A study of nanomaterial dispersion in solution by wet-cell transmission electron microscopy.

Preparation of nanomaterial dispersion or nanofluids requires good characterization techniques, including particle size and morphological measurements. A reliable and straight-forward process to characterize and quantify the degree of dispersion and agglomeration is needed. A wet-cell transmission electron microscope (TEM) technique has been developed to make comparisons between sonicated and hand-shaken solutions of both aluminum oxide nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In each case, the wet-cell TEM technique reveals images of nanoparticles well dispersed in aqueous solutions due in part to the use of ultrasonic power instead of simply manual shaking and stirring. The technique is currently qualitative and shows great potential for a host of nanotechnology applications.