ChemMatCARS

July 20, 2012
Organofluorines can be surprising
Recent study, which has shaken up the field of organofluorine chemistry, was the cover article in the May 2012 issue of Chemical Science. A large part of the study included precise x-ray crystallographic measurements and was performed at the ChemMatCARS facility at the APS.

July 20, 2012
A New book on liquid surfaces and interfaces scattering
A new book, titled "Liquid Surfaces and Interfaces: Synchrotron X-ray Methods" will become available soon. The book, which should meet and existing need for a source of information about liquid surface theory and techniques, is partially based on work done at ChemMatCARS.

July 20, 2012
2012 Liquid Surface X-ray Scattering School (LSXS-12)
This coming fall the surface scattering facility of ChemMatCARS, together with the APS, will be hosting the LSXS-12 School, a workshop on the theory and practice of synchrotron based liquid surface x-ray scattering. The workshop should prove invaluable to novices in the field.

November 29, 2010
Graduate User Wins Poster Award at SNXS-11

ChemMatCARS user Yeling Dai received an award for Best Graduate Student Poster at the Eleventh International Conference on Surface X-ray and Neutron Scattering (SXNS-11).

November 10, 2010
Undergraduate Researcher Brian Leahy Authors PRL Paper

ChemMatCARS student employee Brian Leahy has gotten an exceptional head start on a career in science: The recent University of Chicago grad (B.A. physics, 2009) is the first author of a paper in the leading journal Physical Review Letters. Coauthored by CARS staff scientists and collaborators in the University of Chicago Chemistry Department, the paper explores the fundamental physics of folding in thin films.

August 9, 2010
Mentor Award Recognizes Outreach Effort
ChemMatCARS director P. James Viccaro recently received an award from the U.S. Department of Energy in recognition of his mentorship of Janet Soltau of the University of Vermont. Janet was also mentored by ChemMatCARS staff members Binhua Lin, Brian Leahy, and K.I. Kim, who together supervised her project on the surface morphology of monolayers of silver nanoparticles.

May 12, 2010
ChemMatCARS Partners with Danish Research Center
On April 14, 2010, ChemMatCARS staff participated in the inauguration of a new research center in Denmark, the Centre for Materials Crystallography at Aarhus University, in which ChemMatCARS will be an active partner.

December 4, 2009
ChemMatCARS User Recognized by American Physical Society
Dr. Luka Pocivavsek has been recognized by the American Physical Society for his PhD thesis, "Mechanical and Thermodynamic Focusing at Membrane Interfaces," which is based in part on data collected on the liquid surface instrument at ChemMatCARS.

November 2009
ChemMatCARS Undergrad in DOE Poster Competition

Student Janet Soltau presented a poster on her work with silver nanoparticles at a selective poster competition.

November 4, 2009
Secrets of the Lacewing's Silk
Researchers from Australia’s CSIRO used wide-angle x-ray scattering to answer long-standing questions about the structure of lacewing silk. Female lacewings use delicate silk “stalks” to to suspend their eggs out of the reach of predators.

August 11, 2009
A Stable Open Framework with Wide Open Spaces
The ChemMatCARS advanced crystallography station was used to determine the structure of a metal-organic framework compound with a unique stucture that combines large cavities (> 20 Å) and small openings (< 20 Å). The structure is achieved by a novel synthesis strategy. Porous materials frameworks with open structures are potentially useful for a wide range of applications, such as gas storage, catalysis, and drug delivery.

September 26, 2008
ChemMatCARS used to solve structure of material that doubles wavelength of light
A promising light-conversion material almost went unrecognized because it crystallized only in long, thin spines that couldn't be characterized by normal x-ray diffraction. With microcrystal diffraction at ChemMatCARS, the team solved the structure, which pointed the way to the material's unique properties.

September 17, 2008
Nailing down the exciton in LiF
Exitons are a key element in the functioning of semiconductors and insulators, and understanding their structure and how they form and behave in different materials is vitally important to the development of new materials and technologies. Work at ChemMatCARS has helped settle a 70-year-old controversy about the true nature of the exciton in alkali halide insulators, the type of material in which excitons were first observed.

May 15, 2008
Research puts new wrinkle in study of materials folding under pressure
Scientists at the University of Chicago and the University of Santiago in Chile have explained, for the first time, the physics that governs how thin materials at scales millions of times different in thickness make the transition from wrinkles into folds under compression. The study stems from a research program at the University of Chicago aimed at understanding the characteristics of lung surfactant, a microscopically thin membrane that facilitates breathing. But the findings would apply both to the design of foldable electronics and to the production of synthetic lung surfactant for therapeutic uses. Read Science article ›

April 24, 2008
ChemMatCARS user Oleg Shpyrko receives APS Franklin Young Investigator Award
User Oleg Shpyrko was recognized in part for work conducted at ChemMatCARS on surface crystallization of liquid gold-silicon alloys. Oleg was also recognized as a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher.

January 2008
CARS Bids Farewell to David Cookson
After 10 years at CARS, beamline scientist David Cookson moves on to the Australian Synchrotron.

December 28, 2007
ChemMatCARS user Susan Mini and collaborators awarded $1.4M NSF grant to upgrade 15ID optics
Upgrades will extend the energy range of the beamline, increase X-ray resolution and brilliance, and permit more efficient use of beam time.

July 7, 2007 - lightsources.org
Liquid alloy shows solid-like crystal structure at surface
A substance used in nanotechnology contains unusual structures at its surface, a team of researchers led by Oleg Shpyrko, Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has learned.

April 10, 2006 - APS
The Silk Road leads to APS
An assemblage of everyday artifacts from Eurasia is examined to discover trade route connections.