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
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
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
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 RadiationAllen Pratt Memorial Award for Community Service
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 ChairYoung Investigator Excellence Award
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.