Analysis of nanomaterials and nanoparticles

Nanomaterials and nanoparticles increasingly form the basis for products in our daily lives. For example, silver nanoparticles are used in functional clothing or medical products because of their antimicrobial effect, titanium dioxide nanoparticles are used in sunscreens to increase the effectiveness of the sunscreen filter, and gold nanoparticles are used for diagnostics in the biomedical field because of their optical properties.

As diverse as the potential applications for nanoparticles are, so are the questions posed in particle analysis, e.g.: Which particle shapes are predominant and what is the particle size distribution? What is the chemical composition of the nanoparticles?

For the analysis of nanomaterials and according to the individual question, we therefore use specific methods to determine the structure and chemical composition of the particles. For this purpose, ZAA has extensive technical equipment at its disposal. Among others, transmission electron microscopy plays a decisive role, being the only direct imaging method to provide reliable data on the nanometer scale (EU study).