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.

• 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 (IUCr)
• 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)