PARTICLE COUNTING, SIZING AND IDENTIFICATION USING NANOELECTRODE ARRAYS

测量和表征颗粒形状和组成的能力是学术研究和工业产品开发中越来越重要的方面。例如，在开发一种新药时，人们发现人体消化活性化学物质的能力高度依赖于构成片剂的颗粒的结构。在我们的工作中，我们建议开发一种分析粒子特性的新方法。我们将设计微型传感器来研究如何识别比一根头发半径小得多的粒子，确定它们的大小和三维形状特征。该方法将通过在我们的新传感器设计中传递电流来工作。这个电流对靠近传感器的粒子很敏感，我们将利用这个特性来i)计算系统中的粒子数量，ii)估计粒子的大小和分布，iii)最终研究粒子的化学特性。这些颗粒的性质将通过计算机模型进行分析，从而预测传感器对颗粒数量、大小和形状的反应。这些模型的结果将用于与我们的实验研究进行比较，从而使我们测量的电流与粒子的物理性质有关。

The ability to measure and characterize the shape and composition of particles is an increasingly important aspect of academic research and industrial product development. For example in the development of a new drug, the ability of the body to digest the active chemicals, has been found to be highly dependent upon the structure of the particles which make up the tablet. In our work we are proposing to develop a new approach to analyse particle properties. We will engineer tiny sensors to investigate how particles considerably smaller than the radius of a strand of hair may be identified, sized and their three dimensional shape characterised. The approach will work by passing a current through our new sensor designs. This current is sensitive to particles which come close to the sensor and we will use this characteristic to i) count the number of particles in the system, ii) gain an estimate of the size and distribution of the particles and iii) ultimately investigate the chemical identity of the particles. The particle properties will be analysed using computer models, which will predict the sensor responses to the particle number, size and shape. The results from these models will be used to compare with our experimental studies, allowing the current we measure to be related to the physical properties of the particle.