Neutrons: The Science of Everyday Life

The special instruments at ESS promise significant (multiple) improvement of measuring performance compared with what is possible today. This dramatic improvement will be particularly important for the study of complex molecules, such as organic molecules.
 
With neutrons, researchers are able to study the building blocks of the human body, particularly single hydrogen atoms, which play a highly important role. As such, researchers can gain new insights on:

• The DNA molecules and proteins that control aging and cancer
• How the skeleton is built up during childhood and how osteoporosis causes it to deteriorate, thereby creating remedies for skeleton diseases and changes caused by the ageing process
• Organ and bodily functions, like muscles, teeth and digestion
• How to construct better medical implants that are more durable and entirely bio-compatible
• Biological materials with complex structures, such as blood and cell membranes
• Gene therapy
• Biosensors
• Carbohydrates and cellulose

New knowledge in these areas makes it possible to develop new techniques and more effective treatments and medicines.

How are medications received by the body? How do they work inside the body?
 
By studying the proteins and enzymes that create various diseases, researchers can contribute to the development of new medicines and treatments. Pharmaceutical researchers need to obtain a good understanding of the proteins found in the human body, since they act as receptors for the molecules of the medication. In other words, the proteins are the ”key holes” that the medicines – the keys – shall ”unlock.”
 
Therefore, if scientists can study the details of different proteins in the human body, they can more easily create medicines that match those proteins.
 
Today, scientists have, by means of neutrons and X-ray experiments, started the journey towards a cure for Alzheimer’s, through studying the structure in those different substances which affect the brain and its nerves. Neutrons have also helped researchers to create drug delivery systems that are time-released in specific parts of the body, create isotopes used in hospitals, and find natural antibiotics for the treatment of multi-resistant bacteria.

The high-performance that ESS can offer will be important to efficient structure-based medicine development. With brighter neutron beams, scientists will be able to study enzymes and proteins in their natural environment and with greater precision, and will also be able to study biological systems and processes that change over time. Researchers will have a new powerful tool to study the properties and functions of proteins and cell membranes, and how they integrate with, for example, medicines.

The search for new technology to transition to a future economy with significantly less carbon dioxide emissions than today is a great challenge of our time. Here, hydrogen gas plays a central role. Neutron sources like ESS are the best tools researchers have to study elusive hydrogen-based structures in detail.

Fuel cells are central to the development of the future hydrogen economy. Fuel cells are a type of “battery”, which must be continuously filled with hydrogen gas in order to function. When hydrogen gas and oxygen react, this is converted into electricity and heat. The only exhaust gas is pure water. Presently, fuel cells are being developed for many different purposes, from home heating and powering vehicles, to operating laptops and telephones.

Neutrons can examine and optimise new materials, such as thin layers of polymers used for photovoltaics. This is a part of the effort to develop cost-effective, reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly solar power.

At the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in the USA, research is being conducted to extract ethanol from cellulose-rich materials, like grass and agricultural waste. Today, ethanol for environmentally friendly vehicles is extracted mainly from cereals like corn, which leads to competition for crops intended as food. The fuel sources of tomorrow will be built upon our knowledge of the properties of materials on the atomic level.

Telephone batteries that last longer and can be charged many more times are one possibility. With neutrons, it is possible to follow how lithium ions migrate within the battery. Lithium is very difficult to see with today’s technology, but with a powerful neutron source it is possible to follow how the material’s structure changes when lithium is moved, meaning better materials can be produced.

Materials research at ESS can help to develop energy solutions that do less damage to the climate. Methane gas stored in ice in the shallow earth constitutes an enormous energy resource, but it is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Today, scientists cannot analyse the crystal chemistry in the substances that contain the gas, but with ESS that will be possible.

Superconducting materials allow the transport of electricity without any losses, which means large energy gains. Research with neutrons is one of the most fundamental tools for understanding how magnetic and superconductive materials function. This in turn can help create solutions for improved electric conductivity, magnets that have new properties, and technology for transportation that uses resources more efficiently.

The origin of superconductivity in so-called unconventional superconductors exhibiting the highest superconducting transition temperatures is still unknown. Neutron scattering experiments have shown that in those materials, magnetism and superconductivity are interwoven. Understanding the microscopic details better, and eventually learning to create materials for room temperature superconducting, would offer enormous macro-economic savings.

The grand challenges for today's materials – to be lighter, stronger, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly – require extensive knowledge of the materials' properties, beginning on the atomic scale. The information is needed by materials scientists to be able to tailor the properties of new materials for optimum performance. Neutron scattering techniques are unique for studying materials in that they help us not only understand the atomic structure of materials, but also their behaviour under different conditions. This has helped to understand materials from a wide range of applications, from shampoos and turbine blades to magnetic storage materials.

Gallium nitride is a new material that was developed with the help of neutron research. It is most commonly used in LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), e.g. the display for mobile telephones.

New research has developed more powerful LEDs as a light source, which is increasingly replacing the types of energy-saving lamps currently used. This means huge benefits in the form of lower energy consumption, significantly longer burn time and less heat emission.

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is one example of how basic research has been directly used in materials development. Research in this area was awarded with the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics. You can already find an application of this knowledge in your own computer hard drive. GMR technology has accelerated the development of smaller, more powerful computers.

Neutrons are one of the most powerful tools used to study the magnetic properties of materials at the atomic level, thereby providing the foundation for the development of GMR systems. To create a GMR system, it is necessary to build structures out of materials that have the thickness of just a few atomic layers. GMR has both opened the door to the technology of spintronics, electronics based on magnetic polarisation, and has become one of the driving forces behind nanotechnology.

Paint must be thick enough to adhere to a paintbrush, yet thin enough to be spread over the intended surface. With neutrons, it is possible to develop materials with exactly these characteristics. Researchers can also study how to mix water and oil in order to design water-based paint that is water-repellent once it dries, and can then stand exposure to wind, dirt and water for as long as 20 years.

Cleaning and laundering are complicated chemical processes. Zeolite is a mineral that, among other things, provides the foundation of many detergents. One of its key properties is the ability to soften hard water. With neutrons, it is possible to study how this material behaves and reacts in water. ESS can help bring about more environmentally friendly detergents that provide the same or better results.

By looking at how molecules move and behave in a liquid, it is possible to develop creams and cosmetics with new and improved characteristics, such as more effective sunscreens and pain-relief creams.

Enzymes can control the speed of chemical processes. In order to develop new, healthier foods, without affecting the flavour, neutrons are used to study enzyme structures, and what happens during chemical processes.