X-ray spectroscopy is an important tool for scientific analysis. While the earliest demonstration experiments were realised in the laboratory, with the advent of synchrotron light sources most of the experiments shifted to large scale synchrotron facilities. In the recent past there is an increased interest to perform X-ray experiments also with in-house laboratory sources, to simplify access to X-ray absorption and X-ray emission spectroscopy, in particular for routine measurements. Here we summarise the recent developments and comment on the most representative example experiments in the field of in-house laboratory X-ray spectroscopy. We first give an introduction and some historic background on X-ray spectroscopy. This is followed by an overview of the detection techniques used for X-ray absorption and X-ray emission measurements. A short paragraph also puts related high energy resolution and resonant techniques into context, though they are not yet feasible in the laboratory. At the end of this section the opportunities using wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in the laboratory are discussed. Then we summarise the relevant details of the recent experimental laboratory setups split into two separate sections, one for the recent von Hamos setups, and one for the recent Johann/Johansson type setups. Following that, focussing on chemistry and catalysis, we then summarise some of the notable X-ray absorption and X-ray emission experiments and the results accomplished with in-house setups. In a third part we then discuss some applications of laboratory X-ray spectroscopy with a particular focus on chemistry and catalysis.

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A quantitative determination of 2s vacancy lifetimes in surface and bulk atoms of free Ne clusters has been made. While for free atoms the 2s inner-valence hole has a ps lifetime, it reduces to 6+/-1 fs for cluster bulk atoms. For surface atoms, the lifetime is on average longer than 30 fs. The lifetime estimate was obtained from fits of high-resolution photoelectron spectra of Ne clusters. The shortening of the lifetime is attributed to the coordination dependent interatomic Coulombic decay, which is extremely sensitive to internuclear distances.

The determination of spin and orbital magnetic moments from the free atom to the bulk phase is an intriguing challenge for nanoscience, in particular, since most magnetic recording materials are based on nanostructures. We present temperature-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements of free Co clusters (N=8-22) from which the intrinsic spin and orbital magnetic moments of noninteracting magnetic nanoparticles have been deduced. An exceptionally strong enhancement of the orbital moment is verified for free magnetic clusters which is 4-6 times larger than the bulk value. Our temperature-dependent measurements reveal that the spin orientation along the external magnetic field is nearly saturated at ~20 K and 7 T, while the orbital orientation is clearly not.