Latex particle size distribution by dynamic light scattering: Computer evaluation of two alternative calculation paths

Two calculation paths for estimating the particle size distribution (PSD) of a polymer latex from single-angle dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements are evaluated on the basis of a numerical example. In the more common "double-step method," two calculation steps are applied, with the intermediate estimation of the particle light intensity distribution (PLID). In the "single-step method," the calculation is performed in one operation. From the specification of several PSDs, a mathematical model is used to produce the synthetic measurements. An iterative procedure was applied for determining the diameter range and the number of PSD points. The inversion operations were carried out using a regularization technique. For narrow distributions with diameters in the range 100-1000 nm, the PSD and the PLID are similar in shape, and both calculation paths produce similar results. For broad PSDs in the range 100-1000 nm, and for arbitrary PSDs in the range 10-100 nm (i.e., in the Rayleigh region), the single-step method proved preferable. (C) 2000 Academic Press.