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Light scattering and nanoparticles

26 May 2009
Ulf Nobbmann and Ana Morfesis

Metal oxide nanoparticles are finding increasing application in the preparation of new nanocrystalline materials, with metal oxide composites being used to confer new electronic, magnetic and optical properties into material structures. Often these materials are formulated and processed as slurries or aqueous suspensions. One key parameter in controlling the properties of such colloidal nanoparticle systems is their particle size. Light scattering techniques are widely used for its determination.

Comparing results from different methods must be approached with caution: particle size distributions reported in terms of volume, number or scattering intensity usually produce vastly differing results, despite the data having been derived from exactly the same physical material. Alongside particle size, another fundamental colloidal characteristic is zeta potential, which can also be measured rapidly using light scattering techniques. This effectively quantifies the parameter controlling electrostatic stabilization, and can be used in formulation development to avoid the instability that can result from particle-particle attraction.

 

This article is featured in:
Characterization  •  Nanotechnology