Thank you to all of the speakers and participants at our Virtual Annual Users' Meeting. We will see you again next year!

Program

October 6, 2021

The first day of our AUM will focus on operations, science and machine facility updates, and education at the CLS. A plenary talk from Professor Ingrid Pickering, PhD, FRSC, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Molecular Environmental Science will focus on the NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE program which offers a unique opportunity for training and mentorship of the next generation of synchrotron researchers. 

All times are listed in local Saskatoon time.

Time Focus
13:00 CST Welcome from Ian Burgess, Users' Executive Committee Chair
13:10 CST Bill Matiko, CLS Chief Operating Officer
Facility Update
13:30 CST Mark Boland, CLS Machine Director
Machine division update: CLS achieves constant brightness top-up operations
13:50 CST Gianluigi Botton, CLS Science Director
Science on the beamlines and beyond
14:20 CST Tracy Walker, CLS Education Programs Lead
Building for the future: CLS Education programs
14:30 CST Professor Ingrid Pickering, PhD, FRSC, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Molecular Environmental Science
Plenary Talk | NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE – A new interdisciplinary synchrotron training program

October 7, 2021

The second day of our AUM will be a celebration of scientific excellence, with talks given by award winners and invited guests.

All times are listed in local Saskatoon time.

Time Speaker Title
09:00 CST Alex Moewes | University of Saskatchewan
Allen Pratt Memorial Award for Community Service
Soft X-ray Spectroscopy at the REIXS beamline to solve physics problems in new materials
09:45 CST Haotian Wang | Rice University
Young Investigator Excellence Award
Electrifying CO2 into Fuels and Chemicals
10:30 CST Midday Break
10:45 CST Wendy Mao | Stanford University
Keynote Talk
11:30 CST Justin Andrews | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael Bancroft PhD Thesis Award
Mass and Charge Transport in Metastable Vanadium Oxides: Implications of Electronic Structure on the Design of Materials for Energy Storage
12:05 CST Ian Burgess Closing Remarks

About the Speakers

Ingrid Pickering | University of Saskatchewan

Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Molecular Environmental Science
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canaa
Program Director for the NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE

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Ingrid Pickering is Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Molecular Environmental Science at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Imperial College London (UK). Following an industrial postdoctoral fellowship in New Jersey, USA and an appointment at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, she moved to the University of Saskatchewan in 2003. With more than 210 peer- reviewed publications, her cross-disciplinary research program uses and develops synchrotron techniques to investigate essential and toxic elements from the environment to human health. Professor Pickering is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Program Director for the NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE (Interdisciplinary Network for the Synchrotron: Promoting Innovation, Research and Enrichment), awarded in spring 2021.

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Linda Vogt is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. She holds a BSc in Chemistry and BSc in Geology from the University of Saskatchewan. She has been a user of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) since 2012 and was employed there as a casual Floor Coordinator from 2015-2019 and an Outreach Student from 2017-2020. Awarded an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship in spring 2021, she is currently investigating the sulfur speciation of different petroleum crudes using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. She is an inaugural Fellow and graduate student representative in the NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE, and was an organizer and leader of the 2021 CLS- INSPIRE summer student sessions centered around networking, professional development, mentorship and career directions.

NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE – A new interdisciplinary synchrotron training program

Ingrid Pickering and Linda Vogt
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK

The NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE is a new graduate training program associated with the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron. Led from the University of Saskatchewan, INSPIRE - Interdisciplinary Network for the Synchrotron: Promoting Innovation, Research and Engagement - convenes trainees, faculty members and CLS experts from a wide range of disciplines. INSPIRE's interdisciplinary approach encompasses all aspects of the synchrotron - from accelerator and beamline technology development to research in environmental science and agriculture, life and health sciences, natural resources and energy, and advanced materials.

INSPIRE combines technical training at the CLS, where trainees learn to adapt and work in teams in an intensive high technology environment, with professional development training and strong trainee leadership to augment skills and poise trainees for employment. Equity, diversity and inclusion is a core training focus, while mentorship circles provide a safe space for thoughtful personal and career development.

Awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program in spring 2021, the NSERC CREATE to INSPIRE aims to train more than 100 highly qualified personnel over six years.

This plenary talk by INSPIRE Program Director (Ingrid Pickering) and INSPIRE Fellow and student representative (Linda Vogt) will introduce the goals of this new training program to the CLS community.


Justin Andrews | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

G. Michael Bancroft PhD Thesis Award

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Justin received his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Texas A&M University (TAMU) under the advisement of Prof. Sarbajit Banerjee. His research focused on the design of chemical approaches to independently tune the structures and electronic properties of metastable solid-state materials. These research efforts branched in a number of directions, leading to applications in electrochemical energy storage, neuromorphic computing, and photocatalysis. During his time at TAMU, Justin served as a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow (2017-2021) where he pursued the design of multivalent batteries for aerospace applications. Data collected at the Canadian Light Source, and in particular data from the STXM (10ID-1), REIXS (10ID-2), and PGM (11ID-2) beamlines, underpinned much of his research and provided critical insight into the design of these materials. Justin is currently in a postdoctoral research position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working in the group of Prof. Mircea Dincă.

