A new chemical analysis technique developed by a research group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses the shifting ultrasonic pitch of a small quartz crystal to test the purity of only a few micrograms of material. Because it works with samples close to a thousand times smaller than those used in comparable commercial instruments, the new technique should be an important addition to the growing arsenal of measurement tools for nanotechnology, according to the NIST team.

NIST researcher prepares quartz crystal microbalance disks with samples of carbon nanotubes for microscale thermogravimetric analysis. Typical sample sizes are about 2 microliters, or about 1 microgram.   Credit: Kar, NIST View hi-resolution image

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