Revised ASTM E2490 Incorporates Nanotechnology Interlaboratory Study
August 14, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
ASTM International revised ASTM E2490, a nanotechnology standard which now incorporates a large-scale interlaboratory study that took place in 2008.
ASTM E2490 - Guide for Measurement of Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials in Suspension by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS) is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee E56.02 on Characterization - Physical, Chemical and Toxicological Properties.
Subcommittee E56.02 is part of ASTM Committee E56 on Nanotechnology.
The interlaboratory study involved 26 laboratories taking a total of 7,700 measurements, said Alan Rawle, co-chair of E56.02. Measurements were made using several corroborative techniques including photon correlation spectroscopy, the subject of ASTM E2490.
Rawle also said that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory helped with the interlaboratory study.
PCS is also known as dynamic light scattering or quasi-elastic light scattering. This technique is used to measure the size of very small particles - typically smaller than 100 nanometers (nm) down to 1 nm or less.
Characterization of size distribution was one of three key parameters (the others being composition and morphology) identified by members as being key to the development of nanotechnology, Rawle said. The panel considered the development of standards as important to the growth of nanotechnology.
"Manufacturers already making nanomaterials on a routine basis will need ASTM E2490 to understand the basis of the technique and the constraints, especially from the precision and bias study," according to Rawle.
"The document can be used for training newcomers to the technique as it is a practice guide rather than a recipe-based standard," he said. "For researchers in the field, it is essential that size distribution data is available as this is one of the prime characterization parameters."
Users of ASTM E2490 are in industry and research where nanomaterials are synthesized, specified or used. The standard will also be helpful to environmental and legislative concerns related to nanomaterials, according to ASTM.
Source: ASTM International.