Abstract
The materials to be discussed in this presentation - pharmaceutical solids and cultural heritage materials - have in common the fact that they are complex heterogeneous materials, requiring to be studied "as is" without any possible modification of their structural state, which is often the basis of their specific properties (therapeutic activity, color, stability, etc.). The very nature of these materials calls for advances in analytical instruments and methods to understand not only their structure, but also the mechanisms underlying their properties or their evolution during transformation processes. The use of synchrotron radiation has enabled considerable progress to be made, thanks to the emergence of micro- (or even nano-) focused X-ray beams and light lines offering the possibility of combining different analysis techniques. New advances have recently been made, in particular with regard to the study of nano- or partially-crystallized compounds and the possibility of virtually isolating, within a sample and non-invasively, different phases, whatever their state of crystallinity.
