Aggregation Phenomena Research Articles

Simulation research on solid fluidization exploitation of deepwater superficial layer natural gas hydrate reservoirs based on double-layer continuous pipe

In this paper, a new method for exploiting shallow marine natural hydrate reservoirs is proposed using a double-layer continuous pipe. In order to research the multiphase flow behavior and hydrate decomposition characteristics during the hydrate mining process, a non-isothermal transient gas-liquid-solid multiphase flow model is established considering the coupling effect of multiphase flow, heat transfer and hydrate phase transition. The model's accuracy is verified by comparisons with laboratory and field data. Numerical simulation results show that the hydrate decomposition is slow in the first 2 h of mining, thus the volume fraction of each phase in the pipe changes little; with the increase of time, the volume fraction of each phase in the pipe changes significantly until it reaches a stable state after about 5 h of mining. When the mining rate exceeds 15 kg/s, the hydrate particles will not be fully and effectively transported, and a short time aggregation phenomenon will occur. Increasing the temperature of the injected seawater is beneficial to promote the hydrate decomposition, which in turn increases gas production. While, increasing the wellhead backpressure and seawater displacement facilitates in reducing gas production. The research findings will be of reference value for gaining insight into studying complex multiphase flow behaviors involving hydrate phase transition and provide a new approach to exploiting subsea shallow natural gas hydrate reservoirs.

Aggregation and classification of spatial dynamics of vector-borne disease in advective heterogeneous environment

In this paper, we formulate and analyze a reaction-diffusion-advection vector-borne disease model with spatial heterogeneity. We find the aggregation phenomenon of endemic equilibrium and classify possible dynamics for the model, including the asymptotic profiles and monotonicity of basic reproduction ratio R0 with respect to the diffusion and advection rates of infected hosts and vectors. More importantly, we obtain some crucial and interesting phenomena by classifying the level set of R0. Specifically, there exist unique critical surfaces to separate the dynamics, namely, the disease-free equilibrium is stable on one side of the surface and unstable on the other side. The resulting aggregation phenomenon shows that the infected individuals will aggregate in the downstream end if their advection rates are sufficiently large relative to dispersal. To the best of our knowledge, the conclusions of the paper complement the results of vector-borne disease in non-advective environments for the first time and provide new perspectives for the investigation and control of the disease.

Evaluation of Transport Potential of Alkylated and Fluoroalkylated Amphiphilic Hybrid Nanoarchitectures

The unique segregation and self-assembly properties of fluorinated amphiphiles into supramolecular architectures have attracted substantial attention in recent years. In this study, we report the design and synthesis of six newer hybrid nonionic amphiphiles with hydrophobic alkyl/fluoroalkyl chains and hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) units of different lengths and evaluate and compare their drug delivery applications. On the hydrophobic side, the amphiphiles differ in having either two alkyl chains, two fluoroalkyl chains, or one alkyl and one fluoroalkyl chain. This allowed for a systematic comparison of the physicochemical and transport abilities. The aggregation phenomenon of the amphiphiles was monitored with Cryo-TEM. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake studies were performed to evaluate the pharmacological potential. Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym-435) immobilized on solid support was used to facilitate the release of the encapsulated cargo. Our study highlights the potential and properties of the fluoroalkyl-based nanocarriers.

Study on sintering mechanism for extrusion-based additive manufacturing of stainless steel through molecular dynamics simulation

Unlike conventional metal powder based additive manufacturing (AM) technology, a Printing-Debinding-Sintering (PDS) process that adopts polymer-based filaments with highly filled metal particles can be employed as an economical approach to create metal parts at high fabrication rate and a low manufacturing cost. To achieve dense metal parts, the underlying sintering mechanism should be well understood, which has not yet been documented. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was conducted to comprehensively unveil the sintering mechanisms during PDS of stainless steel 316L using a novel Fe-Ni-Cr three-element, three-particle sintering configuration. The mechanism of Cr element aggregation at the grain boundaries was revealed by analyzing the evolution of particle structure, diffusion activation energy, and interactions among solute elements during the unique heating process of PDS. In addition, the microstructure of the PDS-built 316L samples was characterized to verify such an aggregation phenomenon. It was found that the self-diffusion coefficient of Cr element increased substantially at the 1600 K holding stage. Meanwhile, Cr element was diffused to grain boundary and formed severe grain boundary aggregation due to its lower diffusion activation energy and stronger interactions between atoms. Moreover, the extra energy released due to this aggregation phenomenon promoted a further coalescence of particles. This study provides an atomic-scale understanding of sintering behavior of PDS-built Fe-based alloys, which paves a way for the multiscale modeling of the sintering process in PDS of other alloy systems.

