News Article

The recipient of the 18th Asada Award, which is presented by the Discussion Group of x-ray analysis, Japan, in memory of the late Professor Ei-ichi Asada (1924–2005) to promising young scientists in x-ray analysis fields in Japan, is Tsugufumi Matsuyama (Gifu University), “Rapid and highly sensitive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry and its improvement in quantitative analysis.” The ceremony was held in Kochijo Hall in Kochi during the 60th Annual Conference on X-Ray Chemical Analysis. A research group led by Professor Shuhui Sun (National Research Council of Canada's National Energy, Materials and Telecommunications Laboratory Centre) recently reported the application of synchrotron radiation scanning transmission x-ray microscopy and spectroscopic ptychography technology to the in situ measurement of zinc-ion batteries and the elucidation of the dendrite growth mechanism on the electrode surface. In this study, in situ measurements using synchrotron x-ray spectroscopic imaging were performed to find the conditions that inhibit the growth of zinc dendrites on the electrodes of zinc-based aqueous batteries. It is concluded that the addition of 50 mM lithium chloride as an electrolyte additive and the incorporation of 5% 12-crown-4 additive in a symmetrical cell are effective. The addition of lithium chloride formed a dense and stable solid electrolyte interface membrane composed of Li2S2O7 and Li2CO3, which contributed to the suppression of zinc dendrite growth and greatly improved cycling performance. In addition, the use of 12-crown-4 additive also had a positive effect, and a long life of 3900 h was achieved. What is really powerful about this research is that all the electrochemical processes are monitored in conjunction with the chemical composition distribution obtained using x-ray spectroscopy. As a result, they were able to quantitatively understand the relationship between the formation of the solid electrolyte interface film and the suppression of zinc dendrites, leading to the selection of conditions that are desirable for batteries. For more information, see the paper, Hongliu Dai, Tianxiao Sun, Jigang Zhou, Jian Wang, Zhangsen Chen, Gaixia Zhang, and Shuhui Sun, “Unraveling chemical origins of dendrite formation in zinc-ion batteries via in situ/operando x-ray spectroscopy and imaging,” Nature Communications, 15, 8577 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-02. Recently, a research group led by Professor Wei Huang at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in China has developed a new metal-free, highly efficient, fast-responding x-ray scintillator. Scintillators are substances that emit visible light when exposed to radiation. The fluorescent screen used by Dr. Röntgen to discover x-rays in 1895 was coated with [BaPt(CN)4]. Since then, x-ray instrumentation, including x-ray scintillators, has made great strides and the range of applications has continued to expand. The requirements for modern x-ray scintillators are (i) the ability to produce strong luminescence even in response to weak x-rays, (ii) a sufficiently low background (dark) level when no x-rays are present, (iii) the ability to absorb as little as possible of the visible light produced by x-rays, and (iv) a sufficiently short decay time to enable counting of successively arriving x-ray photons at a high counting rate over a wide range without missing any. In this study, the research team synthesized a non-metallic luminescent organic radical, (4-N-carbazolyl-2,6-dichlorophenyl)bis-(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl radical (TTM-1Cz), and studied its response to x-ray irradiation. Since this substance contains a large amount of chlorine, the main contribution to x-ray absorption comes from chlorine. In this research, a scintillator (TTM-1CzBr) in which bromine atoms were incorporated into the TTM-1Cz molecular framework was also synthesized to efficiently absorb x-rays in the high energy region. In the x-ray experiments, TTM-1Cz and TTM-1CzBr were doped in polysulfone at a concentration of 5–8 wt%. The peak wavelength of the luminescence emitted by x-ray irradiation is about 725 nm (red), which is derived from the double-state luminescence of the radical luminescent material. Despite the short decay time of ~18 ns, the feature is that it can achieve 100% exciton utilization efficiency due to the doublet transition allowed by the spin. In this research, they also show some examples of measurements on several samples to demonstrate the potential for imaging applications. For more information, see the paper, Ansheng Luo, Jingru Zhang, Dongjie Xiao, Gaozhan Xie, Xinqi Xu, Qingxian Zhao, Chengxi Sun, Yanzhang Li, Zehua Zhang, Ping Li, Shouhua Luo, Xiaoji Xie, Qiming Peng, Huan huan Li, Runfeng Chen, Qiushui Chen, Ye Tao, and Wei Huang, “Efficient metal free organic radical scintillators,” Nature Communications, 15, 8181 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51482-8. During the 73rd Annual Conference on Applications of X-ray Analysis, more commonly known as the Denver X-ray Conference, held August 5–9, 2024 at The Westin Westminster, Westminster, Colorado, USA, the following award were presented. The Birks Award, given biennially to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of x-ray spectrometry, was presented to Professor Piero A. Pianetta (Stanford University, USA) for his research using synchrotron radiation to develop ultra-sensitive total reflection x-ray fluorescence methods to measure trace metallic impurities on the surfaces of silicon wafers. This analysis set new benchmarks for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, as well as launching the development of advanced TXRF instrumentation. For more information, visit the Web page, http://www.dxcicdd.com/. The author declares no conflicts of interest.

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