Nanometre-sized droplets from a gas dynamic virtual nozzle

0521464 - FZÚ 2020 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Mühlig, K. - Ganan-Calvo, A.M. - Andreasson, Jakob - Larsson, D.S.D. - Hajdu, Janos - Svenda, M.
Nanometre-sized droplets from a gas dynamic virtual nozzle.
Journal of Applied Crystallography. Roč. 52, Aug (2019), s. 800-808. ISSN 0021-8898. E-ISSN 1600-5767
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LQ1606
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : aerosols * droplet size * gas dynamic virtual nozzles (GDVNs) * environmental scanning electron microscopy * coherent X-ray diffractive imaging (CXDI)
OECD category: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics)
Impact factor: 2.995, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1107/s1600576719008318

This paper reports on improved techniques to create and characterize nanometre-sized droplets from dilute aqueous solutions by using a gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN). It describes a method to measure the size distribution of uncharged droplets, using an environmental scanning electron microscope, and provides theoretical models for the droplet sizes created. The results show that droplet sizes can be tuned by adjusting the gas and liquid flow rates in the GDVN, and at the lowest liquid flow rates, the size of the water droplets peaks at about 120nm. This droplet size is similar to droplet sizes produced by electrospray ionization but requires neither electrolytes nor charging of the solution. The results presented here identify a new operational regime for GDVNs and show that predictable droplet sizes, comparable to those obtained by electrospray ionization, can be produced by purely mechanical means in GDVNs.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0306084