Justification for the development of a bending magnet beamline at sector 10 at the APS.

Abstract

The long-planned and much-needed merger of EnviroCAT into the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (MR-CAT) will provide dedicated state-of-the-art facilities that are critical to research on a broad range of issues in environmental sciences. These CATs will focus on developing a bending magnet (BM) beamline for x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and micro x-ray analysis of environmental samples through integration with existing insertion device (ID) capabilities in XAFS, micro x-ray analysis, and x-ray scattering. In addition, the expanded MR-CAT will serve as the hub of personnel and laboratory infrastructure support for molecular environmental science and biogeochemical science at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). In conjunction with the merger of EnviroCAT into MR-CAT, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will become a member institution of MR-CAT, joining the present members (University of Notre Dame, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Florida, British Petroleum, and Argonne's Chemical Engineering and Biosciences Division). The motivation for blending capabilities meeting the needs of EnviroCAT users into the MR-CAT facilities is the explosion of synchrotron-radiation-based research in the field known as molecular environmental science (MES). This research is driven largely by the need to remediate contaminated environmental materials and to understand the scientific foundations that govern contaminant transport in the environment. Synchrotron radiation is playing a crucial role in solving environmental science problems by offering x-ray-based analytical techniques for detailed molecular- and atomic-level studies of these systems. This document focuses on the scientific justification for developing a specific type of BM beamline capability at Sector 10 for XAFS and micro x-ray analysis to support the growing MES community. However, the modification of Sector 10 will meet other future needs by providing (1) an existing undulator beamline with an experimental station for bulk XAFS applications and x-ray microbeam applications (XRF, XAFS, and XRD) and (2) a BM beamline with an experimental station for large-sample XAFS spectroscopy and XRF elemental mapping on submillimeter to centimeter length scales.