Hecus X-Ray Systems has revealed how X-ray small-angle scattering (Saxs) is proving important in the analysis of nanomaterials.
Throughout the history of drug discovery, two analytical methodologies have been classics: thermal/calorimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction.
X-ray diffraction has always been indispensible in finding the structure of any new compound discovered, and DSC has become daily routine.
With the age of nanomaterials, structural and thermal analytics are faced with new challenges - it is not just the molecular structure that determines product quality but their nanostructure, which determines important properties such as compactability, stability, bioavailability, and so on.
Therefore, the normal techniques - for example, X-ray powder diffraction - are no longer sufficient and have to be supplemented by Saxs, which allows the precise analysis of nanosize and shape.
With the advent of high-brilliance micro-X-ray sources, this has recently also found broader use in normal research laboratories, not just on large synchrotrons.
Moreover, the combination of this structure analytical technique with micro-calorimetry in one instrument has become feasible.
The documentation of nanostructural and thermal properties of complex formulations - different amorphous states, for example - is becoming broadly accessible.
This will have an impact not just in discovery and development, but also on the creation of new IP and product value, according to Hecus X-ray Systems.
