Measurement of nanoparticle size,morphology and large volume fraction particle size
LIU Zeqi
YI Xianheng
CAI Tianyi
CAI Xiaoshu
Abstract：Objective The properties and applications of nanoparticles are closely related to their size,morphology,and the concentration of the dispersion system.The main methods for measuring nanoparticle size include various types of electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering(DLS).Nanoparticle morphology is typically measured using electron microscopy or atomic force microscopy(AFM).However,electron microscopy can only analyze a small number of samples at a time,requires complex and time-consuming sample preparation,and is unsuitable for online detection in industrial production.Compared to electron microscopy and AFM,DLS is a commonly used method for measuring nanoparticle size.It has the advantages of short measure-ment times,easy sample preparation,low cost,compact equipment,and ease of use.However,traditional DLS methodsare insufficient for real-time particle size measurement,particle morphology characterization,and in-situ online measurement of nanoparticles at high concentrations,highlighting the need to improve the DLS method.
Methods This paper introduced three newly developed methods for nanoparticle measurement:image-based dynamic light scat-tering(IDLS),polarized image-based dynamic light scattering(PIDLS),and 180° fiber-optic backward dynamic light scatter-ing(FBDLS).These methods can quickly measure nanoparticle size,morphology,and their distributions,and can directly measure high-concentration nanoparticles.The paper also presented three instruments based on these methods,which could be used to measure a variety of nanoparticles,including spherical,non-spherical,and industrial nanoparticles.
Results and Discussion Results indicate that the IDLS method can quickly and accurately measure nanoparticle size,while the FBDLS method can measure the size of nanoparticles at concentrations as high as 20％.For non-spherical nanoparticles,the PIDLS method can obtain the optical sphericity,which characterizes the degree to which the particle shape deviates from a sphere,as well as the optical sphericity distribution,which characterizes the uniformity of the morphology of non-spherical nanoparticles.The farther the particle shape deviates from a sphere,the lower the optical sphericity value.A narrower optical sphericity distribution indicates more uniform morphology among non-spherical nanoparticles.
Conclusion Based on these three new nanoparticle measurement methods,the instruments developed in this study can quickly measure nanoparticle size,morphology,and their distributions,and directly measure high-concentration nanoparticles.These methods can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring in pharmaceutical production,process analysis of chemical samples,and performance evaluation of abrasive particles,among other applications.
Keywords：nanoparticleparticle size distributionmorphology distributionmultiple scatteringdynamic light scattering
Publication Date：2025-02-24
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：12( 118-129 )