title: Improved radiation dose efficiency in solution SAXS using a sheath flow sample environment.
abstract: Radiation damage is a major limitation to synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering analysis of biomacromolecules. Flowing the sample during exposure helps to reduce the problem, but its effectiveness in the laminar-flow regime is limited by slow flow velocity at the walls of sample cells. To overcome this limitation, the coflow method was developed, where the sample flows through the centre of its cell surrounded by a flow of matched buffer. The method permits an order-of-magnitude increase of X-ray incident flux before sample damage, improves measurement statistics and maintains low sample concentration limits. The method also efficiently handles sample volumes of a few microlitres, can increase sample throughput, is intrinsically resistant to capillary fouling by sample and is suited to static samples and size-exclusion chromatography applications. The method unlocks further potential of third-generation synchrotron beamlines to facilitate new and challenging applications in solution scattering.
authors.affiliation: SAXS/WAXS, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kirby
authors.affiliation: B21 SAXS, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Hartwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, England.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cowieson
authors.affiliation: SAXS/WAXS, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hawley
authors.affiliation: SAXS/WAXS, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Mudie
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Duncan J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McGillivray
authors.affiliation: Kusel Design, 6 Hambleton Street, Albert Park, Victoria 3206, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kusel
authors.affiliation: SAXS/WAXS, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Samardzic-Boban
authors.affiliation: SAXS/WAXS, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D018401:Sample Size; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry; D017356:Synchrotrons / Q000295:instrumentation; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions
keywords: radiation damage; sheath flow; solution SAXS