3D Printed Micrometer-Scale Polymer Mounts for Single Crystal Analysis

3D
printed micrometer-scale polymer mounts for single crystal analysis
have been prepared by photopolymerization using digital light projection
stereolithography (DLP-SLA), with a commercially available digital
light projection stereolithography printer (US$4000) and 3DM-ABS resin
(US$150 per liter). The polymer mounts were prepared in batches of
49 in 1 h 15 min, which allowed for rapid prototyping and testing
of new crystal mounting designs, with a resin cost of 0.2¢ US
per mount. The suitability of the 3D printed mounts for single crystal
crystallography has been demonstrated through their use in Cu Kα
X-ray diffraction experiments of Rochelle salt (sodium potassium tartrate),
the protein lysozyme, and has been employed for routine crystallographic
analysis of organic and inorganic materials.

本研究制备了用于单晶分析的3D打印微米级聚合物支架，采用数字光投影立体光刻（DLP-SLA）光聚合法完成制备。所用设备为市售数字光投影立体光刻打印机（售价4000美元），树脂采用3DM-ABS树脂（售价150美元/升）。该聚合物支架可在1小时15分钟内批量制备49件，能够快速实现新型单晶支架设计的原型制作与性能测试，单件支架的树脂成本仅为0.2美分。该3D打印支架适用于单晶X射线晶体学分析的性能，已通过酒石酸钾钠（罗谢尔盐）与溶菌酶蛋白质的Cu Kα X射线衍射实验得到验证，并已常规应用于有机及无机材料的晶体学分析工作中。