TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Dohányosová, P. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - López-Vidal, S. T1 - Deposition of nanoparticles by electrospray for improved analysis by SEM/TEM and EDX N2 - Of many experimental techniques for measuring particle sizes and size distributions, electron microscopy (EM) is still considered as the gold standard, especially in the nano range (1–100 nm). Furthermore, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in conjunction with EM can be applied to individul NPs. Preparation of an EM sample for generic particulate materials is a difficult task. Usually, the particles in a suspension are deposited on a support. However, this procedure includes the drying of larger solvent amounts on the substrate itself, and this can affect the spatial distribution of the deposited particles. One possibility to overcome this is the use of an electrospray system, where the suspension of particles is sprayed onto the substrate in charged droplets that are so small that they either dry off on the substrate immediately without affecting the position of particles, or even already during their flight time to the substrate. Additionally, the charging of particles minimizes agglomeration and aggregation, maximizing the collection of the EM grids. The prototype of an electrospray deposition System was tested. Electrospray is theoretically described since a long time, but no dedicated commercial instruments are available for the preparation of TEM grids yet, apart from electrostatic deposition of aerosols. Several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were evaluated. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimized. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles (suited to automatic analysis). T2 - 17th European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis (ECASIA 2017) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2017 KW - Electrospray deposition KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM KW - TEM KW - TEM grid PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42393 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Wollschläger, Nicole A1 - Pallase, L. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Dirscherl, K. T1 - Characterization of Porous, TiO2 Nanoparticle Films Using On-Axis TKD in SEM – a New Nano-Analysis Tool for a Large-Scale Application N2 - A combined methodical approach is tested with respect to the characterization of the inner structure of porous TiO2 layers as typically used in modern dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Their performance is directly linked to the surface area of the pore network. The micrometer thick layer employed was manufactured by screen-printing of a starting TiO2 powder constituted of shape-controlled, bipyramidal anatase nanoparticles on FTO/glass substrates. The analytical methods exploited in our study are Focused Ion Beam (FIB) slicing followed by 3D reconstruction as well as the new approach transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) technology in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Size and shape distribution of the TiO2 NPs within the layer can be extracted. SEM in transmission mode and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to verify the dimensional data obtained by the new combined methodical approach. Its analytical benefits but also the challenges and limitations are highlighted. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017 Meeting CY - St. Louis, MO, USA DA - 06.08.2017 KW - Porous layers KW - TiO2 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size and shape distribution KW - TKD KW - SEM PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41660 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Oswald, F. A1 - Narbey, S. A1 - Radnik, Jörg T1 - Complementary methodical approach for the analysis of a perovskite solar cell layered system N2 - Loss in efficiency of perovskite solar cells may be caused by structural and/or chemical alterations of the complex layered system. As these changes might take place either in the bulk and/or on the surface of the stratified material, analytical tools addressing both key issues are selected and combined. SEM/EDX combined with XPS were chosen as appropriate methodical approach to characterise perovskite laboratory cells in depth and complementary on top, before and after light exposure. The layered perovskite system investigated here is based on glass covered with fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), followed by three porous thin films of TiO2, ZrO2 and a thick monolithic carbon. The TiO2 film is subdivided into a dense layer covered by a porous one constituted of nanoparticles with a truncated bipyramidal shape. This layered system serves as the matrix for the perovskite. After infiltration of perovskite solution and annealing, EDX spectral maps on cross-sections of the specimen have been measured. The distribution of relevant elements – Si, Sn, Ti, Zr and C – correlates conclusively with layers visible in the acquired SEM images. Lead and iodine are distributed throughout the porous layers C, ZrO2 and TiO2. In a SEM micrograph taken of the cross-section of a sample after illumination, the glass substrate and all layers FTO, TiO2, ZrO2 as well as C are clearly identified. By EDX it was found that several weeks of ambient daylight did not change significantly the qualitative elemental composition of lead and iodine throughout the solar cell system. It was confirmed with EDX that nanoparticles identified in high-resolution SEM micrographs contain mainly Pb and I, indicating these to be the perovskite crystals. However, a time-dependent compositional and chemical altering was observed with XPS for the near-surface region of the outermost ~10 nm after two months of illumination. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017 Meeting CY - St. Louis, MO, USA DA - 06.08.2017 KW - Thin films KW - EDX KW - XPS KW - SEM KW - Nanoparticles KW - Perovskite KW - TiO2 PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41664 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -