Sarah Day

I am a Beamline Scientist on Beamline I11. My main role is to support the operations of the LDE Facility, provide user support, with a focus on aiding users with data analysis, and conduct in-house research.

Current Research Interests

The main focus of my PhD was to study the formation and evolution of cosmic dust grains using high-resolution powder diffraction. In-situ studies of cosmic dust analogues were performed on Beamline I11 under non-ambient temperature and pressure conditions, relevant to those found in a range of astrophysical environments, in order to understand the effect that thermal annealing and solid-gas interactions have on their structure. 

In addition to this, since starting at Diamond, I have been involved in the study of novel Li-ion battery materials, performing in-situ time-resolved experiments, as well as Long Duration studies of these materials.

Publication based on this work include:

• Murrary, C.A., Potter, J.P., Day, S.J., Baker, A.R., Thompson, S.P., Kelly J., Morris, C.G., Yang, S. and Tang C.C. 2017. New Synchrotron powder diffraction facility for long duration experiements. J. Appl. Cryst. 50, 172-183
• Safi, E., Thompson, S.P., Evans, A., Day, S.J., Murray, C.A., Parker, J.E., Baker, A.R. et. al. 2017. Properties of CO2 clathrate hydrates formed in the presence of MgSO4 solutions with implications for icy moons. Astronomy & Astrophysics 600, A88
• Thompson, S.P., Demyk, K., Day, S.J., Evans, A., Leroux, H., Depecker, C., Parker, J.E., Connor, L., Wilhelm, H. and Cibin, G. 2016. J. Non-Cryst. Solids 447, 255-261
• Song, B., Day, S.J., Sui, T., Lu, L., Tang, C.C. and Korsunsky, A. 2016. Mitigated phase transition during first cycle of a Li-rich layered cathode studied by in operando synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 4745
• Day, S.J., Thompson, S.P., Evans, A. Parker, J.E. 2015. In situ apparatus for the study of clathrate hydrates relevant to solar system bodies using synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Astronomy and Astrophysics 574, A91
• Day, S.J. 2014 Studies of Cosmic Dust Analogues Using Synchrotron X-Ray Powder Diffraction. Thesis. Keele University
• Day, S.J., Thompson, S.P., Evans, A. and Parker, J.E. 2013. Non-aqueous formation of the calcium carbonate polymorph vaterite: astrophysical implications. Astronomy and Astrophysics 553, A68
• Thompson, S. P., Parker, J. E., Day, S. J., Connor, L. D. and Evans, A. 2013. Photoluminescence in amorphous MgSiO3 silicate. MNRAS 434, 2582-2592
• Day, S.J., Thompson, S.P., Parker, J.E., Evans, A. and Connor, L. 2013. Thermal Processing and Crystallization of Amorphous Mg-Ca Silicates. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 48, 1459-1471
• Thompson, S.P., Day, S.J., Parker, J.E., Evans, A. and Tang, C.C. 2012. Fine-grained amorphous calcium silicate CaSiO3 from vacuum dried sol–gel - Production, characterisation and thermal behaviour. J. Non-Cryst. Solids 358, 885-892