Nano- and Microtechnology from A - Z: From Nanosystems to Colloids and Interfaces

B

Background Aerosol

Atmospheric aerosols that occur in the free troposphere (above the clouds). For practical purposes, these are sometimes taken to be the aerosols that occur at altitudes above 5 km. See also Atmospheric Aerosol and Table 10.

Backscattered Electrons

In electron spectroscopy, such as AES, electrons originally from the incident beam that are emitted after interaction with a target.

Backscattering

See Light Scattering.

Bacteria

Small single-celled microorganisms, typically between 200 and 2000 nm in diameter or length. They can form stable colloidal dispersions in water because they tend to have a net negative surface charge.

Baffle Chamber

A kind of settling chamber for treating aerosols, which are forced to abruptly change direction in order to flow around a baffle plate within a flow chamber. This provides an opportunity for the particles or droplets to sediment out.

Bag-House Filters

Industrial-size filtration devices or plants used to treat aerosols. The aerosol to be cleaned is passed through the exterior surfaces of filter tubes (“bags”). The cleaned gas then flows out from within the filter bags. Industrial bag-house filters can be huge, with effective filter areas of thousands of square metres.

Balsam of Fir

See Canada Balsam.

Bamboo-Concentric Multiwall Nanotube

(bc-MWNT) See Carbon Nanotube.

Bamboo Foam

A descriptive term for foam that is confined in a narrow diameter tube, or channel, so that the foam films (lamellae) are arranged ...