Inauguration of Ni-Matters

https://youtu.be/wwor9jmDztc

We are happy to announce that a joint research unit between the Institut Laue Langevin, Helmholz Berlin and Université Grenoble Alpes is being created, focusing on the development and application of combined, correlative neutron and x-ray Imaging in materials and energy research. The new unit is to be called "NI-Matters" (Neutron Imaging for Material and Energy Research).






new innauguration

• 20/11/2020
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New "Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A" paper

NeXT-Grenoble, the Neutron and X-ray tomograph in Grenoble

Description of the current state of the beamline

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NeXT-Grenoble is a Neutron and X-ray Tomograph launched from the collaboration between the Universite Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL). The design started in February 2016 shortly followed by its construction at ILL. A first version of the instrument has been opened to users since October 2016. One of the peculiarities of the instrument is that, as suggested by the name, the instrument allows the acquisition of truly simultaneous Neutron and X-ray tomographies, taking advantage of the high complementarity of these two beams. Also by virtue of the uniquely high flux at the ILL, the instrument can provide unprecedented spatial resolution (around true resolution, in few tens of seconds) and acquisition speed (1.5 s tomographies). This contribution details the adopted technical solutions and performances achieved, reviews some of the key published results and outlines the future direction of the instrument.




new instrument

• 27/04/2020
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New "Nature Communications" paper

4D imaging of lithium-batteries using correlative neutron and X-ray tomography with a virtual unrolling technique

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13943-3



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The temporally and spatially resolved tracking of lithium intercalation and electrode degradation processes are crucial for detecting and understanding performance losses during the operation of lithium-batteries. Here, high-throughput X-ray computed tomography has enabled the identification of mechanical degradation processes in a commercial Li/MnO2 primary battery and the indirect tracking of lithium diffusion; furthermore, complementary neutron computed tomography has identified the direct lithium diffusion process and the electrode wetting by the electrolyte. Virtual electrode unrolling techniques provide a deeper view inside the electrode layers and are used to detect minor fluctuations which are difficult to observe using conventional three dimensional rendering tools. Moreover, the ‘unrolling’ provides a platform for correlating multi-modal image data which is expected to find wider application in battery science and engineering to study diverse effects e.g. electrode degradation or lithium diffusion blocking during battery cycling.




new batteries

• 13/04/2020
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New "Transport in Porous Media" paper

Some Observations on Testing Conditions of High-Temperature Experiments on Concrete: An Insight from Neutron Tomography

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-020-01392-2

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This communication explores the influence of boundary effects, embedded sensors and crack opening on high-temperature experiments of concrete as revealed by in situ neutron tomography. The hypotheses routinely taken about these experimental aspects in common practice are hereby reassessed in light of the insight given by noninvasive full-field measurements. Notably, we directly assess the heat and moisture insulation techniques and reveal the influence of temperature and gas pressure monitoring on the testing conditions, opening new perspectives toward their improvement.




porous media heating concrete

• 08/04/2020
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New "Frontiers in Earth Science" paper

Dynamics of water absorption in Callovo-Oxfordian Claystone revealed with multimodal x-ray and neutron tomography

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The Callovo-Oxfordian claystone is a material with notoriously complex hydro-mechanical behaviour. Combined neutron and x-ray tomography modalities are used for the first time to characterise the dynamics of water absorption in this material by comparing material deformation as well as water arrival. Exploiting recent work on multimodal registration, neutron, and x-ray datasets are registered pairwise into a common coordinate system, meaning that a vector-valued field (i.e., neutron and x-ray reconstructed values) is available for each timestep, essentially making this a 5D dataset. The ability to cross-plot each field into a joint histogram (an inherent input into the registration) allows an improved identification of mineral phases in this complex material. Material deformation obtained from the application of Digital Volume Correlation on the x-ray timeseries data is locally compared to changes in water content available from the neutrons, opening the way toward a quantitative description of the hydro-mechanics of this process.




imbibition hydrogen 5D imaging

• 11/03/2020
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New "Frontiers in Earth Science" paper

Neutron Imaging of Cadmium Sorption and Transport in Porous Rocks




water isotopes pollution

• 26/11/2019
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New "ACS Applied Energy Materials" paper

Combined Operando High Resolution SANS and Neutron Imaging Reveals In-situ Local Water Distribution in an Operating Fuel Cell

