Bio: Dr. Chen Shen is a beamline scientist at the High-resolution Diffraction beamline P08 at the PETRA III synchrotron. His research focuses on developing X-ray scattering methodology and instrumentation for studying soft matter interfaces, such as liquid surfaces, biomembranes and polymers, and using X-ray and neutron scattering to study the structure and dynamics of biomembranes.

Abstract: The High-resolution Diffraction beamline P08 at the PETRA III is dedicated to structural investigation on surface and interfaces using hard X-ray scattering. It provides a broad range of X-ray measurements for studying the structure of biomembranes and their interaction with the aqueous phase, such as adsorption of ions, toxins or drugs. A bread-and-butter instrument for such studies is the Langmuir trough Grazing Incidence Diffraction (GID) setup [1]. It is optimized for measurements on Langmuir monolayers, that are commonly used as model systems for biomembranes. The instrument provides three measurements simultaneously. The layer structure and the bending stiffness of the monolayers are measured by grazing incidence off-specular scattering – pseudo reflectivity [2], that is recently developed at this beamline. GID and total reflection X-ray fluorescence reports on, respectively, the lateral crystallographic order of the monolayers and the presence of elements at the aqueous – monolayer interfaces. Moreover, P08 also hosts a six-circle diffractometer that can be used to study deposited lipid bilayers on solid supports under aqueous buffer [3], that is a complementary system to monolayers. The beamline provides a novel rolling access, such that beamtime proposals are submitted, reviewed and scheduled at any time over a year without a deadline.

References:

1. Shen, C. et al., F. A grazing incidence diffraction setup for Langmuir trough experiments at the high-resolution diffraction beamline P08 at PETRA III. Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2380 (2022).

2. Shen, C. et al. Reconstructing the reflectivity of liquid surfaces from grazing incidence X-ray off-specular scattering data. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 57 (2024).

3. Wölk, C. et al. Membrane Condensation and Curvature Induced by SARS-CoV-2 Envelope Protein. Langmuir 40 (2024).