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Uncovering the Hidden Nano-World of Mixed Antimony Films
Electron microscopy can produce stunning images of objects that might look pretty ordinary at first glance. Shea Kraemer, a graduate student from Western University’s Chemistry department, brought SSW some antimony films to image. These films looked dull and black to the naked eye, but when examined in our state-of-the-art instrumentation, the film’s amazing nano-scale structures…
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Welcome Maja Hoang!
We are excited to announce that Maja Radisic Hoang will be with us for the next 16 months as a laboratory assistant, supporting mineral processing at SSW for her 4th year science internship placement. Maja works alongside research scientists Baian Almusned and Carolyn Hill-Svehla to support sample preparation and materials characterization of geological samples for…
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Surprising Images of Antimony Catalysts Helps With Recycling Polystyrene
At SSW, we sometimes make important discoveries from unexpected things. Many students come to us with reference images from publications, but when we examine their samples, we see something that is completely different. That’s what happened to UofT engineer Goutham Rangarajan. Goutham’s images show the unexpected shapes and forms of halogen-enriched antimony powders. His research…
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Publication Highlight: Investigating the structure of the oxide on Ni-Cr-Mo alloys while presenting a method for analysis of complex oxides using QUASES
We are thrilled to share a newly published peer-reviewed article by Adam Morgan, Ph.D. candidate supervised by Dr. James Noel, and in collaboration with several Surface Science Western (SSW) Scientists – Jeffrey D. Henderson, Brad Kobe, and Mark Biesinger. In this paper, Adam details the use of the Quantitative Analysis of Surfaces by Electron Spectroscopy…
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Publication Highlight: Study on the Self-Repairing Effect of Nanoclay in Powder Coatings for Corrosion Protection
Over the past several years, Dr. Marshall Yang has dedicated countless hours to training on and utilizing the advanced instrumentation and expertise available at Surface Science Western (SSW). During his tenure at SSW, Marshall used our field emission and tungsten filament scanning electron microscopy (FESEM / SEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), X-ray diffraction (XRD),…
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Summer experience at SSW
Today’s students become the innovators and leaders of tomorrow, and as such, SSW firmly believes that investing in student education and experience is investing in our future. SSW employs multiple internship and summer students to work with our staff on their day to day projects. The goal of this is to provide these students with…
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Enjoying that Fufu? Investigating Corrosion in Cookware
Various foods can act as an accelerator of corrosion in everyday cookware, leading to degradation of the cookware and the release of metal ions into the food. Toxicological studies have revealed that increased doses of metals, such as nickel and chromium, can cause adverse reactions in those whom consume the prepared food. Fufu is a…
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Connecting SSW Experts with Students – Introduction to XRD
Dr. Vahid Dehnavi, SSW Research Scientist, recently gave an “Introduction to X-ray Diffraction (XRD)” lecture to Western University’s Electrochemical Society (ECS) Student Chapter. This lecture was the first in-person lecture of a series of lectures that are being organized by the student-led group. This series aims to connect subject matter experts, such as Dr. Dehnavi,…
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Congratulations to this year’s recipient of the N. Stewart McIntyre Award, Claire Tully
We award the N. Stewart McIntyre award each year to an under-graduate or graduate student who has shown incredible excellence and aptitude within our laboratory and in the field of surface analysis and surface science. We are proud to announce that Claire Tully is this year’s recipient of the N. Stewart McIntyre Award. Claire is…
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Engineers and Scientists unite! Two Ph.D. engineering students share their collaborative experiences at SSW
Marshall Yang and fellow student Jackson (Jinbao) Huang, two Ph.D. graduates from the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (CBE) at Western University, would like to share their collaborative experiences at Surface Science Western (SSW). Marshall and Jackson were the lead researchers on a multi-year project studying the behaviours and anti-corrosive properties of powder coatings.…
