Swedish Neutron Week 2021 - a LINXS Partner event with SNSS and SWEDNESS

10 May 2021, 13:00 → 12 May 2021, 17:00 Europe/Stockholm

LINXS, in collaboration with SNSS and SWEDNESS, is pleased to host and organise the (virtual) 2021 Swedish Neutron Week 10th-12th May, 2021. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the event will be held online (on Zoom) and is also free of charge.

The aim of the “Swedish Neutron Week” is to bring together and enhance the Swedish community and research involving neutron techniques. Topics will include science using neutron techniques, as well as method development, in terms of instrumentation, data analysis and theory/simulation. We welcome participation and contributions from academic, large-scale facility, research institute and industry researchers to discuss the latest developments in neutron-related science in Sweden and beyond.

The workshop will take place over 3 afternoons 10th-12th May, 2021, and will include keynote presentations as well as contributed talks. The 1st day will highlight some of the latest developments in neutron-based science, plus the annual SNSS business meeting. On the second day the program will incorporate the 3rd in the SNSS webinar series, which will focus on neutron diffraction. This will be followed by a special SWEDNESS session. The 3rd day will have a focus on the upcoming science possibilities at ESS including presentations on the science being performed in relation to and in preparation for ESS by the Swedish community and ESS scientists.

Registration deadline is May 5. The zoom link to the event will be sent out after the registration deadline.

The event if free of charge.

Keynote speakers

Trevor Forsyth, Institut Laue Langevin/Keele University
Andrew Jackson, Group Leader Instrument Scientists & Head Neutron Instruments Division, European Spallation Source ERIC

Contributed talks

We welcome abstract submissions. The focus areas/themes are:
- Swedish research on neutrons, general (for the Monday session)
- focus on ESS Science and instruments (for the Wednesday session)
Five abstracts will be selected for each focus area. The deadline for abstracts is April 26.

Agenda (see detailed program)

Monday 10th May
13.00 - 13.20 Welcome by SNSS chair / LINXS
13.20 - 14.00 Keynote 1: Trevor Forsyth - Neutrons in Integrated Structural Biology
14.00 - 15.30  Contributed talks x 5 (preference given to Swedish research on neutrons)

      • Inna Ermilova (Chalmers Univ. of Technology)                            
      • Tuerdi Maimaitiyili (Swerim)
      • Elisabetta Nocerino (KTH Royal Inst. of Technology)
      • Marie Lycksell (Stockholm University)                           
      • Katja Frid & Jonas Engqvist (Malmö University)

15.30 - 15.45       Break
15.45 - 16.45 SNSS business meeting

1.Brief presentation about SNSS and activities in 2020
2.Presentation of SNSS bibliometric study
3.Activities and budget for 2021
4.Election of new board member (Martin Sahlberg)
5.AOB

Tuesday 11th May
08.30 - 12.30 ESR Career Day (Early Stage Researcher)
13.00 - 15.00 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction
The webinar will be chaired by Martin Sahlberg  (Uppsala University) and confirmed speakers so far are:

• Karen Edler (University of Bath)
• Willian Brant (Uppsala University)
• Johan Cedervall (Stockholm University)
• Prabhat Pant (Linköping University)

15.00 - 15.10 Break
15.10 - 17.00 SWEDNESS session:
15.10 - 15.50 Information/Update from SwedNess (Martin Sahlberg and Martin Månsson)
15.50 - 17.00 Presentation of the new SwedNess-II research projects

Wednesday 12th May
10.00 - 12.00 GISANS meeting
13.00 - 13.40 Keynote 2: Andrew Jackson - Science opportunities at ESS
13.45 - 15.15 Contributed talks (focus on ESS Science and instruments)

• Daria Noferini (ESS) 
• Robin Woracek (ESS) 
• Alessandra Luchini (PSI/ESS) 
• Adrian Sanchez-Fernandez (Lund University) 
• Max Wolff (Uppsala University)  

15.15 - 15.30 Summarizing and Goodbye

 

Detailed programme.

