High pressure cell for small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering

A compact high pressure cell and its control environment designed for small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering experiments under hydrostatic pressure up to 3000 bar and temperatures between −20 °C and +80 °C are described. With this system x-ray scattering experiments can be performed at constant pressure and temperature with a conventional laboratory x-ray source and it can be easily modified to carry out time resolved pressure jump studies at synchrotron radiation sources. The computer-aided pressure adjustment has a calibrated accuracy of ±0.5%, and temperature is computer-controlled to a precision of ±0.05 °C. The instrument has been designed to investigate systems of biological interest, especially lipid-water dispersions, but it is equally possible to measure highly viscous or solid samples. The performance is illustrated by a pressure dependent small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering study of a phospholipid-water dispersion at constant temperature.