Combined SANS/Imaging study of Fuel cells



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By producing electricity and heat from hydrogen with high yield and with only water as a byproduct, the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the most promising carbon-free alternative energy conversion system for transportation and stationary applications. Water management is a key issue in these systems as it drives performance, thus preventing their large scale implementation. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that a proper water balance should be achieved in operation, i.e. water must be present in large quantities in the proton conducting polymer - or ionomer - membrane, while other components must contain only moderate amounts of it. In this paper, we explore the in-situ water distribution of water in a working fuel cell using a dual Neutron Imaging and high resolution Small Angle Neutron Scattering approach, allowing to quantify both liquid water and polymer membrane swelling on a μm scale, i.e. at the rib-channel level. We observed that liquid water tends to accumulate sharply at the channel/rib interface while a smooth hydration pattern was found inside the membrane, reaching a maximum in the middle of the channel. These results indicate the development of large in-plane and trough-plane gradients in relative humidity at mm and sub-mm scales. Complex two-phase flow with evaporation/condensation processes is found to govern the water distribution in the operating fuel cell. Our in situ data are direct inputs for flow models needed to unravel and optimize the device function.




radiography Fuel Cells

• 13/11/2019
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What comes NeXT? – High-Speed Neutron Tomography at ILL

https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-27-20-28640

Here, we report on a new record in the acquisition time for fast neutron tomography. With an optimized imaging setup, it was possible to acquire single radiographic projection images with 10 ms and full tomographies with 155 projections images and a physical spatial resolution of 200 µm within 1.5 s. This is about 6.7 times faster than the current record.






heavy water porous media rapid tomography

• 01/10/2019
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New 'JGR solid Earth' paper at NeXT

Fast 4‐D Imaging of Fluid Flow in Rock by High‐Speed Neutron Tomography

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2018JB016522 High‐speed neutron tomographies (1‐min acquisition) have been acquired during water invasion into air‐filled samples of both intact and deformed (ex situ) Vosges sandstone. Three‐dimensional volume images have been processed to detect and track the evolution of the waterfront and to calculate full‐field measurement of its speed of advance. The flow process correlates well with known rock properties and is especially sensitive to the distribution of the altered properties associated with observed localized deformation, which is independently characterized by Digital Volume Correlation of X‐ray tomographies acquired before and after the mechanical test. The successful results presented herein open the possibility of in situ analysis of the local evolution of hydraulic properties of rocks due to mechanical deformation.






radiography water imbibition

• 01/04/2019
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New "Geotechnique letters" paper from NeXT!

Neutron imaging: a new possibility for laboratory observation of hydraulic fractures in shale?

https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.18.00129






hydrogen tomography geomaterial

• 01/01/2019
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New "Cement and Concrete Research" paper from NeXT!




rapid tomography heating concrete

• 15/06/2018
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New "Acta Geotechnica" paper from NeXT!

"Liquid water uptake in unconfined Callovo Oxfordian clay-rock studied with neutron and X-ray imaging."

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11440-018-0639-4



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The Callovo Oxfordian clay-rock (COx) is studied in France for the disposal of radioactive waste, because of its extremely low permeability. This host rock is governed by a hydromechanical coupling of high complexity. This paper presents an experimental study into the mechanisms of water uptake in small, unconfined, prismatic specimens of COx, motivated by the comprehension of cracking observed during concrete/COx interface sample preparation. Water uptake is monitored using both X-ray tomography and neutron radiography, the combination of these imaging techniques allowing material deformation and water arrival to be quantified, respectively. Given the speed of water entry and crack propagation, relatively fast imaging is required: 5-min X-ray tomographies and 10-s neutron radiographs are used. In this study, pairs of similar COx samples from the same core are tested separately with each imaging technique. Two different orientations with respect to the core are also investigated. Analysis of the resulting images yields with micro- and macro-scale insights into hydromechanical mechanisms to be obtained. This allows the cracking to be interpreted as a rapid breakdown in capillary suction (supposed large both to drying and rebound from in situ stress state) due to water arrival, which in turn causes a loss of effective stress, allowing cracks to propagate and deliver water further into the material.




radiography water imbibition

• 13/03/2018
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New "Nuclear Instruments and Methods" from NeXT!




radiography imbibition concrete

• 07/02/2018
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A horizontal slice from a tomography of the same concrete sample scanned in x-rays and neutrons.

This classic engineering material is a clear example of the high complementarity of x-ray and neutrons.

