Atomizers enable the production of aerosols by spraying droplets of water or a solution. A solution containing the compounds of which particles are to be produced is drawn from a closed bottle connected to the atomizer. Pressurised VOC- and particle-free air is fed to the main unit and expanded through a small nozzle. This creates a jet of high velocity, and upon entry, liquid is atomized into droplets. Larger droplets impact on the inner back wall and run back to the solution bottle, while smaller droplets continue onwards within the air flow through the output of the atomizer. Subsequently, the aerosol flow is dried by silica diffusion dryers so that the water evaporates and the solid residual is left as aerosol particles. This procedure produces aerosols with particles in the nanometer regime.