J-PARC/MLF started its operation in 2008. Although its power stayed at 20kW at the beginning, it was gradually increased, and now 300kW. The main objectives of J-PARC/MLF are science and industrial applications. Through Shared Use Program of Facilities operated by JAEA and Trial Use System sponsored by MEXT using JRR-3, begun in 2006, the industrial applications have been remarkably increasing. In 2008, the allocated proposals for JRR-3 occupied about 15%, in which the proprietary uses exceeded more than 50%. This means the industries recognized the effectiveness and applicability of neutron scattering. On the other hand, the allocated proposals for J-PARC/MLF occupy 33.3% in the period from 2008 to 2013. This value is incredibly high for the world’s most advanced experimental facilities. Every industry from material fabricators to automobile assembly makers is using J-PARC/MLF and JRR-3. Lithium ion battery is major challenge and occupies about 50% in the industrial proposals. This paper describes the present status of industrial application of neutron scattering.

Ionic conducting behaviors in secondary battery materials, i.e. cathode and solid electrolyte, were studied with quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) measurements. Although the incoherent scattering length for Li and Na is lower by two orders of magnitude than that for H, the QENS spectra were clearly detected using the combination of an intense neutron source and a low background spectrometer. The fundamental parameters, such as, the activation energy, the jump distance, and the diffusion coefficient were obtained by analyzing QENS spectra. These parameters are consistent with the previous results estimated by muon-spin relaxation (μSR) measurements and first principles calculations.

The structure of cured phenolic resins prepared by compression molding of a deuterated phenolic resin oligomer and nondeuterated hexamethylenetetramine as a curing agent was investigated using complementary small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering techniques. The results indicate that (i) cross-links are randomly distributed over the range 3–1600 nm and (ii) the spatial inhomogeneity of the cross-links in that range is very small and negligible in comparison with the inhomogeneity associated with the internal fractal interfaces in terms of the fluctuations of the neutron and X-ray scattering length densities.

Surfactant used in skin cleanser sometimes induces swelling of skin stratum corneum (SC), which is accompanied by the structural changes of soft keratin in the corneocytes. The aim of this research is to study the conformation change of human SC, particularly the soft keratin conformation, induced by the treatment of surfactant solutions using scattering analysis. In this article, we describe the neutron scattering of the human SC treated with surfactant solutions at the TAIKAN in J-PARK MLF. A contrast matching technique was employed which enabled us to remove the scattering from surfactant micelles in the solution and observe the detailed scattering profiles of soft keratin fine structures.

Neutron crystallographic studies of two representative umami materials were executed utilizing iBIX at MLF/J-PARC. The results of them will be summarized in this report. At first, structure analysis of the alpha form crystal of L-glutamic acid was performed in order to assess the usefulness of neutron crystallography at iBIX to our company’s R&D. Neutron crystal structure of it was successfully determined at 0.6 Å resolution. All hydrogen atoms were clearly observed. Next, the mixed crystal of disodium Inosine-5’-phosphate (IMP・2Na) and disodium Guanosine-5’-phosphate (GMP・2Na) was analyzed by neutron crystallography. Neutron crystal structure of the mixed crystal of IMP and GMP (IMP/GMP rate = 1.7) was successfully determined at 0.8 Å resolution. In the neutron crystal structure of the mixed crystal, the hydrogen atom bonded to the C2 atom of purine base in IMP and the nitrogen atom bonded to the C2 atom of purine base in GMP were clearly observed in the nuclear density map, structurally demonstrating that this crystal is the mixed crystal.

As an example for industrial applications of neutron techniques, we report the result of our catalytically-active-site analysis with powder neutron diffraction for tantalum-oxide-based oxygen reduction electrocatalysts, which are expected to be used for future fuel-cell powered vehicles. Owing to the higher sensitivity of neutrons to oxygen, we were able to specify the possible active sites of the catalysts, which consist of oxygen-vacancy structural defects.

With great corrosion resistance and mechanical property, ferrite-austenitic duplex stainless steel has been applied to components in corrosive environments such as sea water pumps. Due to different coefficient of thermal expansion and elastic modulus between the two phases, phase stress occurs after heat treatment or material processing such as casting, forging and machining, which may affect material properties such as fatigue strength, welding stability and so on. In this study, phase stress distribution along thickness direction of duplex stainless steel hollow cylinders fabricated by centrifugal casting was measured by pulsed neutron diffraction using time-of-flight (TOF) method. Also lattice strain and phase stress evolution were discussed by in-situ neutron diffraction measurement during tensile test. All these measurements were conducted at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC).

Recently, the neutron beam techniques have been applied for steel researches and industrial applications. In particular, the neutron diffraction is a powerful non-destructive method that can analyze phase transformation and residual stress inside the steel. The small-angle neutron scattering is also an effective method for the quantitative evaluation of microstructures inside the steel. In this study, in-situ neutron diffraction measurements during tensile test and heat treatment were conducted in order to investigate the deformation and transformation behaviors of TRIP steels. The small-angle neutron scattering measurements of TRIP steels were also conducted. Then, the neutron diffraction analysis was conducted on the high strength steel weld joint in order to investigate the effect of the residual stress distribution on the weld cracking.

Microstructure evolution during thermo-mechanically controlled processing for steels has been studied using in situ neutron diffraction. Time-sliced data on phase transformation kinetic, texture change, internal stresses, and dislocation density can be obtained for the development of advanced steels.

Protein structure analysis using neutron diffraction (neutron protein crystallography; NPC) is gaining greater importance in the understanding of structure and function relationships of biological macromolecules such as proteins and DNA. Current developments of neutron diffractometers installed at the JAEA research reactor and pulsed neutron source permit observation of the locations of hydrogen atoms and hydrating water molecules and help understanding of important mechanisms of chemical reactions catalyzed by biological macromolecules. Here, we introduce practical approaches of NPC including sample preparation, crystal growth, structure determination and utilization of information obtained from NPC.