ESR Career Day (Early Stage Researcher)

The Swedish graduate school in neutron scattering (SwedNess) is, together with LINXS and SNSS, organizing a career day for soon-to-be graduating PhD students and young postdocs. Selecting your future career is not an easy task, and there are many different paths available. For this half-day session, we have invited a list of experienced PhDs working within a diverse field of employment, ranging from academia and institutes, to large-scale facilities, industry, as well as the Swedish government. What they have in common is that they are all connected in different ways to the use of large-scale research facilities and neutrons. The first part of the session is dedicated to short talks by the invited speakers, where their current position as well as their career path will be presented. In addition, the speakers are encouraged to present some useful “tips and tricks”, as well as a few thoughts on how to balance career and private life. The session will end with open online mingling where the participants can ask any questions they might have and have discussions with our invited experts. The session is open to PhD students (and to some extent junior postdocs) from SwedNess as well as the entire Swedish neutron community. Note that participation requires a pre-registration to this event.

We in the organizing committee look forward to an active session with open discussion and successful future careers for all of our participants.

Marija Dubackic - Student Representative SwedNess, Lund University
Paul Gratrex - Student Representative SwedNess, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Elin Törnquist - SwedNess, Lund University
Martin Månsson - Director of Studies SwedNess, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Please click here for the schedule of the event.

GISANS meeting

Please find the detailed agenda in the Timetable section.

Surface and interface science, including colloid science, have been and continue to be research areas where Swedish academic research is world leading. This ranges from surfactant and lipid self-assembly, advanced polymer coatings, nanoparticle stability and deposition, materials science and energy, to hard condensed matter physics, quantum materials and magnetism.
This is reflected in a recent bibliometric study performed by Swedish Neutron Scattering Society on the behalf of the Swedish Research Council VR showing that during 2016-2020 the largest number of publications from groups in Sweden involve either neutron reflectometry and/or SANS. Moreover, this number has been steadily increasing over the past years and surpassed diffraction, which is traditionally strong in Sweden. Grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) reveals the full structure and morphology of surfaces, films, and interfaces and combined two well-established methods, neutron reflectometry (NR) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). A concerted Swedish initiative to prepare for the design and construction of a dedicated GISANS instrument at ESS has been developed during the last couple of years thanks to the close collaboration and joint efforts of all the main Swedish research institutions with neutron activities. We hope that we will be able to start preparing a proposal for a dedicated GISANS instrument, SAGA, to the next call for instruments at the ESS. This workshop will provide an update of some of the current GISANS work going on in Sweden.

During our events we sometimes take photographs and short film clips to profile our activities. Please let us know if you don’t want to be in any photos/films before we start the event. Webinars are recorded to be used for educational purposes in the LINXS website.

By registering to our events you give your permission to LINXS, according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to register your name and e-mail address to be used for the sole purpose of distributing newsletters and communications on LINXS activities.

Monday 10 May

13:00 → 13:20 Welcome by SNSS chair / LINXS

13:20 → 14:00 Keynote talk 1 - Neutrons in Integrated Structural Biology

The recent past has seen rapid growth for research in structural molecular biology. High-throughput techniques for the characterisation of biological structures are providing large amounts of information over length scales from atomic through to cellular and tissue levels of organization. There is now increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary and multi-technique approaches, and centres for integrated structural biology are being created and developed throughout the world, notably at locations that host large facilities such as synchrotron radiation and neutron beam sources, and cryo-electron microscopy. This progress, and the scientific yields arising, is driven by continuous technical development at the large facilities themselves, as well as through developments in associated methodologies for sample production and characterization. These, as well as broader infrastructural development, including engagement with the user communities, and crucially, training, will be of huge importance in narrowing the gap between the current state-of-the-art for structural biology and fundamental knowledge in the life sciences and applications in medicine.
A summary of this context will be given along with illustrative examples over a range of biological/biomedical science.

