Scientists from the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology (WBBiB) and the Małopolska Centre of Biotechology (MCB) of the Jagiellonian University Krakow teamed up to disclose intriguing features of the energy conserving machinery in bacterial cells at the atomic level.

Bartłomiej Lemieszek, MSc Eng., under the supervision of Sebastian Molin, DSc Eng., from the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics at Gdańsk University of Technology, is developing in situ and operando measurement methodologies at the ASTRA beamline. These methods are primarily intended for investigating materials used as oxygen electrodes in solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells. A custom-designed measurement system was developed and manufactured using 3D printing. It currently enables measurements at temperatures of up to 650 °C, with the prospect of reaching even higher temperatures. The system may also find applications in other fields, including the investigation of materials for gas sensors.

A team of researchers from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, the University of Ostrava, the POLYX beamline of SOLARIS, and collaborating institutions has developed a porous hybrid material for capturing dicofol, a persistent organochlorine pesticide, from water. The material combines Cu-BTC, a copper-based metal–organic framework, with a hierarchically porous carbon monolith.

A team of researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN), Jagiellonian University, and AGH University of Kraków has developed a switchable composite material that combines the remarkable properties of molecular magnets with the mechanical robustness and flexibility of polymer fibers. The paper was published in the journal Nanoscale.

How can scientists determine what is happening inside a nanoparticle thousands of times smaller than a human hair? In this case, the answer came from synchrotron radiation. An international team of researchers from Autonomous University of Madrid has developed multifunctional gold-iron nanoparticles with potential applications in medical imaging and light-based therapies. Using the ASTRA beamline at the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre, the team uncovered key details about the chemical structure of these promising nanomaterials.