Crystal structure determination for sub-milligram sample sizes
Growing large enough single crystals becomes less of an issue thanks to a method that combines standard instruments and standard software
A new method allows researchers to solve crystal structures from polycrystalline samples with a mass of just 0.1mg. SDPD-SX combines routine equipment and well-known open-source software, and works significantly faster than traditional methods, generating data in 20–25 minutes rather than hours.