Abstract
High-throughput manufacturing of nanomaterial-based products demands robust online characterization and quality control tools capable of continuously probing the in-suspension state. But existing analytical techniques are challenging to deploy in production settings because they are primarily geared toward small-batch ex-situ operation in research laboratory environments. Here we introduce an approach that overcomes these limitations by exploiting surface complexation interactions that emerge when a micron-scale chemical discontinuity is established between suspended nanoparticles and a molecular tracer. The resulting fluorescence signature is easily detectable and embeds surprisingly rich information about composition, quantity, size, and morphology of nanoparticles in suspension independent of their agglomeration state. We show how this method can be straightforwardly applied to enable continuous sizing of commercial ZnO nanoparticles, and to instantaneously quantify the anatase and rutile composition of multicomponent TiO2 nanoparticle mixtures pertinent to photocatalysis and solar energy conversion.
Highlights
High-throughput manufacturing of nanomaterial-based products demands robust online characterization and quality control tools capable of continuously probing the in-suspension state
We introduce an approach that overcomes these limitations by exploiting surface complexation interactions that emerge when a micron-scale chemical discontinuity is established between suspended nanoparticles and a molecular tracer
Characterization methods have generally failed to keep up with the rapid pace of material discovery. Measurement approaches such as dynamic light scattering (DLS) and electron microscopy (SEM, TEM)—workhorses in the field for decades—are challenging to employ outside of research-oriented laboratory settings and do not lend themselves to continuous analysis because of their sample requirements, operating conditions, and measurement duration
Summary
High-throughput manufacturing of nanomaterial-based products demands robust online characterization and quality control tools capable of continuously probing the in-suspension state. Nanomaterials have long functioned as key additives in a broad array of familiar products (e.g., paints, sunscreens, composites), but their significance has grown considerably in recent years as their exceptional electrical, optical, and mechanical properties become harnessed in sophisticated new ways (e.g., photovoltaics, catalysis, sensors[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]) Many of these applications involve processing of suspension-based nanomaterials and demand precise control over properties such as chemistry, size, morphology and/or crystalline structure (e.g. anatase vs rutile)[2,3,8,9,10]. Sizing results are often sensitive to the presence of agglomerates and aggregates of primary particles This lack of continuous characterization tools scalable toward online deployment, methods capable of directly probing the in-suspension state to simultaneously obtain size and species information (e.g., to support continuous nanomaterial synthesis11–18), has made it challenging to establish standardized manufacturing-scale quality control benchmarks and imposes a significant bottleneck between scientific discovery and commercialization[19]. The extent of fluorescence enhancement/quenching and lateral shift of the interface between co-flowing nanoparticle and tracer streams are observables that, when supplied as inputs to a physico-chemical model we describe here, make it possible to instantly obtain physical parameters associated with the suspended nanomaterials from a single convenient in-situ snapshot measurement (Fig. 1b)
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