BEDFORD RESEARCH GROUP
Welcome to the website for the Bedford Research Group. Here you will find information on all the groupโs research activities, publications and various musings. The group is always looking for talented, enthusiastic, and passionate students eager to develop scientific principles for the generation of new materials with interesting/improved properties. Our group is highly collaborative as well, so feel free to contact us if you would be interested in working together!
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Welcome to the website for the Bedford Research Group. Here you will find information on all the groupโs research activities, publications and various musings. The group is always looking for talented, enthusiastic, and passionate students eager to develop scientific principles for the generation of new materials with interesting/improved properties.ย Our group is highly collaborative as well, so feel free to contact us if you would be interested in working together!
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Interested in joining our team?
WHAT WE DO
Our group is interested in two things: 1) Uncovering the fundamental structural science behind what gives materials the properties that they exhibit and 2) using this information to make new materials with emergent properties.ย We strive to accomplish both of these interests through creative thinking coupled with the rigorous study of fundamental science. Many of our students work in very collaborative projects across campus, Australia, and beyond and work in areas including catalysis, advanced ceramic materials, biosensors, and rare earth materials.
Our team
Learn more about our crew and information to join the team.
Research
We make really interesting materials.ย Then we shoot X-rays at them to figure out how they work and how to make better materials.ย
Publications
Dissemination of new research is vital to the progress of technology.
Big time congrats to Jhair Pena Prada for successfully completing his PhD ๐๐จโ๐๐๐๐งช๐ฅผ๐ฅณ๐๐๐พ๐ป๐๐๐ฅณ๐๐จ๐ด๐จ๐ด๐จ๐ด. Dr Jhairโs thesis on understanding toxic chemical degradation pathways in MOFs, and importantly, how MOF structure dictates chemical properties, is a great contribution to the field ๐๐. Special thanks to @ale.fraca and his team for the collaborations with Jhair throughout his journey ๐ค๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ท. #phd #phdcomplete #graduation #synchrotron #synchrotronlife #mofs #zirconium #organophosphate #missionaccomplished #chapterclosed #ontodisneyworld #dataordie
Two big conferences last โ๏ธ. Up first, J-DAMMIT ๐ข๐ฅin Harrisburg PA, where there was a ton of cool tech and nice discussions on the future of additive manufacturing ๐จ๏ธ. Definitely going back next year ๐. Followed that up with the Critical Minerals Symposium at the Colorado School Mines โ๏ธ๐ช๐๐ฎ. Awesome group of people and awesome discussion as always, as Iโm sure it will be next year ๐ธ. #jdammit2025 #additivemanufacturing #harrisburg #annedoesshots #criticalminerals #golden #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
Awesome time at the CMI meeting this week ๐ชจโ๏ธ, hosted at INL ๐ฅ๐งโ๐ฌ๐ฉโ๐ฌ๐จโ๐ฌ. Lots of great discussions on how to solve global issues in critical materials, including resource management and supply chain issue. Tons of awesome work will be coming out of this for sure.๐ #criticalmaterials #mining #separations #rareearth #cobalt #inmybackyard #cantstopwont #dataordie
Just wrapped on a great trip to the DC/Baltimore area ๐ซ๐๏ธ๐ฆ๐ช๐๏ธ๐ฌ. First up was the ACS ๐บ๐ธ๐งช๐งโ๐งโ๐งโ๐ง National Meeting, where I gave an invited talk on our electrocatalysis โก๏ธefforts in biomass valorizarion โ๏ธ. Then up to Baltimore to kick off ๐ฆตfuture efforts with DEVCOM. And to see some furry friends ๐พ. Good stuff๐. #dc #acs #invitedtalk #biomass #electrochemistry #collabos #higary #hiblue #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
New paper out in Advanced Functional Materials ๐๐พ๐พ๐๐งฑ๐. Led by our colleagues from Griffith University ๐ฆ, a novel Pb/Cr catalyst has been shown to have excellent selectivity to turn CO2 to formate โ๏ธ, an important electrochemical reaction ๐ฌโก๏ธto covert waste gas streams into fuels and chemicals๐งชโฝ๏ธ. Vacancies in the chrome oxide were determined to be the origin of this reactivity, which were discovered using XAS ๐ฉป . Great work by all. Read: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202515772 #electrochemistry #co2 #formate #chromium #lead #synchrotron #synchrotronscience #surprisepaper #dataordie
