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Using inert tracer particles to measure the microrheology of solutions by Diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) (CAT#: STEM-MB-0840-WXH)

Introduction

It is possible to use inert tracer particles to measure the microrheology of solutions (such as of polysaccharides) that do not themselves scatter light sufficiently to be amenable to measurement by DWS. In such a case, the addition of inert tracer particles (such as polystyrene latices) can create sufficient turbidity to allow DWS to be used. In principle, the motion of these particles can be used to describe the microrheology of the transparent viscous or gelling solution.




Principle

Diffusing-wave spectroscopy (DWS) is an optical technique derived from dynamic light scattering (DLS) that studies the dynamics of scattered light in the limit of strong multiple scattering. DWS is able to give information about the local dynamics of particle dispersion in a highly turbid medium. It has been widely used in the past to study colloidal suspensions, emulsions, foams, gels, biological media, and other forms of soft matter. If carefully calibrated, DWS allows the quantitative measurement of microscopic motion in a soft material, from which the rheological properties of the complex medium can be extracted via the microrheology approach.
The technique of DWS depends on the scattering of light from highly turbid suspensions. A sample of the suspension is illuminated by light from a laser and the incoming photons are multiply scattered. This scattered light is detected and subjected to autocorrelation analysis.

Applications

• Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy (DWS) is an advanced light scattering technique, which is primarily applied for microrheology and particle sizing.
• DWS has been applied in biomedical and clinical areas, especially in monitoring cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Procedure

1. Sample Preparation
2. Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy Testing
3. Data analysis

Materials

• Diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS) instrument
• DWS RheoLab
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