Diamond Light Source

By David Sait2011-01-01T00:00:00

Mark Basham shows pupils from Hartismere High School in Eye part

Source: David Sait

RSC ChemNet members visited Diamond Light Source in Didcot

Opened in 2007, this particle accelerator accelerates electrons to give a source of extremely intense light-rather than smashing high energy particles together like the Large Hadron Collider. It can be thought of as a gigantic x-ray machine.

The group that Education in Chemistry accompanied was allowed up close to this gigantic device. Over 2000 research groups use this world class facility each year and during our visit we learnt how different chemists use the synchrotron. Previous work at Diamond has included: Understanding corrosion processes to allow better design of construction materials; analysis of the distribution of the minerals in grains to produce more nutritious foods; and investigations into the design of novel hydrogen fuel storage materials.

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