Accurate Size and Size-Distribution Determination of Polystyrene Latex Nanoparticles in Aqueous Medium Using Dynamic Light Scattering and Asymmetrical Flow Field Flow Fractionation with Multi-Angle Light Scattering.

Haruhisa Kato,Shinichi Kinugasa,Kayori Takahashi,Ayako Nakamura

doi:10.3390/nano2010015

Abstract

Accurate determination of the intensity-average diameter of polystyrene latex (PS-latex) by dynamic light scattering (DLS) was carried out through extrapolation of both the concentration of PS-latex and the observed scattering angle. Intensity-average diameter and size distribution were reliably determined by asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AFFFF) using multi-angle light scattering (MALS) with consideration of band broadening in AFFFF separation. The intensity-average diameter determined by DLS and AFFFF-MALS agreed well within the estimated uncertainties, although the size distribution of PS-latex determined by DLS was less reliable in comparison with that determined by AFFFF-MALS.

Highlights

There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of studies related to nanomaterials [1,2,3,4,5]
We investigated a practical protocol for evaluating the size and size distribution of PS-latex nanoparticles in an aqueous suspension by using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AFFFF)-multi-angle light scattering (MALS) analyses
We established a novel and practical protocol for accurately determining particle size and size distribution, considering various sources of uncertainty according to the GUM method

Summary

Introduction

There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of studies related to nanomaterials [1,2,3,4,5]. The European Commission has declared that a “nanomaterial” is a natural, incidental or manufactured material containing particles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where, for 50% or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range 1–100 nm [11]. According to this definition, the size and the size distribution of nanomaterials in a liquid phase is an important factor for nanotoxicity assessment. The sizes obtained by BET and TEM analysis do not reflect the actual secondary particle size and size distribution of nanomaterials in a liquid phase

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