Skip to content

South West Regional Development Agency

You are here: Home > Case studies > Biotechnology > Nanosight

NanoSight

NanoSight provides a unique and powerful characterisation capability to researchers and manufacturers of nanoparticles.

Who they are

NanoSight provides a unique and powerful characterisation capability to researchers and manufacturers of nanoparticles. This ability to rapidly determine size and particle size distribution provides a "missing link" for researchers in the range 15nm - 500nm.

What they do

Backed by the pedigree of government bio-defence research, and supported initially by funding from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), Nanosight has developed practical instruments from new laser illumination technology.

This remarkable technique allows individual nanoparticles, as small as 15nm to be viewed directly in liquids.

NanoSight's technique is proven on a range of particles:

  • Pigments and inks
  • Multi-walled carbon nanotubes
  • Catalysts and ceramics
  • Ferritinmolecules
  • Precursor chemicals in wafer fab
  • Metal oxides in storage media and most other nanoparticles
  • Nanoemulsions and dispersions

Particle size is determined directly from measuring diffusion under Brownian motion, resulting in a size distribution from individual particles. Importantly, this new insight into the nano-world is provided at low cost and rapidly, with no more preparation than dilution.

extra