All news and events

Last week we were happy to have Jorge Martinez Garcia from Hochschule Luzern visiting us to exploit the possibility of measuring nano-porosity in porous materials for building applications, manufactured by the company de Cavis AG. This measurement was performed at the SANS-1 beamline at Paul Scherrer Institut PSI.

Within the framework of a joint development project between the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences (NTNU), the industrial partner Equinor and ANAXAM, a customised test rig in the form of a cryochamber was realised, which allows sea ice and spray ice samples to be tomographed in different temperature ranges.

Last week we had the team of Alexander Zürn Global, Device & Packaging Development, from Novartis visiting us. After the presentation of ANAXAM and a first technical exchange about the possibilities of Neutron and Synchrotron Analytics, we went on a tour through the large-scale research facilities at the PSI. During the subsequent lunch, there was a lively exchange about joint project opportunities. We are looking forward to further cooperation.

Last week we had Tobias Füeg, Viktoria Wiedmeyer, Johannes Mayrhofer and Mohsen Meshkian from SpectraFlow Analytics AG visiting us. In the collaboration, muons were successfully used for the first time to obtain a detailed elemental analysis of rock samples using the so-called "Muon Induced X-ray Emission (MIXE)" technique.
These results together with Synchrotron Diffraction measurements help SpectraFlow Analytics AG to open up new possibilities in the analytical performance of their online analyzers.

Last week we performed measurements at the TOMCAT beamline of the PSI together with Arnaud Houriet and Francois Guelat, from the Watch division of the company MPS Micro Precision Systems AG. Using in-operando radiography at the Synchrotron, the function of a watch gear component was investigated in real time. In collaboration with MPS, a tailor-made test rig was developed for the investigation, which allows the gear component to be scanned and investigated in real time. The results of the measurements support MPS in improving their products even further.

Functional highlights

Last week we had Melissa Assad Bustillos from the company Givaudan visiting us. Synchrotron CT measurements were carried out together at the TOMCAT Beamline at PSI. As part of this project, puffed snacks were examined for porosity and wall thickness distributions in high resolution. The results support Givaudan in the development and validation of innovative ingredient solutions in food applications.

The week before last, the final presentation of the bachelor thesis with the topic "Development of a regulation and control unit for the operation of a high-temperature furnace for Neutron Imaging of varistors" by our student Patrick Scheidegger took place.

Last weekend, our team performed real-time investigations of the freezing behaviour of water droplets at PSI's imaging beamline TOMCAT together with NTNU. For the experiment, a tailor-made infrastructure was developed that allows the generation of tiny seawater droplets close to the freezing point. These drops were dropped into a cryochamber onto variously coated surfaces. Using Synchrotron-CT, we are able to study the different freezing behaviour on the coating in three dimensions over time. Equinor's goal is to develop a coating on which sea ice adheres less well.