Mass and Charge Transport in Metastable Vanadium Oxides: Implications of Electronic Structure on the Design of Materials for Energy Storage

Justin L. Andrews
Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Charge ordering resulting from the localization of electrons in periodic potential wells is often observed in strongly correlated systems. The strength of electron localization in extended solids has significant implications for the design of materials for energy storage and but is often difficult to predict. Synthetic approaches that allow for independent control over composition and crystal structure are rare, but provide a means to independently modulate the strength of electron correlation across different polymorphs of the same compound.  Here I will detail the challenges associated with electron localization in V2O5-based cathode materials and further discuss our efforts to address them through the design of metastable V2O5 polymorphs. More specifically, I will discuss how the self-trapping of Li ions by small polarons in α-V2O5 contributes to sluggish lithiation kinetics, lithiation inhomogeneities, and strain evolution during battery cycling. Insight gleaned from these studies has underpinned the design of mesostructured cathode architectures that largely facilitate rapid/homogeneous lithiation – an important step towards minimizing particle cracking during lithiation. A detailed analysis of the electronic structure of these materials has further informed the design of an entire palette of metastable materials spanning a wide range of electronic properties. Some salient functional properties accessed within this materials palette have included: the first high voltage, high capacity, and high cyclability insertion host for Mg ions, ζ-V2O5; a metastable β-SnxV2O5 compound that resolves the longstanding challenge of photocorrosion of light-harvesting quantum dots; and layered materials that afford control over electron correlation as a function of layer thickness.


Wendy Mao | Stanford University

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Wendy's research focuses on the behavior of materials under extreme conditions. She uses diamond anvil cells and laser-shock techniques to access high P and variable T and studies the dramatic changes that are induced using a suite of laboratory and synchrotron x-ray and x-ray free electron techniques. Her work has application to understanding Earth and planetary interiors and developing new energy-related materials, and she is an author on over 180 publications. She is a fellow of the Geochemical Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, the American Geophysical Union, and the Mineralogical Society of America.

X-ray studies of materials at extreme conditions for understanding planetary interiors

Wendy L. Mao
Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA

Coupling a suite of in situ x-ray characterization probes with static and dynamic compression methods provides exciting opportunities to address key questions about planetary interiors. In this talk, I will first present a few examples of how our group has been using synchrotron x- ray techniques with diamond anvil cells to investigate questions about deep volatile cycling and core formation. I will then present a few examples of how our group is using x-ray free electron laser tools with laser-shock compression to study structural and electronic transitions and deformation mechanisms in mantle and core materials.


Alex Moewes | University of Saskatchewan

Canada Research Chair in Materials Science with Synchrotron Radiation
Allen Pratt Memorial Award for Community Service
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Alexander Moewes is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics and a Canada Research Chair at the University of Saskatchewan. He is also leading the inelastic scattering endstation of the REIXS beamline at the Canadian Light Source. He obtained his Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics 1995 at the University of Hamburg in Germany at HASYLAB/DESY. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at Tulane University and as an assistant professor at Louisiana State University, he joined the Dept. of Physics at the University of Saskatchewan in 2000. He has published over 270 peer reviewed scientific articles and guided over 35 graduate students. His research lies in Materials Science and Condensed Matter Physics using synchrotron-based soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques and density functional theory. His group currently is focusing on materials for spinelectronic applications, low dimensional systems, and semiconductors for pc-LED materials for lighting applications.

Soft X-ray Spectroscopy at the REIXS beamline to solve physics problems in new materials

Alexander Moewes
University of Saskatchewan, Dept. of Physics and Engineering Physics Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada

The outer electrons in matter govern nearly all properties of materials including bonding, structure, magnetism, heat-, electrical- and superconductivity, and optical properties to name a few. Synchrotron radiation allows to access these outer electrons and hence study of these parameters.

I will give an overview of our group’s soft X-ray spectroscopy at the endstation for inelastic scattering at the REIXS beamline at CLS. We use X-ray absorption (XAS), X- ray emission (XES), Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) to probe the electronic structure of new materials. Our own density functional theory calculations model the measured spectra and allow to extract more detailed information from the systems studied.

The examples I will discuss span a wide range of materials and include low- dimensional materials like Carbyne, Graphene and Silicene, Eu-doped nitride semiconductors used in pc-LED lighting applications and transition metal-doped semiconductors for spinelectronic materials.

I will specifically address one aspect that is common to all the above systems, which is the role of defects in semiconductors.


Haotian Wang | Rice University

William Marsh Rice Trustee Chair
Young Investigator Excellence Award
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Dr. Haotian Wang is currently a William Marsh Rice Trustee Chair Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. He obtained his PhD degree in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford University in 2016 and his Bachelor of Science in Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China in 2011. In 2016 he received the Rowland Fellowship and began his independent research career at Harvard as a principal investigator. He was awarded the 2021 Sloan Fellow, 2020 Packard Fellow, 2019 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30, and highly cited researchers. He serves as the editorial board of Communications Materials. His research group has been focused on developing novel nanomaterials for energy and environmental applications including energy storage, chemical/fuel generation, water treatment, etc.

Electrifying CO2 into Fuels and Chemicals

Haotian Wang
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University

Electrifying CO2 into Fuels and Chemicals Electrochemical CO2 reduction, with the energy input from renewable electricity, provides a green and alternative route for the generation of chemicals and fuels. However, its practice is currently challenged at two systematical levels: the lack of selective electrocatalysts to combat the strong completion from water reduction, and the lack of novel reactors for large-scale reaction rates and efficient product separation. In this talk, I will introduce the rational design of both catalytic materials and reactors towards practical CO2 reduction performances. By dispersing transition metals into isolated single atoms with electronic structures significantly different from their bulk counterparts, we can dramatically suppress the competing hydrogen evolution and deliver an ultra-high CO2 reduction selectivity of more than 95% under ambient conditions in water. Scaled-up synthesis and efficient reactors demonstrated the potential for practical applications. Furthermore, by designing a novel solid electrolyte reactor, we successfully demonstrated a continuous generation of pure liquid fuel solutions via CO2 reduction. This technology eliminates the product separation process required in traditional CO2 reduction electrolyzers, opening up its practical applications in the future.