High-Resolution Single Particle Zeta Potential Characterisation of Biological Nanoparticles using Tunable Resistive Pulse Sensing

Physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, such as size, shape, surface charge, density, and porosity play a central role in biological interactions and hence accurate determination of these characteristics is of utmost importance. Here we propose tunable resistive pulse sensing for simultaneous size and surface charge measurements on a particle-by-particle basis, enabling the analysis of a wide spectrum of nanoparticles and their mixtures. Existing methodologies for measuring zeta potential of nanoparticles using resistive pulse sensing are significantly improved by including convection into the theoretical model. The efficacy of this methodology is demonstrated for a range of biological case studies, including measurements of mixed anionic, cationic liposomes, extracellular vesicles in plasma, and in situ time study of DNA immobilisation on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles. The high-resolution single particle size and zeta potential characterisation will provide a better understanding of nano-bio interactions, positively impacting nanomedicine development and their regulatory approval.