Fig. 5.

Systematic analysis strategy for a deep quantitative analysis of the corona structure on M/NPs. M/NPs can be isolated from environmental/biological media by centrifugation, ultrafiltration, field flow fractionation, etc. The coronas on the M/NPs can be detected both by in situ and ex situ methods. For in situ analysis, the corona structures are directly interpreted by some microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, such as SEM, AFM, and Raman spectroscopy. For ex situ analysis, the coronas need to be separated from the M/NPs by layer–by–layer extraction methods and detected by various MS–based methods, including LC–MS, ICP–MS, and GC–MS.