Introduction
Welcome to this, the first issue of the new-look Sample Environment and Support Labs (SEaSL) newsletter! By switching from PDF to the website, the newsletter is much more widely available to both staff and users. The intention is still to publish the newsletter twice per year, with updates from each of the
Support Labs and the
Sample Environment teams, plus any other information that we would like to pass across! For instance, this issue features a sub-article on the current processes and issues surrounding
Shipping. With the website, we are also able to use the space to take a deeper dive into subjects, or frankly, just have larger pictures!
Both the Sample Environment group and the Support Labs group have been very busy over the past six months with various projects, user measurements and upgrades.
I hope that you find this newsletter interesting... but at a push, I'll settle for 'informative'.
Editor, Dan Nye
ERAs and Sample Safety
The Sample Safety team and Support Labs group are now able to support a wide range of high-hazard experiments. Recently, these high-hazard experiments have included experiments with nuclear materials, and energetic materials on PEARL. Asked about the safe handling of energetic materials on PEARL and why these experiments were important, Craig Bull said:
"Energetic materials find applications in demolition, pyrotechnics and as propellants (for example the recent Artemis rocket test). Many of the current energetic materials in use show polymorphic behaviour driven by either temperature or pressure. These different polymorphs may well have different sensitivities to external stimuli. Understanding the structural behaviour of the different polymorphs of energetic materials and its relationship to sensitivity and stability is vital to ensure that current and potential new energetic materials are stored and handled in a safe manner in use.
At the ISIS facility we have in collaboration with the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh an active programme of studying the structural properties of energetic materials at the extremes of temperature and pressure. Working with energetic materials has its own inherent safety implications even on the small scale. The instrument scientists and members of the Sample Safety team have worked together to develop protocols to handle and store the materials in limited quantities on instruments within the ISIS Facility."
With some planning, we can routinely run measurements with hazardous gases like hydrogen or carbon monoxide. As with all experiments involving hazardous materials, please
contact ISIS Sample Safety as soon as you know you will need to use these materials. It is best to contact ISIS Sample Safety before submitting your proposal, especially for high risk materials, so that the ISIS Sample Safety team can discuss the safety considerations you will need to include in your proposal.
There are currently long delays associated with the shipping of dangerous goods, especially overseas. You will need to ensure that all Post-Brexit shipping forms have been completed. If shipping a sample for a measurement, please give yourself plenty of time. If awaiting a sample being shipped back, please be aware this will take a significant amount of time. A more in-depth guide on current shipping practices has been included in the
Chemical and Prep Labs section, so please see this for more details.
Support Labs Group
Marek Jura was the Group Leader of the Support Laboratories Group from September 2015 until earlier this year, where he took a new role as Experimental Operations Division Head. This meant that the Support Laboratories Group needed a new Group Leader. Interviews were held earlier this year, and Sarah Youngs was selected as the best person for the role. We would like to welcome Sarah Youngs as the new Group Leader of the Support Labs Group. Sarah has worked at ISIS in the Deuteration Facility for 7 years, and prior to becoming Group Leader was the Deuteration Facility Operations Manager. Sarah has a PhD in Chemistry from Reading University, and experience in industry working at Merck Chemicals UK as part of an industrial secondment from her Post Doc at Queens University, Belfast, which was 5 years full time and 3
years split with industry. All correspondence intended for the Group Leader should now be
sent to Sarah.
Support Laboratories Website.
Biology Laboratories (BioLabs)
The BioLabs have chosen to highlight a wide variety of new instruments and preparation for an intake of students for next year.
For more information, please click here to access the BioLabs page.
Chemistry And Sample Prep Labs (Prep Labs)
The Prep Labs have chosen to highlight the ongoing removal of legacy chemicals, and navigating the new challenges around shipping items to and from ISIS.
For more information, please click here to access the Prep Labs page.
Deuteration Facility (D-Lab)
The D-Lab has chosen to highlight the Deuteration for Neutron Scattering Meeting, and has welcomed a new placement student into the group.
For more information, please click here to access the D-Lab page.
Hydrogen Catalysis Lab
The Hydrogen and Catalysis Lab has chosen to highlight the IGAn (Intelligent Gravimetric Analyser neutron) instrument.
For more information, please click here to access the Hydrogen Catalysis Lab page.
Materials Characterisation Laboratory (MCL)
The MCL has chosen to highlight new equipment, new calibration techniques and the students that have been working in the lab.
For more information, please click here to access the MCL page.
Sample Environment Group
Representatives from the Sample Environment Group have attended The International Society for Sample Environment's 11th Workshop, 2022. The ISSE was established around 4 years ago, but the workshops themselves have been running since 1998 biennially. The society was established by the attendees of these workshops.
Oleg Kirichek, Group Leader of the Sample Environment Group, lead a joint presentation with members of the group, showcasing the
necessity of the Sample Environments Group, linking to each of the teams within it and showing that the vast majority of experiments at ISIS required cryogenics, pressure/furnace and/or soft matter expertise to function.
Sample Environment Group Website.
Cryogenics
The Cryogenics team have chosen to highlight a variety of conferences that they have given presentations at, and the vital ongoing helium recovery project.
For more information, please click here to access the Crogenics page.
Pressure and Furnace
The Pressure and Furnace team has chosen to highlight their recent work and presentation on
In-situ Chemical Reactions with Humidified Gas Flow.
For more information, please click here to access the Pressure and Furnace page.
Soft Matter
The Soft Matter team has chosen to highlight the project work conducted by several apprentices who have been in the team as a placement over the past six months.
For more information, please click here to access the Soft Matter page.
