A comparison of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods to characterize nanoparticle size distributions

This paper compares the accuracy of conventional dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for characterizing size distributions of polystyrene nanoparticles in the size range of 20–100 nm. Average DLS values for monosize dispersed particles are slightly higher than the nominal values whereas AFM values were slightly lower than nominal values. Bimodal distributions were easily identified with AFM, but DLS results were skewed toward larger particles. AFM characterization of nanoparticles using automated analysis software provides an accurate and rapid analysis for nanoparticle characterization and has advantages over DLS for non-monodispersed solutions.