As energy production shifts increasingly towards renewable power sources like solar and wind, the demand for efficient storage of clean energy is rapidly growing. Our modern world relies on the mobility of energy consumption, whether it's through mobile devices or electric vehicles. To compete with traditional fuel sources, we face the task of increasing battery storage capacity, prolonging their lifetime, ensuring safety, and keeping production costs in check.

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) is paving the way towards research into new materials for the next generation of batteries. X-rays can pass through an entire electrochemical cell, enabling the simultaneous, non-destructive analysis of structural changes occurring within each constituent material. The transport of Li-ions through the battery, and their structural intercalation during charge/discharge cycles, induces reactions and degradation that can be tracked in real time using high-energy diffraction. The structural changes can then be correlated with battery performance and lifetime.

Bruker’s X-ray diffractometers set the industry standard for high throughput in quality control in the production of cathode active materials and support manufacturers in battery gigafactories across the globe.

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry plays an important role in battery manufacturing as well as recycling. It requires minimal to no sample preparation, enabling fast and easy material identification and quality control, supporting the upstream production process. XRF is used to determine the elemental composition and purity of graphite, Al- and Cu-foil as well as of (Ni-, Mn-, Co-, Fe-) sulfate and phosphate solutions, salts, and mixtures. For recycling companies seeking to improve their processes and to determine the metal-value of their produced black mass, XRF is a valuable asset.

X-Ray Microscopy (XRM) enables non-destructive visualization of the internal 3D structure of batteries. XRM is a great tool to help understand failure mechanisms by monitoring the internal alignment of components over the battery lifetime, such as electrode separation or in stress tests. And XRM is more than just a visualization tool; besides the qualitative information like delamination, the presence of inclusions or layer cracks, one can also perform quantitative measurements, e.g., cathode and separator thickness or anode overhang.

If you are interested in advances in battery characterization, be sure to check our Battery Research webpage and sign up for our Bruker Shaping the Future of Batteries webinar on September 26^th, where you can learn more about X-ray diffraction, fluorescence, and microscopy, and many other useful characterization techniques.

Chemical and biological researchers are addressing increasingly challenging problems. Consequently, crystallographers are confronted with solving complex structures from ever-smaller samples. To address this need, Bruker has introduced a new solution aimed specifically at getting quality structures from tiny crystals: the D8 VENTURE METALJET MC. This new system harnesses the latest developments in multilayer X-ray optics development. For the first time, the D8 VENTURE METALJET MC breaks the 10¹² photons/s/mm² intensity barrier and brings synchrotron performance into your home lab. The D8 VENTURE METALJET MC delivers more than ten times the intensity of a typical rotating anode, but uses only a fraction of the electrical power: only 250 W, compared to 1200 W for a typical rotating anode. This means that the D8 VENTURE METALJET MC is not only the most brilliant source available, but has a vastly lower carbon footprint and provides significant savings on electricity costs.

X-ray diffraction is the ideal tool for characterizing the structure of ordered materials. Coherent X-ray scattering at very low diffraction angles can give information about the periodic arrangement of cylindrical pores in micro- and mesoporous materials, including zeolites and silicates, used as chemical sieves and adsorbents. The use of Dynamic Beam Optimization (DBO), available on the D6 PHASER, makes short work of low-angle diffraction studies, allowing simultaneous control of a motorized divergent slit, a motorized air-scatter screen, and a variable detector aperture. In this application report, we describe how the D6 PHASER characterizes not only the arrangement and spacing of pores in ZSM-41 and SBA-15, but also the change in spacing between pores after loading with other nano-entities for applications such as catalysis, drug delivery, and environmental treatment.

Edible oils, such as olive, sunflower, and rapeseed oil, are an essential part of our daily diet. They are rich in essential nutrients and contribute significantly to the sensory attributes of many foods. However, certain elements can affect the taste, color, and shelf-life of the oils. To ensure the required product quality, fast and reliable elemental analysis is crucial at various oil refinery process stages. One of the key elements to monitor is phosphorous (P), which can be easily analyzed within minutes with an S2 POLAR X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer. As a true multi-element instrument, the S2 POLAR can analyze numerous other elements, such as Cl and S, at the same time. Want to learn more about edible oil analysis with XRF? Join us in our upcoming XRF live online seminar, Rapid & Easy Elemental Analysis for the Food Industry, on September 26^th.

Hydrogen has a strong influence on the quality and properties of aluminum products. It accumulates in voids or along grain boundaries of the metal, leading to pore formation, cracking, blistering, degradation and, ultimately, material failure. To produce high-quality material, the amount of hydrogen in high-purity aluminum is typically limited to 0.2 to 0.3 ppm. In aluminum alloys, where alloying elements such as silicon and copper reduce hydrogen solubility, 0.06 to 0.1 ppm of hydrogen is set as the upper limit. The G8 GALILEO ONH is designed specifically for the determination of oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen in solid metals. Its special "H in Al" mode enables the accurate and precise measurement of hydrogen traces in pure aluminum as well as aluminum alloys.

Almost 1800 delegates attended the 26^th Congress and General Assembly of the International Union for Crystallography (IUCr) in Melbourne, Australia in the last week of August. The conference provided a great opportunity to attend scientific lectures and poster presentations, meet old and new friends, and get an update on the latest developments in crystallography. We were pleased to show our new D6 PHASER benchtop XRD system, soon-to-be-released APEX5 software, and two newly launched configurations of the D8 VENTURE, the D8 VENTURE HE and the D8 VENTURE METALJET MC. We're already looking forward to 27^th IUCr in 2026 in Calgary, Canada!

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