Correction to Microscopically Determined Particle Size According to Diffraction Correction Theory: II. Application to Aqueous Polystyrene Latex Particles of Varying Size

The theory of diffraction correction for transparent (phase) spherical particles under partially coherent illumination has been applied to the optical photomicrographic determination of particle size distribution for four different nearly monodisperse polystyrene latex samples. The thus corrected particle size distribution for each sample has been compared with the corresponding electron microscopic determination.     

A combinatorial approach to the study of particle size effects on supported electrocatalysts: oxygen reduction on gold

A novel high-throughput technique has been developed for the investigation of the influence of supported metal particle size and the support on electrocatalytic activity. Arrays with a gradation of catalyst particle sizes are fabricated in a physical vapor deposition system that also allows selection of the support material. Simultaneous electrochemical measurements at all electrodes in the array, together with determination of the actual particle size distribution on each of the electrodes by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), then allows rapid determination of the activity as a function of catalyst center size. The procedure is illustrated using data for the reduction of oxygen on gold nanoparticles supported on both substoichiometric titanium dioxide (TiO(x)()) and carbon and the conclusions are verified using voltammetry at rotating disk electrodes. Gold centers with diameters in the range 1.4-6.3 nm were investigated and it is demonstrated that, with both supports, the catalytic activity for oxygen reduction decays rapidly for particle sizes below 3.0 nm. This may be observed as a decrease in current at constant potential or an increase in the overpotential for oxygen reduction.     

Application of atomic force microscopy to particle sizing

AFM has been applied for studying morphology and size distribution of nanometer-sized particles adsorbed on flat surfaces. For the quantitative evaluation of the images an algorithm for automatical particle detection and volume calculation has been developed. In this way a large number of particles can be automatically evaluated in order to derive size distributions or surface coverages. The method has been successfully applied to determine size distributions of environmental aerosol particles collected with an 11-stage low pressure impactor. The first four stages with average aerodynamic equivalent diameters (aed) ranging from 21 to 170 nm were investigated. The calculated aed values were in good agreement with the predicted aed for each stage. Additionally, it could be shown that sampling conditions and storage time affect the derived size distributions. Furthermore, AFM has been applied as reference method for conventional particle sizing techniques. For this purpose technologically relevant powders as titanium oxide powder and tungsten carbide powder were investigated using AFM and the results were compared with conventional techniques such as high resolution SEM and a light scattering method. The derived cumulative size distributions were in good agreement. The results clearly show that AFM constitutes a convenient tool for size determination, not only for ultrafine particles exploiting the high resolving power, but also in the case of larger particles. Received: 2 September 1998 / Revised: 19 October 1998 / Accepted: 22 October 1998     

PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF POLYMER POWDERS BY ANALYSIS OF SORPTION KINETICS

A method has been proposed for determination of particle size distributions of polymer powders via analysis of the Fickian sorption and desorption kinetics of organic vapors. The basis for this method is a model describing the kinetics of sorption in homogeneous spherical particles having diameters distributed a-mong a finite set of diameters. A computation procedure has been developed for determining the weight fractions of each particle diameter which optimize the fit between the model and experimental sorption data. This procedure has been applied to gravimetric sorption data for several organic vapors in PVC powders ranging in diameter from 0.2 to 80 μm. For samples whose particle structure meets the assumptions of the model, the procedure yields histographic distributions closely approximating the particle size distributions determined by conventional microscopic and sedimentation methods. For porous or agglomerated particles, the method yields an “equivalent spherical size distribution” which adequately describes the sorption kinetics, but may differ significantly from size distributions measured by other methods.     

Nanoporosity of Polymer Membrane Materials and Sorbents According to Positron Annihilation and Low-Temperature Gas Sorption Data

Based on the experimental data obtained by the authors in a number of previous studies, the limits of applicability of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and low-temperature gas sorption (LTGS) to determination of nanoporosity (size distribution of nanopores in the range from a few fractions of a nanometer to 50 nm) in polymeric membrane materials and sorbents are discussed. It turns out that none of these methods is universal. The possibility of using each of them is determined by different factors, with the cases considered being finely divided polymer materials and the membranes per se cast from powders. It has been shown that the particle size factor is important for the applicability of LTGS. The possibility of using PALS depends on the concentration of nanopores of a given size.     

