Table 1. ENM properties relevant for in vitro nanotoxicology.
| Properties | Methods | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical & Morphological | Density | Pycnometer | Relevant for attributing particle properties to biological repsonses |
| Surface area | BET1 | ||
| Porosity | BET/alkaline Homologous Series | ||
| Surface Roughness | BET/ Anvir and Pfiefer Method | ||
| Charge | Faraday Pail Device | ||
| Crystal Structure* | XRD2, TEM-SAD3 | ||
| Size | XRD-Rietveld analysis, BET, TEM | ||
| Shape, Aspect ratio | TEM-Image analysis | ||
| Size distribution | TEM-Image analysis | ||
| Chemical | Composition | ICP-MS4, TEM-EDS5, TGA6, EC-OC7, Raman spectroscopy (carbon ENMs), FTIR8 (cellulose) | |
| Surface chemistry. | FTIR, XPS9 | ||
| Molecular Weight | ICP-MS (metals and oxides), weight analysis (oxides) | ||
| Hydrophobicity/philicity | Dye ads.; Octanol-water affinity | ||
| Colloidal | Size distribution | DLS10, TRPS11, DC12,TEM | Relevant for in vitro dosimetry |
| Polydispersity | DLS, TRPS | ||
| Effective density | VCM15, AUC16 | ||
| Dissolution | ICP-MS | ||
| pH | pH meter | Relevant for particle-media interactions and biological responses | |
| Corona | DLS, ELS, LC-MS/MS14 | ||
| Specific conductance | DLS | ||
| Zeta potential | ELS13, TRPS | ||
1
Brunauer–Emmett–Teller;
2
X-Ray Diffractions;
3
TEM-Selected Area Diffraction;
4
Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy,
5
Transmission Electron Microscopy-Electron Dispersive Spectroscopy;
6
Thermo-Gravitational Analysis;
7
Elemental Carbon-Organic Carbon;
8
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy;
9
X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy;
10
Dynamic Light Scattering;
11
Tunable resistive pulse sensing;
12
Electrophoresis Light scattering;
13
Disc Centrifugation,
14
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry;
15
Volume Centrifugation Method;
16
Analytical Ultracentrifugation