The European project NanoChOp, including scientists form the JRC, compared the measurement performance of different techniques for size analysis of silica nanoparticles dispersed in biological media, such as serum.
When nanoparticles come into contact with biological fluids, they often become coated with proteins and other biomolecules. The coating can influence the properties of the nanoparticles and in turn, affect their biological response and possible toxicity. To better understand the interactions between nanoparticles and biomolecules, it is important to characterise nanoparticles in their biological environment. The characterisation of nanoparticles in such complex biological media is a challenging task as biological species can interfere with the measurements.
Further information: Particle size measurements of silica nanoparticles dispersed in serum