Scientific Highlights
Molecularly Tailored Nickel Precursor and Support Yield a Stable Methane Dry Reforming Catalyst with Superior Metal Utilization
The superior performance of molecularly tailored methane dry reforming catalyst resulted in a maximization of the amount of accessible metallic nickel in the form of small nanoparticles preventing coke deposition. Operando X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy confirms that deactivation largely occurs through the migration of Ni into the support.
Amyloid fibril systems reduce, stabilize and deliver bioavailable nanosized iron
Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a major global public health problem. A sustainable and cost-effective strategy to reduce IDA is iron fortification of foods, but the most bioavailable fortificants cause adverse organoleptic changes in foods. Iron nanoparticles are a promising solution in food matrices, although their tendency to oxidize and rapidly aggregate in solution severely limits their use in fortification.
BKW and PSI agree on partnership for safety analysis services
BKW’s Engineering Division and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) joined forces to provide risk and safety analysis services in the nuclear sector. By combining their expertise, the two companies are able to solve highly complex problems in the field of nuclear safety. The range of joint services is aimed at customers from the power plant sector and supply industry, as well as public and state institutions. The collaboration will focus exclusively on the international (non-Swiss) market.
Doping Dependence of Collective Spin and Orbital Excitations in the Spin-1 Quantum Antiferromagnet La2-xSrxNiO4 Observed by X-Rays
We report the first empirical demonstration that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) is sensitive to collective magnetic excitations in S=1 systems by probing the Ni L3 edge of La2-xSrxNiO4 (x=0, 0.33, 0.45). The magnetic excitation peak is asymmetric, indicating the presence of single and multi-spin-flip excitations.
High hydrostatic pressure specifically affects molecular dynamics and shape of low-density lipoprotein particles
Lipid composition of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and its physicochemical characteristics are relevant for proper functioning of lipid transport in the blood circulation. To explore dynamical and structural features of LDL particles with either a normal or a triglyceride-rich lipid composition we combined coherent and incoherent neutron scattering methods.
Amplitude Mode in Three-Dimensional Dimerized Antiferromagnets
The amplitude ("Higgs") mode is a ubiquitous collective excitation related to spontaneous breaking of a continuous symmetry. We combine quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations with stochastic analytic continuation to investigate the dynamics of the amplitude mode in a three-dimensional dimerized quantum spin system.
Contact-less micro-polishing
A new method of material modification using 172 nm UV photons enables to fabricate ultra-smooth and self-optimized polymer surfaces. The method, published in Advanced Materials Technologies, was used in the production of high quality micro-optics to remove typical process flaws after a 2-photon-lithography process.
LaTiOxNy thin film model systems for photocatalytic water splitting: physicochemical evolution of the solid-liquid interface and the role of the crystallographic orientation
The size of the band gap and the energy position of the band edges make several oxynitride semiconductors promising candidates for efficient hydrogen and oxygen production under solar light illumination. The intense research efforts dedicated to oxynitride materials have unveiled the majority of their most important properties. However, two crucial aspects have received much less attention.
A breakthrough on Weyl semimetals
In their recent paper, Distinct Evolutions of Weyl fermion quasiparticles and Fermi arcs with bulk band topology in Weyl semimetals, two MARVEL groups — led by Prof. Ming Shi and Dr Nan Xu at PSI for the experimental part, and with Prof. Oleg Yazyev and Dr Gabriel Autès at EPFL for the theoretical side — joined forces to shed light (and soft X-rays) on the relationship between the bulk band topology in Weyl semimetals and two measurable signatures of Weyl fermion quasiparticles: magneto-transport effects in the bulk, and Fermi arcs on the surface.
Gapless Spin-Liquid Ground State in the S=1/2 Kagome Antiferromagnet
The defining problem in frustrated quantum magnetism, the ground state of the nearest-neighbor S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice, has defied all theoretical and numerical methods employed to date. We apply the formalism of tensor-network states, specifically the method of projected entangled simplex states, which combines infinite system size with a correct accounting for multipartite entanglement.