Cutting-edge Results on Energies and Catalysts at SPring-8

What is an industrial researcher expecting from the use of synchrotron radiation at SPring-8? It seems that there are two answers. One expectation is that he is able to explain convincingly to his customers a distinctive advantage of the developed product in a visible manner, and the other is that he investigates essential quality of materials by returning to the starting point when he is at a loss what to do in the process of his R&D; thus he can gain the opportunity of making a technical breakthrough in his R&D. This is because SPring-8 provides the most powerful synchrotron radiation currently available. As a result, a researcher can understand the chemical-bonding states of the material structure at the atomic and electronic levels by utilizing new analytical tools such as XAFS (X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) and XRD (X-ray Diffraction), etc.