On continuum modeling of cell aggregation phenomena

Cellular aggregates play a significant role in the evolution of biological systems such as tumor growth, tissue spreading, wound healing, and biofilm formation. Analysis of such biological systems, in principle, includes examining the interplay of cell-cell interactions together with the cell-matrix interaction. These two interaction types mainly drive the dynamics of cellular aggregates which is intrinsically out of equilibrium. Here we propose a non-linear continuum mechanics formulation and the corresponding finite element simulation framework to model the physics of cellular aggregate formation. As an example, we focus in particular on the process of bacterial colony formation as recently studied by Kuan et al. Thereby we describe the aggregation process as an active phase separation phenomenon. We develop a Lagrangian continuum description of the problem which yields a substantial simplification to the formulations of the governing equations. Due to the presence of spatial Hessian and Laplacian operators, a gradient-enhanced approach is required to incorporate C1 continuity. In addition, a robust and efficient finite element formulation of the problem is provided. Taylor-Hood finite elements are utilized for the implementation to avoid instabilities related to the LBB condition. Finally, through a set of numerical examples, the influence of various parameters on the dynamics of the cellular aggregate formation is investigated. Our proposed methodology furnishes a general framework for the investigation of the rheology and non-equilibrium dynamics of cellular aggregates.

Site-directed dual bioprobes inducing single-step nano-sandwich assay for the detection of cardiac troponin I.

Bioreceptor functionalized metallic nano-colloids have been identified as effective nanobioprobes to realize the detection of an analyte based on a common phenomenon of salt-induced aggregation. In marked contrast to this, we describe a nano-sandwich assay integrating the novel match-pair of aptamer and peptide functionalized gold nanoparticles. The site-directed biomolecular interaction of high affinity aptamer and peptide bioreceptors directed towards distinct sites of cardiac biomarker troponin I; this was found to form a nano-sandwich assay in a peculiar manner. The gold nanoconjugates interact with specific and distant regions of troponin I to result in collision of probes upon target identification. In the presence of TnI, both nanobioprobes bind at their respective sites forming a nano-sandwich pair providing a visual color change from red to blue. Thus, the presence of target TnI itself causes instant agglomeration in just a single-step without addition of any external aggregator. The assay imparts 100% specificity and 90% sensitivity in a dynamic concentration range of 0.1-500ng/mL troponin I with detection limit as low as 0.084ng/mL. The applicability of the assay has been validated in clinical samples of acute myocardial infarction patients thus establishing a promising point-of-care detection of TnI.

Effect of pH and temperature on physicochemical properties, aggregation behaviour and degradation kinetics of quercetin and baicalein in nearly aqueous media

Recently, flavonoids like quercetin and baicalein have drawn the attention of many researchers worldwide owing to their potential therapeutic applications. But they are still not used for biomedical purposes due to their low solubility and bioavailability. Moreover, there are very few reports available on various factors that can modulate the physicochemical properties of these flavonoids in an aqueous medium. This work explores the physicochemical behaviour of quercetin and baicalein in an aqueous medium under different solution conditions (like pH and temperature). UV–vis and fluorescence studies revealed that quercetin and baicalein show quite different optical properties from each other under same aqueous conditions. Quercetin undergoes autooxidation at alkaline pH and the rate of this autooxidation was enhanced at higher temperature whereas no autooxidation of baicalein was observed at any pH or temperature. Different anionic forms of quercetin and baicalein formed at different pH were characterized with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) and multivariate curve resolution (MCR) approach. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies suggest that temperature affects the particle size of both the flavonoids significantly and this aggregation phenomenon was observed to be reversible.

Checkerboard-like nickel nanoislands/defect graphene aerogel with enhanced surface plasmon resonance for superior microwave absorption

To solve the problem of dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in ultralight electromagnetic absorption field, checkerboard-like nickel nanoislands/defect graphene aerogel (NIDG) with enhanced surface plasmon resonance was designed and prepared through electrostatic self-assembly method. This special structure successfully overcame the aggregation phenomenon of magnetic metals and built high-density gap regions to enhance surface plasmon resonance. And the NIDG has achieved excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance in C band. Specially, NIDG is superior in ultra-lightness with only 6.2 wt%, compared to some recently reported magnetic electromagnetic wave absorbers. Such great performance can be attributed to the enhanced surface plasmon resonance and improved impedance matching. This work is significant for achieving effective dielectric loss and designing lightweight low-frequency EMW absorbing materials.

The aggregation phenomenon of impurity atoms in Si and the properties of C-doped Si studied by first-principle calculations

The formation energy, band structures and mechanical properties of carbon (C)-doped single-crystal silicon (Si) with doping concentration from 1.56% to 6.25% were investigated in this paper by means of first-principle calculations. The different performances of the doped structures with C atoms scattered distributing and aggregated distributing in the Si lattice were emphatically discussed. The low impurity formation energy of X4Si60 (X = carbon (C), phosphorus (P), boron (B), nitrogen (N), hydrogen (H), aluminum (Al) or germanium (Ge)) indicates that the impurity atoms have a tendency to aggregate in Si and form a local tetrahedral SiX4 structure. The analyses of partial density of state illustrate that the strong combination of the central Si atom with the four adjacent C atoms results in good stability of the local tetrahedral SiC4 structure. The increasing concentration of the scattered doping C atoms leads to the decrease of band gaps from 1.174 eV to 0.624 eV and the change of doped structures from indirect band gap semiconductors into direct band gap semiconductors. However, the C4Si60 with C atoms aggregated distributing is still indirect band gap semiconductor with a larger band gap of 1.027 eV. The doping of C atoms enhances the charge transfer among atoms, which increases the strength of covalent bonds and results in the improvement of bulk moduli of doped structures. But the doping concentration and the arrangement positions of C atoms have few influences on the mechanical properties of doped structures.

Influence of Ionic Liquids on the Aggregation and Pre-aggregation Phenomena of Asphaltenes in Model Solvent Mixtures by Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Quantum Mechanical Calculations

This work presents a systematic study of asphaltene pre-aggregation phenomena in the absence and in the presence of ionic liquids (ILs) from the family of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium by molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of the alkyl chain length of the cation (studying ILs with alkyl chains between C4 and C10) and of the dimension of the anion (testing chloride and bromide) on the aggregation behavior of asphaltenes have been studied. To correlate the results obtained with the direct interaction between each additive and asphaltene, the latter was investigated both by the analysis of the radial distribution functions obtained by molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanical calculations. The DFT method was used to calculate the relative stability of the asphaltene-ionic liquid dimers and also the energy, shape, and spatial distribution of frontier orbitals. It was found that all the ionic liquids studied present a dispersing effect on asphaltene in model solvents, except for mixtures rich in toluene where, in most cases, the opposite effect is observed. This is accompanied by the interaction intensity as measured by radial distribution functions. The effects of the alkyl side chain length of the cation and of the anion radius are subtler, but it seems that the asphaltene dispersion effect increases with the length of the cation’s alkyl side chain and decreases with the radius of the anion; these effects are more clearly observed in the mixtures richer in n-heptane. These trends were corroborated by DFT calculations, which showed that the energetic stability of the asphaltene-additive dimer is as higher as the alkyl chain is longer and the anion is smaller. Pre-aggregation phenomena were also studied in mixtures containing CO2, which proved to be a precipitating agent as observed experimentally. The relative performances of the IL studied were not altered by the presence of CO2.

Role of HSP70 chaperone in protein aggregate phenomenon of GNE mutant cells: Therapeutic lead for GNE Myopathy.

