Precise Analysis of Nanoparticle Size Distribution in TEM Image

• Published in: Methods and protocols Vol. 6; no. 4; p. 63
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shan, Wang, Chao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.07.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Accuracy; Brief Report; Ethanol; Image processing; ImageJ; Microscopes; Microscopy; nanoparticle; Nanoparticles; Particle size; Size distribution; Software; Software utilities; transmission electron microscope; Transmission electron microscopes; United States > US; ImageJ; nanoparticle; size distribution; transmission electron microscope
• ISSN: 2409-9279; 2409-9279
• DOI: 10.3390/mps6040063

As an essential characterization, size distribution is an important indicator for the synthesis, optimization, and application of nanoparticles. Electron microscopes such as transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) are commonly utilized to collect size information on nanoparticles. However, the current popular statistical method of manually measuring large particles one by one, using a ruler tool in the corresponding image analysis software is time-consuming and can introduce manual errors. Moreover, it is difficult to determine the measurement interval for irregularly shaped nanoparticles. Therefore, it is necessary to use an efficient and standard method to perform size distribution analysis of nanoparticles. In this work, we use basic ImageJ software (1.53 t) to analyze the size of typical silica nanoparticles in a TEM image and use Origin software to process the data, to obtain its accurate distribution quickly. Using it as a template, we believe that this work can provide a paradigm for the standardized analysis of nanoparticle size.