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Nanometre‐sized droplets from a gas dynamic virtual nozzle
Author(s) -
Mühlig Kerstin,
Gañán-Calvo Alfonso M,
Andreasson Jakob,
Larsson Daniel S. D.,
Hajdu Janos,
Svenda Martin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s1600576719008318
Subject(s) - nozzle , nanometre , electrospray , volumetric flow rate , ionization , aqueous solution , electrospray ionization , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , chemical physics , chemistry , materials science , mechanics , mass spectrometry , chromatography , ion , thermodynamics , composite material , physics , organic chemistry
This paper reports on improved techniques to create and characterize nanometre‐sized droplets from dilute aqueous solutions by using a gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN). It describes a method to measure the size distribution of uncharged droplets, using an environmental scanning electron microscope, and provides theoretical models for the droplet sizes created. The results show that droplet sizes can be tuned by adjusting the gas and liquid flow rates in the GDVN, and at the lowest liquid flow rates, the size of the water droplets peaks at about 120 nm. This droplet size is similar to droplet sizes produced by electrospray ionization but requires neither electrolytes nor charging of the solution. The results presented here identify a new operational regime for GDVNs and show that predictable droplet sizes, comparable to those obtained by electrospray ionization, can be produced by purely mechanical means in GDVNs.