Researchers studying the biological effects of combustion particles typically rely on suspending particles in de-ionized (DI) water, buffer, and/or media prior to in vitro or in vivo experiments. However, the… Click to show full abstract
Researchers studying the biological effects of combustion particles typically rely on suspending particles in de-ionized (DI) water, buffer, and/or media prior to in vitro or in vivo experiments. However, the hydrophobic nature of combustion particles makes it difficult to obtain well-suspended, evenly dispersed mixtures, which also makes it difficult to obtain equivalent dosing and endpoint comparisons. This study explored the use of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to measure the mass concentration of combustion particle suspensions. It compared the QCM mass concentration to that estimated by placing a known mass of combustion particles in DI water. It also evaluated the effect of drop volume and combustion particle type on QCM measurements. The results showed that QCM is a promising direct method for measuring suspended combustion particle mass concentrations, and it is particularly effective for quantifying concentrations of difficult-to-suspend particles and for combustion particles placed in polystyrene containers, which can lead to substantial particle losses.
               
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