简介:Thereisaneedtostandardizemethodsassociatedwiththedispersionofnanomaterialsinnano(eco)toxicologicalinvestigations.Thefirststeptowardthisgoalistounderstandthedegreeofvariabilitythatexistsinnanomaterialdispersionspreparedbyusingdifferentprotocols.Usingtwocasestudies,thedegreeofvariabilityinTiO2nanomaterialdispersionswasassessedbydifferentialcentrifugalsedimentation(DCS)methods.Casestudy1addressesthevariabilitythatarisesfromvariationswithinoneprotocol,investigatingtheeffectsofdispersionaging,sonicationexposuretime,sonicationinthepresence/absenceofanicebath,materialsubsampling,particleconcentrationandhavingapre-wettingstep.Casestudy2addressesthevariabilitybetweenfourdifferentprotocolsdevelopedthroughpastresearchactivitiesandprojects.Theresultsindicatethatthereisalargedegreeofvariability(relativestandarddeviation(RSD)ofmeanparticlediameter=26%)inthedispersionofTiO2nanomaterialsbetweenthefourdifferentprotocolsstudiedandthatseveralstepsinadispersionprotocolarepotentialsourcesofvariation,withfinalparticleconcentrationbeingthemostsignificant.Theimplicationofthisstudyisclear:forthepurposeofdatacomparability,thereisaneedtoprovidetheexactdetailsofallstepsinvolvedinadispersionprotocol.