The XAFS Platform at NFPS BL17B at SSRF Extending Structural Characterization from Long-Range Order to Short-Range Order

Abstract:
The synchrotron radiation beamline BL17B of National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai (NFPS), situated at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), was originally designed for diffraction experiments, accommodating techniques such as single crystal diffraction, powder diffraction, and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), enabling the characterization of long-range ordered atomic structure. Its academic community engages in research domains encompassing biology, environment, energy and materials, where there also exists a pronounced demand for characterizing short-range ordered structures. To cater to these requirements, BL17B has established an advanced X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) experiment platform, enabling it to address a wide range of systems, from crystalline to amorphous, and from long-range order to short-range order. The XAFS platform allows simultaneous XAFS data acquisition for both transmission and fluorescence modes within an energy range of 5-23 keV, encompassing the K-edges of titanium to ruthenium and the L3-edges of cesium to bismuth. The platform exemplifies high levels of automation, which is achieved through automated sample assessment and data collection based on large-capacity sample wheels that facilitate remote sample loading. Integrated with highly-integrated control system that simplifies experimental preparation and data collection, it significantly not only bolsters experimental efficiency but also enhance user experience. Notably, the platform boasts an impressively low extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) detection limit of 0.04 wt% for dilute Copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) samples and an even more remarkable X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) detection threshold of 0.01 wt%. These figures stand as a hallmark of the platform’s unwavering commitment to high-fidelity XAFS data acquisition, setting a new benchmark for structural characterization.