X-ray diffraction to probe the kinetics of ice-recrystallisation inhibition

We have a large program to discover and understand macromolecular cryoprotectants and new materials to control ice growth. This is typically assessed by end-point assays using averaged data from a small number of ice crystals. Here we make use of the University of Warwick's excellent X-ray scattering platform to show how we can use a 2-D detector on WAXS (wide-angle x-ray scattering) to monitor ice recrsytallisaton in a bulk sample enabling 100's of crystals to be sampled. This method enables easy access to kinetic information which is challenging to obtain from cryo-microscopy alone.