Limited treatment options and research in understanding the pathomechanisms of rare diseases has raised concerns about their therapeutic development. One such poorly understood ultra-rare neuromuscular disorder is GNE Myopathy (GNEM) which is caused due to mutation in key sialic acid biosynthetic enzyme, GNE. Treatment with sialic acid or its derivatives/precursors slows the disease progression, but curative strategies need to be explored further. Pathologically, muscle biopsy samples of GNEM patients reveal rimmed vacuole formation due to aggregation of β-amyloid, Tau, presenilin proteins with unknown mechanism. The present study aims to understand the mechanism of protein aggregate formation in GNE mutant cells to decipher role of chaperones in disease phenotype. The pathologically relevant GNE mutations expressed as recombinant proteins in HEK cells was used as a model system for GNEM to estimate extent of protein aggregation. We identified HSP70, a chaperone, as binding partner of GNE. Downregulation of HSP70 with altered BAG3, JNK, BAX expression levels was observed in GNE mutant cells. The cell apoptosis was observed in GNE mutation specific manner. An activator of HSP70 chaperone, BGP-15, rescued the phenotypic defects due to GNE mutation, thereby, reducing protein aggregation significantly. The results were further validated in rat skeletal muscle cell lines carrying single Gne allele. Our study suggests that HSP70 activators can be a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of ultra-rare GNE Myopathy disease.

Phase separation and conductivity studies on the interaction of promethazine hydrochloride drug with cationic and nonionic surfactants: influences of electrolytes and temperature

• Phase separation of TX-100 + promethazine hydrochloride (PMH) was studied in presence of salts. • Assembly of TTAB + PMH drug has been investigated at different temperatures. • CP of TX-100 + PMH mixture in salts media, follow the order: K 3 PO 4 < K 2 SO 4 < KCl. • Thermodynamic parameters (phase separation/aggregation processes) are computed. • Phase separation/aggregation of system was found nonspontaneous/spontaneous. Here, the phase separation of the mixture of triton X-100 (TX-100) and promethazine hydrochloride (PMH), as well as the assembly of the mixture of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and PMH drug, have been investigated. The cloud points (CP) of TX-100 in the manifestation of PMH/PMH + salts (KCl, K 2 SO 4 , and K 3 PO 4 ) were determined, while the CP values were found to vary with the contents of PMH and salts. The CP of TX-100 + PMH mixture, at a particular PMH concentration in salts media, follow the order: K 3 PO 4 < K 2 SO 4 < KCl. The micellar parameters were determined from the conductivity versus [TTAB] plots. The conductivities and micellar parameters of the TTAB + PMH mixture in salts media were found to vary through the fluctuation of temperature. The thermodynamic variables (free energy (Δ G 0 ), enthalpy (Δ H 0 ), and entropy (Δ S 0 ) changes) for the phase separation and aggregation phenomena of the mixture of surfactant + drug mixture have been computed in the current studies. The phase separation of TX-100 + PMH mixtures was nonspontaneous (+Δ G 0 c values) and assembly of the TTAB + PMH mixture was spontaneous (–Δ G 0 m values). The other thermodynamic variables, in addition to enthalpy–entropy compensation parameters, have also been evaluated and illustrated with proper explanation.

Pore-Scale Mechanisms of Solid Phase Emergence During DNAPL Remediation by Chemical Oxidation.

In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) has proven successful in the remediation of aquifers contaminated with dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). However, the treatment efficiency can often be hampered by the formation of solids or gas, reducing the contact between remediation agents and residual DNAPLs. To further improve the efficiency of ISCO, fundamental knowledge is needed about the complex multiphase flow and reactive transport processes as new solid and fluid phases emerge at the microscale. Here, via microfluidic experiments, we study the pore-scale dynamics of trichloroethylene degradation by permanganate. We visualize how the remediation evolves under the influence of solid phase emergence and explore the roles of injection rate, oxidant concentration, and stabilization supplement. Combining image processing, pressure analysis, and stoichiometry calculations, we provide comprehensive descriptions of the oxidant concentration-dependent growth patterns of the solid phase and their impact on the remediation efficiency. We further corroborate the stabilization mechanism provided by phosphate supplement, which is effective in inhibiting solid phase generation and thus highly beneficial for the oxidation remediation. This work elucidates the pore-scale mechanisms during remediation of chlorinated solvents with a particular context in the solid phase production and the associated effects, which is of general significance to understanding various processes in natural and engineered systems involving solid phase emergence or aggregation phenomena, such as groundwater and soil remediation.

