Design and experimental evaluation of a new nanoparticle thermophoretic personal sampler

A personal sampler that thermophoretically samples particles between a few nanometers and approximately 300 nm has been designed and first prototypes built. The thermal precipitator (TP) is designed to take samples in the breathing zone of a worker in order to determine the personal exposure to airborne nanomaterials. In the sampler, particles are deposited onto silicon substrates that can be used for consecutive electron microscopic (EM) analysis of the particle size distribution and chemical composition of the sampled particles. Due to very homogeneous size-independent particle deposition on a large portion of the substrate, representative samples can be taken for offline analysis. The experimental evaluation revealed a good general agreement with numerical simulations concerning homogeneity of the deposit and a very high correlation (R² = 0.98) of the deposition rate per unit area with number concentrations simultaneously measured with an SMPS for particle sizes between 14 and 305 nm. The samplers’ small size of only 45 x 32 × 97 mm3 and low weight of only 140 g make it perfectly suitable as a personal sampler. The power consumption for temperature control and pump is around 1.5 W and can be easily provided by batteries.

[1]  Yoshio Otani,et al.  Development of a Personal Sampler for Evaluating Exposure to Ultrafine Particles , 2010 .

[2]  H. Büttner,et al.  Submicron particle generation by evaporation of water droplets , 1991 .

[3]  Delphine Bard,et al.  From workplace air measurement results toward estimates of exposure? Development of a strategy to assess exposure to manufactured nano-objects , 2009 .

[4]  P. Koutrakis,et al.  DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A PM1 AND A PM2.5 PERSONAL SAMPLER , 1999 .

[5]  V A Marple,et al.  A personal cascade impactor: design, evaluation and calibration. , 1987, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal.

[6]  Christof Asbach,et al.  Nanoparticle exposure at nanotechnology workplaces: A review , 2011, Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

[7]  Richard C. Flagan,et al.  Design and evaluation of new low-pressure impactor. I , 1978 .

[8]  P. Lawless,et al.  Ozone generation in DC-energized electrostatic precipitators , 1989, Conference Record of the IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting,.

[9]  James R. Brock,et al.  On the theory of thermal forces acting on aerosol particles , 1962 .

[10]  R. Flagan,et al.  Scanning Electrical Mobility Spectrometer , 1990 .

[11]  A. Nasibulin,et al.  A New Thermophoretic Precipitator for Collection of Nanometer-Sized Aerosol Particles , 2005 .

[12]  T Renée Anthony,et al.  A personal nanoparticle respiratory deposition (NRD) sampler. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[13]  Arthur L. Miller,et al.  Design Optimization of a Portable Thermophoretic Precipitator Nanoparticle Sampler , 2012, Aerosol science and technology : the journal of the American Association for Aerosol Research.

[14]  A. Maynard.  The development of a new thermophoretic precipitator for scanning transmission electron microscope analysis of ultrafine aerosol particles , 1995 .

[15]  Shu Tao,et al.  Performance study of a disk-to-disk thermal precipitator , 2012 .

[16]  J. Tyndall.  Dust and Disease , 1870, Nature.

[17]  Robert Gelein,et al.  EXTRAPULMONARY TRANSLOCATION OF ULTRAFINE CARBON PARTICLES FOLLOWING WHOLE-BODY INHALATION EXPOSURE OF RATS , 2002, Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A.

[18]  H Fissan,et al.  Particle Characteristics in the Reactor and Pelletizing Areas of Carbon Black Production , 2006, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[19]  A thermal precipitator for aerobacteriology. , 1952, Science.

[20]  Toivo T. Kodas,et al.  Aerosol Processing of Materials , 1998 .

[21]  T A J Kuhlbusch,et al.  Number Size Distribution, Mass Concentration, and Particle Composition of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 in Bag Filling Areas of Carbon Black Production , 2004, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[22]  Francisco J. Romay,et al.  Thermophoretic deposition of aerosol particles in turbulent pipe flow , 1998 .

[23]  W. MacNee,et al.  Ultrafine (nanometre) particle mediated lung injury , 1998 .

[24]  Anthony J. Marchese,et al.  A Personal, Thermophoretic Sampler for Airborne Nanoparticles , 2011 .

[25]  Jorma Keskinen,et al.  Electrical low pressure impactor , 1992 .

[26]  Hsin-Chung Lu,et al.  Design and Evaluation of a Plate-to-Plate Thermophoretic Precipitator , 1995 .

[27]  David Brown,et al.  The pulmonary toxicology of ultrafine particles. , 2002, Journal of aerosol medicine : the official journal of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine.

[28]  James H Vincent,et al.  A Modified Marple-Type Cascade Impactor for Assessing Aerosol Particle Size Distributions in Workplaces , 2007, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[29]  C. Sioutas,et al.  Development and evaluation of a personal cascade impactor sampler (PCIS) , 2002 .

[30]  Jane H. Davidson,et al.  Ozone generation by indoor, electrostatic air cleaners , 1997 .

[31]  Christof Asbach,et al.  Optimisation of a thermophoretic personal sampler for nanoparticle exposure studies , 2009 .

[32]  P. Epstein.  Zur Theorie des Radiometers , 1929 .

[33]  Chun-Nan Liu,et al.  Novel active personal nanoparticle sampler for the exposure assessment of nanoparticles in workplaces. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[34]  D. K. Brandvold,et al.  Laboratory and field measurements of NOx produced from corona discharge , 1996 .

[35]  Michael P. Tolocka,et al.  Technical Note: Performance of a Personal Electrostatic Precipitator Particle Sampler , 2002 .

[36]  F. Zheng.  Thermophoresis of spherical and non-spherical particles: a review of theories and experiments. , 2002, Advances in colloid and interface science.

[37]  D. Boulaud,et al.  Experimental study of thermophoretic particle deposition in laminar tube flow , 1991 .

[38]  L. Murr,et al.  Utilization of Selected Area Electron Diffraction Patterns for Characterization of Air Submicron Particulate Matter Collected by a Thermophoretic Precipitator , 2003, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[39]  G. Oberdörster,et al.  Pulmonary effects of inhaled ultrafine particles , 2000, International archives of occupational and environmental health.

[40]  F. Stratmann,et al.  Thermophoretical and diffusional particle transport in cooled laminar tube flow , 1994 .

[41]  Jyh-Shyan Lin,et al.  Thermophoretic Deposition of Particles in Laminar and Turbulent Tube Flows , 2004 .

[42]  J. Mead,et al.  Airborne Nanoparticle Release Associated with the Compounding of Nanocomposites Using Nanoalumina as Fillers , 2008 .

[43]  Hanna Vehkamäki,et al.  Formation and growth rates of ultrafine atmospheric particles: a review of observations , 2004 .

[44]  P. Koutrakis,et al.  Development and evaluation of personal respirable particulate sampler (PRPS) , 2006 .

[45]  Thomas Kuhlbusch,et al.  Particle and Fibre Toxicology BioMed Central Review The potential risks of nanomaterials: a review carried out for ECETOC , 2006 .

[46]  R. Schefer,et al.  Thermophoresis of particles in a heated boundary layer , 1980, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[47]  B. Wright.  Gravimetric thermal precipitator. , 1953, Science.

[48]  William A Heitbrink,et al.  The mapping of fine and ultrafine particle concentrations in an engine machining and assembly facility. , 2006, The Annals of occupational hygiene.