TY - JOUR A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Reliable physico–chemical characterisation of graphene-related and other 2D materials: present and future N2 - In the path of commercialisation of graphene-related and other 2D materials the consolidation has begun. In this phase, it is important to build trust between the individual partners in the product value chain. This requires trustworthy statements based on reliable and reproducible material characterisation. The first steps have been taken to measure graphene and other related 2D materials (GR2Ms) under well-defined conditions. Measurands and protocols for key methods were made available for this purpose. But there are still some challenges to overcome such as (i) reference materials, (ii) reference data, (iii) reproducibility throughout the workflow, (iv) credible structure-activity relationships, bringing the standards to (v) the factory floor and to (vi) real-word products. In addition, 2D materials beyond graphene should also be considered exploiting the knowledge gained from the characterisation of GR2M. KW - 2D Materials KW - Commercialisation KW - Standardisation KW - Trust PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638122 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/aded9d SN - 2053-1583 VL - 12 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-63812 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Mühlbauer, Michaela A1 - Rossi, Andrea A1 - Pellegrino, Francesco A1 - Zurutuza, Amaia A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Meier, Florian A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Morphological Analysis of Graphene Oxide by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Correlative Field-flow Fractionation Coupled with Multi-angle Light Scattering N2 - In this paper graphene related 2D materials (GR2M) arre investigated by centrifugal field flow fractioning (CF3) and SEM. Three materials were selected as case studies (CS): graphene „HD-G (CS I), graphene oxide UniTo“ (CS II), and graphene oxide „Graphenea“ (CS III). For CS I particles were evaluated as constituent particles in agglomerates, for the other two materials only isolated (non aggregated/agglomerated) flakes were considered for determination of the area equivalent circular diameter (ECD). Size analysis of all three materials was carried out by CF3 coupled with MALS (Multi-Angle Light Scattering). For evaluation, it was found that the data obtained was best suited to a disc model. Results are in good agreement when compared to the sizes obtained before CF3 analysis. CS II material is too heterogenous to accurately determine flake size by imaging. CF3 coupled with MALS enables to assess fractions within the highly heterogenous material of CS II. Imaging of the material in CS III after CF3 measurement indicates that the procedure is non-destructive. This could not be verified for the CS‘s I & II As a next step we plan to analyse the fractionated samples by imaging them within a SEM wet-cell. KW - 2D Materials KW - SEM KW - Centrifugal field flow fractionation (CF3) KW - Imaging KW - Size distribution PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/mam/ozaf048.222 VL - 31 IS - 7 SP - 442 EP - 443 PB - Oxford Academic AN - OPUS4-63804 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Go, Eun Sul A1 - Hong, Eun Ji A1 - Lee, Ji Yeong A1 - Stolar, Tomislav A1 - Peterson, Gregory I. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska L. A1 - Kim, Kyoungsoo A1 - Kim, Jeung Gon T1 - Insights into Mechanochemical Solid-State Ball-Milling Reaction: Monitoring Transition from Heterogeneous to Homogeneous Conditions N2 - As mechanochemical synthesis has advanced significantly, there has been intense interest in understanding the underlying mechanisms of these reactions. Given that many mechanochemical processes are conducted in the solid-state without solvation yet sometimes yield faster reactions than those in solution, we sought to address the following question: Are mechanochemical reactions homo- or heterogeneous? To investigate, we employed a model system involving the mixing and copolymerization of l-lactide (LLA) and d-lactide (DLA), monitored through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), nuclear magnetic resonance, and differential scanning calorimetry. In situ and ex situ PXRD analyses of the mixture of LLA and DLA showed that vibratory ball milling rapidly transformed the initially heterogeneous lactide mixture into a homogeneous phase within one min due to collisions between the balls and the jar. By varying the milling conditions, we were able to regulate the level of mixing, which subsequently influenced the copolymerization outcomes. In the solid-state ball-milling copolymerization of LLA and DLA in the presence of a catalyst and initiator, multiblock copolymers of poly(l-lactic acid) and poly(d-lactic acid) were formed within one min during the early stage of the reaction, when incomplete mixing of the monomers led to a process governed by phase heterogeneity. In contrast, prolonged polymerization promoted conditions approaching homogeneity, ultimately