A Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) for soft nanoparticle collection

Many nanoparticle collection devices have limitations related to retention of particle integrity from bounce, shattering, or aggregation. Suspensions of soft nanoparticles (e.g. proteins, lipids) are required for drug delivery and therapy. To enable direct collection of soft nanoparticles into liquid media, a Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) was designed and evaluated in this work. Different sections were used for ion generation and particle charging, for minimal contact between the corona wire and particles, which were charged using positive nitrogen ions. WESP dimensions and operating parameters were optimized using charge distribution modeling. The prototype WESP was designed for operation with a continuous flow of liquid over the collection plate, to allow continuous particle collection from the exit stream of an aerosol reactor. The collection efficiency of the WESP, in dry and wet modes, was measured using aerosols of monodisperse Polystyrene Latex (PSL), polydisperse sucrose and stearic acid (soft lipid) particles, through SMPS measurements, corrected for diffusional losses, at the entry and exit of the device. Measured collection efficiency was 70%–90% for particles of sizes 80–600 nm diameter in reasonable agreement with theoretical estimates. However, for small particles (20–80 nm diameter) measured collection efficiency ranged 40%–70%, significantly lower than theoretical estimates, possibly from incomplete neutralization of negative charges attained during air-jet atomization. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) measurements confirm that wet collection produces a suspension of free, unaggregated nanoparticles with sizes similar to their measured mean mobility diameter