Webinar: From Ancient Relics to Life on Mars: Temperature-Controlled Experiments for Materials Characterisation

In advance of the Mars landing on 18 February 2021, members of the Analytical Chemistry group at Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country) in Leioa, Spain presented their research on how temperature controlled experiments (including Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and XRD analysis) can be used to characterise geological materials ranging from historical artefacts from the Roman empire to regolith samples from Mars.

The importance of being small: miniaturisation of freeze drying equipment

Developmental activities for freeze-dried products are dictated by the limited availability and high cost of newly developed active compounds, and by Quality-by-Design requirements. Laboratory-scale freeze dryers used for formulation and process development show an excessive variety of designs and instrumentation concepts, making scale-up activities a challenge. The development of miniaturised equipment may provide enormous benefits in terms of development times and costs.

Temperature-controlled microscopy enhances research of chemical processes in polar ice

The polar regions of the Antarctic and the Arctic are indicators of the changing global climate, and there is a lot of research underway to investigate how changing conditions will affect the polar ecosystems and beyond. The Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) uses Raman spectroscopy in combination with Linkam stages to study ice crystals and chemical processes in polar ice in order to better understand climate change.