Aerosol Generation of Nonspherical Particles by Desublimation of Copper Phthalocyanine.

A novel generator for a defined test aerosol consisting of nonspherical particles was developed based on the desublimation of copper phthalocyanine during adiabatic cooling. Employing a brush disperser, copper phthalocyanine powder is dosed and dispersed in a nitrogen flow and sublimated in a tube furnace. Downstream the furnace new particles are formed due to the adiabatic expansion and the desublimation of the material in a laval nozzle. The generated particles were characterized employing a scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerosol particle mass analyzer to determine the size distribution and the dynamic shape factor. For the operating parameters of the generator examined here, particles with a mobility diameter between 30 and 600 nm were generated. The measured values for the dynamic shape factor of the particles were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy analysis. The aerosol generator uses the desublimation of copper phthalocyanine to generate airborne nonspherical particle structures. An analysis of the generated particles by scanning electron microscopy and by measuring the dynamic shape factor provides information about the particle structure. The generated particles show a fibrous shape which can be affected by the operating parameters of the generator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]