Impact of Humidity on Silica Nanoparticle Agglomerate Morphology and Size Distribution.

The effect of humidity on flame-made metal oxide agglomerate morphology and size distribution is investigated, for the first time to our knowledge, and compared to that on soot, which has been widely studied. Understanding the impact of humidity on such characteristics is essential for storage, handling, processing, and eventual performance of nanomaterials. More specifically, broadly used agglomerates of flame-made silica nanoparticles are humidified at various saturation ratios, S = 0.