Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
Nanoparticle Characterization Using
Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis
Antoanetta Lungu, Mihai Lungu, Adrian Neculae, and Raluca Giugiulan
Abstract Characterization of nanoparticles in environmental samples involves
determining their size, their chemical composition, and their concentrations in the
bulk matrix. Environmental changes in their environment metallic nanoparticles as
colloidal aggregates tend to be stable or dispersions. Filter size differential is most
commonly used method to isolate nanoparticles in aqueous solutions. Micro-
filtration, nanofiltration, cross-flow filtration, and ultracentrifugation are commonly
used to achieve the highest degree of separation. Chemical characterization of the
nanoparticles has traditionally been performed using a transmission microscope/
scanning electron (TEM/SEM), followed by spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray
(EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Due to the inherent limitations these methods
were combined. This review describes the current status and challenges of isolation,
separation, and detection of nanoparticles in samples. Nanoparticle Tracking Anal-
ysis (NTA) is a common procedure for the analysis of nanoparticles in complex
aqueous matrices.
13.1
Introduction
Nanoparticles include any type of particle with at least one dimension of less than
500 nm. Nanoparticles play an important role in a wide variety of fields including
advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, and environmental detection and monitoring.
They can generally be classified as one of two types: engineered or nonengineered.
Engineered nanoparticles are intentionally designed and created with physical
properties tailored to meet the needs of specific applications. They can be end
products in and of themselves, as in the case of quantum dots or pharmaceutical
drugs, or they can be components later incorporated into separate end products, as
carbon black in rubber products. The particle
s physical properties are important to
their performance and the performance of any product
'
into which they are