RU213288U1 - Optical meter for the numerical concentration of nanoparticles - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of optical instrumentation and concerns an optical meter for the numerical concentration of nanoparticles. An optical nanoparticle concentration meter includes a laser, a digital camera, optical lenses, an optical cell, an objective, and a block for synchronizing the operation of the laser with a digital camera. The laser beam and the optical axis of the lens are located in a horizontal plane with the possibility of performing an analysis of the light scattered in the sample, which emerges into the side optical surface of the optical cell. The technical result consists in simplifying the measurement procedure and enabling the analysis of the movement of nanoparticles in the vertical plane. 1 ill.

Description

The utility model relates to optical instruments designed to measure the numerical concentration and sedimentation rate of nanoparticles in a liquid and can be used for fundamental and applied research in physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine.

Known devices for measuring the concentration of nanoparticles, containing a laser with an optical path for transporting laser radiation, on the path of which a horizontally located optical cell is installed, containing the investigated liquid with nanoparticles and a video camera installed above the optical cell, equipped with a microscope lens for real-time registration of the current number of particles , visualization of which is carried out due to the scattering of laser radiation on particles (see, for example, Sizing and phenotyping of cellular vesicles using Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, R.A. Dragovic, at all, Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine 7 (2011) 780-788) .

The disadvantages of known devices include the complexity of selecting the optimal measurement parameters, the laborious procedure for preparing samples with the required concentration of nanoparticles, and the impossibility of observing the movement of particles in a liquid in the vertical direction.

The closest to the proposed technical solution in terms of technical essence and the achieved effect is a device containing a laser with a focusing unit, a control device, an optical cell made in the form of a fluorimetric cuvette with a polished bottom and with a removable insert located in it, a lens and a video camera installed under the optical cell (see RU 174054 U1).

The disadvantages of the described device include the complexity of working on such a device with samples in which the dispersed phase settles to the bottom, creating interference for observation, due to the optical scheme used in it with the location of the lens and video camera under the cuvette.

The technical result, to which the utility model is directed, is the simplification of the procedures for preparing samples, setting up, carrying out measurements and obtaining the possibility of analyzing the movement of nanoparticles in the vertical plane.

The technical result is achieved in a device connected to a computer, configured to control the device and process the received data, containing a laser, a digital camera, optical lenses, an optical cell, a lens and a laser and digital camera synchronization unit, characterized in that the laser beam and the optical the axis of the objective is located in a horizontal plane, with the possibility of analyzing the light scattered in the sample, emerging into the side optical surface of the optical cell.

The device greatly simplifies the measurement and adjustment process. It becomes possible to use interchangeable cuvettes without a polished bottom.

The described version of the device makes it possible to use it in the study, for example, of colloidal dispersions, dispersed contaminants, immunological reactions, etc., with the possibility of simultaneously measuring the numerical concentration of particles and their sedimentation rate.

On FIG. shows the block diagram of the device, top view.

The optical meter of the numerical concentration of nanoparticles contains a laser 1, the beam of which is formed by a converging optical lens 2 and a cylindrical optical lens 3 and fed into the cell 4. A standard fluorimetric cell is used as a cell. The cuvette is positioned so that the laser beam passes through the sample close to the side of the cuvette to which objective 6 is directed.

The light from the laser is scattered on the nanoparticles in the sample. The light scattered at 90° from a small volume of the sample is collected by the microscope objective 6 through the side wall of the cuvette and fed to the matrix of the digital video camera 8. The position of each nanoparticle visualized in this way is recorded in real time. The signal from the digital camera is fed to the computer 7, the software of which determines the number of objects of interest in the scattering volume. The laser and digital camera synchronization unit 5 allows increasing the laser power for short time intervals and at the same time recording an image with a video camera, thus realizing the effect of illuminating a sample similar to that of a photo flash.

Claims (1)

An optical meter for the numerical concentration of nanoparticles connected to a computer capable of controlling the device and processing the resulting data, containing a laser, a digital camera, optical lenses, an optical cell, an objective and a laser synchronization unit with a digital camera, characterized in that the laser beam and the optical the axis of the objective is located in a horizontal plane, with the possibility of analyzing the light scattered in the sample, emerging into the side optical surface of the optical cell.

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