José Campos Terán:"In the COVID-19 virus pandemic situation, I believe that x-ray and neutron science will be extremely important in the understanding of the molecular structure used by the virus"

Professor José Campos Terán, from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Cuajimalpa (UAMC) in Mexico, came to LINXS and Lund University in the summer of 2019 for an extended research visit. In this interview, he talks about his research interests, the current corona outbreak and the next frontiers in x-ray and neutron science.

What are your main research interests in relation to x-rays and neutrons?

At the moment my main research interest is related to the understanding of the surface rheological behaviour of adsorbed films at the solution/air interfaces. These films can be composed of sugar compounds, surfactants, lipids, proteins, enzymes or complexes between them, which are of great interest due to the relevance they have in different application areas ranging from food, medical diagnostics and oil recovery.

In a recent particular case, with other Mexican and international collaborators, we have found that α-cyclodextrins (α-CD) / anionic surfactant mixtures form films at the water/air interface that show a remarkable viscoelasticity, the magnitude of which has not been observed in similar systems. This viscoelasticity can be tuned through changes in bulk composition, temperature and surfactant alkyl chain length and head group type. For this system, as for others, to know the film´s structure and composition is of great importance for a bottom-up strategy, i.e, design of devices with specific macroscopic properties based on the control of molecular level structures. The use of neutron reflectivity has given us insight of it where it was found that the films with the highest viscoelastic magnitude form a monolayer with a high concentration of (α-CD)2:surfactant inclusion complexes where the complexes align with the surfactant chains parallel to the interface.

What research question are you examining at the moment?

At the moment the question that I am trying to answer is related to the understanding of how the molecular structure and morphology of an adsorbed film correlates with its surface rheological behaviour. Also, what are the most important interactions involved, and how does the solutions environment affects it, and how to control these factors so that possible applications of the films can be developed.

What are your thoughts of being at LINXS?

LINXS has provided me with an excellent environment to pursue, develop and promote my research interests trough the use of x-ray and neutron science. The possibility to meet and collaborate with well-known researchers, both Swedish and international, in different subject areas (biology, chemistry, physics, medical imaging, etc.) but also experts in x-ray and neutron science and technology, is unique and invaluable. Also, the connection that LINXS provides to the MAX IV laboratory and, in the future, the European Spallation Source (ESS) is one of the highlighted points. In this sense, my collaboration with Professor Tommy Nylander, a LINXS Dynamics theme fellow, has given me the opportunity to participate with other Swedish researchers in the proposal of a new experimental instrument at ESS specifically dedicated to surface scattering. This Grazing Incidence Small Angle Neutron Scattering (GISANS) instrument will be important to obtain experimental results to increase our understanding of the relation between the molecular structure and morphology of surfaces, interfaces and films and their properties.

Do you have something similar to LINXS at home?

No, there is nothing similar to LINXS in Mexico although there is a small community of researchers involved in the use and development of x-ray and neutron science that interact through a science network. Mexico does not have any synchrotron or neutron source facilities and Mexican researchers depend on the collaborations with other international research groups to be able to perform research with x-ray and neutron. In this sense, I am glad to be able to participate and be part of LINXS, since it will not only give an input to my own research, but also, with the collaborations that I am establishing, and the promotion that I will give in the Mexican network, it could be the beginning of a clear pathway for future collaborations between Mexican and Swedish researchers.

What do you think is the research frontier relating to x-rays and neutrons?

In the COVID-19 virus pandemic situation that we are living in at this moment I believe that x-ray and neutron science will be extremely important in the understanding of the molecular structures used by the virus during its spreading process at both material objects and biological systems (animals and most important humans). For both of these cases, surfaces and interfaces are clearly important and research and instrumental development for and with x-ray and neutrons in these systems will be of great importance, not only because it will allow us to give an insight on the different molecular structures involved (not to mention that this is also important for a myriad of processes and products that we use daily in our lives), but since this could lead to the development of antiviral drugs (vaccines), biomaterials or biomedical devices.

José Campos Terán, guest researcher at LINXS. He is based at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Cuajimalpa (UAMC) in Mexico.