Aerosolization of Carbon Nanotubes for the Development of Reference Air Samples

摘要

Reports on the inhalation risks associated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) express concern for exposures throughout the lifetime of CNTs and CNT-enabled products. While the aerosolization of nanomaterials has been studied previously by other groups, this study proposes and evaluates a more simplistic method for creating aerosolized CNTs with subsequent collection of airborne particulate in close proximity to the point of exposure. Our method investigates the use of an aerosolizing chamber in tandem with filtering cassettes historically used for airborne asbestos sampling and analysis. The results show that carbon nanotubes from a bulk sample are dispersed into the air and collected onto the filters. These filters can then be prepared for transmission electron microscopy and analyzed for CNTs using the test method of interest.