Scientists Successfully Used Laser Pointer to Measure Particle Size in Liquid

Russia’s St Petersburg University of Technology announced that its researchers have found a new biological analysis method that uses laser pointer spectral signals to measure the size of nano- and micro-particles in liquids. With this, the research results can be used in the fields of liquid sample analysis, environmental monitoring and liquid technical detection in medical research. The new method has obvious advantages compared with the analysis methods currently applied in practice.

The new method has higher accuracy in measuring the size of particles in the liquid than the traditional method, and the accuracy of the particle composition in the liquid can be increased by 20-60%. Previously, the application of laser spectroscopy was greatly limited because it could only measure particles of the same size in the liquid. Scientists at St Petersburg University of Technology broke through this limitation.

In the analysis of laser spectroscopy information, based on the research results of Soviet mathematics and physicist Andrei Tikhonov-Tikhonov’s canonical law, researchers at the school tried various methods and finally found A new method for fast calculation of nonlinear systems has greatly increased the calculation speed of particle size. Even in a liquid in which particles of multiple components coexist, this method can ensure that the calculation accuracy is sufficiently accurate. At present, the biological analysis method has obtained relevant patents, and the research team will introduce it into practical applications as soon as possible.

A promising result. In order to explore the possibility of further using this method, the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Basque Country, in collaboration with companies in the Basque Country and Piedmont, Italy, conducted a project called Hardlas to test how feasible this process can be. “We can say that this project is successful because we see that it is feasible and can be transferred to industry,” the researcher said.

Although they have tested the feasibility of the process, several steps are still needed to reach the level of industrial production of green laser pointer. One of the main difficulties they encountered was to control the process: it is important to make the processed material reach the required temperature so that the heat treatment can take place, but the temperature cannot be exceeded, otherwise we will melt the material.