Morphological analysis of polymer systems with broad particle size distribution

This contribution is focused on precise determination of particle size distribution in polymer blends with complex morphology by means of our new program called MDISTR. Standard determination of the particle size distribution is usually achieved by measurement of particle sizes in (a single set of) electron micrographs. We show why this method fails for two frequent cases: (i) blends with very broad particle size distribution and (ii) blends that are composed of domains with different particle sizes. On real-life examples, we demonstrate that program MDISTR yields accurate particle size distributions in both the above-mentioned cases, while the standard image analysis gives average particle sizes differing by >100 % from the correct result. We describe MDISTR calculations which are based on a linear combination of standard particle size distributions from two (or more) sets of micrographs with different magnifications, different locations within the sample and precisely defined statistical weights.     

镜煤与丝炭粉碎特性的比较研究

镜煤与丝炭是煤中两种主要的、煤显微组分组成较为单一的宏观煤岩组分，它们的结构性质有极大的差别，在煤的加工利用中，它们的反应性以及其它物理化学行为也是完全不同的。因此，煤岩组分的工业化分离一直是煤科学家及煤化工专家追求的目标［１，２］，煤显微组分的分离...     

Dynamics of development of particle size distribution during styrene suspension polymerization

A variation of number particle size distribution during the suspension polymerization of styrene stabilized by poly(vinyl alcohol) has been studied. It has been disclosed that the dispersion of polymer-monomer particles plays a substantial role at the initial stage of the reaction up to a monomer conversion of ～60%. This phenomenon explains the occurrence of three peaks in the current and final distribution curves. This result provides an explanation for the previously observed polymodal particle size distribution. The typical S-shaped variation in the maximum particle diameter with time suggests a nonequilibrium dynamic character of the development of particle size distribution.     

Preparation and characterization of particles with small differences in polydispersity

Colloidal particles are widely used both in fundamental research and in materials science. One important parameter influencing the physical properties of colloidal materials is the particle size distribution (polydispersity) of the colloidal particles. Recent work on colloidal crystallization has demonstrated that even subtle changes in polydispersity can have significant effects. In this study we present centrifugation techniques for subtly manipulating the width and the shape of the particle size distribution, for polydispersities less than 10%. We use scanning electron microscopy as well as dynamic and static light scattering to characterize the particle size distributions. We compare the results and highlight the difficulties associated with the determination of accurate particle size distributions.     

A Critical Assessment of Particle Temperature Distributions During Plasma Spraying: Numerical Studies for YSZ

A three-dimensional computational model is used to simulate the in-flight particle melting behavior during plasma spraying process. The stochastic model is used for the particle size distribution. The particles surface temperature distributions at various spray distances have been presented. The results show that the surface temperature distribution varies with the spray distance. Single peak to double peaks and back to single peak has been observed in the simulations and also in the experiment. The effects of particle size and its distribution and plasma composition on the pattern shift have been investigated. Understanding the pattern shift may enable the design of a good control indicator to determine the particle melting status.     

The effect of particle size distribution on TG

The effect of a particle size distribution on the fractional reaction has been analysed. The analysis shows that for non-isothermal TG the activation energy and frequency factor evaluated from the fractional reaction by conventional method depend on the particle size distribution, and this may lead to a kinetic compensating effect. Particle size distribution may also lead to an erroneous conclusion about the change in the mechanism of reaction.     

Pyrolysis kinetics and chemical composition of Hazro coal according to the particle size

Summary The relationship between particle size and chemical composition of Hazro coal (origin: SE Anatolia, Turkey) has been examined by elemental analysis and by thermogravimetric pyrolysis. The chemical composition of the coal was determined by grinding sample particles physically and separating according to their size in mm by sieving. Particle size distribution of the coal and chemical composition of these fractions were given. The coal has been non-isothermally pyrolyzed in a thermogravimetric analyzer to determine the kinetic factors. Thermal gravimetric (TG/DTG) experiments were performed from ambient temperature to 800°C under a nitrogen atmosphere at heating rate 10 K min^-1 with five different particle size ranges. Kinetic parameters of the samples were determined using a Coats and Redfern kinetic model, assuming a first-order reaction. Depending on the particle size of the coal samples, the mean activation energy values varied between 49.1 and 84.6 kJ mol^-1. The results discussed indicate that activation energies increase as the particle size decreases.     