X-rays are in this case ideal to detect the pores in the concrete (because of their low density), but cannot distinguish mortar and the quartz grains used as aggregates, because of their comparable density and atomic number. Conversely, the quartz aggregates are almost invisible to neutrons, which makes their distinction from the mortar straightforward but hinders their differentiation from the pores. This is a clear example of an important engineering material where the high complementarity of these two imaging techniques is pivotal to obtaining complete information about the microstructure.



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This sample was scanned at 100 micrometers in x-rays and 200 micrometers in neutrons (to speed up the scanning time). The sample was about 7 cm in diameter.




tomography x-ray + neutrons geomaterial

• 18/02/2017
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An historical artifact from the battle of Berezina

This complex artifact has a high metal content, making its scan in x-ray cumbersome.

This complex object, found on the battleground of the Napoleonic battle of Berezina, is composed of several parts (including a belt, a button, a horse staff). Neutron imaging lends itself as an ideal tool to investigate this (and many other) historical artifact in order to determine their exact content non-destructively.






tomography rendering historical artefact

• 15/02/2017
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A 3D rendering of a neutron tomography of an electronic component: a hard disk

The high content of metals makes neutron imaging once again an ideal non-destructive investigation tool.

This video shows 3D renderings of the tomography at different angles, highlighting the different components of the hard disk (e.g. the reading head, the rotating disk with the rotation gear and the connection to the external USB).




tomography electronics rendering

• 11/02/2017
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A radiogram of a motherboard.

This simple image highlights the distribution of the chips on the motherboard of a laptop.

Electronics are a classic example of the need for complementary x-ray and neutron imaging. The very diverse cross-sections that typical elements used in electronic equipment have in x-rays and neutrons (e.g. Lithium, Gold, Copper, plastics) greatly simplifies their identification once these techniques are jointly used.






radiography electronics x-ray + neutrons

• 10/02/2017
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A radiogram of a displacement meter.

This simple image shows the inner workings of this common scientific equipment.

The high metal content makes neutron imaging the ideal tool to image even complex mechanical equipment, for example for quality control.






radiography electronics metals

• 07/02/2017
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An horizontal slice of the tomography of a sponge

This simple tomography is a proxy for one of the materials most interesting to us: porous materials.

NeXT was co-developed by 3SR, a leading center in the study of geomaterials and porous media. This simple image aims to be a reminder of the complexity and beauty of porous media, imaged here with neutrons.






tomography porous media

• 05/02/2017
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2017 Works

What will we do this year? Better resolution, x-rays and more flux!

The image above highlights some of the key upgrades for 2017: a new neutron detector aimed at achieving higher resolutions, and the addition of an x-ray source and detector to perform simultaneous x-ray and neutron imaging. Furthermore, the radiological protection surrounding the tomograph will be upgraded in order to allow for larger pinholes (at least twice as large!) and therefore much higher flux (in the right conditions).



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Phase II of NeXT includes a new neutron detector, aimed at maximizing the efficiency of detection for high resolution imaging (10 micrometers), which is being developed in collaboration with HZB-Berlin. The addition of an x-ray setup will allow for achieving the NeXT dream: taking advantage of the high complementarity of neutrons and x-rays to acquire bimodal images of complex materials. Finally, the increase in the radioprotection surrounding the tomograph will allow to increase the pinholes which will go up to 30 (and maybe 40) mm, increasing considerably the flux for all the applications requiring resolution higher than about 20-50 micrometers, and therefore decreasing their scanning times.




new instrument

• 01/02/2017
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Second Meeting of the Steering and Scientific Committees

The second meeting of the Steering and Scientific Committees will take place on the 16th of January 2017 at ILL.

The aim of this meeting is to discuss about the setup built in 2016, the upgrade works of 2017, our preliminary results, and, most importantly, evaluate the many (about 20!) proposals we received in this first year to assign them beam time.



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Despite the short time for which we have been developing NeXT, we are very happy with our preliminary results and glad to discover already more beam time requests than time available (by almost a factor two!). The Steering and Scientific have assigned the requested beam time to about 10 proposals, and the meetings are adjourned to the end of 2017 for the analysis of new proposals.




instrument Committees

• 10/01/2017
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Bio matter and hydrogen detection: a leaf

A simple example of another great application of neutrons: biomaterials.

