Combining X-ray scattering measurements with microfluidic devices has become easier than ever, according to French researchers.

Microdevice obtained by laser ablation in Kapton

Jean-Baptiste Salmon from the Laboratoire du Futur, France, and colleagues used a polymer, Kapton, to make microfluidic chips that enable X-ray techniques to be applied easily. These could be used to study protein crystallisation and the flow of complex fluids, Salmon said.

Kapton is more resistant to high intensity X-ray beams than the plastics currently used, and does not scatter the beams too much. It is also transparent, so that other characterisation methods, such as optical microscopy, can still be used.

Microfluidics is a technique for carrying out chemical reactions and analyses that uses reagent volumes that are many times smaller than conventional experiments. This allows for lower costs and enhanced analytical performance. On-chip characterisation is important to achieve the best results. The problem in the past was that the materials used for the chips were not able to withstand the X-ray beams.

The French group have shown that both large and small angle X-ray scattering can be measured from Kapton chips with a precision of only a few microns.  

Sophia Anderton