Sub-picoliter Traceability of Microdroplet Gravimetry and Microscopy

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel integrated approach combining gravimetry and microscopy for highly precise, traceable measurement of microdroplet volumes around 70 picoliters, with significant improvements over previous methods.

Contribution

The authors develop and validate a combined gravimetry and microscopy technique with SI traceability, achieving sub-picoliter accuracy and precision in microdroplet volume measurement.

Findings

Achieved 95% coverage intervals of +/- 0.6 pL for 70 pL droplets.

Matched previous gravimetry uncertainties, improved microscopy by an order of magnitude.

Demonstrated applications in nanoplastic particle counting and volumetric traceability transfer.

Abstract

Gravimetry typically lacks the resolution to measure single microdroplets, whereas microscopy is often inaccurate beyond the resolution limit. To address these issues, we advance and integrate these complementary methods, introducing simultaneous measurements of the same microdroplets, comprehensive calibrations that are independently traceable to the International System of Units (SI), and Monte-Carlo evaluations of volumetric uncertainty. We achieve sub-picoliter agreement of measurements of microdroplets in flight with volumes of approximately 70 pL, with ensemble gravimetry and optical microscopy both yielding 95% coverage intervals of +/- 0.6 pL, or relative uncertainties of +/- 0.9%, and root-mean-square deviations of mean values between the two methods of 0.2 pL or 0.3%. These uncertainties match previous gravimetry results and improve upon previous microscopy results by an order of magnitude. Gravimetry precision depends on the continuity of droplet formation, whereas microscopy accuracy requires that optical diffraction from an edge reference matches that from a microdroplet. Applying our microscopy method, we jet and image water microdroplets suspending fluorescent nanoplastics, count nanoplastic particles after deposition and evaporation, and transfer volumetric traceability to number concentration. We expect that our methods will impact diverse fields involving dimensional metrology and volumetric analysis of microdroplets, including inkjet microfabrication, disease transmission, and industrial sprays.