Feasibility study to design a particle deposition unit utilizing electrophoresis for off-line measurements

Nanoparticles are widely used in various applications such as catalysts, mechanical polishing, composite materials, size standards, and structural templates. For those applications, sometimes it is necessary to sample nanoparticles onto clean substrates and onto a designated area. In this article, electrophoresis is demonstrated as a very feasible method to sample the desired number of particles onto a specific area of a substrate without contamination problems. In addition, an analytical equation was derived for estimation of deposition area, and compared with the experimental results. Pure copper particles generated by spray pyrolysis were used for size-classifications and depositions. Particle depositions were performed at 2,000 V and 7,000 V, and light scattering parameters from those deposited samples were measured; results showed good agreement of deposition area between estimations and measurements. Therefore, the use of the electrophoresis is promising in sampling particulates onto clean substrates without contamination and onto the designated sampling area with controlled number density.