TY - JOUR A1 - Belsey, N. A. A1 - Cant, D. J. H. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Araujo, J. R. A1 - Bock, B. A1 - Brüner, P. A1 - Castner, D. G. A1 - Ceccone, G. A1 - Counsell, J. D. P. A1 - Dietrich, Paul M. A1 - Engelhardt, M. H. A1 - Fearn, S. A1 - Galhardo, C. E. A1 - Kalbe, H. A1 - Kim, J. W. A1 - Lartundo-Rojas, L. A1 - Luftman, H. S. A1 - Nunney, T. S. A1 - Pseiner, J. A1 - Smith, E. F. A1 - Spampinato, V. A1 - Sturm, J. M. A1 - Thomas, A. G. A1 - Treacy, J. P. W. A1 - Veith, L. A1 - Wagstaffe, M. A1 - Wang, H. A1 - Wang, M. A1 - Wang, Y.-C. A1 - Werner, W. A1 - Yang, L. A1 - Shard, A. G. T1 - Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards Interlaboratory Study on Measuring the Thickness and Chemistry of Nanoparticle Coatings Using XPS and LEIS N2 - We report the results of a Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) interlaboratory study on the measurement of the shell thickness and chemistry of nanoparticle coatings. Peptide-coated gold particles were supplied to laboratories in two forms: a colloidal suspension in pure water and particles dried onto a silicon wafer. Participants prepared and analyzed these samples using either X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) or low energy ion scattering (LEIS). Careful data analysis revealed some significant sources of discrepancy, particularly for XPS. Degradation during transportation, storage, or sample preparation resulted in a variability in thickness of 53%. The calculation method chosen by XPS participants contributed a variability of 67%. However, variability of 12% was achieved for the samples deposited using a single method and by choosing photoelectron peaks that were not adversely affected by instrumental transmission effects. The study identified a need for more consistency in instrumental transmission functions and relative sensitivity factors since this contributed a variability of 33%. The results from the LEIS participants were more consistent, with variability of less than 10% in thickness, and this is mostly due to a common method of data analysis. The calculation was performed using a model developed for uniform, flat films, and some participants employed a correction factor to account for the sample geometry, which appears warranted based upon a simulation of LEIS data from one of the participants and comparison to the XPS results. KW - VAMAS KW - Interlaboratory Study KW - Nanoparticle coating KW - XPS KW - LEIS KW - shell thicknss and chemistry PY - 2016 UR - http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06713 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06713 IS - 120 SP - 24070 EP - 24079 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-38428 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Gollwitzer, C. A1 - Sikora, A. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Krumrey, M. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Effect of fluorescent staining on size measurements of polymeric nanoparticles using DLS and SAXS N2 - The influence of fluorescence on nanoparticle size measurements using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was investigated. For this purpose, two series of 100 nm-sized polymer nanoparticles stained with different concentrations of the fluorescent dyes DY555 and DY680 were prepared, absorbing/emitting at around 560 nm/590 nm and 695 nm/715 nm, respectively. SAXS measurements of these particle series and a corresponding blank control (without dye) revealed similar sizes of all particles within an uncertainty of 1 nm. DLS measurements carried out at three different laboratories using four different DLS instruments and two different laser wavelengths, i.e., 532 nm and 633 nm, revealed also no significant changes in size (intensity-weighted harmonic mean diameter, ZAverage) and size distribution (polydispersity index, PI) within and between the two dye-stained particle series and the blank sample. Nevertheless, a significant decrease of the detected correlation coefficients was observed with increasing dye concentration, due to the increased absorption of the incident light and thus, less coherent light scattering. This effect was wavelength dependent, i.e. only measurable for the dye-stained particles that absorb at the laser wavelength used for the DLS measurements. PY - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-349684 SN - 1759-9660 SN - 1759-9679 VL - 7 IS - 23 SP - 9785 EP - 9790 PB - RSC Publ. CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-34968 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baer, D. R. A1 - Karakoti, A. S. A1 - Clifford, C. A. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Importance of sample preparation on reliable surface characterisation of nano‐objects: ISO standard 20579‐4 N2 - The international ISO Standard 20579‐4, dealing with the history and preparation of nano‐objects for surface analysis, has been developed to help address some of the replication and reproducibility issues caused by the fundamental nature of nanoobjects. Although all types of samples requiring surface analysis need thoughtful preparation, nano‐objects, for which many properties are controlled by their surfaces, present additional challenges in order to avoid variations and artefacts due to the handling and preparation of materials prior to analysis. This international standard is part of a series of standards related to preparation of samples for surface chemical analysis. Parts 1 and 2 of ISO Standard series 20579 address general issues that apply to many samples. Part 3, which is still in development, will focus on biomaterials. Part 4 specifically considers issues that arise due to the inherent nature of nano‐objects. Because of sensitivity to their environment, the standard indicates the minimum Information that needs to be reported about the handling and preparation of nano‐objects prior to surface analysis. This information should become part of sample provenance information that helps assure the reliability and usefulness of data obtained from surface‐analysis in the context of the synthesis, processing, and analysis history of a batch of material. Application of this standard can help address reproducibility and traceability issues associated with synthesis, processing, and characterization of nano‐objects in research and commercial applications. KW - Nano‐object characterization KW - Nanoparticle characterization KW - Provenance information KW - Sample preparation KW - Surface analysis PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6490 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 50 IS - 9 SP - 902 EP - 906 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. AN - OPUS4-45830 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cant, D. J. H. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Kalbe, H. A1 - Stoger-Pollach, M. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Werner, W. S. M. A1 - Shard, A. G. T1 - Surface-Energy Control and Characterization of Nanoparticle Coatings N2 - Accurate and reproducible measurement of the structure and properties of high-value nanoparticles is extremely important for their commercialization. A significant proportion of engineered nanoparticle systems consist of some form of nominally core-shell structure, whether by design or unintentionally. Often, these do not form an ideal core-shell structure, with typical deviations including polydispersity of the core or shell, uneven or incomplete shells, noncentral cores, and others. Such systems may be created with or without intent, and in either case an understanding of the conditions for formation of such particles is desirable. Precise determination of the structure, composition, size, and shell thickness of such particles can prove challenging without the use of a suitable range of characterization techniques. Here, the authors present two such polymer core-shell nanoparticle systems, consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene cores coated with a range of thicknesses of either polymethylmethacrylate or polystyrene. By consideration of surface energy, it is shown that these particles are expected to possess distinctly differing coating structures, with the polystyrene coating being incomplete. A comprehensive characterization of these systems is demonstrated, using a selection of complementary techniques including scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, differential centrifugal sedimentation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By combining the results provided by these techniques, it is possible to achieve superior characterization and understanding of the particle structure than could be obtained by considering results separately. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Core-shell KW - XPS KW - Size KW - Thickness KW - Damage PY - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c02161 VL - 124 IS - 20 SP - 11200 EP - 11211 PB - ACS CY - Washington DC AN - OPUS4-50899 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roebben, G. A1 - Kestens, V. A1 - Varga, Z. A1 - Charoud-Got, J. A1 - Ramaye, Y. A1 - Gollwitzer, Christian A1 - Bartczak, D. A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Noble, J.E. A1 - Mazoua, S. A1 - Meeus, N. A1 - Corbisier, P. A1 - Palmai, M. A1 - Mihály, J. A1 - Krumrey, M. A1 - Davies, J. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Kumarswami, N. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Sikora, A. A1 - Goenaga-Infante, H. T1 - Reference materials and representative test materials to develop nanoparticle characterization methods: the NanoChOp project case N2 - This paper describes the production and characteristics of the nanoparticle test materials prepared for common use in the collaborative research project NanoChOp (Chemical and optical characterization of nanomaterials in biological systems), in casu suspensions of silica nanoparticles and CdSe/CdS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). This paper is the first to illustrate how to assess whether nanoparticle test materials meet the requirements of a "reference material" (ISO Guide 30, 2015) or rather those of the recently defined category of "representative test material (RTM)" (ISO/TS 16195, 2013). The NanoChOp