Speaker: Dr Trevor Forsyth (Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) France / Keele University, UK)

2021_05_11_forsyth_neutrons_in_ISB_abstract.pdf

14:00 → 15:40 Contributed talks

14:00 Neutron research, Contr. talk 1 - Residual stress and heat treatment studies of additively manufactured stainless steel by neutron imaging and diffraction

One of the biggest limitations of parts made by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is the high tensile residual stresses that accumulate in the near-surface region. They are known to have a detrimental effect on mechanical properties and can even cause SLM process failure. Therefore, it is always needing to be applied additional heat treatment operations to relieve stress or shock peening to convert the tensile stress to the compressive stresses. Without the knowledge of residual stress in the material, it is not possible to estimate the service life or ensure the integrity of machine parts. Among various experimental techniques, only neutron and high-energy synchrotron X-ray techniques allow us to accurately measure the deep internal stress in large metallic samples with all stress components nondestructively. In this talk, we will discuss how neutron techniques are important for additive manufacturing or metallic materials research in general and present some of our residual stress characterization work performed on SLM build stainless steel which utilized both standard neutron diffraction and neutron Bragg edge imaging to investigate the effect of Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) temperature and heat treatment to the residual stress.

Acknowledgment: The project is funded by Vinnova (2019-05304).

Speaker: Tuerdi Maimaitiyili (Swerim AB)

abstract.Tuerdi Maimaitiyili.pdf

14:20 Neutron research, Contr. talk 2 - Sucrose versus trehalose as possible preservatives for proteins

Sucrose and trehalose are well-known industrial preservatives for various purposes: they are widely used in cosmetics, food conservation and pharmaceutical industry [1,2]. For instance, sucrose is a stabilizing compound of covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer [3]. In this work with the help of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations sucrose and trehalose were considered as agents for preservation of two model-proteins (myoglobin and Aβ(1-42) peptide) at three different water contents. Results of calculations of self-intermediate scattering functions demonstrated that systems containing sugars with the smaller amount of water needed more than 100 ns, while similar systems without sugars could be relaxed in at around 60-80 ns. Trehalose was the best stabilizing agent in all studied cases which could be a consequence of a slower dynamics of this sugar.

[1] Olsson, Christoffer, Samuel Genheden, Victoria García Sakai, and Jan Swenson. "Mechanism of trehalose-induced protein stabilization from neutron scattering and modeling." The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 123, no. 17 (2019): 3679-3687.
[2] Starciuc, Tatiana, Benjamin Malfait, Florence Danede, Laurent Paccou, Yannick Guinet, Natalia T. Correia, and Alain Hedoux. "Trehalose or Sucrose: Which of the Two Should be Used for Stabilizing Proteins in the Solid State? A Dilemma Investigated by In Situ Micro-Raman and Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopies During and After Freeze-Drying." Journal of pharmaceutical sciences 109, no. 1 (2020): 496-504.
[3] Vogel, Annette B., Isis Kanevsky, Ye Che, Kena A. Swanson, Alexander Muik, Mathias Vormehr, Lena M. Kranz et al. "BNT162b vaccines protect rhesus macaques from SARS-CoV-2." Nature (2021): 1-7.

Speaker: Inna Ermilova

abstract.Inna Ermilova.pdf

14:40 Neutron research, Contr. talk 3 - Na-Ion Dynamics in the Solid Solution Ca1-xNaxCr2O4 Studied by Muon Spin Rotation and Neutron Diffraction

Strongly anisotropic and especially one-dimensional or quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) compounds are gaining increasing attention from the scientific community. In the field of condensed matter physics, 1D magnets have been extensively studied for fundamental research purposes, but recently also for their potential use in spintronic applications. In the area of energy materials, the anisotropic materials are important for the development of all-solid-state devices where a better control of the ion-diffusion is highly desirable
In this work we present the results of a systematic series of measurements carried out by muon spin rotation/relaxation (mu+SR) and neutron diffraction (ND) on the Q1D solid solution Ca1-xNaxCr2O4. This study was aimed at investigating the Na-ion dynamics connected to the Q1D diffusion channels in presence of defects, introduced by the Ca doping. The ion diffusion mechanism has been identified as interstitialcy and the diffusion coefficient for each member of the solid solution has been estimated.