This simple radiography of a leaf is a proxy for another important application of neutrons: bio-materials. Neutrons are in fact far less aggressive on biomaterials than x-rays (which, because of radiation damage often alter or even kill live cells). Additionally, the water and more in general the hydrogen contained in biological cells is highly visible in neutron imaging, allowing to visualize clearly the structure of thin layers, such as this leaf, even when dry (as in the chosen example).






radiography hydrogen bio-matter

• 07/12/2016
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Tomography!

Here it is, a 3D rendering of one of our first tomographies of an electric relay.

: This simple rendering shows an electric relay (about 3 cm in size), which was imaged at about 50 micrometer resolution. This complex object contains several metallic parts, which would be difficult to scan with x-rays (since they would create artifacts).






tomography electronics metals

• 05/12/2016
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Testing of additive manufacturing: a heat exchanger

The image above shows a first example of an industrial application of neutron imaging: a radiogram of a plastic 3D printed heat exchanger, partially filled with water, and scanned at 70 micrometers.



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Additive manufacturing is an area of great industrial interest, thanks to the great flexibility it offers, for example in the development of prototypes and custom parts. One of its shortcomings is the not-yet perfectly controlled generation of imperfections in the printed objects. Neutron imaging lends itself as an ideal tool for non-destructively probing 3D printed objects seeking for such defects and imperfections. In the case of plastics the high hydrogen content allows for great contrast and therefore the detection of even minute details. In the case of metals the high penetration power of neutrons allows instead to image objects impossible to study with x-rays.




radiography 3D Printing

• 03/12/2016
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New cycle, better detector!

A new improved detector pushes further the spatial resolution at NeXT.

Our new detector allows for much higher resolution than the previous setup (~30 micrometers)!



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As highlighted by the radiogram of the Siemens Star above (see previous posts for more details about this tool) the new detector allows for higher resolutions thanks to the possibility to image a broader range of fields of view, a new set of lenses and scintillators and better focalization mechanics.




new siemens instrument

• 01/12/2016
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Study of Fuel Cells

Studying the efficiency of a Fuel Cell by means of real-time neutron radiography.

In fuel cells oxygen and hydrogen are injected to generate electricity, having water vapor as the only byproduct. Part of this vapor condenses into liquid water, depending of the testing conditions (temperature, flux). Neutron imaging allows its quantification and therefore the optimization of the efficiency of the process. Courtesy A.Morin CEA-Grenoble






radiography water Fuel Cells

• 20/10/2016
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Dripping of water into heavy water

One of the key features of neutrons: isotope sensitivity.

Water (H20) and heavy water (D20) only differ from the neutron present in the atom of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, yet they have clearly different contrasts in neutron images (about a factor 7).



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This conceptual experiment aims to highlight to one of the several advantages of neutrons: its capability to distinguish different isotopes. This example is particularly interesting for example in the study of the permeability of porous materials. Water and heavy water have in fact very similar mechanical and chemical properties and yet can be easily distinguished in neutron imaging, which allows the study of the evolving hydraulic properties by means of alternate flushes of water and heavy water.




water heavy water isotopes

• 19/10/2016
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Water imbibition of paper

One of the key applications in neutron imaging: detecting even small amounts of water.

Even the minute amounts of water absorbed in a thin strip of paper (60 grams paper) are clearly resolved thanks to the high cross section of water to neutrons.



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The relatively high acquisition speed of this initial setup (two seconds) allows for capturing this process in real time. This conceptual experiment aims to highlight to one of the several advantages of neutrons: the simple detection of hydrogen rich materials (as is the case for several other light elements such as Lithium).




radiography water imbibition

• 17/10/2016
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Our first Radiogram!

Here it is, the first image captured at NeXT.

Our first image is a radiogram of a so-called "Siemens Star" used to focalize the neutron detector and establish the resolution of the imaging setup.



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A Siemens Star is a radially symmetrical object where strips of Gadolinium (Gd, highly neutron absorbent) of known thickness are deposited on a low absorption material (SiO2 in this case). The width of the strips decreases as we move towards the center at a well-calibrated rate, which allows the determination of the effective resolution of the imaging system (i.e. the size of the smallest gadolinium strip we can resolve). If several images at different conditions are acquired (for example for different optical focalizations) it is possible to calibrate the system to maximize the spatial resolution for a given field of view.




new siemens radiography

• 15/10/2016
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First Meeting of the Steering and Scientific Commitees

The first meeting of the Steering and Scientific Commitees will take place on the 28th of October at ILL (see map below)

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organisation committee proposals

• 26/09/2016
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A few applications...