Material Centre at CONEXS 2022 in Newcastle, 30th March to 1st April.

The Collaborative Network for X-ray Spectroscopy (CONEXS) aims to establish a UK community for X-ray spectroscopy, focusing on nurturing the synergy between experiment and theory. The event was full of insights from very well recognised experts in Spectroscopy and very well organised. In fact, this specialist conference was excellent opportunity to engage with X-ray spectroscopists, from all levels of experience and spectroscopy fields. It was held at the University of Newcastle over the course of three days. There were around 50-70 delegates present. 

The first day started at lunchtime, with an afternoon of theoretical presentations, after which the attendance walked to the poster session. This was held in the Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, with an excellent supply of “street food”. Dessert was cookies and doughnuts. 

On the second day, the talks were mainly experimental focussed, with topics ranging from in-situ cycling of batteries, to speciation in solution. This was followed by the conference dinner at Zarabanda Bing Bing and further networking at the pub. 

The final day finished at lunchtime. 

Dr. Jenny Hartley gave a presentation titled “Iodine speciation in deep eutectic solvents”, and Dr. Rodolfo Marin Rivera showcased a poster titled “Iodine as a redox catalyst for metals dissolution in deep eutectic solvent”. We had an excellent time networking and making new research connections, one of which has developed into a cross-university collaboration.