The next LCN joint seminar will take place on 23rd February at 1400-1530 on Zoom.
The joint seminars aim to showcase research being carried out across the three LCN institutions. Each seminar will focus on a specific challenge, topic, or technique, and will comprise of 3 short talks (one from each institution.)
Dr Susan Cox – King’s College London -From images to information: enhancing resolution using computer vision
Fluorescence microscopy is a standard tool to investigate cell biology and biophysics. Image analysis allows us to take these images and convert to information. Here I will discuss how computer vision can be used to enhance the accuracy of single molecule localization microscopy, which is prone to artifacts. For cell structures which can be imaged many times, information from multiple views can be synthesised using a deep learning approach, allowing further improvements in accuracy.
Prof Geoff Thornton – UCL - Polaron Influence on Single Gold Atom Binding to Metal Oxide Surfaces
Metal oxides form a large body of active catalysts and catalyst supports, with CeO2 and TiO2 being important examples. Corresponding characterisation of model single crystal surfaces have played a pivotal role in understanding the basic physics and chemistry that underpin their remarkable properties. Attention has recently turned towards single atom catalysis as a means of enhancing catalytic activity and reducing the use of expensive supported metals. This talk will examine the potential of polaron manipulation by materials design to position metal atoms. I will compare the adsorption of single gold atoms on CeO2(111) and TiO2(110). The former substrate can be O terminated by atoms bound to three Ce atoms in the layer below. It can also be terminated by Ce=O. In both cases gold atoms are bound to O atoms and not to O vacancies as predicted by DFT. This differs from the behaviour on TiO2(110), where Au atoms are bound to vacancies. These findings are explained by the polaronic nature of the Au-CeO2 system, which modifies the diffusion characteristics of the Au atoms from those encountered on TiO2.
Professor Alexandra Porter & Professor Finn Giuliani – Imperial - Fracture toughness of bone across micro to nanoscales of hierarchy
Bone's hierarchical arrangement of collagen and mineral generates a confluence of toughening mechanisms acting at every length scale from the molecular to the macroscopic level. Molecular defects, disease, and age alter bone structure at different levels and diminish its fracture resistance. However, the inability to isolate and quantify the influence of specific features hampers our understanding and the development of new therapies. Here, we report on use of in situ micromechanical testing, transmission electron microscopy and phase-field modelling to quantify intrinsic deformation and toughening at the microscale and unveil the critical role of fibril orientation on crack deflection at the nanoscale. This approach provides a new tool to uncouple and quantify, from the bottom up, the roles played by the structural features and constituents of bone.
The seminar will be recorded, previous seminars are available to watch on YouTube
