Of Ancient Pottery and Modern Batteries – X-ray Spectroscopy at the Nano-scale

Program Description

What started as a philosophical concept more than 2400 years ago by introducing átomos, the indivisible, still puzzles scientists because state and order of atoms determine the properties of all materials. It remains a mystery whether the potters in ancient Greece were aware of this concept when they created their famous black and red vessels. But it is obvious that they possessed the knowledge to change macroscopic properties of the material by controlling processes which happen at the nano-scale. Today’s designers of functional materials are again in need of knowledge to control such processes which can drastically alter the properties of matter. Modern materials science demands tools capable of measuring and visualizing these processes with high spatial resolution without alteration of the material and the process by sample preparation or the measurement itself.

In this presentation I will present the combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy with transmission x-ray microscopy as a powerful tool to trace chemical phase transformations in 2D and 3D and even in-situ with spatial resolutions below 100nm. Principle, capabilities, and limitations of the method as well as highlights of studies of materials as diverse as battery electrodes, catalysts, and ancient roman ceramics will be discussed.