The Quant Water Condensation Nucleation Technology

The core technology of Quant Technologies is Water Condensation Particle Counting (WCPC) technology.  WCPC technology is more effective than light scattering techniques which posses a strong dependance on particle size as described by the following equation:

D = DI (C/p)^(1/3)

Where D is the particle size (dependent on particle concentration), C is the analyte concentration, DI is the size of the wet particle, and p is the analyte density.

These size limitations are greatly reduced by WCPC technology, where particles are exposed to supersaturated conditions, effectively "growing"particles.  Particles are grown by saturating the gas surrounding them with a condensible fluid (such as water) which causes water to condense on the surface of the particle.  The result is the dry particle with a shell of water condensed on its surface.  The particle size can be effectively grown to sizes where the light scattering of individual particles can be detected.  In fact, mass increases of up to trillion have been reported.  Since light scattering is a function of mass, a significant increase in signal can be acheived.

The efficiency of particle growth in the condensation chamber is dependent on the size of the initial particle.  Particles above a certain size threshold will all be grown to relatively the same size (limited by evaporation of the condensing fluid off the particle for the given instrument parameters).  Particles below the size threshold (determiend by effective Kelvin Diameter of particle, and given instrumental parameters) will remain uncondensed.  Since particle concentration effectively changes  the size of the particle (and therefore condensation efficiency), a direct correlation between particle concentration and "grown" particles can be made.

At Quant Technologies, we have mastered the Water Condensation Particle Condensation process, and have developed several detectors utilizing this core technology.  These detectors have demonstrated success in a number of fields including environmental monitoring, clean room/air particle analyzers, ultrapure water systems, and HPLC.