Speaker: Elisabetta Nocerino (KTH)

abstract.elisabetta Nocerino.pdf

CaNaCrO_talk_Nocerino.pdf

15:00 Neutron research, Contr. talk 4 - Detection of water in cement mortar at room temperature and during freezing

Water is present in most of the degradation mechanisms that concrete is exposed to. When these mechanisms are studied experimentally to build models, it is very important that the moisture content in the material is controlled and correct. The aim for the experiment was to study the water and pore distribution in air-entrained cement mortar with varying moisture preconditioning using dual-modality neutron and x-ray tomography. Furthermore, in-situ freeze-thaw cycling of cement mortar was performed to visualize the evolution of the water distribution in the pores.
The test was divided into two parts. In the first part different moisture pre- conditionings was studied in four samples : (1) Dried at 40C, (2) Capillary saturated,
(3) cured moisture sealed (4) Vacuum saturated. The samples had a diameter of 10 mm and a height of 10 mm and were moisture sealed during the measurements. A voxel size of 7 μm was used for the neutron imaging and 19.5 μm for the x-ray imaging. Analysis found that it was possible to detect water in the larger pores. It was also found that even after vacuum saturation not all pores were filled.

In part two, an in-house built freezing device was used to study the evolving water distribution during freeze-thaw cycling. The device was based upon a Peltier element and circulation of a cooling fluid to reach temperatures well below 0C. A vacuum saturated cement mortar sample (outer diameter 10 mm, height 10 mm) with water on the top surface was subjected to three freeze-thaw cycles. The sample was imaged at each frozen/thawed state but due to time limitations, a full dual-modality dataset was only acquired before and at the first freezing as well as at and after the third freezing (in total four complete data sets). During the freezing, the temperature was lowered to approximately -13C measured in the sample and held constant during the imaging. A voxel size of 7 μm was used for the neutron imaging and 19.5 μm for the x-ray imaging.

The preliminary analysis of the sample during freeze-thaw cycling shows some small changes in greyscale value in the cement matrix during temperature cycling which can be used to understand the filling of the pore structure due to freezing/thawing. We also found and small changes in relative water content of partially filled air voids. This can be used to understand the protective role of air voids.
This technique is very promising for further verification of different parts of the mechanism of frost deterioration in concrete. Something that the frost community has longed for!

Speaker: Katja Frid (Malmö University)

abstract.Katja Frid.pdf

15:20 Neutron research, Contr. talk 5 - The solution structure of the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel GLIC probed by small-angle neutron scattering

Pentameric ligand-gated ion channels undergo subtle conformational cycling to control electrochemical signal transduction in many kingdoms of life. Several crystal structures have now been reported in this family, but the functional relevance of such models remains unclear. We used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to probe ambient solution-phase properties of the pH-gated bacterial ion channel GLIC under resting and activating conditions. Data collection was optimized by inline paused-flow size-exclusion chromatography, and exchanging into deuterated detergent to hide the micelle contribution. Resting-state GLIC was the best-fit crystal structure to SANS curves, with no evidence for divergent mechanisms. Moreover, enhanced-sampling molecular dynamics simulations enabled differential modeling in resting versus activating conditions, with the latter corresponding to an intermediate ensemble of both the extracellular and transmembrane domains. This work demonstrates state-dependent changes in a pentameric ion channel by SANS, an increasingly applicable method for macromolecular characterization as neutron source brilliance increases and inline SEC-SANS set-ups become increasingly accessible.

Speaker: Marie Lycksell (Stockholm University)

abstract.Marie Lycksell.pdf

MarieLycksell_neutronWeek2021Presentation.pdf

15:40 → 15:50 Coffee Break

15:50 → 16:50 SNSS Business meeting

Tuesday 11 May

08:30 → 08:45 ESR Career Day: Welcome / General Introduction - Prof. Martin Månsson, Group Leader: KTH, SMaRT Director of Studies: SwedNess

08:45 → 09:00 ESR Career Day: Information from SSF, My Career Path - Dr. Joakim Amorim, Research Programmes Manager Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)

09:00 → 09:20 ESR Career Day: My Career Path, Research Institute - Dr. Shun Yu, Senior Research Associate Unit of Smart Materials RISE Research Institute of Sweden

09:20 → 09:40 ESR Career Day: My Career Path, Academia - As. Prof. Yasmine Sassa, Group Leader: QuTM Chalmers

