Detection and characterization of nanoparticles in suspension at low concentrations using the X-ray total scattering pair distribution function technique.

Difference atomic pair distribution function methods have been applied to detect and characterize nanoparticles suspended in a solvent at very dilute concentrations. We specifically consider nanoparticles of a pharmaceutical compound in aqueous solution using X-ray PDF methods, a challenging case due to the low atomic number of the nanoparticle species. The nanoparticles were unambiguously detected at the level of 0.25 wt%. Even at these low concentrations the signals were highly reproducible, allowing for reliable detection and quantitative analysis of the nanoparticle structure.