SBIR Phase II: Process Control Sensor for Fine Particles

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段研究项目建议开发动态光散射（DLS）仪器，能够超越当前技术的限制测量悬浮液中的细颗粒。通过同时或独立使用三种创新技术，更大的检测孔径，更小的场尺寸和光学零差放大，该团队现在可以在比以前更大的颗粒尺寸和浓度范围内测量流体动力学半径。这项工作的两个关键思想是：1）构建一个数字模型的复杂现象的DLS与8个自由和独立的参数; 2）的能力，应用这种新的理解，现有的仪器的定量分析，并优化新的系统设计扩展应用。这些想法已经得到了经验的证实，正确地界定了业务边界，以前不太好理解和量化。一个关键的优势是能够设计出具有上级性能、多功能性、准确性和成本范围的DLS系统，特别要注意的是，更深入的理解提高了性能，降低了报告数据的误差极限。新的能力和经济的仪器可用于表征悬浮的胶体颗粒，从亚纳米到微米半径，从几乎不透明到几乎完全透明。扩展功能包括高浓度胶体材料的过程控制，常见于从油漆到化学加工浆料，从食品到药品的制造业。在光谱的另一端，存在散射非常少的光的困难悬浮液，例如蛋白质药物、燃料电池催化剂和许多其他对小样品体积的体内非侵入式测量非常感兴趣的材料。除了现有工业过程中用于质量控制的真实的时间监测和离线分析的现成市场外，扩展的功能还为纳米材料的性质提供了有吸引力的研究机会，这是一个新兴的感兴趣和重要性的领域。这些仪器及其增强的能力将增加材料研究的机会，并在教学环境中使用时足够经济，大大增加了已经用于评估这些重要材料的许多复杂技术。与可能需要稀释或蒸发以用于样品制备的更侵入性的测量相反，扩展的DLS技术补充并可应用于小至皮升的未受干扰的样品。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project proposes to develop Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) instruments capable of measuring fine particles in suspensions beyond the limits of current technology. By simultaneous or independent use of three innovative techniques, larger detection aperture, smaller field size, and optical, homodyne amplification, the team can now measure hydrodynamic radius over greater ranges of particle size and concentration than was formerly possible. Two key ideas for this effort are: 1) the construction of a numerical model of the complex phenomenology of DLS with eight free and independent parameters; 2) the ability to apply this new understanding to the quantitative analysis of existing instruments, and to optimize new system designs for extended applications. These ideas have been confirmed empirically, correctly defining operational boundaries, formerly less well understood and quantified. A key advantage is the ability to design DLS systems with superior ranges of performance, versatility, accuracy, and cost, noting especially that deeper understanding improves performance and reduces error limits of reported data. Newly capable and economical instruments are made available for characterizing suspended colloidal particles, from sub-nanometer to micron radii and from almost opaque to almost completely transparent. Extended capabilities include process control of high concentration colloidal materials, common in manufacturing from paint to chemical machining slurries, from foodstuff to pharmaceuticals. At the opposite end of the spectrum of difficultly lie suspensions scattering very little light, such as proteinaceous drugs, fuel cell catalysts, and many other materials of great interest to in-vivo non-invasive measurement of small sample volumes. Aside from a ready market in both real time monitoring and offline analysis for quality control in existing industrial processes, the extended capabilities offer attractive research opportunities into the properties of nanomaterials, a burgeoning field of interest and importance. Such instruments and their enhanced capability will increase materials research opportunities and be economical enough to use in a teaching environment, significantly augmenting the many and complex technologies already used for the assessment of these important materials. In contrast with more invasive measurements that may require dilution or evaporation for sample preparation irrevocably altering what is to be measured, extended DLS techniques complement and may be applied to undisturbed samples as small as a picoliter.