Particle & Surface Sciences' technique for analysing nano-particles
Nanosight Technology for visualising nano-particles
Particle & Surface Sciences has launched the new NanoSight Technology, which provides a new range of products to enhance and widen the range of particle characterisation systems already offered by Particle and Surface Sciences.
NanoSight Technology helps to visualise and size nano-scale particles in liquid down to 10nm with little preparation and at low cost.
Based on a fundamental understanding of existing particle sizing techniques, the NanoSight Technology has been developed into an instrument for nanoparticle sizing,available as both a research instrument and in a bench-top format.
The Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) technique is based on laser light scattering microscopy. The instruments can visualise and dynamically size populations of particles in a liquid on an individual basis in the particle size range of 10 – 1000nm (dependent on material).
The Brownian motion of each and every particle (which appear as point scatterers) is tracked separately but simultaneously using a CCD camera, from which a high resolution plot of the particle size distribution profile (and changes therein in time) is obtained.
This particle-by-particle approach avoids the averaging assumptions of Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS, also known as Dynamic Light Scattering, DLS) and provides an image, going beyond PCS in assessing polydisperse systems.
The NTA technique allows the user to have a simple and direct qualitative view of the sample under analysis (perhaps to validate data obtained from other techniques such as PCS) and from which an independent quantitative estimation of sample size, size distribution and concentration can be immediately obtained.
Sample pre-treatment is minimal, requiring only dilution with a suitable solvent to an acceptable concentration range (between 108 and 109 particles per ml depending on sample type). All particle types can be measured and in any solvent type providing that the particles scatter sufficient light to be visible (i.e. are not index matched).
The NTA technique represents an alternative or complement to higher cost and more established methods of nanoparticle analysis such as photon correlation spectroscopy or electron microscopy that are currently employed in a wide range of technical and scientific sectors.
5-Aug-2008