The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has used the Zetasizer nanoparticle characterisation system as part of the assessment process for its gold nanoparticle reference materials.
The three new reference materials were developed in cooperation with the National Cancer Institute's Nanotechnology Characterisation Laboratory.
They will facilitate data consistency across preclinical biomedical research and accelerated development of methodologies and applications that rely on nanoscale measurements.
Reference Materials (RM) are designed specifically to enable interlaboratory test comparisons.
The previous lack of nanoparticle standards, used to verify the accuracy of measurements and ensure that data is robust, has made the advancement of new measurement methods that rely on nanoscale parameters difficult.
Nanotechnology holds the promise of increased speed and efficiency across many analytical systems.
The nominal 10, 30 and 60 nanometre gold spheres are the first nanoscale standard references.
They represent the advent of much needed standardisation at this scale and, by enabling evaluation and qualification of methodologies and instrument performance, should expedite swifter development and approval of novel techniques and applications.
The new RMs were evaluated using six independent methods: atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential mobility analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS - Zetasizer Nano) and small-angle X-ray scattering.
