ABSTRACT
The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, namely size, shape and surface chemistry, are well correlated with their therapeutic efficacy. A plethora of studies have correlated the size and shape of nanoparticles with their drug and gene delivery properties. Till date, numerous techniques have been made available to quantify these properties. This chapter discusses the various techniques employed for the characterization of nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles are very small in size, they are usually irresolvable by optical microscopy; hence better resolution techniques such as electron microscopy are required for determining their size and shape. Dynamic light scattering measures the temporal fluctuations of the scattered light due to the Brownian motion of the particles when a solution containing the particles is placed in the path of a monochromatic beam of light. Sterility testing of pharmaceutical products provides added assurance that the product is sterile.
