Many molecules essential to modern life need to be synthesized in the laboratory and designed for specific functions. The precise connectivity of atoms and their orientation in three dimensions dictates these functions. Crystallography is the only method that unambiguously determines the absolute structure of molecules and is key to successful synthetic chemistry.
Inorganic chemistry
The broad scope of research in inorganic chemistry produces a huge variety of new reaction products. Crystallography is a fast and convenient method to confirm the atomic composition and connectivity of these compounds. Inorganic chemistry departments around the world take advantage of the versatility of crystallography to drive research across the entire field.
Materials sciences
Modern society increasingly demands new materials to drive development in a sustainable manner. New energy storage materials, reducing air pollution, water conservation, new electronics devices – all of these fields rely on a detailed structural understanding of the underlying chemistry.
Geological sciences
With just a few exceptions, minerals are natural occurring crystals and the geological world is mostly a crystalline world. Crystallography is widely used to quickly and accurately characterize the mineral components of geological samples. Knowing the chemical structure of minerals helps geochemists to understand their role in large-scale geological processes and sheds new light on the sustainable use of natural resources.
Industrial chemistry
Whether you work in specialty chemicals, energy, plastics, agrochemicals or any other segment, the industry is getting more complex, increasing the drive for the development of more advanced chemicals. Absolute structures determined by crystallography are essential for polymorph analysis, catalysis research, and increasingly in the development of sustainable polymers.
Pharmaceutical sciences
Whether you are researching new active pharmaceutical ingredients or developing solid state formulations, crystallography provides answers critical to your success. Absolute configuration is essential to the development and certification of new active pharmaceutical ingredients. Crystallography further provides a complete description of unit cell packing required for optimizing the solid form drug being a high-resolution complement to routine powder X-Ray diffraction.
Energy storage and battery research
Metal-ion batteries are key enablers in today’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy with ingeniously designed materials being the technology driver. Crystallography plays a crucial role in understanding how to wisely manipulate atoms to build attractive structural frameworks of better electrodes and electrolytes for the next generation of batteries.