09:40 → 09:50 Coffee Break

09:50 → 10:10 ESR Career Day: My Career Path, Facility + Industry - Dr. Hamish Cavaye, Instrument Scientist ISIS/STFC + Johnson Matthey

10:10 → 10:30 ESR Career Day: My Career Path & Future at ESS - Dr. Andrew Jackson, Head Neutron Instruments Division Group Leader Instrument Scientists European Spallation Source (ESS)

10:30 → 10:50 ESR Career Day: My Career Path, Funding Agency & Government - Dr. Hanifeh Khayyeri, Member of Commission of Inquiry Ministry of Research and Higher Educuation in Sweden

10:50 → 11:10 ESR Career Day: My Career Path, Industry - Dr. Mats Qvaford, Program Manager Packaging Solutions Tetra Pak®

11:10 → 11:20 Short Break

11:20 → 12:30 ESR Career Day: Online mingling in Remo with all the speakers (Link will only be sent to registered participants)

13:00 → 15:00 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction (The webinar will be chaired by Martin Sahlberg, Uppsala University)

13:00 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction, Speaker 1 - Surfactants, Solvents & Silica: Probing self-assembly in solution

The self-assembly of surfactant micelles is important in many applications from controlling the rheology and cleaning properties of personal care products to templating pore
structures in inorganic materials. The size and shape of cationic micelles can be controlled via their interaction with their soluble counter-anions, and this is well known to affect properties such as the critical micelle concentration. However, although the bulk properties of such solutions have been studied using a range of techniques including conductivity and small angle scattering, it is difficult to directly measure the interactions between the surfactant headgroups and ions in solution. Much of the literature description of these systems is therefore inferred from these bulk measurements. We have used wide angle neutron scattering on solutions of decyltrimethylammonium cations, which have been ion exchanged to contain a range of counteranions, along the Hofmeister series, to directly probe interactions in these systems. The data was modelled using Empirical Potential Structure Refinement (EPSR) to study the association between the different counterions and the micelle surfaces and how this affects micellar structures in these systems.

Speaker: Prof. Karen Edler (University of Bath)

Edler abstract.pdf

13:30 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction, Speaker 2 - Non-equilibrium phases and cation mixing in Li-rich rock salt derived positive electrode materials

Often within the domain of inorganic chemistry synthesis, focus is placed on obtaining ideal materials under equilibrium conditions in order to accurately study specific phenomena. However, while extremely valuable, these studies often do not represent the real structures which are formed when materials are utilized in an application or a device. This is particularly true in the case of electrode materials for rechargeable ion batteries where it is notoriously difficult to predict what phases are formed as electrochemical extraction of charged ions proceeds far from the thermodynamically stable configuration of a material. In this contribution I will present results from two different Li-rich rock salt derived oxide systems, Li1+xTM1-xO2 (0 ≤ x ≤ ⅓, TM= Mn, Ni and Co) and Li2VO2F. Both compounds do not exhibit ideal structures and the properties are intricately tied to the local cation configurations generated via non-equilibrium phase transitions.
The structure of lithium rich layered phases, Li1+xTM1-xO2, is complicated by disorder which manifests over multiple length scales. At the atomic scale Li and TM cations can order forming a superstructure, this superstructure allows for the appearance of stacking faults which extends beyond the unit cell. Finally, phase segregation of different ordered domains can occur on the nano to micron length scale. The disorder present can vary significantly even for a single composition depending upon the specific synthesis conditions. These multiple metastable phases which exhibit near identical average structures has confounded research into these materials, hindering an understanding of their anionic redox properties.
Li2VO2F is a metastable disordered rock salt structure which shows promise as a high capacity cathode material. However, significant capacity fade during electrochemical cycling impedes its implementation. Understanding the origin of the capacity fade is challenging due to the reconstructive phase transition that occurs upon lithium extraction. One might expect that over time the structure converts to more thermodynamically stable structures that are less electrochemically active. However, using a combination of X-ray and neutron diffraction, we demonstrate that this is not the case and that other crystalline metastable phases stabilise and grow over successive electrochemical cycles.

