News

Research is constantly ongoing to optimise the properties of shampoos. This study could help design better, more sustainable hair-care products with improved conditioning effects. It was developed at ILL in collaboration with L'Oréal.

Last week was rich in scientific events featuring neutron scattering and the ILL. We briefly summarise ILL’s participation in the UK NMSUM, JdA, and more.

Researchers used neutrons to study how peptides assemble into tiny spirals - and then used them as templates to create golden replicas.

... or assessing ‘power naps’ for electrolysers | A recent study uses high resolution neutron imaging at the ILL to examine water dynamics in a carbon dioxide electrolysis cells - selected as research highlight in Nature Catalysis.

A novel porous material capable of separating deuterium from hydrogen at a temperature of 120 K (-153°C) has been introduced. This opens a pathway for sustainable industrial-scale isotope separation using existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure.

A former PhD student at the ILL and Birmingham University has been awarded this year’s prize for her “ground-breaking contributions to the study of frustrated magnets using neutron polarisation analysis combined with novel data analysis methodologies, and especially her discovery of a spiral spin liquid phase in LiYbO2.”

Another milestone this month for the NEXSTEP programme: the first 9 ILL PhD positions have been opened accross a wide range of disciplines including physics, materials science, chemistry, biochemistry and engineering :In-situ cryogenic mechanical testing for ultra-low-temperature applicationIn situ study of the synthesis of battery materialsThe microscopic mechanism of boil-off H₂ reduction by ac…

Using ILL's neutron imaging instrument NeXT, researchers were able to visualise how different fuel cells manage their only reactant product: water. This study demonstrates the uniquely important role of neutrons in the design of tomorrow's energy conversion technologies.

Energy-resolved neutron experiments provide insights into novel energy technologies

On February 26, 2025, as part of the fourth edition of the grEnoble eNerGy conversIoN & storagE (ENGINE2025) school, the ILL had the pleasure of hosting 75 participants interested in key enabling technologies such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, and solid-state batteries.

Some magnetic materials feature peculiar states the fundamental understanding of which may pave the way for future applications. Neutron experiments have just revealed that they can be unexpectedly stable with respect to microscopic disorder.

In everyday life, we typically encounter water in one of three familiar states – solid, liquid or gas. But there are in fact many more phases, some of which – predicted to exist at high temperature and pressure – are so strange they’re referred to as exotic. State-of-the-art neutron spectrometers and sample environment infrastructures at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) have enabled the first experimental observation of one of these exotic phases – plastic ice VII.