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. Our work spans many application spaces and materials, including catalysis, critical minerals and materials, advanced ceramic materials, and biosensors.
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.
Just finished up with ~2 weeks of beamtime ๐คฏโ ๏ธ๐. First up was high resolution ๐ธ RIXS measurements at the SIX 6๏ธโฃ beamline at NSLS-II, were we examined the electronic structure โ๏ธ of rare earth complexes for separation processes. Cool stuff (and tons of groundhogs)!! Then off to PETRA-III ๐ฉ๐ช to do quick XAS measurements on similar materials, along with some insitu electrocatalysis โก๏ธ. Tons of nice data, plus some World Cup watching as well. Thanks to @yuweii77vv and her team at KAIST for crushing the PETRA-III experiments. #synchrotronlife #rixs #xas #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
Busy week of experiments โ๏ธ at BESSY-II ๐๐๐ฉ๐ช concluded recently ๐. The old crew got together to do so liquid cell soft XAS โ๏ธ๐ฉปโ๏ธ, on rare earth separation projects and some electrocatalysis work โก๏ธ. After that, I made a brief stop and BNL ๐๐ฆ for a great workshop on the new AMP beamline of NSLS-II. Also, went to Istanbul to see cats ๐ beforehand. #synchrotronlife #synchrotronscience #catsofistanbul #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
New paper out in Chemistry of Materials ๐งช๐งฑ๐๐๐!! In a co-led effort ๐ค with our colleagues at AFRL ๐ฉ๏ธโ๏ธ, we investigate the influence of residual copper ๐ฝcatalysts, used to polymer click reactions ๐ซฐโ๏ธ, on the influence of SiC conversion from the pyrolysis ๐ฅof preceramic polymers. While a contaminate, copper increases the yield of SiC through the formation of silicide intermediates๐งโ๐ฌ. The process was using a range of synchrotron techniques, using facilities in the US ๐บ๐ธ, Taiwan ๐น๐ผ, Australia ๐ฆ, and France ๐ฅ. Read the paper here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemmater.5c02801 #ceramics #copper #preceramicpolymers #synchrotronscience #dataordie
New paper out in Materials Today Chemistry ๐งฑโ๏ธโ๏ธ๐งช๐ฑ!! This work showcases the importance of phosphonate chemistry in solid phase sorbents for actinide/lanthanide separations โข๏ธ๐ . Read the paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468519426001734 #phosphonate #actinides #lanthanides #synchrotron #dataordie
Last week we were in Reno ๐ฐparticipating in an ARO ๐ฃ work on REE ๐งฒ extraction and separations, hosted at UNR ๐บ. It was great to connect with research staff and industry folks from the region, and UNT has an amazing mining โ๏ธ museum ๐๐ช๐ฟ๐ค. Big outcomes coming from this event for sureeee ๐. #reno #unr #ree #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
Last week we wrapped ๐ป on some NEXAFS and RIXS ๐งโโ๏ธ measures at the Advanced Light Source ๐ฆโก๏ธโญ๏ธ at LBNL ๐ฅฐโฎ๏ธโ๏ธ. We examined a range of REE ๐งฒ complexes important to improving separation processes over SX ๐ to better understand how we can improve selectivity. Cool stuff, cool turkeys ๐ฆ, and as always, and amazing view of the bay from LNBL ๐. Thanks to the staff help from LBNL, INL ๐ฅ, and Colorado School of Mines โ๏ธ. #criticalminerals #criticalmaterials #synchrotronlife #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
What a week at DMC2025!๐คฉD๐คบ๐ญ. Great talks and a great group of researchers all collected together to discuss the future of defense manufacturing. There was also a space launch!๐ ๐ญ๐จโ๐๐ฉโ๐๐งโ๐๐พ๐ฝ๐#dmc #artemisii #collabos #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
New paper out in Nature Synthesis ๐ธ ๐ด๐งชโ๏ธ๐๐ป๐ฉ๏ธ. Co-lead by our colleagues at USyd ๐ฆ, high entropy nanowires ๐งถ were used for the Cl2 evolution, which exhibits 98% FE at 10kA/ m2 โก๏ธ. We employed multiple in-situ experiments to showcase an PtO2 edge site activation mechanism, which enables high selectivity. Read the paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-026-00999-5 #nature #synthesis #highentropy #synchrotronscience #dataordie
We recently wrapped on some nice in-situ electrochemical โก๏ธ๐งช XAS beamtime at the ISS ๐ฐ๏ธ beamline, NSLS-II. Huge thanks to our colleagues at Johns Hopkins for the assist. New data to be published soon! #synchrotronlife #synchrotronscience #synchrotron #cantstopwontstop #dataordie
New paper out in Chemistry of Materials ๐งช๐งฑ๐ โฑ๏ธโ๏ธ๐๐ช. Led by the team at UQ๐ธ, a novel method for making PbI2 ๐จ๐งquantum dots was examined, using the thermal decomposition ๐ฅ MOF glasses ๐ and Pb halides. The decomposed MOF chemistry provides an excellent shell around the QDs while also resulting in a tight size distribution, important for optoelectronic applications. Read the paper here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemmater.5c02293 #quantumdots #leadiodine #synchrotron #dataordie
Nice little call out on the INL ๐ฅโข๏ธ๐ฌwebpage on our critical materials ๐งฑ work for the military ๐ช๐ซก. Lots of exciting stuff on the horizon and big projects coming up ๐๐๐ช. Read here: https://inl.gov/feature-story/idaho-national-laboratory-strengthening-national-security-with-critical-materials-research/ #watchout #criticalmaterials #criticalminerals #research #dataordie
New paper in Angewandte Chemie International Edition ๐ฉ๐ชโ๏ธ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐โโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ. In another effort led by the folks at Griffith University ๐ฆ, new dual site catalysts were engineered for the CO2 reduction reaction ๐จ๐ฅ. Using Ni-Cr atomic pairs anchored โ๏ธ into a nitrated carbon matrix, Ni atoms promote CO2 activation while Cr atoms promote H20 ๐ฆdissociation, ultimately boosting reaction efficiency ๐ง๐ง . Great work by all! Read the paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.202521247 #electrocatalysis #nickel #chromium #co2 #dataordie
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