Unique X-ray microscope paves the way to more powerful batteries

New insights into the morphological and chemical changes in battery materials

21-Nov-2024 - New cathode materials are being developed to further increase the capacity of lithium batteries. Multilayer lithium-rich transition metal oxides (LRTMOs) offer particularly high energy density. However, their capacity decreases with each charging cycle due to structural and chemical changes. ...

Next step in light microscopy image improvement

New deep learning architecture enables higher efficiency compared to widely used methods

21-Nov-2024 - It is the computational processing of images that reveals the finest details of a sample placed under all kinds of different light microscopes. Even though this processing has come a long way, there is still room for increasing for example image contrast and resolution. Based on a unique deep ...

Surprise at the grain boundary

For the first time, an international research team has been able to observe how solute elements introduce new grain boundary phases using state-of-the-art microscopy and simulation techniques

31-Oct-2024 - Using state-of-the-art microscopy and simulation techniques, an international research team systematically observed how iron atoms alter the structure of grain boundaries in titanium. They were in for a surprise: “Iron atoms not only segregate to the interface, but they form entirely unexpected ...

Ovulation filmed from start to finish for the first time

New findings for fertility research

25-Oct-2024 - Approximately 400 times in a woman's life, a mature egg makes the “leap.” It is released into the fallopian tube, ready for fertilization by the sperm. Researchers led by Melina Schuh, Christopher Thomas, and Tabea Lilian Marx from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences ...

Researchers can measure distances in molecules optically

MINFLUX microscopy allows the determination of distances within biomolecules using an optical microscope

15-Oct-2024 - A team led by physicists Steffen Sahl and Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg has succeeded in measuring distances within biomolecules using a light microscope, down to one nanometer ...

Cost-effective modular system for optical imaging from the 3D printer

Like building with Lego bricks

14-Oct-2024 - Making modern microscopy and spectroscopy methods accessible to as many users as possible - Prof. Thorben Cordes and his doctoral student Gabriel G. Moya Muñoz have dedicated themselves to this goal. Cordes joined the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) at TU Dortmund University as ...

ONE microscopy: from molecule to 3D structure with conventional microscopy

The simple and cost-effective method developed using a few simple but effective tricks

11-Oct-2024 - Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have developed a new method that makes it possible for the first time to image the three-dimensional shape of proteins with a conventional microscope. Combined with artificial intelligence, One-step Nanoscale Expansion (ONE) microscopy ...

Scientists decode black widow spider venom

Cryo-EM and MD simulations unveil the mechanism of the potent neurotoxin α-latrotoxin in forming calcium-permeable membrane pores

10-Oct-2024 - The black widow spider is one of the most feared spider species. Its venom is a cocktail of seven different toxins that attack the nervous system. These so-called latrotoxins specifically paralyse insects and crustaceans, but one of them, the α-latrotoxin, targets vertebrates and is also ...

Energy Portrait: Capturing a Molecule's Moment of Excitement

30-Sep-2024 - Researchers at the University of Regensburg in collaboration with IBM Research Europe - Zurich have found a way to access excited states of single molecules and determine their energies. A very fundamental property of atoms and molecules are the energies, at which electrons can be added to or ...

The insulator unraveled

Scientists have uncovered the detailed structure of the aluminum oxide surface, a challenge that has baffled researchers for decades

18-Sep-2024 - Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), also known as alumina, corundum, sapphire, or ruby, is one of the best insulators used in a wide range of applications: in electronic components, as a support material for catalysts, or as a chemically resistant ceramic, to name a few. Knowledge of the precise arrangement ...