test materials were investigated with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and centrifugal liquid sedimentation (CLS) to establish whether they complied with the required monomodal particle size distribution. The presence of impurities, aggregates, agglomerates, and viable microorganisms in the suspensions was investigated with DLS, CLS, optical and electron microscopy and via plating on nutrient agar. Suitability of surface functionalization was investigated with attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (ATR-FTIR) and via the capacity of the nanoparticles to be fluorescently labeled or to bind antibodies. Between-unit homogeneity and stability were investigated in terms of particle size and zeta potential. This paper shows that only based on the outcome of a detailed characterization process one can raise the status of a test material to RTM or reference material, and how this status depends on its intended use. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Materials characterization KW - Reference material KW - Analytical quality assurance KW - Metrology PY - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-349644 SN - 2296-2646 VL - 3 SP - Article 56, 1 EP - 16 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-34964 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sikora, A. A1 - Bartczak, D. A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Kestens, V. A1 - Roebben, G. A1 - Ramaye, Y. A1 - Varga, Z. A1 - Palmai, M. A1 - Shard, A.G. A1 - Goenaga-Infante, H. A1 - Minelli, C. T1 - A systematic comparison of different techniques to determine the zeta potential of silica nanoparticles in biological medium N2 - The surface charge density of nanoparticles plays an important role in the way they interact with biological systems. The ability to measure the surface charge density of nanoparticles in biological media is therefore of importance in understanding the magnitude of such interactions. There are a number of methods which may be used to assess surface charge density through the measurement of electrophoretic mobility. In order to better understand the comparability of these methods, the ζ-potential of silica nanoparticles in water, buffer and serum-based biological medium was measured by one ensemble and two particle-by-particle techniques: electrophoretic light scattering (ELS), tunable resistive pulse sensing (TRPS) and zeta particle tracking analysis (z-PTA). To allow the comparability of results from different techniques, test samples were prepared according to an established protocol, although some variations were necessary to meet specific instrument requirements. Here we compare, for the first time, measurement results from the different techniques and discuss how modifications related to parameters such as environmental pH, dilution factor and presence of biomolecules influence the charge measurements. PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C5AY02014J SN - 1759-9660 SN - 1759-9679 VL - 7 IS - 23 SP - 9835 EP - 9843 PB - RSC Publ. CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-34966 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kaur, I. A1 - Ellis, L.-J. A1 - Romer, I. A1 - Tantra, R. A1 - Carriere, M. A1 - Allard, S. A1 - Mayne-L'Hermite, M. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Potthoff, A. A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Valsami-Jones, E. T1 - Dispersion of nanomaterials in aqueous media: Towards protocol optimization N2 - The sonication process is commonly used for de-agglomerating and dispersing nanomaterials in aqueous based media, necessary to improve homogeneity and stability of the suspension. In this study, a systematic step-wise approach is carried out to identify optimal sonication conditions in order to achieve a stable dispersion. This approach has been adopted and shown to be suitable for several nanomaterials (cerium oxide, zinc oxide, and carbon nanotubes) dispersed in deionized (DI) water. However, with any change in either the nanomaterial type or dispersing medium, there needs to be optimization of the basic protocol by adjusting various factors such as sonication time, power, and sonicator type as well as temperature rise during the process. The approach records the dispersion process in detail. This is necessary to identify the time Points as well as other above-mentioned conditions during the sonication process in which there may be undesirable changes, such as damage to the particle surface thus affecting surface properties. Our goal is to offer a harmonized approach that can control the Quality of the final, produced dispersion. Such a guideline is instrumental in ensuring dispersion quality repeatability in the nanoscience community, particularly in the field of nanotoxicology. KW - Dispersion of nanomaterials KW - Aqueous media KW - Protocol development PY - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-435886 UR - https://www.jove.com/video/56074 SN - 1940-087X IS - 130 SP - e560741, 1 EP - e560741, 23 PB - MyJove Corp. CY - Cambridge, MA, USA AN - OPUS4-43588 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -