Reversible or Not? Distinguishing Agglomeration and
Aggregation at the Nanoscale
Posted on 2015-10-06 - 00:00
Nanoparticles are
prone to clustering either via aggregation (irreversible)
or agglomeration (reversible) processes. It is exceedingly difficult
to distinguish the two via conventional techniques such as dynamic
light scattering (DLS), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), or electron
microscopy imaging (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission
electron microscopy (TEM)) as such techniques only generally confirm
the presence of large particle clusters. Herein we develop a joint
approach to tackle the issue of distinguishing between nanoparticle
aggregation vs agglomeration by characterizing a colloidal system
of Ag NPs using DLS, NTA, SEM imaging and the electrochemical nanoimpacts
technique. In contrast to the conventional techniques which all reveal
the presence of large clusters of particles, electrochemical nanoimpacts
provide information regarding individual nanoparticles in the solution
phase and reveal the presence of small nanoparticles (<30 nm) even
in high ionic strength (above 0.5 M KCl) and allow a more complete
analysis. The detection of small nanoparticles in high ionic strength
media evidence the clustering to be a reversible process. As a result
it is concluded that agglomeration rather than irreversible aggregation
takes place. This observation is of general importance for all colloids
as it provides a feasible analysis technique for a wide range of systems
with an ability to distinguish subtly different processes.
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Sokolov, Stanislav
V.; Tschulik, Kristina; Batchelor-McAuley, Christopher; Jurkschat, Kerstin; Compton, Richard G. (2016). Reversible or Not? Distinguishing Agglomeration and
Aggregation at the Nanoscale. ACS Publications. Collection. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5b02639
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AUTHORS (5)
SS
Stanislav
V. Sokolov
KT
Kristina Tschulik
CB
Christopher Batchelor-McAuley
KJ
Kerstin Jurkschat
RC
Richard G. Compton
KEYWORDS
0.5 M KClanalysis techniquestrength media evidenceDistinguishing AgglomerationTEMelectrochemical nanoimpactsAg NPspresencenanoparticle aggregation vs agglomerationDLSscanning electron microscopysolution phaseSEM imagingelectrochemical nanoimpacts techniqueelectron microscopy imagingNTAparticle clusters