Speaker: Dr William Brant (Uppsala University)

William Brant Abstract.pdf

William.Brant.presentation.pdf

14:00 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction, Speaker 3 - Magnetic diffraction: Exploring hidden magnetic symmetries

Magnetic materials are found everywhere and in all sorts of applications in the society today and new applications are constantly being developed. Some examples are generators in
windmills and electrical motors and magnetic cooling. In addition, to effectively operate a generator, it requires several types of specialised magnetic materials. To understand materials
magnetic behaviour, good knowledge of its structure is required, something that diffraction methods can provide. Neutrons weak interaction with matter, given their uncharged state, makes them interact with the nuclei and in a non-magnetised material, the nuclear structure can be explored. However, given that neutrons also carries a magnetic moment, they will interact with unpaired electrons in a material, giving an additional scattering feature, i.e. magnetic scattering. In the non-magnetised paramagnetic state, this additional scattering will be diffuse, whereas in a magnetised state sharp Bragg peaks will occur.
In this talk, I will explore a variety of magnetic materials with different magnetic interactions and guide you through how the magnetic structures where resolved. To do so, the basics of
magnetic symmetries and their relation to conventional symmetries and space groups will be covered. The shown scientific examples will cover both materials with interesting magnetic interactions as well as materials that has a potential to be used in applications as permanent magnets or magnetic refrigeration.

Speaker: Dr Johan Cedervall (Stockholm University)

Abstract_JC.pdf

Cedervall-Magnetic_diffraction.pptx

14:30 SNSS Seminar Series: Neutron Diffraction, Speaker 4 - Additive manufacturing and neutron diffraction: Residual stress assessment and control

Additive manufacturing (AM) of components made out of metals using powder and laser has been in increasing demand especially in the sector of aerospace, medical sectors, etc. With AM, parts with complex geometries can be manufactured easily in comparison to the traditional ones. However, with the ease of
manufacturing complex parts, several issues must be tackled to get a good quality party without losing its mechanical integrity. One of such issues is the control of residual stresses (RS). These RS are generated mainly due to the temperature difference between the consecutive layers while printing. For a comprehensive and systematic study of different process parameters such as print orientations and scan strategies two separate studies on L-shaped geometry printed out of IN718 superalloy were done. The first study was on print orientation
where parts were printed in different orientations namely: horizontal (HB), vertical (VB), and 45° angle (45B), and for the second study parts were printed in the vertical orientation with different scan strategies. With the help of neutron diffraction, RS distribution in the bulk of the sample and the influence of these printing parameters on the RS magnitude and distribution were studied. For the print orientation study, it was found that
part built in a Vertical orientation has the highest magnitude of RS and for the scan strategies' influence, it was found that different scan strategies can lead to the reduction of RS in the same part printed in the vertical orientation. From the data available from the experiment, a simplified FEM model to predict the RS due to print orientation was also established. The model can predict the RS distribution trend similar to that measured ones but with a higher magnitude of stresses. Further data from the neutron diffraction results can be used to calibrate the existing models for the prediction of RS in AM or to verify new models as well.

Speaker: Prabhat Pant (Linköping University)

abstract_neutron week_2021_Prabhat.pdf

15:00 → 15:10 Coffee Break

15:10 → 15:50 SWEDNESS session: Information/Update from SwedNess

Speakers: Martin Månsson (KTH, Royal Inst. of Technology), Martin Sahlberg (Uppsala University)

15:50 → 17:00 SWEDNESS session: Presentation of the new SwedNess-II research projects

Wednesday 12 May

10:00 → 12:15 GISANS session

10:00 Welcome - Tommy Nylander & Max Wolff

10:05 Tom Arnold: Overview of GISANS initiative for ESS

Presentation.Arnold Tom.pdf

10:20 Alexei Vorbiev (Uppsala University and ILL): GISANS option on Super ADAM reflectometer

Super ADAM GISANS.Alexei.pdf

10:40 Karolina Mothander (Lund University): Curved lipid interfaces studied with GISANS

Presentation.Mothander Karolina.pdf

11:00 Sebastian Jaksch (ESS and Jülich Centre for Neutron Science JCNS): Phospholipid membranes and salt: A structure and dynamics study

Presentation.Jaksch-Mai2021.pdf

11:20 Calvin Brett (KTH): Water induced restructuring of organic electronics

Presentation.Brett GISANS.pdf

11:40 Niklas Ottosson (Swedish Research Council, VR): Short update from Swedish Research Council

11:50 Discussion

13:00 → 13:40 Keynote talk 2 - Science opportunities at ESS

Speaker: Andrew Jackson (ESS)

13:40 → 13:45 Short Break

13:45 → 15:25 Contributed talks (focus on ESS science and instruments)

13:45 ESS Science & Instruments, Contr.talk 1 - Hydrogen dynamics in pHEMA hydrogels: how neutron spectroscopy can help in preserving precious artefacts and designing new drug delivery systems.

