Characterization of nanometric carbon materials by time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy

In this work, time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy (TRFPA) technique has been applied to the determination of the average size of asphaltenes and combustion-generated carbon nanoparticles. The characteristic depolarization time of fluorescence light following photon absorption is related to the typical particle size through the Stoke–Einstein rotational diffusion equation. The TRFPA technique employed in our experiment achieves sub-nanosecond time resolution, roughly corresponding to sub-nanometer accuracy in determining the particle size. The technique has been applied to both asphaltene and carbon nanoparticles, the former being a component of petroleum, whereas the latter result from combustion processes. Therefore, a complete and reliable characterization of such particles is of great importance in oil industry and atmospheric physics, respectively. Although the TRFPA technique has been developed and widely used on molecular and biological samples, it proves to be a very powerful tool for measuring the size of asphaltene and soot particles as small as few nanometers with a resolution of the order of 0.1 nm.