Particle Size Characterization of Nanoparticles - A Practical Approach

Most properties of nanoparticles are size-dependent. in fact, the novel properties of nanoaprticles do not prevail until the size has been reduced to the nanometer scale. the particle size and size distribution of alumina nanoparticle, as a critical properties, have been determined by transmission electron microscopy (tem), photon correlation spectroscopy (pcs), surface area analysis (bet) and x-ray diffraction peak broadening analysis. the particle size was found to be in the range of 5-95nm. cumulative percentage frequency plot of the data extracted form tem images indicates that particle size distribution obeys the log-normal function. the tem images also reveal that particles are spherical in shape and loosely agglomerated. comparing of the xrd and tem results shows that the particles are single-crystal. the hrtem images also verify that the particles have a single-crystal nature. in comparison, there is a good correlation between the bet, xrd and tem measurements other than pcs that is sensitive to the presence of the agglomerates.