yielding atactic poly(lactic acid). This transition from heterogeneous to homogeneous reactions is a distinctive feature compared to conventional homogeneous reactions, potentially leading to mechano-exclusive reaction designs. KW - Mechanochemistry KW - Ball-milling KW - Homogeneous reaction KW - Heterogeneous reaction PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638008 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.5c00322 SN - 2691-3704 VL - 5 IS - 6 SP - 2720 EP - 2727 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-63800 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Yanchen A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Montoro, Luciano A. A1 - Liu, Hao A1 - Liu, Ye A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Russo, Patrícia A. A1 - Pinna, Nicola T1 - A partially disordered crystallographic shear block structure as fast-charging negative electrode material for lithium-ion batteries N2 - A well-ordered crystalline structure is crucial in battery electrodes, as the dimensionality and connectivity of the interstitial sites inherently influence Li+ ions diffusion kinetics. Niobium tungsten oxides block structures, composed of ReO3-type blocks of specific sizes with well-defined metal sites, are promising fast-charging negative electrode materials. Structural disorder is generally detrimental to conductivity or ion transport. However, here, we report an anomalous partially disordered Nb12WO33 structure that significantly enhances Li-ion storage performance compared to the known monoclinic Nb12WO33 phase. The partially disordered phase consists of corner-shared NbO6 octahedra blocks of varied sizes, including 5×4, 4×4, and 4×3, with a disordered arrangement of distorted WO4 tetrahedra at the corners of the blocks. This structural arrangement is robust during lithiation/delithiation, exhibiting minor local structure changes during cycling. It enables accelerated Li-ion migration, resulting in promising fast-charging performance, namely, 62.5 % and 44.7 % capacity retention at 20 C and 80 C, respectively. This study highlights the benefits of introducing disorder into niobium tungsten oxide shear structures, through the establishment of clear structure-performance correlations, offering guidelines for designing materials with targeted properties. KW - Lithium ion batteries KW - Oxides KW - XANES KW - XRD PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637994 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61646-9 SN - 2041-1723 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-63799 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leidigkeit, Carolin A1 - Shokr, Mohammad A1 - Tosson, Amir A1 - Cakir, Cafer Tufan A1 - Radtke, Martin A1 - Pietsch, Ullrich A1 - Christ, Hans-Jürgen T1 - Using Energy-Dispersive Laue Diffraction to Study Dislocation Arrangements in Materials Showing Wavy and Planar Slip Behavior N2 - The present work shows an approach to monitor the evolution of the dislocation arrangement of a metallic material caused by cyclic plastic strain using white X-ray radiation in combination with an energy-dispersive detector. The method is demonstrated by single-shot experiments performed on polycrystalline nickel and α-brass, representing the pure wavy and the pure planar dislocation slip behavior. To correlate the resulting diffraction patterns with various dislocation arrangements of both metals, fatigue tests were carried out up to certain numbers of cycles and at predetermined plastic strain amplitudes. The differences in dislocation microstructure and internal stress distributions give rise to an appreciable change in the peak shape of Laue reflections, leading to unique characteristics in the respective diffraction patterns. Nickel reflections are elongated due to the high amount of cell structures leading to bending and misorientation of the lattice, whereas the present stacking faults in α-brass result in powder-like diffraction. KW - Slip behavior KW - Energy-Dispersive KW - Laue Diffraction KW - Dislocation PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637964 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/ffe.14535 SN - 1460-2695 VL - 48 IS - 3 SP - 1341 EP - 1351 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-63796 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhuang, Yiling A1 - Haderlein, Stefan B. A1 - Lutze, Holger V. A1 - Sun, Chen A1 - Fink, Friedrich A1 - Paul, Andrea A1 - Spahr, Stephanie T1 - Persulfate activation by biochar for trace organic contaminant removal from urban stormwater N2 - Persistent and mobile trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in urban stormwater are difficult to remove through sedimentation- or sorption-based treatment and pose a risk to aquatic ecosystems and drinking water supplies. We demonstrate that the chemical oxidant peroxydisulfate (PDS) can be activated by shrimp shell biochar at pH 7 to form reactive species that selectively react with widespread stormwater contaminants. Of 11 TrOCs tested, oxidative transformation was observed for 1,3-diphenylguanidine, 2-hydroxybenzothiazole, 1H-benzotriazole, 5-methyl-benzotriazole, and diuron during water treatment with biochar and PDS. Laboratory batch experiments conducted with street runoff and a synthetic water showed that the water matrix, containing up to 7.5 mg L-1 dissolved organic carbon and 100 mM chloride, had a minor effect on the formation of reactive species and contaminant transformation. Using a set of scavengers and probe compounds, we provide evidence for singlet oxygen (1O2) as the predominant reactive species in the biochar/PDS system, which is in agreement with the selectivity of the process to oxidize electron-rich organic contaminants. The results of our study inform new strategies for stormwater treatment using heterogeneous oxidation processes for the abatement of persistent and mobile organic contaminants. KW - Stormwater treatment KW - Oxidation processes KW - Pyrogenic carbon PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637952 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2025.123921 SN - 0043-1354 VL - 284 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-63795 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Zurutuza, Amaia A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Standardized Chemical Composition Analysis of Graphene Oxide Flakes with SEM/EDS and XPS Works Reliably N2 - Suspensions of graphene-related 2D materials (GR2M) are broadly used for further applications like printable electronics. The reliable quantification of the composition of graphene-related 2D materials as liquid suspensions is still a challenging task, which can hinder the commercialisation of the products. Specific parameters to be measured are defined, e.g. the oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) concentration ratio, the trace metal impurities, or the functional groups present, but reference protocols are still missing. One of the central methods for the quantification is X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a rather expensive method. Therefore, the development of cheaper alternatives is highly desired. One attractive alternative of XPS is energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) which is usually coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This combination is one of the most widely used methods in analytical laboratories. In this contribution the results of a systematic study on the capability of SEM/EDS to reliably quantify the O/C ratio in a well-defined and well-characterized graphene oxide material are presented. The robustness of the SEM/EDS results obtained at various measurement conditions (various excitation energies) is tested by comparing the results to the established XPS analysis, which has been carried out on the same samples. It is demonstrated that for samples prepared by drop-casting on a substrate, both surface-sensitive XPS analysis and bulk-characterising EDS result in very similar elemental composition of oxygen and carbon for thick spots. Further, the effect of untight deposited material enabling co-analysis of the (silicon) substrate, is evaluated for both methods, XPS and EDS. The last results clearly show the influence of the substrate on the analysis of the results and stressed out the importance of the sample preparation. KW - EDS KW - Light elements KW - XPS/HAXPES KW - Graphene oxide KW - Quantification KW - Standardisation PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/mam/ozaf048.267 VL - 31 IS - 7 SP - 531 EP - 532 PB - Oxford Aacademic AN - OPUS4-63792 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Amariamir, Sasan A1 - George, Janine A1 - Benner, Philipp T1 - SynCoTrain: a dual classifier PU-learning framework for synthesizability prediction N2 - Material discovery is a cornerstone of modern science, driving advancements in diverse disciplines from biomedical technology to climate solutions. Predicting synthesizability, a critical factor in realizing novel materials, remains a complex challenge due to the limitations of traditional heuristics and thermodynamic proxies. While stability metrics such as formation energy offer partial insights, they fail to account for kinetic factors and technological constraints that influence synthesis outcomes. These challenges are further compounded by the scarcity of negative data, as failed synthesis attempts are often unpublished or context-specific. We present SynCoTrain, a semi-supervised machine learning model designed to predict the synthesizability of materials. SynCoTrain employs a co-training framework leveraging two complementary graph convolutional neural networks: SchNet and ALIGNN. By iteratively exchanging predictions between classifiers, SynCoTrain mitigates model bias and enhances generalizability. Our approach uses Positive and Unlabeled (PU) learning to address the absence of explicit negative data, iteratively refining predictions through collaborative learning. The model demonstrates robust performance, achieving high recall on internal and leave-out test sets. By focusing on oxide crystals, a well-characterized material family with extensive experimental data, we establish SynCoTrain as a reliable tool for predicting synthesizability while balancing dataset