Continuous dry dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes to aerosols with high concentrations of individual fibers
| Autor: | Sabine Plitzko, Barbara Katrin Simonow, Nico Dziurowitz, Asmus Meyer-Plath, Mikolaj Jandy, Carmen Thim, Daniela Wenzlaff, Jana Thiel |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Scanning electron microscope Multi-walled carbon nanotubes Bioengineering 02 engineering and technology Carbon nanotube 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences law.invention law General Materials Science Fiber Aerosolization 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Aerosol generation Aerosol morphology Dry powder dispersion General Chemistry respiratory system 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Condensed Matter Physics Atomic and Molecular Physics and Optics Aerosol Chemical engineering Agglomerate Modeling and Simulation Nanofiber 0210 nano-technology Dispersion (chemistry) Research Paper |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Nanoparticle Research |
| ISSN: | 1572-896X 1388-0764 |
| Popis: | The assessment of the toxicity of airborne nanofibers is an important task. It relies on toxicological inhalation studies and validated exposure measurement techniques. Both require nanofiber-containing aerosols of known morphological composition and controlled fraction of individual fibers. Here, a dry powder dispersion method is presented that operates with mixtures of nanofibers and microscale beads. Aerosolization experiments of mixtures of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and glass beads that were continuously fed into a Venturi nozzle enabled high generation rates of aerosols composed of individual and agglomerate nanofiber structures. The aerosol process achieved good stability over more than 2 h with respect to concentration and aerodynamic size distribution. Its operation duration is limited only by the reservoir volume of the cyclone used to separate the beads from the aerosol. The aerosol concentration can be controlled by changing the mass ratio of MWCNTs and glass beads or by adapting the mass feed rate to the nozzle. For two agglomerated MWCNT materials, aerosol concentrations ranged from 1700 to 64,000 nano-objects per cm3. Comprehensive scanning electron microscope analysis of filter samples was performed to categorize and determine the morphological composition of the aerosol, its fiber content as well as fiber length and diameter distributions. High fractions of individual fibers of up to 34% were obtained, which shows the setup to be capable of dispersing also highly tangled MWCNT agglomerates effectively. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11051-018-4262-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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