Recent Trends in Mössbauer Techniques

Rudolf Mössbauer has discovered the Mössbauer effect and was honored the Nobel Prize in 1961, based on that the Mössbauer spectroscopy was obtained [1].

The discovery of the Mössbauer spectroscopy effect is the recoilless (also called: recoil-free) nuclear resonance emission/absorption of γ-rays. In the case of a nuclear transition, the de-excited nucleus is normally recoiled by the momentum of the γ-photon emitted, which makes its resonance absorption impossible by another ground-state nucleus of the same type. However, in solids, recoilless photons can be emitted (and reabsorbed by another ground-state nucleus) with some probability. Mössbauer spectroscopy has utilized in numerous interdisciplinary research applications from core subjects (physics, chemistry, and biology). This spectroscopic technique will be continued to make significant contributions based upon the 2004-2005’s analysis of soil from the Mars surface with spectra collected in-situ [2].

Figure 1. Mössbauer Spectra of (Sn, N)TiO₂ microspheres (left side). Credit: SNB Team, The MIMOS II sensor head (right side top). Credit: the University of Mainz, A MIMOS II sensor head (Mössbauer) mounted on Mars Exploration Rover Spirit’s robotic arm, together with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), the Microscopic Imager (MI), and the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) (right side bottom). Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell.

Mössbauer spectroscopy is the preferred technique to study the bulk structure of complex iron oxides like magnetite, which provides unprecedented detailed on oxidation states, local geometry, and dopant incorporation.

Mössbauer spectroscopy and related techniques are used in the main field as follows:

Nanomaterial and thin film.
Magnetic and optical materials.
Inorganic, organic, and coordination chemistry.
Solid-state chemistry and physics.
Material science and industrial applications.
Earth and planetary science.
Synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy.

^"57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy is usually applied to powdered materials to probe the structural and chemical nature of Fe environments and the magnetic properties mainly related to Fe moment. It also contributes to investigate, on the one hand, the surface interface and the grain boundaries in the case of nanoparticles, multilayers, and nanostructured powders, respectively and on the other hand the hyperfine magnetic properties and their dynamics in correlation with super paramagnetic relaxation phenomena in the case of magnetic nanostructures”.

---Jean-Marc Greneche, Institut des Molecules et Materiaux du Mans, France.

Prof. M. Reissner from the Institute of Solid State Physics, Austria, has delivered a tutorial talk on “Investigation of Magnetic Structures with High-Field Mössbauer spectroscopy” in the International Conference on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ICAME 2019) held at Dalian, China on September 2019. He said that “The application of external magnetic fields allows broadening the knowledge that can be gained by Mössbauer spectroscopy enormously. In combination with magnetic measurements, detailed information about local magnetic and electronic structures can be obtained. In this tutorial, he has concentrated on investigation of solid material magnetism on different levels of complexity of magnetic structures. Starting with the influence of a magnetic field on the hyperfine interactions, examples of some simple magnetic structures (para-, ferro-, and antiferromagnetic) are discussed before coming to more complex ones with the canted or inhomogeneous spin arrangement”.

ICAME 2019 conference organizers (Prof. Junhu Wang, Prof. Tao Zhang and Prof. Xiaodong Wang) have mentioned that “Mössbauer effect has been very clear, since the mid-sixties of the last century, in spite of the fact that the answer to the question posed by the metallurgist, chemist, archaeologist, solid-state physicist, etc. It was also contained in the Mössbauer spectrum in a very reliable manner, the method was too much sophisticated to be routinely used by outsiders. The following information can be extracted from the Mössbauer technique, that one should quite understand some details of static and dynamic hyperfine interactions, Mössbauer optics, technical aspects of spectrometers, and many other things”.

Recently, Dr. Xuning Li (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and his research collaborators Prof. Junhu Wang and Prof. Tao Zhang from (Mössbauer Effect Data Center, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Dalian, China) developed a new method in the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer technique. They have predicted that a newly developed operando ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer technique for the in-situ characterization of single-atom catalysts (SACs) shall pave ways for the further insight into the structural and dynamics of catalytic active centers during catalysis. This may provide proof-of-concept for single-atom heterogeneous catalysis as a conceptual bridge between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Mössbauer spectroscopy is a powerful technique for determining the structure of iron-N-C SACs [3].

On the basis of 30 years experience, the Mössbauer spectrometer design is presented. However, the design need newly developing equipment like Doppler modulation system, gamma-ray counters, detection conversion electrons and X-ray, data storage systems.

Late Dr. GöstarKlingelhöfer (German Scientist) has developed a miniaturized Mössbauer spectrometer (MIMOS) for space applications. He received various awards for this study, by the DLR Eugen-Sanger-medal (2005), IBAME award (2006), Helmholtz award (2007) for Metrology. In 1990, his collaborator Dr. Renz from Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany has worked for the development of MIMOS on the Mars 94-96 mission. NASA has also made plans in the mid 1990’s for Mars [4]. Further, he mentioned that “The first extra-terrestrial Mössbauer spectra was measured in January 2004 in the Gusev crater by the MER Rover Spirit”.

Dr. Renz said that “We should think how Dr. Klingelhöfer’s legacy carries on with future in-situ applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy (MIMOS I, MIMOS II (TRL9), MIMOS IIa (TRL6-6) on the Moon, the Mars, some Asteroids, and other bodies in the solar system with different space agencies (DLR, NASA, ESA, CNSA, JAXA, etc.)” in ICAME 2019, China.

Our SNB team have emphasized this research article to enrich our viewer’s knowledge about the recent trends in Mössbauer techniques. Also, the discovery of the Mössbauer effect and its various techniques have been discussed by various scientists. Further, the Scientists Schroder and Gutlich from (University of Stirling, UK, and Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat, Germany) have highlighted that the portable “Mössbauer spectrometer MIMOS II” can be used for several terrestrial applications. A supportive example used for the investigation of archeological artifacts, mineralogical transformation with time and depth, in-situ identification of air pollution [5]. This shows that Mössbauer technique will provide better achievement for numerous interdisciplinary research applications in the near future.

References

R. L. Mösbauer, Z. Physik 151124 (1958).
G. Klingelhofer, http://akguetlich.chemie.unimainz.de/klingelhoefer/rahmen/
eframrows.htm (see also http://athena.cornell.edu/ the_mission/ins_moss.html).
X. Li, ACS Catal., 3, 2521 (2019).
G. Klingelhöfer, et al., Science 95, 305 (1995).
P. Gutlich, et al., Hyperfine Interactions, 151/152, 125 (2003).

--Dr. A. S. Ganeshraja

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