Serial small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering with laboratory sources

Levenstein, Mark A.; Robertson, Karen; Turner, Thomas D.; Hunter, Liam; O'Brien, Cate; O'Shaughnessy, Cedrick; Kulak, Alexander N.; Le Magueres, Pierre; Wojciechowski, Jakub; Mykhaylyk, Oleksandr O.; Kapur, Nikil; Meldrum, Fiona C.

Abstract

Recent advances in X-ray instrumentation and sample injection systems have enabled serial crystallography of protein nanocrystals and the rapid structural analysis of dynamic processes. However, this progress has been restricted to large-scale X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) and synchrotron facilities, which are often oversubscribed and have long waiting times. Here, we explore the potential of state-of-the-art laboratory X-ray systems to perform comparable analyses when coupled to micro- and millifluidic sample environments. Our results demonstrate that commercial small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) instruments and X-ray diffractometers are ready to access samples and timescales (⪆5 ms) relevant to many processes in materials science including the preparation of pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles and functional crystalline materials. Tests of different X-ray instruments highlighted the importance of the optical configuration and revealed that serial WAXS/XRD analysis of the investigated samples was only possible with the higher flux of a microfocus setup. We expect that these results will also stimulate similar developments for structural biology.

Citation

Levenstein, M. A., Robertson, K., Turner, T. D., Hunter, L., O'Brien, C., O'Shaughnessy, C., Kulak, A. N., Le Magueres, P., Wojciechowski, J., Mykhaylyk, O. O., Kapur, N., & Meldrum, F. C. (2022). Serial small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering with laboratory sources. IUCrJ, 9(5), 538-543. https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252522007631

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 7, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 13, 2022
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 26, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 26, 2022
• Journal: IUCrJ
• Electronic ISSN: 2052-2525
• Publisher: International Union of Crystallography
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 538-543
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252522007631
• Keywords: Condensed Matter Physics; General Materials Science; Biochemistry; General Chemistry
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/10082859
• Publisher URL: https://journals.iucr.org/m/issues/2022/05/00/lq5047/index.html
• Additional Information: Publication: IUCrJ; Content type: research letters; Article metrics: Available; Peer reviewed: Yes; Review process: Single blind; Received: 14 April 2022; Accepted: 26 July 2022; Published online: 13 August 2022; Supplementary materials: This article has supporting information; Copyright: © 2022 Mark A. Levenstein et al.; Licence: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY)