Methods and systems for detecting or collecting particles

1. An apparatus for detecting or collecting nanoparticles, the apparatus comprising:

a charger to electrically charge at least some of the particles;

a collector to collect at least some of the charged particles; and

a processor to obtain information indicative of an amount of the detected/collected particles based on measured electrical charges of the charged particles; wherein the collector is configured to measure electrical pulses caused by the collected charged particles, wherein the measured electrical pulses are above a pulse threshold, wherein the collector comprises an electrical pulse detector configured to measure electrical charges based on at least one of a Coulomb repulsion between charged particles, a movement of a charged particle in a magnetic field, a movement of a charged particle in an electric field, or a change in capacitance due to the charged particles.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a diluter to reduce a density of the particles being measured.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the diluter comprises a plurality of grading chambers.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of connectors between two of the plurality of grading chambers, wherein the plurality of connectors each have a different diameter.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the diluter comprises a sub-chamber and a vacuum valve, wherein the one of the plurality of grading chambers is configured to be evacuated through the vacuum valve, and wherein the sub-chamber is configured to release its content into the one of the plurality of grading chambers to have a diluted content.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the diluter comprises a plurality of grading channels, each having a different diameter.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the particles have sizes of about 0.1 nm to about 1000 nm.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the collector comprises a conductive curved shell configured to have the charged particles move along a surface thereof.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the charged particles are configured to be dispersed throughout the surface of the conductive curved shell by a Columbic repulsion.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the collector comprises:

a conductive mesh to collect the charged particles; and

at least one of an electric field generator and a magnetic field generator to modify trajectories of the charged particles.

11. A method of detecting or collecting nanoparticles, the method comprising:

electrically charging at least some of the particles in a flow;

collecting at least some of the charged particles; and

obtaining information indicative of an amount of the detected/collected particles based on electrical charges of the collected charged particles; further comprising measuring the electrical charges, wherein the measuring comprises detecting current pulses caused by the collected charged particles, and wherein the detecting is based on at least one of a Coulomb repulsion between charged particles, a movement of charged particles in a magnetic field, movement of charged particles in an electric field, or a change in capacitance due to the charged particles.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining a detection threshold of the current pulses.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

measuring electrical charges at a plurality of locations; and

processing measured data from the plurality of locations using a single processor.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising dispersing the charged particles over a curved conductive shell.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the curved conductive shell has a semispherical surface.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the dispersing is through a Coulomb repulsion.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising diluting a density of the particles in the flow using a plurality of grading chambers.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising modifying trajectories of the charged particles with at least one of an electric field or a magnetic field.