PMID- 32499579
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20201013
LR  - 20211217
IS  - 2045-2322 (Electronic)
IS  - 2045-2322 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 1
DP  - 2020 Jun 4
TI  - Complex Aerosol Characterization by Scanning Electron Microscopy Coupled with 
      Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy.
PG  - 9150
LID - 10.1038/s41598-020-65383-5 [doi]
LID - 9150
AB  - Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a central concern for public health. 
      Current legislation relies on a mass concentration basis, despite broad 
      acceptance that mass alone is insufficient to capture the complexity and toxicity 
      of airborne PM, calling for additional and more comprehensive measurement 
      techniques. We study to what extent scanning electron microscopy coupled with 
      energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) can be applied for physicochemical 
      characterization of complex aerosols, and investigate its potential for 
      separating particle properties on a single particle basis, even for nanosized 
      particles. SEM/EDS analysis is performed on impactor samples of laboratory 
      generated aerosols, consisting of either NaCl, Halloysite fibers, soot-like 
      Printex90 agglomerates, or their combination. The analysis is automated and 
      performed as EDS maps, covering a statistically relevant number of particles, 
      with analysis times of approximately one hour/sample. Derived size distributions 
      are compared to scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and electric low-pressure 
      impactor (ELPI) results. A method is presented to estimate airborne number 
      concentrations and size distributions directly from SEM results, within a factor 
      10 of SMPS and ELPI outcomes. A classification scheme is developed based on 
      elemental composition, providing class-specific information with individual 
      particle statistics on shape, size, and mixing state. This can identify primary 
      particles for source apportionment and enables easy distinction between fibrous 
      and dense particle classes, e.g. for targeted risk assessments. Overall, the 
      SEM/EDS analysis provides a more detailed physicochemical characterization of PM 
      than online measurements, e.g. SMPS and ELPI. The method has the potential to 
      improve assessments of PM exposure and risk, and facilitates source 
      identification, even without prior knowledge at sampling.
FAU - Brostrom, Anders
AU  - Brostrom A
AD  - Technical University of Denmark, DTU Nanolab - National Centre for Nano 
      Fabrication and Characterization, Fysikvej, Building 307, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, 
      Denmark.
AD  - National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lerso Parkalle 105, 2100, 
      Copenhagen, Denmark.
FAU - Kling, Kirsten I
AU  - Kling KI
AD  - Technical University of Denmark, DTU Nanolab - National Centre for Nano 
      Fabrication and Characterization, Fysikvej, Building 307, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, 
      Denmark.
AD  - SAXOCON A/S, Bredevej 2D, 2830, Virum, Denmark.
FAU - Hougaard, Karin S
AU  - Hougaard KS
AD  - National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lerso Parkalle 105, 2100, 
      Copenhagen, Denmark.
FAU - Molhave, Kristian
AU  - Molhave K
AD  - Technical University of Denmark, DTU Nanolab - National Centre for Nano 
      Fabrication and Characterization, Fysikvej, Building 307, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, 
      Denmark. krmo@dtu.dk.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20200604
PL  - England
TA  - Sci Rep
JT  - Scientific reports
JID - 101563288
SB  - IM
PMC - PMC7272469
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2020/06/06 06:00
MHDA- 2020/06/06 06:01
PMCR- 2020/06/04
CRDT- 2020/06/06 06:00
PHST- 2019/11/07 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/04/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2020/06/06 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/06/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/06/06 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2020/06/04 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-020-65383-5 [pii]
AID - 65383 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-020-65383-5 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 4;10(1):9150. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65383-5.