X-ray Spectrometry / Ezine
Paintable electronics: Bringing polymers into line
Date: Apr 1, 2013
Author: David Bradley
Engineers at the University of Michigan and electronics company Samsung in Korea have devised a method for bringing otherwise unruly semiconducting polymers into line as verified by X-ray diffraction studies, which they suggest might one day pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.
Read More
Carbon capture: Porous trap for greenhouse gas
Date: Mar 15, 2013
Author: David Bradley
Scientists at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the University of South Florida (USF), USA, have developed a unique, efficient, cost-effective as well reusable metal-organic framework (MOF) material, for trapping and separating carbon dioxide from various gas streams. These crystalline materials could lead to clean-air and energy-saving technologies.
Read More
Journal Highlight: Gilding and pigments of Renaissance marble of Abatellis Palace: non-invasive investigation by XRF spectrometry
Date: Mar 11, 2013
Author: spectroscopyNOW
The chemical composition of pictorial layers and their stratigraphical distribution on renaissance marble sculptures from Abatellis Palace, Palermo, have been characterised by UV-vis fluorescence and XRF measurements.
Read More
A message for you: Mercury's turbulent past
Date: Mar 1, 2013
Author: David Bradley
X-ray spectroscopy and astronomical analyses reveal that Mercury - the planet closest to the Sun - may have had a vast, roiling ocean of liquid rock, or magma, during its very early history some 4.5 billion years ago.
Read More
Pablo Picasso: Decorator
Date: Feb 15, 2013
Author: David Bradley
What type of paint did one of the most renowned and infamous artists of the twentieth, century, Pablo Picasso, use in his work - matte, gloss or emulsion? The Art Institute of Chicago and scientists at Argonne National Laboratory think they know having used a hard X-ray nanoprobe to help them unravel what is a decades-long debate among art scholars.
Read More
Journal Highlight: Comparison of plain vertebral X-ray and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for the identification of older women for fracture prevention in primary care
Date: Feb 11, 2013
Author: spectroscopyNOW
The effects of the amended dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry diagnostic cut-off in the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for primary fracture prevention therapy with alendronate on case finding and cost have been assessed in older women.
Read More
Hydrogen from silicon: Just add water
Date: Feb 1, 2013
Author: David Bradley
Two techniques, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight-secondary-ion-mass-spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), have been used in parallel to show how adding water to silicon can generate hydrogen. The work might take us another step closer to the so-called carbon-free hydrogen economy.
Read More
Brewing up crystal structures: Hoppy bitterness
Date: Jan 15, 2013
Author: David Bradley
During brewing, beer obtains its bitter flavour from the bitter iso-alpha acids that come from hops. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists now report that they have used X-ray crystallography to determine the absolute configurations of these humulones and isohumulones, as well as several of their derivatives.
Read More
Journal Highlight: X-ray imaging of leaf venation networks
Date: Jan 14, 2013
Author: spectroscopyNOW
Commercial and synchrotron X-ray imaging has been applied to leaf venation networks allowing major and minor veins to be consistently visualised at a rate of several hundred samples per day.
Read More
Stomaching X-rays: Gastric microbe attack
Date: Jan 7, 2013
Author: David Bradley
An X-ray investigation has revealed a potential new way to attack the common gastric infection Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen known to cause ulcer and significantly increase the risk of developing stomach cancer.
Read More
