Innovative Emulsion Polymerization Manufacture of Dual-Function, Nanoscale, Calibration Spheres Over the Range of 100 to 400 nm Diameter

This proposal seeks to extend the Company’s existing ability to manufacture 100 nm polystyrene latex (PSL) size standards to include 200 and 400 nm latexes. We also propose to add accurate particle concentration data to all the size standards. A given, dual-function product will serve as both a size standard and a particle concentration reference material. Both these end uses require the latex particles be spherical, and the particle size distribution (PSD) of the latex be as narrow as possible. The narrowness of the PSD is a measure of the quality of the latex product. The justification of these requirements is given in the Technical Section of the proposal. Colloidal Metrics Corporation (CMC) has established itself as a world-class manufacturer of PSL standards by producing the highest quality (narrowest PSD) 100 nm latex that the PML Division of NIST has ever measured. The previous benchmark of high quality is the discontinued SRM 1963, which has a PSD standard deviation (SD) of 1.7%. The new benchmark latex is the CMC 100 nm PSL with a SD of 1.4%. The current NIST 100 nm product is SRM 1963a with SD of 2.1%. The details of how CMC manufactures it’s 100 nm standard and how we plan to duplicate or exceed this superior quality for 200 and 400 nm latexes are proprietary and presented in the Technical Section.