Experimental study on the hybrid carbon based phase change materials for thermal management performance of lithium‐ion battery module

The widespread use of lithium-ion battery (LIB) urgently needs a thermal management system with excellent performance to manage it. Phase change material (PCM) has been adapted for thermal management of LIB because it can absorb a mass of energy without additional power. In this research, the thermal conductivity of PCM is improved, and its cooling effect is detected. The addition of hybrid thermal conductivity filler is beneficial to its uniform dispersion and improvement of aggregation phenomenon on the surface of materials. The results show that the PCM with hybrid filler has better thermal conductivity, which is increased by 264%. In different proportions of composite materials, the composite phase change material with 1% few-layer graphene and 2% graphite nanoplatelet can play a better cooling effect in LIB module thermal management, and it respectively decreases the maximal temperature of the battery module by 7.17°C, 10.52°C, and 16.33°C at 1C, 2C, and 3C conditions, and the maximal temperature difference does not exceed the safety range of 5°C.

Influence of inlet distortion on the wear of aero-compressor blades

The turboshaft engine is the main power source of a helicopter. Under airborne conditions, inlet distortion inevitably occurs at the entrance of the compressor because of factors such as airflow and environmental turbulence. The change in the internal flow field alters the erosive wear law of compressor blades caused by sand particles. The influence of total pressure inlet distortion on the erosive wear of compressor blades is studied innovatively in this paper. A new parameterization method of the erosive wear model is proposed through particles velocity test and erosive wear experiment. The rotor blades of pre-1.5 stage compressor are used as the research object. A wear analysis model of the full-port compressor blades is established, which can take into account the inlet distortion. The influence mechanism of typical inlet distortion angles on the erosive wear distribution characteristics and wear degree of the rotor blades is revealed. The results show that inlet distortion significantly alters the wear characteristics of the rotor blades. Specifically, owing to the pressure difference and suction effect of the high-speed rotor blade, the sand particles in the distortion-affected area exhibit aggregation, re-aggregation, and transfer phenomena, which leads to considerable differences in the distribution characteristics and degree of the erosive wear between the rotor blades’ entering the distortion area and their exiting the distortion area. When the inlet distortion angle is expanded from 30° to 90°, compared with the rotor blade in the non-distortion-affected area, the wear degrees of the rotor blade affected by the inlet distortion increase by 32.5–68.7% at the leading edge and by 51.3–57% at the middle position. Moreover, when the inlet distortion angle increases, the maximum wear rate concentration values at the leading edge of the blade with the most serious wear and second most serious wear in the entire circumference of the rotor blade decrease by 4.26% and 27.3%, respectively.

Structural and thermodynamics properties of pure phase alkanes, monoamides and alkane/monoamide mixtures with an ab initio based force-field model

A polarizable force-field (FF) model for short- and long-alkane chains and amide derivatives was constructed based solely on accurate quantum chemical (QC) calculations. First, the FF model accuracy was accessed by performing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to calculate liquid-phase thermodynamic and structural properties for alkanes, for which experimental data are available. Second, The FF was then used to perform molecular dynamics simulations to calculate thermodynamic, structural and excess properties of monoamide/dodecane mixtures, namely DEHiBA/dodecane and DEHBA/dodecane. Aggregation phenomena appear for both types of mixtures and monoamide pure phases. A detailed structural analysis revealed, at small monoamide mole fraction the formation of dimers, while trimerization at larger monoamide concentrations and in their pure phases. Analysis of the relative orientation of the dimers have also been performed and showed a small difference for both phases.

Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Housing Prices’ Association in China: An Urban Agglomeration Perspective

With the rise of urban agglomerations, regional divergence of China’s real estate market has gradually intensified. City-specialized policies have become the main emphasis for promoting the healthy development of the regional real estate market. By adopting a gravity model, social net-work analysis, and impulse response analysis, this paper examines the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of housing prices’ association in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration (BTH-UA), the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA), and the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration (PRDUA), which are the most developed urban agglomerations in China. Meanwhile, the formation mechanism of the housing prices’ association network and spillover effect in urban agglomeration were theoretically analyzed. This paper found that (1) significant aggregation phenomena of housing prices were observed in the urban agglomerations; (2) characteristics of overall and individual networks were dynamically heterogeneous. In the BTHUA and the PRDUA, the associations of housing prices were polarized and sparse, while they were more linked and complex in the YRDUA; (3) polycentric network structure has been demonstrated in the urban agglomerations and the spillover effects of central cities varied in intensity and breadth on responding cities and persisted during the lag period. Accordingly, several policy recommendations have been made.

Aggregation phenomena and regime change in a magnetic cubic particle suspension in an alternating magnetic field via quasi-two-dimensional Brownian dynamics

We have addressed the aggregation phenomena of a cubic haematite particle suspension in an alternating magnetic field in order to investigate the regime change in the aggregate structure. Brownian dynamics simulations have been performed for a quasi-two-dimensional system with an alternating magnetic field applied in the plane of the system. In a weak alternating field, the cubic particles aggregate to form closely-packed structures tending to an aligned face-to-face configuration with increasing magnetic particle-particle interaction strength. In a closely-packed cluster, the orientation of the magnetic moment of a constituent particle tends to be more strongly influenced by the magnetic interaction between neighbouring particles and less influenced by the direction of the alternating magnetic field. As the strength of the applied field is increased, the particle moments become more restricted to the direction of the alternating field and the closely-packed structures transform into elongated aggregates with an offset face-to-face configuration. As the direction of the alternating magnetic field switches from the positive to the negative x-direction, the elongated aggregates tend to collapse temporarily and when the orientation of the moments is again strongly restricted to the switched field direction, elongated aggregate structures with offset face-to-face contact are re-formed in the system. Highlights of the present paper We have investigated a regime change in the internal structure of cubic particle aggregates in an alternating magnetic field. As the magnetic field strength is increased, closely-packed aggregates with an aligned face-to-face configuration transform into elongated aggregates with an offset face-to-face configuration. We have clarified that the elongated aggregates collapse temporarily and then re-form when the direction of the alternating magnetic field switches. We have suggested that the frequency of the magnetic field may be used as a means for controlling the local internal structure of particle aggregates.

Hybridising inorganic materials with fluorescent BOPHY dyes: A structural and optical comparative study.

This study presents the design and characterization of new monochromatic light-harvesting systems based on inorganic porous materials hybridized with organic dye molecules within their structure. A new fluorescent BOPHY dye was prepared, characterized optically and used as both reference and synthetic precursor for two alkoxysilane derivatives that were incorporated separately within a silica structure. The dyes, one bearing one alkoxysilane group and the other one two, were co-condensed with tetraethyl orthosilicate to form a hybrid organo-silica framework, where they are found at specific locations. The structure of the new materials was analysed by powder XRD and TEM, which confirmed the presence of the hexagonal pore arrangement typical of mesoporous MCM-41 silica particles. The steady-state and time-resolved analysis showed that the particles where the dyes are most dispersed within the framework retain the highest fluorescence quantum yield, up to 0.63, in the green-yellow region of the visible spectrum. On the other hand, increasing the content of BOPHY units in the solid matrix seem to favour non-radiative deactivation pathways and aggregation phenomena, which lower the efficiency of light emission. The materials also exhibit interesting properties, such as a dual excited-state decay and fluorescence anisotropy. The short fluorescence lifetime, about 2 ns, matches the typical singlet lifetime of BOPHY dyes, whereas the long component, up to 20 ns, is attributed to delayed fluorescence, which could take place via charge recombination. Optical anisotropy experiments revealed that all materials show polarised light emission to a significant extent and, for most samples, it was also possible to determine a polarisation transfer decay trace, from 400 to 800 ps This is ascribed to the occurrence of energy migration between neighbouring dye units within the silica structure.

Nanoparticle-Protein Interaction: Demystifying the Correlation between Protein Corona and Aggregation Phenomena.

Protein corona formation and nanoparticles' aggregation have been heavily discussed over the past years since the lack of fine-mapping of these two combined effects has hindered the targeted delivery evolution and the personalized nanomedicine development. We present a multitechnique approach that combines dynamic light and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques with cryotransmission electron microscopy in a given fashion that efficiently distinguishes protein corona from aggregates formation. This methodology was tested using ∼25 nm model silica nanoparticles incubated with either model proteins or biologically relevant proteomes (such as fetal bovine serum and human plasma) in low and high ionic strength buffers to precisely tune particle-to-protein interactions. In this work, we were able to differentiate protein corona, small aggregates formation, and massive aggregation, as well as obtain fractal information on the aggregates reliably and straightforwardly. The strategy presented here can be expanded to other particle-to-protein mixtures and might be employed as a quality control platform for samples that undergo biological tests.