New paper out in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society ๐๐๐ช๐๐บ๐ธ๐ชด๐งโ๐งโ๐งโ๐งโผ๏ธโโผ๏ธ. In a collaborative effort with our friends at AFRL โ๏ธ๐ฌ, we demonstrated and studied new perceramic macromolecules made via click chemistry ๐ซฐ that incorporated new metallocene monomers consisting of Ti, Hf, and Zr. These materials can be used in additive manufacturing to make custom ceramic performs without the need of complicated powder sintering processes ๐จ๏ธ๐. We used a suite of synchrotron capabilities at Soleil ๐ซ๐ทESRF ๐ช๐บand APS ๐บ๐ธto understand how structure and chemistry changes as a function of pyrolysis temperature, which helps us understand properties. Read the paper here: 10.1111/jace.70178 #ceramics #preceramic #clickchemistry #titanium #halfnium #zirconium #carbide #synchrotron #synchrotronscience #dataordie
New paper out in Advanced Materials ๐๐๐คท๐ฎ๐งฑ. In an effort led out of UNSW with significant contributions from Sandia and Brookhaven national labs, it is shown that the position of Pt atoms and clusters in a ruthenium alloy drastically influence the ability to generate H2 from water ๐ฆ. Very interesting stuff ๐ง. Read the paper here: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202509610 #nano #hydrogen #electrocatalysis #platinum #ruthenium #singleatom #synchrotron #synchrotronscience #dataordie
Last week we hosted the inaugural Biomass Valorization through Electro-conversion Reactions workshop at Telluride Science and Innovation Center ๐ฟ๐โก๏ธ๐ฅคโฝ๏ธ๐งช๐๏ธ๐ . It was great to meet so many key researchers in the field, discussions were excellent, and the location could not be beat. Big thanks to ARO for sponsoring and the folks at Telluride Science for their support. See you in 2027 โท๏ธ! #telluride #telluridescience #biomass #electrochemistry #cantbeattheview #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
New paper out in ACS Catalyst ๐บ๐ธ๐งช๐๏ธโก๏ธ๐๐๐ช๐๐โโ๏ธ๐๐. In a collaborative effort ๐คwith the University of Montpellier ๐ซ๐ท๐ท๐ง๐ฅ, anรณdic ethylene glycol oxidation reactions โ๏ธ were studied and coupled to CO2 reduction ๐ญ to form sustainable carbon building blocks ๐งฑ from waste materials ๐๏ธโป๏ธ๐ using significantly less energy. Oxidation reactions implemented a NiFe catalyst while CO2 reduction used Ag ๐ฅnanoparticles, but extensively studied using XAS and other characterization techniques. Great work all! Read the paper here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscatal.5c02291. #sustainability #wastetochemicals #co2rr #co2 #ethyleneglycol #nickel #iron #silver #nano #electrocatalysis #synchrotron #synchrotrondata #dataordie
Busy week! ๐๐๐ฅธ. Up first, a quick stop to the ATL for NAM29 to present research on biomass electroconversion processes ๐งชโก๏ธโก๏ธ๐ฒ๐๐ฆ . Up second, experiments at ALSโฆ. Except not๐๐. Unfortunately there was an equipment issue and we could not do experiments. These things happen, what can you do ?๐คทโโ๏ธ. Weโll take another shot next cycle ๐#nam29 #atl #biomass #catalyst #synchrotron #synchrotronlife #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
A little bit of a late postโฆ @yuweii77vv and colleagues recently performed in-situ XAS awards at Spring-8 ๐ฉป๐ฅโก๏ธ๐ฏ๐ต๐พ๐ฃ๐ฑ. Work was done one some recently developed catalysts for electrocatalytic chemical processes โก๏ธโฝ๏ธ๐ช๐ซง๐ง. Great work all, keep an eye out for the upcoming work ๐. #synchrotron #synchrotronlife #synchrotronscience #catalyst #catalysis #insitu #xas #theycantstopwontstop #dataordie
Just wrapped with experiments at BESSY-II ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ป๐งโ๐ฌ๐ฉโ๐ฌ๐จโ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐. Using the Energy Materials In-Situ Laboratory (EMIL) and the OAESE beamline, we examined metal oxides catalyst under operando conditions during biomass conversion reactions ๐คฏ๐โโ๏ธ๐ฑ๐ธ. Awesome datasets collected for sure, and very supportive staff. Weโll be back ๐คfor sure. thanks to @yuweii77vv for the assist and being excellent at opening doors ๐ #synchrotron #synchrotronlife #synchrotronscience #bessy #softxrays #copper #cobalt #biomass #carbonnanotubes #cantstopwontstop๐ช #dataordie
bedfordresearchgroup@gmail.com