Lighter and with a significantly smaller footprint than its predecessor, the system is very easy to install. This is made possible by tool-free assembly and automatic component-recognition. The new product delivers high-resolution and extremely precise data with easily-exchangeable components such as the DMA (Differential Mobility Analyser). The system can measure a wide range of concentrations up to 10^7 particles/cubic centimetres. As a component system it has a range of options; for example, different Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) can be chosen using water or butanol as a working liquid, the user can also choose between a conventional Kr85 neutraliser or a non-radioactive neutraliser.
TSI's SMPS spectrometer is widely used as the standard for measuring airborne particle size distributions. "This system is also routinely used to make accurate nanoparticle size measurements of particles suspended in liquids." states TSI's Nathalie Cholin. "This high standard is maintained by TSI's 3938 model, the third generation of the SMPS systems which have been providing reliable services to research for over 30 years."
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses a TSI DMA to size 60 nm and 100 nm standard size reference materials. SMPS spectrometer sizing is a discreet technique in which number concentrations are measured directly without assuming the shape of the particle size distribution. The method is independent of the refractive index of the particle or fluid, and has a high degree of absolute sizing accuracy and measurement repeatability.
There are numerous applications for the new SMPS: In addition to nanotechnology research and materials synthesis, the spectrometer is also used in atmospheric studies and environmental monitoring; combustion research; engine exhaust studies; indoor air quality measurements; nucleation/condensation and inhalation toxicology studies.