Suspensions of metallic particles, such as submicron- or micron-sized silver and gold, are typically prepared in aqueous media. The optical appearance of these suspensions –particularly their colour– varies with particle size, shape, and surface roughness, as these factors influence surface plasmon resonance and thus alter the particles’ effective refractive index.
In the last few years, metallic particles have become of great interest for researchers in many fields thanks to their unique physical and optical properties, and are especially investigated for pharmacological and life science applications as a vehicle for drugs and genes. The particle surface is commonly coated with various payloads such as small drug molecules, proteins, DNA, etc.
The Classizer™ ONE is capable of discriminating all little shapes and structural modifications of metallic particles, and to classify e.g. silver and gold subvisible particles in terms of size and shape or surface roughness, in aqueous solution as well as in complex biological fluids (serum, humor, blood, etc.). The Classizer™ ONE will provide a thorough characterization of metallic particles with just a few minutes of analysis, without additional expensive characterization.
The case of gold nanoparticle with same size but different shapes
Gold 80nm spheres and 60nm/160nm stars present very specific distributions on the 2D histogram, thus allowing the Classizer™ ONE to easily recognize and classify them.