous high count rate by partnering legacy HPGe Detectors with the latest DPP technology.
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Jan 2019
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9925]
Abstract: Fe-containing zeolites were studied as catalysts for the standard NH3-SCR reaction with the primary aim of gaining insight into the structure-function relationship of these materials. Catalysts with different Fe nuclearity (i.e. isolated species, clusters, large particles) were synthesised by incipient wetness impregnation, using H-ZSM-5, H-SSZ-13 and Silicalite-1 as supports, and characterised by in situ and operando X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and high energy resolution fluorescence detected X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (HERFD-XANES) under NH3-SCR conditions. The combination of these techniques allowed us to obtain a detailed understanding of the changes in Fe coordination, oxidation state and geometry occurring during reaction. The results obtained suggested that isolated octahedral Fe3+ species on H-ZSM-5 are highly active under the conditions studied, undergoing reduction when exposed to NH3 or under SCR conditions. In contrast, isolated tetrahedral Fe3+ sites present in Silicalite-1 exhibited lower redox properties, leading to a reduced NO conversion. Clusters and FexOy particles on H-SSZ-13 exhibited low SCR activity.
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Nov 2018
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
Optics
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Shusaku
Hayama
,
Graham
Duller
,
John
Sutter
,
Monica
Amboage
,
Roberto
Boada
,
Adam
Freeman
,
Luke
Keenan
,
Brian
Nutter
,
Leo
Cahill
,
Pete
Leicester
,
Ben
Kemp
,
Nicholas
Rubies
,
Sofia
Diaz-moreno
Open Access
Abstract: A description of the technical and design details of a scanning four-bounce crystal monochromator that has recently been commissioned for the Versatile X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) beamline at Diamond Light Source is presented. This device consists of two independent rotary axes of unique design which are synchronized using a multiple read-head encoder system. This monochromator is shown to be capable of maintaining the flux throughput of the Bragg axes without the need of any external feedback mechanism from 4 to 20 keV. The monochromator is currently equipped with cryogenically cooled crystals with the upstream axis consisting of two independent Si(111) crystals and a pair of channel-cut crystals in the downstream axis. The possibility of installing an additional Si(311) crystal-set to extend the energy range to 34 keV is incorporated into the preliminary design of the device. Experimental data are presented showing the exceptional mechanical stability and repeatability of the monochromator axes.
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Sep 2018
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