Rationale for Data Evaluation of the Size Distribution Measurements of Agglomerates and Aggregates in Gases with Extended SMPS-Technology

Engineered nanoparticles (ENP) very often occur in form of agglomerates built up from spherical primary particles and sintered aggregates. The properties of materials making use of ENPs depend on the distributions of the structural properties of agglomerated/aggregated ENPs. The amount and structural properties of accidentally released ENPs are also of interest with regard to their transport and environmental effects. We report on the possibilities of using extended SMPS-technology with the addition of an Aerosol Particle Mass Analyzer (APM) and/or an Electrical Sensor (ES), as well as the results of recently developed sintering models, to describe the structures of agglomerates and aggregates. Proposals are made for suitable data evaluation procedures to yield accurate property distributions.