Light scattering methods small angle

To determine the shape of ribosomal proteins in solution, ultracentrifugation, digital densimetry, viscosity, gel filtration, quasi-elastic light scattering, and small-angle X-ray or neutron scattering have all been used. With each technique it is possible to obtain a physical characteristic of the protein. Combining these techniques should allow the size and shape of the protein to be characterized quite well. However, the values determined in various laboratories for the same ribosomal proteins differ considerably. To help understand some of the reasons we will initially discuss each method briefly as it relates to proteins and then review the size and shape of the ribosomal proteins that have been so characterized. 

Information about the elasticity can be obtained using a variety of scattering methods. Small-angle scattering is mainly used for systems with small interlamellar spacing [75,77-82], whereas light scattering can be applied for the study of swollen systems [76,83,84]. Neutron spin-echo spectroscopy has also been used to directly measure the bilayer dynamics in lamellar liquid crystalline phases [85-87]. 

Like surfactants, block copolymers form micelles above a critical concentration. The critical micelle concentration can be located by a variety of techniques [112], the most commonly used being surface tensiometry where the cmc is located as the point at which the surface tension becomes essentially independent of concentration. The primary methods to determine micelle size and shape are light scattering and small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering. The thermodynamic radius (from the thermodynamic volume, which is one eighth... 

Small-angle neutron scattering Transmission electron microscopy Scanning probe technologies Membrane and vapor pressure osmometry Light-scattering methods Nuclear magnetic resonance... 

Glatter, O. (2002) The inverse scattering problem in small-angle scattering, in Neutrons, X-Rays and Light Scattering Methods Applied to Soft Condensed Matter (eds P. Lindner and T. Zemb), Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 101. 

---