variability and computational efficiency. This work highlights the potential of co-training to advance high-throughput materials discovery and generative research, offering a scalable solution to the challenge of synthesizability prediction. KW - Synthesizability KW - Accelerated Materials Design KW - Materials Acceleration Platforms KW - Materials Design KW - Materials Discovery KW - Co-training PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637907 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D4DD00394B SN - 2635-098X VL - 4 IS - 6 SP - 1437 EP - 1448 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-63790 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Purohit, Akash M A1 - Patel, Rishi I A1 - Bhatt, Vidhi A1 - Mosaffa, Elias A1 - Bhattacharya, Biswajit A1 - Manna, Arun K A1 - Iyer, Bragadish A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Banerjee, Atanu T1 - Solvent induced ligand transmuted substituted pyrazole housed copper complexes: Synthesis, characterization, DFT and anti-microbial performance N2 - Pyrazole-based ligand systems 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (L1) and 1-hydroxymethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazole (L2OH) were synthesized and utilized to form copper complexes in various solvent environments. The ligand L2OH exhibits significant solvent-induced ligand transformation in polar protic solvent. The structural and electronic characteristics of the synthesized complexes were elucidated by X-ray single crystallography, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and electronic spectroscopy (UV-VIS). Whereas the ligand transformation has been evidenced from FTIR and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, Density Functional Theory (DFT) highlights the pivotal role of solvent effects in modulating ligand transformations and complex formation, contributing to the rational design of metal-based bioactive compounds. Electronic transitions of the metal complexes have been analysed by time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations. The findings reinforce the significance of transition metal complexes in the development of antimicrobial agents and metallo-pharmaceuticals. The synthesized pyrazole compounds showed 100% inhibition against bacterial strains Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis and the yeast Candida albicans at a concentration ranging from 3.9 to 62.5 µg/ml depending upon the strain tested. KW - Pyrazole derivatives KW - Antibacterial and antifungal activity KW - Solvent induced ligand transformation Copper complexes KW - DFT study PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2025.143001 SN - 0022-2860 VL - 1345 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-63746 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gawek, Marcel A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Molecular Mobility of Thin Films and the Adsorbed Layer of Poly(2-vinylpyridine) N2 - The molecular dynamics of thin films and the adsorbed layer of poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) were investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Thin films of P2VP were prepared on silicon substrates and characterized to understand the influence of film thickness on the thermal glass transition temperature (Tg) and molecular mobility. The ellipsometric study revealed a decrease in Tg with decreasing film thickness, attributed to the enhanced mobility at the polymer/air interface. The adsorbed layer, prepared via the solvent leaching approach, exhibited a higher Tg compared to the bulk, indicating reduced molecular mobility due to strong polymer substrate interactions. The dielectric measurements were carried out in two different electrode configurations, crossed electrode capacitors (CEC) and nanostructured electrodes (NSE), where the latter allows for a free surface layer at the polymer/air interface. The relaxation rates of the α-relaxation measured in the CEC geometry collapse into one chart independent from the film thickness. For the thin films measured in the NSE arrangement the relaxation rates slow down with decreasing film thickness which was discussed as related to a stronger interaction of the P2VP segments with the native SiO2 at the surface of the silicon substrate compared to aluminum. It is worth to note that the effect of the enhanced mobility at the polymer/air interface is not observed in the dielectric measurements. BDS measurements in NSE geometry identified an additional relaxation process (α*-relaxation) in thin films, which was more pronounced in the adsorbed layer. This process is hypothesized to be related to molecular fluctuations within the adsorbed layer including the adsorption/desorption dynamics of segments or to a Slow Arrhenius Process (SAP) related to the equilibration dynamics deep in the glassy state. KW - Thin polymer films PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637181 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sm00539f SN - 1744-6848 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-63718 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -