ESRF/ILL hold workshop on environmental studies using neutrons and synchrotron radiation

Abstract

ESRF and ILL Grenoble organized a workshop on Environmental Studies from February 20 to 21,2001, attracting over 100 participants from Europe, theUSA and Australasia to hear 19 invited lectures and discussa large selection of posters. Many of the lecturers had an opportunity to describe the practical importance of their work at a press conference attended by a half dozen journalists. John Parise (Stony Brook, NY) gave the plenary lecture, on new materials used for heavy metal recovery from industrial and nuclear waste. Instead of minimizing the Si4+/A13+ ratio inalumino-silicates to increase their ion exchange capacity, it has been possibleto synthesize new Si4+/Li1+ zeolites, and to study their crystal chemistry using a combination of synchrotron and neutron diffraction techques, including in-situ chemical synthesis. Herve Jobic (CNRS Lyon) also spoke about the catalytic properties of zeolites, and how neutron diffractioncan be used to understand the structure of adsorbed hydrocarbons, and neutroninelastic scattering to understand diffusion in the zeolite channels, andthe strength of bonding to the framework.