Diffraction data of core-shell nanoparticles from an X-ray free electron laser

Abstract

X-ray free-electron lasers provide novel opportunities to conduct single particle analysis on nanoscale particles. Coherent diffractive imaging experiments were performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC National Laboratory, exposing single inorganic core-shell nanoparticles to femtosecond hard-X-ray pulses. Each facetted nanoparticle consisted of a crystalline gold core and a differently shaped palladium shell. Scattered intensities were observed up to about 7 nm resolution. Analysis of the scattering patterns revealed the size distribution of the samples, which is consistent with that obtained from direct real-space imaging by electron microscopy. Scattering patterns resulting from single particles were selected and compiled into a dataset which can be valuable for algorithm developments in single particle scattering research.

X-ray-Based Techniques to Study the Nano–Bio Interface

“…520 Such high rates of data collection have been shown to be feasible at, for example, European XFEL (EuXFEL). 521 For inorganic NPs, a large number of X-ray structural investigations are reported from diverse materials such as iron/silica, 522 soot, 523 gold/ palladium, 524 thiol/gold, 525 and others, including from heterogeneous populations. 526 These investigations inform both the development of methods applicable to the life sciences and, as outlined earlier, biofunctionalized inorganic NPs (bio−NPs) may be used as carriers to transport biologically active compounds (BAC) such as small molecules, peptides, and drugs.…”