The contribution of X-ray absorption spectroscopy to energy science

Abstract

X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a local order technique that corresponds to the excitation of an atom's core electron by absorption of a photon of energy hυ. Its analysis provides information on the electronic structure of the probed element (oxidation state, spin state) and on the local order around this element, giving the number of first neighbors, their chemical nature and the distances separating probed atom and neighbors. Requiring a source of X-rays tunable over a wide energy range, this technique came into its own in the mid-70s with the advent of synchrotron radiation.

References

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[2] T.-H. C. Chan-Chang, A.-M. Nguyen, C. Larquet, B. Lassalle-Kaiser (LUCIA line), S. Carenco, unpublished results.

[3] J. Besnardiere, X. Petrissans, F. Ribot, V. Briois (ROCK line), C. Surcin, M. Morcrette, V. Buissette, T. Le Mercier, S. Cassaignon, D. Portehault, Inorganic Chemistry, 55, 11502, (2016).

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[6] G. Ouvrard, M. Zerrouki, P. Soudan, B. Lestriez, C. Masquelier, M. Morcrette, S. Hamelet, S. Belin (ROCK line), A. M. Flank (LUCIA line), F. Baudelet (ODE line), J. Power Source 229, 16, (2013).

Valérie Briois

Valérie Briois is a CNRS Research Director assigned to Unité de Recherche UR1-SOLEIL. She is in charge of the ROCK (Rocking Optics for Chemical Kinetics) light line at SOLEIL, dedicated to the study of materials by time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy, with applications in catalysis and energy storage (Equipex Project ANR-10-EQPC-45). His research focuses on the correlations between structures and properties of materials studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy, for materials generally prepared by soft chemistry. His current research focuses on heterogeneous catalysts for ethanol conversion and gasoline hydrodesulfurization. A pioneer in coupling X-ray absorption spectroscopy with complementary techniques such as UV-visible and Raman spectroscopy, she has contributed to the fundamental understanding of the nucleation-growth mechanisms of semiconducting oxide nanoparticles (SnO2, ZnO, TiO2...) or the thermo-reversibility of sol-gel transitions involving titanium or zirconium oxyhydroxides.