SBIR Phase II: On-Line, Non-Destructive, Rapid Characterization of Nanopowders and Agglomerates

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will further develop, test, and demonstrate a novel approach for characterizing nano-scale powders and their agglomerates. Nanostructures are a novel family of materials that allow customization of structural, electrochemical, electrical, electronic, optical, magnetic, and chemical properties. The use of nanomaterials to fabricate valuable devices and to manufacture new products depends in large part on the ability to characterize these materials during synthesis, processing, and device production. Current high resolution characterization techniques are off line, slow, expensive, and unreliable; the few on-line particle sizing instruments available make questionable assumptions (e.g., that all particles are spherical in shape) which introduce unnecessary error into the diagnosis. The commercial applications of this project is to use nano-scale powders, which are the fundamental building blocks of many products used in a wide variety of industries (e.g., advanced ceramics, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, etc.). As the technology develops, the application areas will increase. The ability to characterize nano-scale particles and agglomerates on-line is crucial for controlling the quality of products and for the invention of new products and processes. In addition, characterization of environmental particulates is critical for understanding air quality concerns and health effects - leading to improve clean air regulations and monitoring.