Mössbauer Spectroscopy Group
What is Mössbauer spectroscopy and how can it help you?
Key to the success of the technique is the discovery of recoilless gamma ray emission and absorption, now referred to as the 'Mössbauer Effect', after its discoverer Rudolph Mössbauer, who first observed the effect in 1957 and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1961 for his work. Mössbauer spectroscopy uses the Mössbauer effect to measure the minute differences between the hyperfine interactions of a probe nucleus in one solid material (eg an element present in your sample) with that in another solid (eg the same element in a reference material with known structure and properties). The extreme sensitivity of the technique allows us to probe these minute differences and by analysing the differences between the sample and the reference material, to extract the following types of information on specific probe ions
- Oxidation state/s and abundances, eg Fe0, Fe2+, Fe3+, Fe4+
- Coordination, eg tetrahedral, octahedral, etc
- Local structural environment/s
- Range of site occupancies
Typical Mössbauer probe ions are Fe and Sn so if your sample contains Fe or Sn it can be analysed using Mössbauer spectroscopy. Other Mössbauer probe ions also exist although their measurement can be difficult. Mössbauer spectroscopy is particularly powerful when used in conjunction with other, complementary techniques. Materials that we have studied at Sheffield Hallam University using Mössbauer spectroscopy include
- Glasses and glass-ceramics
The environment of Fe3+/Fe2+cations in a sodium borosilicate glass (2017)
Modelling the sulfate capacity of simulated radioactive waste borosilicate glasses (2017)
The environment of Fe2+/Fe3+ cations in a soda-lime-silica glass (2014) - Ceramics
Determination of Debye temperatures and Lamb–Mössbauer factors for LnFeO3orthoferrite perovskites (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd)
Magnetic interactions in cubic-, hexagonal- and trigonal-barium iron oxide fluoride, BaFeO2F - Sludges and wastes
Mössbauer studies of materials used to immobilise industrial wastes (2013) - Incinerator ashes
The structural properties of iron in vitrified toxic waste ashes - Meteors
- Geological materials
57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy used to develop understanding of a diamond preservation index model (2016) - Alloys and metals
The Use of Mössbauer Spectroscopy in Metallurgy
A Mössbauer investigation of phases formed in Al-Fe alloys
A Mössbauer spectroscopy study of Ti-Fe interfaces produced by the PVD process - Zeolites and filter materials
Mössbauer spectroscopy for optimising systems for environmental remediation (2014) - Catalysts
Structural changes in FeOX/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts during ethylbenzene dehydrogenation (2016) Variable Temperature Fe-57-Mossbauer Spectroscopy Study of Nanoparticle Iron Carbides (2015) - Organic materials
Image:57Fe Mössbauer spectra recorded from 6H-BaFeO2F ceramic at temperatures above ambient temperature, Oliver Clemens, José F Marco, Michael F Thomas, Susan D Forder, Hongbin Zhang, Simon Cartenet, Anais Monze, Paul A Bingham, Peter R Slater and Frank J Berry, Magnetic interactions in cubic-, hexagonal and trigonal-barium iron oxide fluoride, BaFeO2F, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 28 (2016) 346001. Names of SHU Mössbauer group members are in bold.
Available Techniques
Room-temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy
High-temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy 293K to 600K
Low-temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy 9K to 300 K
About Us
Mössbauer Spectroscopy has been used in research and teaching at Sheffield Hallam University for more than 30 years. During this time our Mössbauer projects have made valuable links with the aluminium, steel and nuclear industries and several Universities. The high energy resolution of the Mössbauer technique provides information about the nuclear energy levels in a diversity of studies that have included alloys, meteorites, catalysts, glasses and ceramics for waste immobilisation.
Please contact us to discuss your requirements. We can issue no-obligation quotations once we have discussed your needs and we also offer preferential rates for longer term analysis contracts.
For more information, please contact Dr Paul Bingham at 0114 225 6449 or p.a.bingham@shu.ac.uk