Correction of STM tip convolution effects in particle size and distance determination of metal-C:H films

Metal containing amorphous hydrocarbon films consist of nanometer size metallic particles in a hydrogen-carbon matrix. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of Au and Pt containing amorphous C:H-films was performed in order to determine particle size- and distance distributions. To correct tip convolution effects, which lead to apparent particle enlargement and particle hiding (1) a method is presented which allows off-line STM tip radius determination by statistical analysis of apparent particle radii and thereby a correct particle radii determination. (2) A simple Monte Carlo model is proposed to compute fractions of hidden particles and their influence on particle distance distributions. Results of these evaluations are compared with results from small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).     

Synthesis of Microporous Silica Spheres

Spherical microporous silica powders with a narrow size distribution have been prepared by a precipitation technique involving the hydrolysis reaction of a silicon alkoxide in ethanol. The formation of the important microporosity has been investigated following two templating methods: the co-hydrolysis and condensation of two alkoxides, one of which presents porogen function, and the adsorption of an organic compound (glycerol) as the porogen. In both processes, the organic porogen is removed by a simple calcination. In the first method, the addition of more than 20 mol% of the porogen alkoxide, necessary for generating enough microporosity, disturbs completely the condensation process resulting in microporous, nonuniform silica particles of large size distribution. The best result has been obtained with the glycerol method where submicrometer-sized silica spheres with a very narrow size distribution and about 40 vol% porosity have been synthesized. The presence of glycerol during the synthesis considerably affects the precipitation mechanism, resulting in a larger mean particle size. The use of an aggregative growth model has successfully been employed to explain the effect of the porogen during particle formation. The precipitation mechanism of silica involves the aggregation between particles of similar size until a critical size is reached, resulting in a uniform particle size distribution. In the presence of glycerol, it has been shown that a second aggregative growth between still-nucleating primary particles and large particles occurred with increasing reaction time. This second aggregative growth appears at an intermediate stage of the precipitation process and is due to both the precipitation of smaller primary particles and the destabilization of the colloidal stability of the system. This explains why the final particle size reached in this system is larger compared to silica particles synthesized without glycerol and shows how glycerol is incorporated in the silica particles. The synthesis of silica microporous spheres of narrow size distribution, by varying particle size and porosity, should yield a wide range of aqueous silica slurries for particular chemical mechanical polishing applications. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Influence of particle diameter distribution on protein recovery in the expanded bed adsorption process

The General Rate model has been developed and solved to describe protein adsorption in an expanded bed. The model takes into account axial and local variation of particle size distribution (PSD), external and intra-particle mass transfer resistances, and dispersion in liquid phase. The influence of PSD on breakthrough profiles has been analysed. The simulation results show that for a significantly high expanded bed the lower part of the breakthrough curve profiles, calculated for local particle size distribution (LPSD) and for axial average particle size distribution (APSD) are very similar. However, the upper part of breakthrough profiles calculated for LPSD approaches inlet concentration much more slowly than those calculated for APSD. The retention times of the lower part of uptake curves calculated with average particle diameter are constantly shorter than those obtained from LPSD. For the calculation of the dynamic capacity (DC), the LPSD can be replaced by APSD for large expanded bed heights. Using breakthrough profiles calculated for average particle size, DC values are constantly underestimated.     

悬浮液进样电感藕合等离子体发射光谱中颗粒的输运和蒸发行为

以碳化硼为例,研究了悬浮液雾化进样中的粒子在传输和蒸发过程中的行为,并对分析结果出现负偏离的原因进行了详细探讨.对比悬浮液颗粒的原始粒径分布和经过传输过程后的粒径分布,获得到达等离子体的颗粒粒径上限小于10 Am.样品中存在的部分超大粒径的颗粒(d>>10 μm)会严重影响可传输区域颗粒(d<10 μm)的质量运输效率...     

