Technical Note: Evaluation of the NanoAerosol Generator by Kanomax FMT Inc. in Aerosolization of Size Standard Nanoparticle and Protein

A new nebulizer called NanoAerosol Generator (NAG) by Kanomax FMT, Inc. was evaluated experimentally in their performance in aerosolizing sub-100 nm particles and sub-10 nm protein molecules which cannot be aerosolized with conventional compressed-air jet nebulizers due to the interference by a number of residue particles. For the challenge particles, 29 nm-polystyrene latex (PSL) particles and bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein molecules were used as sub-100 nm and sub-10 nm test materials, respectively. For both particles, the aerosolization by the NAG was successful with a clear separation between the peak of the challenge particles and the peak of residual particles in the size distribution spectra. The size distributions of aerosolized 29 nm-PSL particles were compared between the NAG and an electrospray aerosol generator (EAG) with liquid samples of the same particle concentration. The EAG showed clearer separation of the PSL peak from the residual peak; on the other hand, the peak height was taller for the NAG by a factor of 6 than for the EAG, which indicated the generation of airborne particles from a liquid suspension/solution of the same concentration was more efficient for the NAG than for the EAG.