TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Cios, G. A1 - Tokarski, T. A1 - Mansfeld, Ulrich A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Maurino, V. T1 - Towards 3D Understanding of Non-spherical Nanoparticles by Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) for Improved Particle Size Distribution by Electron Microscopy JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - In this paper one refined approach is applied to determine the exact orientation of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles prepared with good dispersion as almost isolated particles on a carbon TEM grid. The advantages of the recently developed high-throughput Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) are used to identify quickly and reliably the geometrical orientation of the crystalline TiO2 nanoparticle bipyramids (anatase) on a statistically relevant number of particles. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) KW - Electron microscopy KW - TiO2 KW - 3D PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620013999 VL - 26 IS - S2 SP - 260 EP - 261 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51772 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Borghetti, P. A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Garcia, S. A1 - Gómez, E. A1 - Blanco, M. A1 - Alberto, G. A1 - Martra, G. T1 - Organic surface modification and analysis of titania nanoparticles for self‐assembly in multiple layers JF - Surface and Interface Analysis N2 - The characteristics of TiO2 coatings can greatly influence their final performance in large‐scale applications. In the present study, self‐assembly of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in multiple layers was selected as a deposition procedure on various substrates. For this, the main prerequisite constitutes the surface modification of both NPs and substrate with, for example, silane coupling agents. A set of functionalized TiO2 NPs has been produced by reaction with either (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) or (3‐aminopropyl)phosphonic acid (APPA) to functionalize the NP surface with free amino‐groups. Then, the complementary functionalized NP set can be obtained from an aliquot of the first one, through the conversion of free surface amino groups to aldehydes by reaction with glutaraldehyde (GA). Several types of TiO2 NPs differing in size, shape, and specific surface area have been functionalized. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), SEM/ energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), XPS, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and Time‐of‐Flight (ToF)‐SIMS analyses have been carried out to evaluate the degree of functionalization, all the analytical methods employed demonstrating successful functionalization of TiO2 NP surface with APTES or APPA and GA. KW - TiO2 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Surface functionalization KW - Layer-by-layer deposition KW - Surface chemical analysis PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-508601 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6842 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 829 EP - 834 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-50860 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Boehm, S. A1 - Kim, K. J. T1 - Analysis of elemental composition of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex alloy thin films by electron probe microanalysis and micro-focus X-ray fluorescence JF - Surface and Interface Analysis N2 - The present study reports on results of analysis of the elemental composition of thin films by electron probe microanalysis with energy dispersive (ED-EPMA) X-ray spectrometry in conjunction with the dedicated thin-film analysis software package Stratagem and by X-ray fluorescence in its version with a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) source attached to a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Two thin-film systems have been analyzed: Fe1-xNix on silicon wafer and Si1-xGex on Al2O3 substrate, in both cases the layers being grown to a thickness of about 200 nm by ion beam sputter deposition. Samples of five different atomic fractions have been produced and analyzed for each thin-film system. Moreover, reference samples with certified elemental composition and thickness have been also available. This study is part of an interlaboratory comparison organized in the frame of standardization technical committee ISO/TC 201 “Surface chemical analysis.” Two laboratories have been analyzed by ED-EPMA (one laboratory standardless and one laboratory using both standardless and with standards variants) and one laboratory by μ-XRF (standardless and with standards). All the elemental compositions obtained with different methods are in very good agreement for the complete two sets of five samples each. KW - Thin films KW - Elemental composition KW - FeNi KW - SiGe KW - Electron probe microanalysis KW - X-ray Fluorescence PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-509262 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6834 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 929 EP - 932 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-50926 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hörenz, Christoph A1 - Tache, O. A1 - Bartczak, D. A1 - Nunez, S. A1 - Abad Alvaro, I. A1 - Goenaga-Infante, H. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - A Study on the Analysis of Particle Size Distribution for Bimodal Model Nanoparticles by Electron Microscopy JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - The present study addresses the capability of measurement of relative particle number concentration by scanning electron microscopy for model bimodal silica and gold samples prepared in the frame of the European research project “nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements” as candidate reference nanoparticles. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Particle size distribution KW - Bimodal size distribution KW - Traceability PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620021054 VL - 26 IS - S2 SP - 2282 EP - 2283 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51771 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Weigel, S. A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Brüngel, R. A1 - Friedrich, C. M. A1 - Rasmussen, K. A1 - Rauscher, H. T1 - Nano or Not Nano? A Structured Approach for Identifying Nanomaterials According to the European Commission’s Definition JF - Small N2 - Identifying nanomaterials (NMs) according to European Union Legislation is challenging, as there is an enormous variety of materials, with different physico-chemical properties. The NanoDefiner Framework and its Decision Support Flow Scheme (DSFS) allow choosing the optimal method to measure the particle size distribution by matching the material properties and the performance of the particular measurement techniques. The DSFS leads to a reliable and economic decision whether a material is an NM or not based on scientific criteria and respecting regulatory requirements. The DSFS starts beyond regulatory requirements by identifying non-NMs by a proxy Approach based on their volume-specific surface area. In a second step, it identifies NMs. The DSFS is tested on real-world materials and is implemented in an e-tool. The DSFS is compared with a decision flowchart of the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC), which rigorously follows the explicit criteria of the EC NM definition with the focus on identifying NMs, and non-NMs are identified by exclusion. The two approaches build on the same scientific basis and measurement methods, but start from opposite ends: the JRC Flowchart starts by identifying NMs, whereas the NanoDefiner Framework first identifies non-NMs. KW - Classification KW - Definition KW - Identification KW - Nanomaterials KW - Particle size KW - Regulation PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510917 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202002228 SN - 1613-6829 SP - 2002228-1 EP - 2002228-16 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51091 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Isopescu, R. A1 - Pellutiè, L. A1 - Sordello, F. A1 - Rossi, A. M. A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Martra, G. