![]() Yet, there are situations where purification is neither applicable nor provides any desirable outcome. The importance of sample purification, such as filtering, distillation, or centrifugation, cannot be stressed enough. In light scattering, dust is a generic term that refers to any foreign matter and impurities found in the sample, such as large particles, aggregates/agglomerates, traces, and remnants of the synthesis. (22−24)Īlthough current DLS apparatus have high-quality parts and the underlying theory itself grants accurate and precise results, (25−27) the quality of the experimental results, that is, the accuracy and precision of determining particle size, is dictated by the purity of the samples and by the capacity of the algorithms regarding information collection, processing, and analysis to work with, in particular, dusty samples. (20,21) Nonetheless, the gravity of this issue is illustrated well by the fact that national testing and metrology laboratories were unable to provide consistent DLS results on standard reference NPs dedicated to “ evaluate and qualify methodology and/or instrument performance related to the physical/dimensional characterization of nanoscale particles used in preclinical biomedical research” issued by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). (14−17) Whether this is partially responsible for questionable reproducibility and for the setback in translating NPs into clinical applications (18,19) is under debate. This is despite the efforts of emphasizing the importance of respecting the fundamental concepts again and again (11−13) and proposing standardized procedures. (2−6) Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is one of the techniques found in any laboratory interested in measuring the size of NPs, (7−10) and yet, the nuances of the theory, the experimental procedure, and data analysis are frequently loosely interpreted. Their fundamental focus is on understanding and either exploiting or suppressing harmful interactions at the nano–bio interface. The interest in nanoparticles (NPs) and colloidal phenomena stretches well beyond the classical realm of soft matter physics and physical chemistry, (1) and by now, interdisciplinary topics, such as nanomedicine and nanotoxicology, have become key research areas.
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