A microfluidic flow-focusing device for low sample consumption serial synchrotron crystallography experiments in liquid flow

This article presents a fast and optimized manufacturing route to metal – polyimide microfluidic flow-focusing devices which allow for the collection of X-ray diffraction data in flow. The flow-focusing conditions allow for sample consumption to be significantly decreased, while also opening up the possibility of more complex experiments such as rapid mixing for time-resolved serial crystallography. This high-repetition-rate experiment allows for full datasets to be obtained quickly ( ∼ 1   h) from crystal slurries in liquid flow. The X-ray compatible microfluidic chips are easily manufacturable, reliable and durable and require sample-flow rates on the order of only 30   µ l   h − 1.
Source: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation - Category: Physics Authors: Tags: serial synchrotron crystallography microfluidics flow focusing research papers Source Type: research