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Maurino, V. T1 - Machine learning approach for elucidating and predicting the role of synthesis parameters on the shape and size of TiO2 nanoparticles JF - Scientific Reports N2 - In the present work a series of design rules are developed in order to tune the morphology of TiO2 nanoparticles through hydrothermal process. Through a careful experimental design, the influence of relevant process parameters on the synthesis outcome are studied, reaching to the develop predictive models by using Machine Learning methods. The models, after the validation and training, are able to predict with high accuracy the synthesis outcome in terms of nanoparticle size, polydispersity and aspect ratio. Furthermore, they are implemented by reverse engineering approach to do the inverse process, i.e. obtain the optimal synthesis parameters given a specific product characteristic. For the first time, it is presented a synthesis method that allows continuous and precise control of NPs morphology with the possibility to tune the aspect ratio over a large range from 1.4 (perfect truncated bipyramids) to 6 (elongated nanoparticles) and the length from 20 to 140 nm. KW - Machine learning KW - Nanoparticles KW - Titanium dioxide KW - Size KW - Shape KW - Synthesis PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-515084 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75967-w VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 18910 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-51508 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Sordello, F. A1 - Mino, L. A1 - Prozzi, M. A1 - Mansfeld, Ulrich A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Minero, C. T1 - Polyethylene Glycol as Shape and Size Controller for the Hydrothermal Synthesis of SrTiO3 Cubes and Polyhedra JF - Nanomaterials N2 - Understanding the correlation between the morphological and functional properties of particulate materials is crucial across all fields of physical and natural sciences. This manuscript reports on the investigation of the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) employed as a capping Agent in the synthesis of SrTiO3 crystals. The crucial influence of PEG on both the shape and size of the strontium titanate particles is revealed, highlighting the effect on the photocurrents measured under UV–Vis irradiation. KW - Polyethylene glycol KW - Strontium titanate KW - Controlled morphology KW - Photoelectrochemistry KW - Electron microscopy KW - EDS PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-512892 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10091892 VL - 10 IS - 9 SP - 1892 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, CH AN - OPUS4-51289 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Towards Automated Electron Microscopy Image Segmentation for Nanoparticles of Complex Shape by Convolutional Neural Networks JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - In this contribution different ways are explored with the aim to generate suitable training data for ‘non-ideal’ samples using various approaches, e.g., computer-generated images or unsupervised learning algorithms such as generative adversarial networks (GANs). We used these data to train simple CNNs to produce segmentation masks of SEM images and tested the trained networks on real SEM images of complex nanoparticle samples. The novel use of CNN for the automated analysis of the size of nanoparticles of complex shape and with a high degree of agglomeration has proved to be a promising tool for the evaluation of particle size distribution on a large number of constituent particles. Further development and validation of the preliminary model, respectively larger training and validation data sets are necessary. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Convolutional neural networks KW - Image segmentation KW - Electron microscopy KW - Automatisation PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620017262 VL - 26 IS - S2 SP - 1188 EP - 1189 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51773 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sachse, René A1 - Pfüger, Mika A1 - Velasco-Vélez, Juan-Jesús A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Bernicke, Michael A1 - Bernsmeier, Denis A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Krumrey, Michael A1 - Strasser, Peter A1 - Kraehnert, Ralph A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Assessing optical and electrical properties of highly active IrOx catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction via spectroscopic ellipsometry JF - ACS Catalysis N2 - Efficient water electrolysis requires highly active electrodes. The activity of corresponding catalytic coatings strongly depends on material properties such as film thickness, crystallinity, electrical conductivity, and chemical surface speciation. Measuring these properties with high accuracy in vacuum-free and nondestructive methods facilitates the elucidation of structure−activity relationships in realistic environments. Here, we report a novel approach to analyze the optical and electrical properties of highly active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts via spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Using a series of differently calcined, mesoporous, templated iridium oxide films as an example, we assess the film thickness, porosity, electrical resistivity, electron concentration, electron mobility, and interband and intraband transition energies by modeling of the optical spectra. Independently performed analyses using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, ellipsometric porosimetry, X-ray reflectometry, and absorption spectroscopy indicate a high accuracy of the deduced material properties. A comparison of the derived analytical data from SE, resonant photoemission spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with activity measurements of the OER suggests that the intrinsic activity of iridium oxides scales with a shift of the Ir 5d t2g sub-level and an increase of p−d interband transition energies caused by a transition of μ1-OH to μ3-O species. KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry KW - Electrocatalysis KW - Oxygen evolution reaction KW - Mesoporous iridium oxide films KW - Non-destructive ambient analysis KW - Intrinsic OER activity KW - Complementary methodology and metrology PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-516288 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c03800 SN - 2155-5435 VL - 10 IS - 23 SP - 14210 EP - 14223 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-51628 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -