Video microscopy and improved particle tracking for nanoparticle size determination in microfluidics

摘要

Nanoparticle tracking for size determination is a straightforward approach based on diffusive motion of suspended particles. By using microfluidic devices, small sample volumes and thin liquid films can be realized, which facilitates measurements of turbid samples and offers possibilities for continuous operation. Here, automatic tracking of a large number of scattering nanoparticles has been demonstrated and the acquired diffusive movements have been analyzed to obtain the size distribution. Importantly, the fitting procedure of the mean squared displacement (MSD) curves did not influence the calculation of peak diameters but the width of the resulting particle size distributions.