Abstract

The advent of maturing synchrotron capabilities and nanotechnology has provided an exciting playground and unprecedented scientific opportunities. The very bright, energy-tunable, highly collimated and pulsed synchrotron light sources of the third generation are making synchrotron light readily available for a wide spectrum of materials research. In this talk, the applications of a number of recently developed synchrotron spectroscopic techniques will be presented. These include: X-ray Absorption Fine Structures (XAFS) using yield techniques, X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (XES), X-ray Excited Optical Luminescence (XEOL) in both energy and time domain and Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM). Studies of nano-composites, transition metal nanostructures, energy nanomaterials, such as Li ion battery materials and calcium silicate nano-carriers for drug delivery among others will be described to illustrate the unique solutions the synchrotron technology can provide. The prospects of emerging techniques such as High Energy X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, High Energy Resolution X-ray Fluorescence and Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Spectroscopy and their applications will also be noted.