TY - JOUR A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Johnston, L. J. A1 - Zou, S. T1 - Nanoscale reference and test materials for the validation of characterization methods for engineered nanomaterials — current state, limitations, and needs N2 - The rational design of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) with improved functionality and their increasing industrial application requires reliable, validated, and ultimately standardized characterization methods for their application-relevant, physicochemical key properties such as size, size distribution, shape, or surface chemistry. This calls for nanoscale (certified) reference materials (CRMs; RMs) and well-characterized reference test materials (RTMs) termed also quality control (QC) samples, assessed, e.g., in interlaboratory comparisons, for the validation and standardization of commonly used characterization methods. Thereby, increasing concerns regarding potential risks of NMs are also addressed and the road for safe and sustainable-by-design concepts for the development of new functional NMs and their use as nanomedicines is paved. With this respect, we will provide an overview of relevant international standardization and regulatory activities, definitions, and recommendations on characterization methods and review currently available organic or inorganic nanoscale CRMs, RMs, and RTMs, including their characterization or certification. In addition, we will highlight typical applications to streamline the regulatory approval process and improve manufacturability including the special challenges imposed by the colloidal nature and sometimes limited stability of NMs. Subsequently, we will critically assess the limitations of currently available nanoscale RMs and RTMs and address the gaps to be filled in the future such as the availability of NMs that come with reference data on properties other than commonly addressed particle size, such as surface chemistry or particle number concentration, or more closely resemble commercially available formulations or address application-relevant matrices. KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Silica KW - Quality assurance KW - Reference material KW - Review KW - Surface chemistry KW - Size KW - Shape KW - Particle number concentration KW - Lipid nanoparticles KW - Metal nanoparticles KW - Liposomes PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625746 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05719-6 SN - 1618-2650 SP - 1 EP - 21 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-62574 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matiushkina, Anna A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Richstein, R. A1 - Reithofer, M. R. A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Michaelis, Matthias A1 - Koch, Matthias A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Quantifying Citrate Surface Ligands on Iron Oxide Nanoparticles with TGA, CHN Analysis, NMR, and RP-HPLC with UV Detection N2 - Although citrate is frequently used as a surface ligand for nanomaterials (NMs) such as metal, metal oxide, and lanthanide-based NMs in hydrophilic environments due to its biocompatibility and simple replacement by other more strongly binding ligands in postsynthetic surface modification reactions, its quantification on NM surfaces has rarely been addressed. Here, we present a multimethod approach for citrate quantification on iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) broadly applied in the life and material sciences. Methods explored include thermogravimetric (TGA) and elemental (CHN) analysis, providing citrate-nonspecific information on the IONP coating, simple photometry, and citrate-selective reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with absorption (UV) detection and quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR). Challenges originating from the strongly absorbing magnetic NM and paramagnetic iron species interfering with optical and NMR Methods were overcome by suitable sample preparation workflows. Our multimethod approach to citrate quantification highlights the advantages of combining specific and unspecific methods for characterizing NM Surface chemistry and method cross-validation. It also demonstrates that chemically nonselective measurements can favor an overestimation of the amount of a specific surface ligand by signal contributions from molecules remaining on the NM surface, e.g., from particle synthesis, such as initially employed ligands and/or surfactants. Our results emphasize the potential of underexplored selective RPHPLC for quantifying ligands on NMs, which does not require a multistep sample preparation workflow such as qNMR for many NMs and provides a higher sensitivity. These findings can pave the road to future applications of versatile HPLC methods in NM characterization. KW - Advanced material KW - Functional group KW - Iron oxide KW - Ligand KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Quantification KW - Surface analysis PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-648632 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5c03024 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 97 IS - 36 SP - 19627 EP - 19634 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-64863 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Habibimarkani, Heydar A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Radnik, Jörg T1 - In-depth analysis of FeNi-based nanoparticles for the oxygen evolution reaction N2 - This study investigates the effect of varying iron-to-nickel ratios on the catalytic performance of Fe-Ni oxide nanoparticles (NPs) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Addressing the issue of high energy wastage due to large overpotentials in OER, we synthesized and characterized different NP catalysts with different Fe: Ni oxide ratios. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were employed to determine the morphology, elemental and phase composition of the NPs. Furthermore, in-depth profiling with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) revealed that iron predominantly exists as oxide, while nickel exhibits both metallic and oxidic forms depending on the Fe content. XPS indicated an enrichment of iron at the NP surface, whereas HAXPES and EDS data agreed on the bulk stoichiometry. The assessment of the catalytic activity via cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that the Fe: Ni ratio of 2:3 exhibited superior performance, characterized by lower overpotential and a smaller Tafel slope. KW - Fe-Ni oxide KW - Nanoparticles KW - OER KW - Catalytic performance KW - Cyclic voltammetry PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626932 UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-92720-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-92720-3 VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-62693 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Bresch, Harald A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Iron Oxide Nanocubes as a New Certified Reference Material for Nanoparticle Size Measurements N2 - The rational design and increasing industrial use of nanomaterials require a reliable characterization of their physicochemical key properties like size, size distribution, shape, and surface chemistry. This calls for nanoscale reference materials (nanoRMs) for the validation and standardization of commonly used characterization methods closely matching real-world nonspherical nano-objects. This encouraged us to develop a nonspherical nanoRM of very small size consisting of 8 nm iron oxide nanocubes (BAM-N012) to complement spherical gold, silica, and polymer nanoRMs. In the following, the development and production of this nanoRM are highlighted including the characterization by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) as complementary methods for size and shape parameters, homogeneity and stability studies, and calculation of a complete uncertainty budget of the size features. The determination of the nanocubes’ edge length by TEM and SAXS allows a method comparison. In addition, SAXS measurements can also provide the mean particle number density and the mass concentration. The certified size parameters, area equivalent circular diameter and square edge length, determined by TEM with a relative expanded uncertainty below 9%, are metrologically traceable to a natural constant for length, the very precisely known (111) lattice spacing of silicon. Cubic BAM-N012 qualifies as a certified nanoRM for estimating the precision and trueness, validation, and quality assurance of particle size and shape measurements with electron microscopy and SAXS as well as other sizing methods suitable for nanomaterials. The production of this new iron oxide nanocube RM presents an important achievement for the nanomaterial community, nanomaterial manufacturers, and regulators. KW - Certification KW - SAXS KW - Homogeneity KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Iron oxide KW - Quality assurance KW - Reference material KW - Size KW - Electron microscopy KW - Stability KW - Shape PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00749 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 95 IS - 33 SP - 12223 EP - 12231 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-58176 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -