An Analysis of Nanoparticle Settling Times in Liquids

Abstract EN

Aggregation and settling are crucial phenomena involving particle suspensions.

For suspensions with larger than millimeter-size particles, there are fairly accurate tools to predict settling rates.

However for smaller particles, in particular micro-to-nanosizes, there is a gap in knowledge.

This paper develops an analytical method to predict the settling rates of micro-to-nanosized particle suspensions.

The method is a combination of classical equations and graphical methods.

Validated using the experimental data in literature, it was found that the new method shows an order of magnitude accuracy.

A remarkable feature of this method is its ability to accommodate aggregates of nonspherical shapes and of different fractal dimensions.