November 6, 2019, the soft X-ray energy materials, in situ/in operando beamline (MCD-B branch) conducted its first test and successfully obtained the gas phase absorption spectrum of Argon. The results show that the beamline performance meets all engineering design requirements, a big step towards the final completion of the beamline. This is the beamline implemented by HLS at the fastest pace since the 2015 upgrade to HLS II.

The MCD-B branch is a collaborative effort between Soochow Univ. - Western Univ. Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research (SWC) and National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) of the University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei Light Source). It is funded by Soochow University. This soft X-ray beamline implemented at HLS II is specifically designed to investigate energy materials and devices. Its capabilities include X-ray absorption, photon in photon out and in situ/in operando studies of energy devices (gas/ liquid working environment). It will be used to study nanostructured energy materials for energy transfer and storage, catalysis and their industrial applications. These studies will reveal materials composition, electronic structures, surface and interfaces behavior and their performance in given functionalities as well as mechanism for catalysis.

The schematic and layout as well as the first Ar absorption spectrum are shown below.