TY - JOUR A1 - Potapkin, D. V. A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Goryacheva, I. Y. T1 - Fluorescent quantum dot hydrophilization with PAMAM dendrimer N2 - Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers were used to produce CdSe core/multi-shell fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) which are colloidally stable in aqueous solutions. The size, charge, and optical properties of QDs functionalized with the 4th (G4) and 5th (G5) generation of PAMAM were compared with amphiphilic polymer-covered QDs and used as criteria for the evaluation of the suitability of both water solubilization methods. As revealed by dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering (DLS and ELS), the hydrodynamic sizes of the QDs varied from 30 to 65 nm depending on QD type and dendrimer generation, with all QDs displaying highly positive surface charges, i.e., zeta potentials of around +50 mV in water. PAMAM functionalization yielded stable core/multi-shell QDs with photoluminescence quantum yields (Φ) of up to 45%. These dendrimer-covered QDs showed a smaller decrease in their Φ upon phase transfer compared with QDs made water soluble via encapsulation with amphiphilic brush polymer bearing polyoxyethylene/ polyoxypropylene chains. KW - Photoluminescence quantum yield KW - Quantum dots KW - PAMAM dendrimers KW - Phase transfer KW - Fluorescence PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3411-4 VL - 18 IS - 108 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Springer Science + Business Media B.V. CY - Dordrecht, Netherlands AN - OPUS4-35857 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 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-349644 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2015.00056 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 DO - 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 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Wegmann, Marc A1 - Jochum, T. A1 - Somma, V. A1 - Sowa, M. A1 - Scholz, J. A1 - Fröhlich, E. A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Niehaus, J. A1 - Roggenbuck, D. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - An automatable platform for genotoxicity testing of nanomaterials based on the fluorometric γ-H2AX assay reveals no genotoxicity of properly surface-shielded cadmium-based quantum dots N2 - The large number of nanomaterial-based applications emerging in the materials and life sciences and the foreseeable increasing use of these materials require methods that evaluate and characterize the toxic potential of these nanomaterials to keep safety risks to people and environment as low as possible. As nanomaterial toxicity is influenced by a variety of parameters like size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry, high throughput screening (HTS) platforms are recommended for assessing cytotoxicity. Such platforms are not yet available for genotoxicity testing. Here, we present first results obtained for application-relevant nanomaterials using an automatable genotoxicity platform that relies on the quantification of the phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) for detecting DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and the automated microscope system AKLIDES® for measuring integral fluorescence intensities at different excitation wavelengths. This platform is used to test the genotoxic potential of 30 nm-sized citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as well as micellar encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles (FeOx-NPs) and different cadmium (Cd)-based semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), thereby also searching for positive and negative controls as reference materials. In addition, the influence of the QD shell composition on the genotoxic potential of these Cd-based QDs was studied, using CdSe cores as well as CdSe/CdS core/shell and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs. Our results clearly revealed the genotoxicity of the Au-NPs and its absence in the FeOx-NPs. The genotoxicity of the Cd-QDs correlates with the shielding of their Cd-containing core, with the core/shell/shell architecture preventing genotoxicity risks. The fact that none of these nanomaterials showed cytotoxicity at the chosen particle concentrations in a conventional cell viability assay underlines the importance of genotoxicity studies to assess the hazardous potential of nanomaterials. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Genotoxicity testing KW - γ-H2AX assay KW - Quantum dot PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-486318 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR01021A SN - 2040-3372 SN - 2040-3364 VL - 11 IS - 28 SP - 13458 EP - 13468 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-48631 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scholtz, Lena A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Eckert, J. G. A1 - Lutowski, M. A1 - Geißler, D. A1 - Hertwig, A. A1 - Hidde, G. A1 - Bigall, N. C. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Influence of nanoparticle encapsulation and encoding on the surface chemistry of polymer carrier beads N2 - Surface-functionalized polymer beads encoded with molecular luminophores and nanocrystalline emitters such as semiconductor nanocrystals, often referred to as quantum dots (QDs), or magnetic nanoparticles are broadly used in the life sciences as reporters and carrier beads. Many of these applications require a profound knowledge of the chemical nature and total number of their surface functional groups (FGs), that control bead charge, colloidal stability, hydrophobicity, and the interaction with the environment and biological systems. For bioanalytical applications, also the number of groups accessible for the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., biomolecules or targeting ligands is relevant. In this study, we explore the influence of QD encoding on the amount of carboxylic acid (COOH) surface FGs of 2 μm polystyrene microparticles (PSMPs). This is done for frequently employed oleic acid and oleylamine stabilized, luminescent core/shell CdSe QDs and two commonly used encoding procedures. This included QD addition during bead formation by a thermally induced polymerization reaction and a post synthetic swelling procedure. The accessible number of COOH groups on the surface of QD-encoded and pristine beads was quantified by two colorimetric assays, utilizing differently sized reporters and electrostatic and covalent interactions. The results were compared to the total number of FGs obtained by a conductometric titration and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, a comparison of the impact of QD and dye encoding on the bead surface chemistry was performed. Our results demonstrate the influence of QD encoding and the QD-encoding strategy on the number of surface FG that is ascribed to an interaction of the QDs with the carboxylic acid groups on the bead surface. These findings are of considerable relevance for applications of nanoparticle-encoded beads and safe-by-design concepts for nanomaterials. KW - Optical spectroscopy KW - Particle KW - Optical assay KW - IR spectroscopy; conductometry KW - Fluorescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Nano KW - Synthesis KW - Surface chemistry KW - Quantification KW - Method PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-581502 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38518-7 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-58150 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Müller, A. A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Skroblin, D. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Combining HR‑TEM and XPS to elucidate the core–shell structure of ultrabright CdSe/CdS semiconductor quantum dots N2 - Controlling thickness and tightness of surface passivation shells is crucial for many applications of core–shell nanoparticles (NP). Usually, to determine shell thickness, core and core/shell particle are measured individually requiring the availability of both nanoobjects. This is often not fulfilled for functional nanomaterials such as many photoluminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QD) used for bioimaging, solid state lighting, and display technologies as the core does not show the applicationrelevant functionality like a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield, calling for a whole nanoobject approach. By combining high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a novel whole nanoobject approach is developed representatively for an ultrabright oleic acid-stabilized, thick shell CdSe/CdS QD with a PL quantum yield close to unity. The size of this spectroscopically assessed QD, is in the range of the information depth of usual laboratory XPS. Information on particle size and monodispersity were validated with dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and compared to data derived from optical measurements. In addition to demonstrating the potential of this novel whole nanoobject approach for determining architectures of small nanoparticles, the presented results also highlight challenges faced by different sizing and structural analysis methods and method-inherent uncertainties. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Single particle KW - Microscopy KW - Particle architecture KW - Thickness KW - SAXS KW - Shell KW - XPS KW - TEM KW - Semiconductor KW - Quantum dot KW - Photophysics KW - Quantum yield PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517911 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77530-z VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 20712 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-51791 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -