A Cost-Effective Method of Aerosolizing Dry Powdered Nanoparticles

Figures & data

FIG. 1 Schematic and photo of disperser setup. (Color figure available online.)

TABLE 1 Particle statistics for produced ENP aerosols

ENP	n	Mode	Median	GM^a	GSD^b
C60	9	91 ± 4	107	110	1.7
TiO2	12	65 ± 6	77	88	2.1
CeO2	17	40 ± 6	43	50	2.1
^aGeometric mean.
^bGeometric standard deviation.

FIG. 2 Mean size distributions (error bars show standard deviation) of nanoparticle aerosols. Mean size distributions are normalized to the total particle count.

FIG. 3 Aerosol mode diameter as a function of nanoparticle mass loaded into the disperser.

FIG. 4 Aerosol mass concentration as a function of nanoparticle mass loaded into the disperser. The mass concentrations for C₆₀ are upper-bound values, while the concentrations for the metal oxides are lower-bound values.

FIG. 5 TEM images of nanoparticle aerosols produced using this dispersion system. Clockwise from top left: C₆₀ aerosol; inset of C₆₀ particle showing lattice fringes; TiO₂ aerosol showing primary particles; CeO₂ aerosol showing primary particles. All scale bars are 100 nm.

TABLE 2 Statistics of nanoparticle aerosols generated by various dry powder dispersion techniques. All values are number-weighted unless otherwise specified

	Primary								Aerosol
Particle	particle	Dispersion	D25	Mode	Median	Geo. mean (nm);	D75	Aerosol number	mass conc.
type	diam. (nm)	system	(nm)	(nm)	(D50) (nm)	geo. st. dev	(nm)	conc. (# cm^−3)	(mg m^−3)	Ref.
TiO2	30–40	Vacuum generator	51	65	77	88; 2.1	124	2.2 × 10^5–1.1 × 10^6	4.3–19.7	This work
	21	REHPS	N/A	N/A	37–79^a	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	To et al. 2009
		SSPD	N/A	N/A	260, 547^b	N/A; 2.25, 1.47^b	N/A	2.7 × 10^6b	N/A	Tsai et al. 2012
		SSPD	N/A	^c	N/A	^c	N/A	159	N/A	Schmoll et al. 2009
		ADAGE	N/A	^c	N/A	^c	N/A	172	N/A
		FBG	N/A	269	N/A	171.5; 1.56	N/A	15,786	N/A
	5	Palas RBG	108	N/A	185	N/A	284	161,898	1.96	Noel et al. 2012
		TSI FBG	81	N/A	194	N/A	470	19,573	7.15
Al2O3	13	REHPS	N/A	N/A	35–91^a	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	To et al. 2009
ZnO	30–50	SSPD	N/A	N/A	276, 753^b	N/A; 1.76, 1.39^b	N/A	1.4 × 10^5b	N/A	Tsai et al. 2012
SiO2	10–30	SSPD	N/A	N/A	125, 751^b	N/A; 1.9, 1.5^b	N/A	9.5 × 10^5b	N/A	Tsai et al. 2012
	20	SSPD	N/A	195	N/A	128.8; 2.06	N/A	4,344	N/A	Schmoll et al. 2009
		ADAGE	N/A	126^d	N/A	62.7; 2.66	N/A	3,290	N/A
CeO2	10–30	Vacuum generator	29	40	43	50; 2.1	69	3.0 × 10^5–1.7 × 10^6	1.7–25.6	This work
C60	Molecular	Vacuum generator	77	91	107	110; 1.7	151	6.9 × 10^4–1.3 × 10^6	0.2–5.1	This work
SWCNT	1 to 2	ADAGE	N/A	7^e	N/A	33.6; 3.61	N/A	7,586		Schmoll et al. 2009
	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.3–1.7^f	N/A	N/A	0.3–1	Madl et al. 2012
MWCNT	5–15	Brush generator	N/A	N/A	58–64; 540–580^g	0.7–2.0^f; 2.1–4.1	N/A	30–1,182; 365–31,695^g	0.1–2.5	Ma-Hock et al. 2009
	20–90	Acoustic generator	N/A	350	N/A	N/A	N/A	4.2 × 10^4	N/A	Chen et al. 2012
	Unknown	Wright dust feeder	N/A	N/A	N/A	900–940	N/A	8–364	0.1–5.98	Pauluhn 2010
^aRange is due to varying pressures used in REHPS system.
^bData separated by commas are from SMPS and APS respectively; number concentrations are normalized to total aerosol mass, in # cm^−3 g^−1.
^cCounts too low to determine this statistic.
^dDistribution is bimodal with a minor peak at 24.1 nm.
^eDistribution is bimodal with a minor peak at 146 nm.
^fMass mean aerodynamic diameter, μm.
^gFirst range is by SMPS, second range is by OPC.

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