Apparatus for generating and optically characterizing an aerosol
Inventors
Assignees
Publication Number
US-11406997-B2
Publication Date
2022-08-09
Expiration Date
2040-02-07
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Abstract
An apparatus having: a vessel for containing a suspension of a liquid and solid particles; a tube having a narrowed portion to draw the suspension from the vessel into the tube when a gas flows through the tube; an aerosol generator coupled to the tube for forming an aerosol from the suspension; a dehydrator coupled to the aerosol generator for removing the liquid from the aerosol forming a dried aerosol; a multiple-pass spectroscopic absorption cell coupled to the dehydrator to pass the dried aerosol into the absorption cell; and a Fourier transform spectrometer coupled to the absorption cell to measure an absorption spectrum of the dried aerosol.
Core Innovation
The invention disclosed is an apparatus designed for generating an aerosol from a suspension of liquid and solid particles, and optically characterizing the dried aerosol. The apparatus includes a vessel to hold the suspension, a tube with a narrowed portion to draw the suspension when gas flows through it, an aerosol generator forming an aerosol from the suspension, a dehydrator that removes liquid from the aerosol, a multiple-pass spectroscopic absorption cell to pass the dried aerosol, and a Fourier transform spectrometer to measure the absorption spectrum of the dried aerosol.
The problem addressed is the longstanding challenge of simultaneously aerosolizing and optically detecting nanoparticles, especially plasmonic nanoparticles such as gold nanorods, in the gas phase. Existing experimental aerosolization and optical detection of nanoparticle aerosols have been impeded by issues like aggregation during liquid to gas phase transition, dilute concentrations, and small light-matter coupling, which hampers understanding nanoscale mechanisms in macroscale processes like cloud formation and environmental sensing.
The disclosure provides a solution uniting plasmonics and aerosol science by creating optically homogeneous, thermodynamically stable aerosols of plasmonic nanoparticles with wide wavelength tunability and high environmental sensitivity. This capability enables benchtop-scale experimental modeling of complex systems, opening new approaches to studying climatology, astronomy, petroleum, medical environments, and potentially facilitating applications in nonlinear optics, nanojet printing, molecular diagnostics, geostrategic environmental sensing, and vacuum microelectronics through controlled aerosolized gold nanorods.
Claims Coverage
The patent includes two independent claims covering both an apparatus and a method related to aerosol generation and optical characterization. Two main inventive features are extracted from these claims.
Apparatus for aerosol generation and optical absorption measurement
An apparatus comprising: a vessel for holding a suspension of liquid with suspended solid particles; a tube with a narrowed portion configured to draw the suspension into the tube upon gas flow; an aerosol generator coupled to the tube for producing an aerosol from the suspension; a dehydrator coupled to the aerosol generator for removing liquid from the aerosol to form a dried aerosol; a multiple-pass spectroscopic absorption cell coupled to the dehydrator to pass the dried aerosol; and a Fourier transform spectrometer coupled to the absorption cell to measure the absorption spectrum of the dried aerosol.
Method for aerosolizing suspension and measuring aerosol absorption spectrum
A method comprising placing a suspension of liquid and solid particles into the apparatus vessel; flowing gas through the tube to draw the suspension; generating an aerosol; dehydrating the aerosol to form a dried aerosol; passing it through a multiple-pass spectroscopic absorption cell; and measuring the dried aerosol's absorption spectrum with a Fourier transform spectrometer.
The independent claims cover both the apparatus that integrates suspension handling, aerosol generation, dehydration, and optical measurement, and the method of using this apparatus to generate aerosols from a suspension and obtain their absorption spectra.
Stated Advantages
The aerosols produced are optically homogeneous and temporally stable, showing no aggregation upon transition from liquid to gas phase.
The apparatus enables wide wavelength tunability of absorption peaks from visible to mid-infrared by controlling nanoparticle aspect ratio.
High sensitivity to environmental refractive index changes enables detection of minute changes in host medium, facilitating precise environmental or remote sensing.
The aerosols are thermodynamically stable and allow benchtop-scale experimental modeling of complex atmospheric and other systems.
Documented Applications
Modeling nanoscale mechanisms of aerosol influence on cloud formation and atmospheric systems in controlled laboratory environments.
Environmental and remote sensing for detecting small changes in gas compositions based on aerosol absorption shifts.
Potential utility in geoengineering challenges by leveraging plasmonic aerosol sensitivities.
Use in nonlinear optics, nanojet printing, molecular diagnostics, nanomedicines, and vacuum microelectronics via controlled aerosolized gold nanorods.
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