Dispersion of Nanomaterials in Aqueous Media: Towards Protocol Optimization

Overview

Journal J Vis Exp

Specialties Biology
General Medicine

Date 2018 Jan 25

PMID 29364209

Citations 16

Authors

Inder Kaur

Laura-Jayne Ellis

Isabella Romer

Ratna Tantra

Marie Carriere

Soline Allard

Martine Mayne-LHermite

Caterina Minelli

Wolfgang Unger

Annegret Potthoff

Steffi Rades

Eugenia Valsami-Jones

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The sonication process is commonly used for de-agglomerating and dispersing nanomaterials in aqueous based media, necessary to improve homogeneity and stability of the suspension. In this study, a systematic step-wise approach is carried out to identify optimal sonication conditions in order to achieve a stable dispersion. This approach has been adopted and shown to be suitable for several nanomaterials (cerium oxide, zinc oxide, and carbon nanotubes) dispersed in deionized (DI) water. However, with any change in either the nanomaterial type or dispersing medium, there needs to be optimization of the basic protocol by adjusting various factors such as sonication time, power, and sonicator type as well as temperature rise during the process. The approach records the dispersion process in detail. This is necessary to identify the time points as well as other above-mentioned conditions during the sonication process in which there may be undesirable changes, such as damage to the particle surface thus affecting surface properties. Our goal is to offer a harmonized approach that can control the quality of the final, produced dispersion. Such a guideline is instrumental in ensuring dispersion quality repeatability in the nanoscience community, particularly in the field of nanotoxicology.

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