Serial small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering with laboratory sources.
Serial small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering with laboratory sources.
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评估了商用x射线散射仪器在微流体和微流体样品环境下进行快速流动结构分析的能力。这些研究表明，现在可以用实验室仪器从小分子晶体和纳米颗粒中连续收集小角度和广角x射线散射数据。x射线仪器和样品注射系统的最新进展使蛋白质纳米晶体的连续晶体学和动态过程的快速结构分析成为可能。然而，这一进展仅限于大型x射线自由电子激光器（XFEL）和同步加速器设备，这些设备往往供不应求，等待时间长。在这里，我们探索了最先进的实验室x射线系统在与微流体和微流体样品环境耦合时进行可比分析的潜力。我们的研究结果表明，商用小角和广角x射线散射（SAXS/WAXS）仪器和x射线衍射仪已经准备好访问与材料科学的许多过程相关的样品和时间尺度（约5 ms），包括药物，纳米颗粒和功能晶体材料的制备。不同x射线仪器的测试强调了光学配置的重要性，并揭示了所研究样品的连续WAXS/XRD分析只有在微聚焦设置的较高通量下才有可能。我们期望这些结果也将刺激结构生物学的类似发展。
Commercial X-ray scattering instruments were assessed for their ability to perform rapid flow-based structural analysis using micro- and millifluidic sample environments. These studies demonstrate that serial collection of small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering data from small-molecule crystals and nanoparticles is now possible with laboratory instruments. 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.