The 15th International Conference on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS15)

Abstract

The 15th International Conference on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS15) was held on 22-28 July 2012 in Beijing, P. R. China. About 340 scientists from 34 countries attended this important international event. Figure 1. Main hall of XAFS15.The rapidly increasing application of XAFS to the study of a large variety of materials and the operation of the new SR source led to the first meeting of XAFS users in 1981 in England. Following that a further 14 International Conferences have been held. Comparing a breakdown of attendees according to their national origin, it is clear that participation is spreading to include attendees from more and more countries every year.The strategy of development in China of science and education is increasing quickly thanks to the large investment in scientific and technological research and infrastructure. There are three Synchrotron Radiation facilities in mainland China, Hefei Light Source (HLS) in the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSRL), Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) in the Institute of High Energy Physics, and Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) in the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics. More than 10000 users and over 5000 proposals run at these facilities. Among them, many teams from the USA, Japan, German, Italy, Russia, and other countries. More than 3000 manuscript were published in SCI journals, including (incomplete) Science (7), Nature (10), Nature Series (7), PNAS (3), JACS (12), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (15), Nano Lett. (2), etc.In XAFS15, the participants contributed 18 plenary invited talks, 16 parallel invited talks, 136 oral presentations, 12 special talks, and 219 poster presentations. Wide communication was promoted in the conference halls, the classical banquet restaurant, and the Great Wall.Figure 2. Parallel hallFigure 3. CommunicationFigure 4. Poster roomThis volume contains 136 invited and contributed papers, accepted after a rigorous peer review procedure. A group of about 90 outstanding scientists in the field reviewed and suggested revisions of the manuscripts to improve scientific presentation. As a result, we believe the entire volume has reached a high standard. The 19 topics covered are listed as follows:Theory Data analysis New technology and devices of XAFS Applications in Nano science and technology Applications in Life Science Applications in Chemistry Applications in Catalytic Science Applications in Surface and Interface Science Applications in Material ScienceApplications in Energy and Environmental Science Applications in Magnetic and Related Material Science Applications in Nuclear Science Applications in Disordered Systems Applications in Extreme Conditions Applications for Time-resolved experiments XMCD technology and its applications Advanced methods (e.g., new coherent sources and spectroscopic imaging techniques) XAFS combined with other experimental methods Other related studies We hope this volume will be a useful reference for the ongoing scientific activity in XAFS. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the sponsors for their generous support: Chinese Academy of Science, National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Center of Advanced Science and Technology World Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, and our commercial sponsors (AREVA, Xi'an Action Power Electric Co., Ltd).Finally, we would like to acknowledge the entire local organizing staff (names are given below) and particularly the collaborators and members of the XAS group at the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences for their efforts to make the XAFS15 conference a success.Ziyu Wu Chair of the Conferenceand Proceedings Editor Hefei, P. R. China, 28 September 2012Committees and StaffChair of the Conference Ziyu WuInternational Advisory Committee Adam Hitchcock, Canada Adriano Filipponi, Italy Alain Manceau, France Alexander Soldatov, Russia Andrea Di Cicco, Italy Britt Hedman, USA Bruce Bunker, USA Calogero R. Natoli, Italy Christopher T. Chantler, Australia Frank M. F. De Groot, Netherlands Hiroyuki Oyanagi, Japan Ingolf Lindau, USA J. Mustre de Leon, México James E Penner-Hahn, USA Joaquin Garcia Ruiz, Spain John Evans, UK John J. Rehr, USA Kiyotaka Asakura, Japan Majed Chergui, Switzerland Mark Newton, UK Shiqiang Wei, P. R. China Tsun-Kong Sham, Canada Ziyu Wu, P. R. ChinaInternational Program Committee Antonio Bianconi, Italy Augusto Marcelli, Italy Emad Flear Aziz, Germany Jinghua Guo, USA Joly Yves, France Masaharu Nomura, Japan Maurizio Benfatto, Italy Pieter Glatzel, France Shiqiang Wei, China Tiandou Hu, China Toshihiko Yokoyama, Japan Way-Faung Pong, Taiwan Xinyi Zhang, China Yi Xie, China Yuying Huang, China Zhonghua Wu, China Ziyu Wu, ChinaLocal Organizing Committee Bo He Fengchun Hu Haifeng Zhao Jing Zhang Meijuan Yu Qin Yu Shuo Zhang Wangsheng Chu Wei He Wei Xu Wensheng Yan Xiaomei Gong Xing Chen Yang Zou Yi Xia Zheng Jiang Zhi Xie Zhihu Sun Zhiyun PanAdditional Staff Chengxun Liu