SBIR Phase II: Process Control Sensor for Fine Particles

这个小企业创新研究（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，更大的探测孔径、更小的场尺寸和光学纯差放大，该团队现在可以在比以前更大的粒径和浓度范围内测量流体动力半径。这项工作的两个关键思想是：1)构建具有八个自由和独立参数的DLS复杂现象学的数值模型；2)将这种新的理解应用于现有仪器的定量分析，并为扩展应用优化新系统设计的能力。这些想法已经得到了经验的证实，正确地定义了操作边界，以前不太容易理解和量化。一个关键的优势是能够设计具有卓越性能、通用性、准确性和成本的DLS系统，特别是更深入的理解可以提高性能并减少报告数据的错误限制。新功能和经济的仪器可用于表征悬浮胶体颗粒，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，从油漆到化学加工浆料，从食品到药品的制造中很常见。在光谱的另一端，难以散射很少光的悬浮液，如蛋白质药物、燃料电池催化剂和许多其他对小样本量的体内非侵入性测量非常感兴趣的材料。除了现有工业过程中质量控制的实时监测和离线分析的现成市场之外，扩展的功能为纳米材料的特性提供了有吸引力的研究机会，纳米材料是一个新兴的兴趣和重要性领域。这些仪器及其增强的能力将增加材料研究的机会，并且在教学环境中足够经济地使用，大大增加了已经用于评估这些重要材料的许多复杂技术。与更有侵入性的测量相比，可能需要稀释或蒸发样品制备，不可逆转地改变要测量的东西，扩展DLS技术补充并可应用于小至一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.