Nano-microcrystals revealed on Tang dynasty gilded bronze using advanced TEM-SEM and synchrotron methods.

Over the years, numerous gold and silver artifacts have been excavated from the tombs of the Tang dynasty, which give evidence of the sophisticated metalworking techniques at that time. Few of the artifacts were thoroughly studied and their manufacturing processes were barely known. The present investigation concerns a metal headgear from a newly excavated tomb of a female in Xi'an of the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.

MAP2XANES: a Jupyter interactive notebook for elemental mapping and XANES speciation.

MAP2XANES is an intuitive Jupyter notebook that automatizes the analysis of synchrotron X-ray fluorescence imaging and X-ray absorption spectroscopy for the characterization of complex and heterogeneous samples. The notebook uses basic modules and functions from Numpy, Scipy, Pandas, iPywidgets and Matplotlib libraries for a powerful data reduction process that, in just a few clicks, guides the user through the visualization of elemental maps, space-resolved absorption spectra and their automatized analysis. In particular, by means of linear combination fit of the XANES spectra, the notebook determines the chemical species distribution in the sample under investigation.

Crystallographic information data of natural occurring zaccariniite (RhNiAs) obtained by means of precession electron diffraction.

The crystal structure of naturally occurring zaccariniite (RhNiAs) has been studied in Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) with variable angle Precession Electron Diffraction (PED) techniques. The analysis of the data has yielded tetragonal cell parameters of 3.86, 3.

The formation mechanism of fluorescent metal complexes at the Li(x)Ni(0.5)Mn(1.5)O(4-δ)/carbonate ester electrolyte interface.

Electrochemical oxidation of carbonate esters at the Li(x)Ni(0.5)Mn(1.5)O(4-δ)/electrolyte interface results in Ni/Mn dissolution and surface film formation, which negatively affect the electrochemical performance of Li-ion batteries.

Uniform doping of metal oxide nanowires using solid state diffusion.

The synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures with specific properties is often hindered by difficulty in tuning the material composition without sacrificing morphology and material quality. Here, we present a simple solid state diffusion method utilizing atomic layer deposition to controllably alter the composition of metal oxide nanowires. This compositional control allows for modification of the optical, electronic, and electrochemical properties of the semiconductor nanowires.

I18--the microfocus spectroscopy beamline at the Diamond Light Source.

The design and performance of the microfocus spectroscopy beamline at the Diamond Light Source are described. The beamline is based on a 27 mm-period undulator to give an operable energy range between 2 and 20.7 keV, enabling it to cover the K-edges of the elements from P to Mo and the L(3)-edges from Sr to Pu.