Using NIST (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Using NIST

Caption

NIST researchers simulate "sun and rain" to determine if weathering causes polymer coatings to release the nanoparticles they contain into the environment. On the left, Li-Piin Sung places a commercially available polymer with silicon dioxide nanoparticles into a chamber of the NIST SPHERE, a device for accelerated weathering that in one day subjects samples to the equivalent of 10-15 days of outdoor exposure. On the right, Deborah Jacobs applies "NIST simulated rain" to the weathered sample to collect any shed nanoparticles in the runoff.

Credit

Fran Webber/NIST

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