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Analysis of Particle Size Distribution by Particle Tracking
Author(s) -
Finder Christiane,
Wohlgemuth Michael,
Mayer Christian
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.200400948
Subject(s) - particle (ecology) , tracking (education) , brownian motion , histogram , polystyrene , materials science , optical microscope , particle size , optics , particle size distribution , viscosity , video microscopy , microscopy , molecular physics , biological system , physics , image (mathematics) , chemistry , computer science , computer vision , composite material , polymer , scanning electron microscope , pedagogy , oceanography , biology , psychology , quantum mechanics , microbiology and biotechnology , geology
Particle tracking is performed using a combination of dark field or fluorescence video microscopy with automatic image analysis. The optical detection together with the image analysis software allows for the time resolved localization of individual particles with diameters between 100 and 1000 nm. Observation of their Brownian motion over a set of time intervals leads to the determination of their mean square displacements under the given room temperature and viscosity. Hereby, the radii of a set of particles visible within a given optical frame are derived simultaneously. Rapid data analysis leads to reliable particle size histograms. The applicability of this method is demonstrated on polystyrene latices and PMMA nanospheres with radii between 51 nm and 202 nm.