Detailed characterisation of the flow resistance of commercial sub-2 micrometer reversed-phase columns

The pressure-drop characteristics of six sub-2 microm columns of three different manufacturers but with the same surface chemistry (C(18)) have been studied using the recently introduced total pore blocking method for the determination of the external porosity and by using scanning electron microscopy pictures to measure the actual size of the particles. Having used the Sauter-mean particle size to correctly account for the particle size spread, and having corrected for the influence of the intra-particle porosity, it was found that all columns yielded Kozeny-Carman constant (f(KC)) values close to 180, in agreement with the theory. This agreement could subsequently be used to quantify how the different system parameters such as mean particle size, packing density and intra-particle porosity (all tending to vary significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer) each contributes to the observed total bed permeability. Small (upward) deviations from the f(KC)=180-value could be correlated to a larger width of the particle size distribution, and more notably to the existence of a high size ratio of the largest to the smallest particles present in the particle batches.     

毛细管区带电泳法测定超细β分子筛的平均粒径及粒径分布

建立了毛细管区带电泳(CZE)测定超细β分子筛平均粒径及粒径分布的测定方法。通过研究β分子筛的等电点,确定了CZE法测定过程中β分子筛悬浮液分散稳定的方法。以激光粒度仪粒径分布测量数据为基准,结合β分子筛电泳谱图,建立了β分子筛粒径-迁移时间校正方程及含量校正方程。样品用量小、分析成本低、测试速度快是该方法的主要特点。     

单颗粒-电感耦合等离子体质谱(SP-ICP-MS)法数据处理算法的技术发展现状

单颗粒-电感耦合等离子体质谱法(Single particle-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, SP-ICP-MS)将高通量的粒子计数技术与ICP-MS时间分辨分析相结合,进行快速的单个颗粒逐一表征。此技术不仅可以获取单个颗粒的质量和粒径信息,还能获得溶解态和颗粒态的元素含量信息。经过二十余年的发展,SP-ICP-MS法正逐渐成为表征单颗粒的重要方法之一,其显著的技术优势获得了广泛关注,业内诸多学者对其仪器运行条件优化、数据采集方法、数据处理算法等关键技术方面的研究也取得了长足进展。本文综述了SP-ICP-MS表征纳米颗粒的技术路线、数据处理算法及研究进展,重点讨论了单颗粒定量分析的关键问题及其未来研究方向。但必须指出的是,当前业内在不同应用场景下所建立的颗粒事件鉴别算法、溶液信号的判定阈值算法、颗粒信号质量控制和精确的颗粒定量表征方法尚未明确统一,仍然缺乏足够普适的数据处理方式,这使得SP-ICP-MS技术在广泛的纳米颗粒应用中仍需面对准确定量的挑战。     

Measurement Bias on Nanoparticle Size Characterization by Asymmetric Flow Field-Flow Fractionation Using Dynamic Light-Scattering Detection

In this work, we highlight the influence of the particle–particle interaction on the retention behavior in asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (A4F) and the misunderstanding considering the size determination by a light-scattering detector (static and dynamic light scattering) by comparing fullerene nanoparticles to similar sized polystyrene nanoparticle standards. The phenomena described here suggest that there are biases in the hydrodynamic size and diffusion determination induced by particle–particle interactions, as characterized by their virial coefficient. The dual objectives of this paper are to (1) demonstrate the uncertainties resulting from the current practice of size determination by detectors coupled to an A4F system and (2) initiate a discussion of the effects of particle–particle interactions using fullerene nanoparticles on their characterization as well as their origins. The results presented here clearly illustrate that the simple diffusion coefficient equation that is generally used to calculate the hydrodynamic size of nanoparticles (NPs) cannot be considered for whole fractograms according to their size distribution. We tried to identify particle interactions that appear during fractionation and demonstrated using the fully developed diffusion coefficient equation. We postulate that the observed interaction-dependent retention behavior may be attributed to differences in the virial coefficient between NPs and between NPs and the accumulation wall (membrane surface) without quantifying it. We hope that our results will stimulate discussion and a reassessment of the size determination procedure by A4F-LS to more fully account for all the influential material parameters that are relevant to the fractionation of nanoscale particles by A4F.