Speaker: Dr Daria Noferini (ESS)

14:05 ESS Science & Instruments, Contr.talk 2 - Microstructure control by additive manufacturing for tailoring mechanical and functional properties

Speaker: Dr Robin Woracek (ESS)

14:25 ESS Science & Instruments, Contr.talk 3 - Peptide discs as precursors of supported lipid bilayers with oriented membrane proteins

Speaker: Dr Alessandra Luchini (ESS / PSI)

Luchini_presentation.pdf

14:45 ESS Science & Instruments, Contr.talk 4 - Modulating micelle morphology and electrostatic correlations through specific ion interactions in deep eutectic solvents

Modulating micelle morphology and electrostatic correlations through specific ion interactions in deep eutectic solvents
Adrian Sanchez-Fernandez, Andrew Jackson and Karen Edler
Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
European Spallation Source, Lund, Sweden.
Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
adrian.sanchez-fernandez@food.lth.se

In recent years, many studies into green solvents have been performed and deep eutectic
solvents (DES) have emerged as environmentally friendly alternatives in many fields, such as
separation processes, metal processing, biocatalysis and electrodeposition.[1] DES are green
solvents obtained through the combination of cheap and simple organic compounds, where
the interaction between the precursors promotes a depression in the melting point that
allows the mixture to remain liquid at room temperature. Moreover, the combination of
different precursors provides a certain control over the physicochemical properties of the
solvent (e.g. solvent polarity and charge density). Thus, DES are regarded as task-specific
“cocktails”, where the properties of the solvent can be tuned to suit particular applications.
Recent developments have shown the ability of DES to support amphiphile self-assembly,
bringing the possibility to develop sustainable alternatives for surfactant templating, drug
delivery and biosensing, among others. Here we will explore the self-assembly of surfactants
in DES as probed using small-angle neutron scattering. The increase of charge density in the
solvent is shown to promote micelle growth through electrostatic screening in comparison to
more neutrally charged DES environments.[2,3] In addition, the combined effect of
hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions through the addition of hydrotropic salts leads to
a profound change in micelle shape, resulting in the formation of worm-like micelles.[4]
Finally, our latest results in the study of long-range colloidal interactions in DES will be
presented. Aiming to gain a better understanding of the fundamental aspects of amphiphile
self-assembly in these solvents, we will present details of the micellisation with varied
physicochemical properties of the solvent, salt addition and counterion substitution.
[1] B.B. Hansen et al., Deep Eutectic Solvents: A Review of Fundamentals and Applications, Chem. Rev.
121(3) (2021) 1232-1285.
[2] A. Sanchez-Fernandez et al., Surfactant-Solvent Interaction Effects on the Micellization of Cationic
Surfactants in a Carboxylic Acid-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent, Langmuir 33(50) (2017) 14304-14314.
[3] A. Sanchez-Fernandez et al., Micellization of alkyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactants in choline
chloride:glycerol deep eutectic solvent, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18(48) (2016) 33240-33249.
[4] A. Sanchez-Fernandez et al., Complex by design: Hydrotrope-induced micellar growth in deep eutectic
solvents, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 581(Pt A) (2021) 292-298.

Speaker: Dr Adrian Sanchez-Fernandez (Lund University)

Adrian.Sanchez.pdf

15:05 ESS Science & Instruments, Contr.talk 5 - Grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) – opportunities for surface and interface science in Sweden

Speaker: Prof. Max Wolff (Uppsala University)

SNSS Neutron Week Presentation GISANS Wolff.pdf

15:25 → 16:00 Summarizing and Goodbye