Guides from the Lab
Practical guides to characterising nanomaterials — what each technique measures, what it cannot tell you, and how to read the result — plus material notes on graphene, carbon nanotubes and quantum dots.
A Researcher's Guide to Characterising Nanomaterials: Key Techniques and What They Tell You
Start here. One page on what each technique measures, what it cannot tell you, and which one answers the question you actually have.
Raman Spectroscopy of Carbon Nanomaterials: Reading the D, G and 2D Bands
Raman is the fastest, cheapest and most abused quality-control measurement in carbon nanomaterials. Here is what the D, G and 2D bands actually tell you about defects and layer count — and the three places the numbers everyone quotes stop meaning what they are said to mean.
How to Read a Nanomaterial Certificate of Analysis
A certificate of analysis is the document you receive, cannot verify, and were never taught to interrogate. This walks a nanomaterial CoA line by line — which numbers are measured and which are inherited, which technique produced each one, and the five questions to send back before you order.
BET Surface Area Analysis for Nanopowders: What the Number Means
Specific surface area is a price-determining specification for nanopowders, and one of the few characterisation numbers hard to fudge. Here is what BET actually measures, the degas step that quietly invalidates it, and why converting square metres per gram into a particle diameter lies about every real powder.
DLS, NTA or TEM: Which Particle Sizing Method Should You Trust?
Three techniques, one sample, three different answers — and none of them is wrong. This explains what each method actually weights, why a sixth-power dependence makes DLS see aggregates that are barely there, and how to decide which number belongs in your specification.
XPS for Nanomaterials: Surface Chemistry, Oxidation State and What 10 nm Means
XPS answers the question every other technique dodges: what is the surface actually made of. It is also the technique most often misread on a supplier datasheet, because a sampling depth of several nanometres on a twenty-nanometre particle is not a surface measurement in the way the word implies.
Storing and Handling Nanomaterials Safely
Dry nanopowder handling is the riskiest operation in most nanomaterials laboratories, and mass concentration is the wrong metric for judging it. A practical guide to controls, storage and disposal — written to sit beside your safety data sheet and institutional risk assessment, not to replace either.
TGA for Nanomaterials: Purity, Loading and Thermal Stability
Thermogravimetric analysis is the cheapest purity check a laboratory can run, and the one whose result is most often reported wrong. The residue after burning a carbon nanotube sample in air is metal oxide, not metal — and that single conversion changes the catalyst figure on the certificate.
Zeta Potential: What the Number Means and When It Lies
Plus or minus 30 millivolts is quoted everywhere as the threshold for a stable colloid. It is a rule of thumb from one stabilisation mechanism, and pH, ionic strength and the conversion from mobility to potential all break it. Here is what the number is, and the five situations where it misleads.
Graphene, Graphene Oxide or Reduced Graphene Oxide: Which One Do You Need?
Three materials are sold under one word, and they behave nothing alike. Graphene conducts and will not disperse in water; graphene oxide disperses beautifully and insulates; reduced graphene oxide is a compromise that never fully recovers. A buyer's guide to telling them apart and choosing between them.
TEM vs SEM for Nanomaterials: Which Microscope Answers Your Question
Both instruments use electrons and both produce images, and there the similarity ends. One looks at a surface, the other looks through a specimen — and the choice is decided by the question you are asking, not by which resolution number is larger.
X-Ray Diffraction for Nanomaterials: Phase Analysis, Crystal Structure, and Size Determination
XRD is one of the most powerful and widely available techniques for characterising crystalline nanomaterials. This guide explains how to read an XRD pattern, apply the Scherrer equation, and extract everything a diffractogram can tell you.
Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Zeta Potential: Complete Guide for Nanotechnology Researchers
DLS and zeta potential measurements are the essential first-line characterisation for any colloidal nanoparticle system. Learn what these measurements actually mean, why they matter, and how to interpret them correctly.
Scanning Electron Microscopy for Nanomaterials: Principles, Modes, and Applications
SEM provides high-resolution surface images of nanomaterials, nanostructured coatings, and nano-enabled devices. This guide covers everything from instrument operation to interpreting the images you get back from the lab.
Transmission Electron Microscopy in Nanotechnology: The Complete Guide
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides atomic-resolution images of nanomaterials — revealing crystal structure, defects, interfaces, and elemental composition at scales no other technique can match. Here is everything you need to know.
A Researcher's Guide to Characterising Nanomaterials: Key Techniques and What They Tell You
TEM, DLS, BET, XRD, Raman, XPS — nanomaterial characterisation is a discipline in itself. This practical guide explains what each technique measures and when to use it, without the textbook jargon.
Nanomedicine in 2026: How Nanoparticles Are Transforming Drug Delivery and Cancer Treatment
From liposomal doxorubicin approved in 1995 to mRNA-LNP vaccines delivering billions of doses — nanomedicine has quietly become one of the most impactful fields in modern pharmaceutical science.
Gold Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Unique Properties, and Biomedical Applications
Gold nanoparticles exhibit optical, electronic, and catalytic properties that bulk gold does not. From cancer diagnostics to lateral flow assays to drug delivery, AuNPs are one of nanomedicine's most versatile tools.
Quantum Dots: The Semiconductor Nanocrystals Powering Next-Generation Displays and Diagnostics
Quantum dots are revolutionising display technology and transforming fluorescent bioassays. This guide explains what they are, why their colour is tunable, and where they are changing industries.
Carbon Nanotubes Explained: Types, Properties, and Real-World Uses
Single-walled, multi-walled, functionalized — the carbon nanotube family offers a remarkable range of properties. This guide cuts through the complexity to help you choose and use CNTs effectively.
Graphene: Properties, Applications, and Why It Still Matters in 2026
Nearly two decades after its Nobel Prize-winning isolation, graphene continues to reshape industries from electronics to energy storage. Here is what you need to know about the world's thinnest material.