TY - JOUR A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Scholtz, Lena A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Analyzing the surface of functional nanomaterials — how to quantify the total and derivatizable number of functional groups and ligands N2 - Functional nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry are of increasing relevance for many key technologies of the twenty-first century. This includes polymer and silica or silica-coated nanoparticles (NP) with covalently bound surface groups, semiconductor quantum dots (QD), metal and metal oxide NP, and lanthanide-based NP with coordinatively or electrostatically bound ligands, as well as surface-coated nanostructures like micellar encapsulated NP. The surface chemistry can significantly affect the physicochemical properties of NM, their charge, their processability and performance, as well as their impact on human health and the environment. Thus, analytical methods for the characterization of NM surface chemistry regarding chemical identification, quantification, and accessibility of functional groups (FG) and surface ligands bearing such FG are of increasing importance for quality control of NM synthesis up to nanosafety. Here, we provide an overview of analytical methods for FG analysis and quantification with special emphasis on bioanalytically relevant FG broadly utilized for the covalent attachment of biomolecules like proteins, peptides, and oligonucleotides and address methodand material-related challenges and limitations. Analytical techniques reviewed include electrochemical titration methods, optical assays, nuclear magnetic resonance and vibrational spectroscopy, as well as X-ray based and thermal analysis methods, covering the last 5–10 years. Criteria for method classification and evaluation include the need for a signal-generating label, provision of either the total or derivatizable number of FG, need for expensive instrumentation, and suitability for process and production control during NM synthesis and functionalization. KW - Functional group quantification KW - Surface ligand KW - Nanomaterial KW - Optical detection KW - Electrochemical titration KW - Nanosafety (Safe-by-design) PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-533597 VL - 188 IS - 10 SP - 1 EP - 28 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-53359 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Hildebrandt, N. T1 - Recent developments in Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) diagnostics using quantum dots N2 - The exceptional photophysical properties and the nanometric dimensions of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QD) have strongly attracted the bioanalytical community over the last approximately 20 y. In particular, the integration of QDs in the analysis of biological components and interactions, and the related diagnostics using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), have allowed researchers to significantly improve and diversify fluorescence-based biosensing. In this TRENDS article, we review some recent developments in QD-FRET biosensing that have implemented this technology in electronic consumer products, multiplexed analysis, and detection without light excitation for diagnostic applications. In selected examples of smartphone-based imaging, single- and multistep FRET, steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy, and bio/chemiluminescence detection of QDs used as both FRET donors and acceptors, we highlight the advantages of QD-based FRET biosensing for multiplexed and sensitive diagnostics. KW - Fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging KW - Multiplexing immunoassay KW - Nanoparticle KW - DNA/RNA KW - BRET/CRET PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9434-y SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 408 IS - 17 SP - 4475 EP - 4483 PB - Springer-Verlag CY - Berlin, Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-36546 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Kaiser, Martin A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Critical review of the determination of photoluminescence quantum yields of luminescent reporters N2 - A crucial variable for methodical performance evaluation and comparison of luminescent reporters is the photoluminescence quantum yield (Φ pl). This quantity, defined as the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons, is the direct measure of the efficiency of the conversion of absorbed photons into emitted light for small organic dyes, fluorescent proteins, metal–ligand complexes, metal clusters, polymeric nanoparticles, and semiconductor and up-conversion nanocrystals. Φ pl determines the sensitivity for the detection of a specific analyte from the chromophore perspective, together with its molar-absorption coefficient at the excitation wavelength. In this review we discuss different optical and photothermal methods for measuring Φ pl of transparent and scattering systems for the most common classes of luminescent reporters, and critically evaluate their potential and limitations. In addition, reporter-specific effects and sources of uncertainty are addressed. The ultimate objective is to provide users of fluorescence techniques with validated tools for the determination of Φ pl, including a series of Φ pl standards for the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions, and to enable better judgment of the reliability of literature data. KW - Fluorescence KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Organic dye KW - Nanoparticle KW - Quantum dot KW - Up-conversion nanocrystal KW - Optical probe KW - Standard KW - Quality assurance KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Photoacoustic spectroscopy KW - Thermal lensing KW - Nanocavity PY - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-014-8130-z SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 407 IS - 1 SP - 59 EP - 78 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-32406 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Quantification of anisotropy-related uncertainties in relative photoluminescence quantum yield measurements of nanomaterials - semiconductor quantum dots and rods N2 - In order to assess the anisotropy-related uncertainties of relatively determined photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL) of molecular emitters and luminescent nanomaterials, we compared ΦPL values measured without and with polarizers using magic angle conditions and studied systematically the dependence of the detected emission intensity on the polarizer settings for samples of varying anisotropy. This includes a dispersion of a spherical quantum dot (QD) with an ideally isotropic emission, a solution of a common small organic dye in a fluid solvent as well as dispersions of elongated quantum dot rods (QDR) with an anisotropic luminescence and a small organic dye in a rigid polymeric matrix, as ideally anisotropic emitter. Our results show that for instruments lacking polarizers, anisotropy-related measurement uncertainties of relative photoluminescence quantum yields can amount to more than 40%, with the size of these systematic errors depending on the difference in emission anisotropy between the sample and the standard. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum Yield KW - Emission Anisotropy KW - Quantum Dot Rod KW - Quantum Dot KW - Dye PY - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-325240 SN - 0942-9352 SN - 2196-7156 SN - 0044-3336 SN - 0044-3328 VL - 229 IS - 1-2 SP - 153 EP - 165 PB - Oldenbourg CY - München AN - OPUS4-32524 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Moser, Marko A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Multimodal cleavable reporters versus conventional labels for optical quantification of accessible amino and carboxy groups on nano- and microparticles N2 - Many applications of nanometer- and micrometer-sized particles include their surface functionalization with linkers, sensor molecules, and analyte recognition moieties like (bio)ligands. This requires knowledge of the chemical nature and number of surface groups accessible for subsequent coupling reactions. Particularly attractive for the quantification of these groups are spectrophotometric and fluorometric assays, which can be read out with simple instrumentation. In this respect, we present here a novel Family of cleavable spectrophotometric and multimodal reporters for conjugatable amino and carboxyl surface groups on nano- and microparticles. This allows determination of particle-bound labels, unbound reporters in the supernatant, and reporters cleaved off from the particle surface, as well as the remaining thiol groups on particle, by spectrophotometry and inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (32S ICP-OES). Comparison of the performance of these cleavable reporters with conductometry and conventional labels, utilizing changes in intensity or Color of absorption or emission, underlines the analytical potential of this versatile concept which elegantly circumvents Signal distortions by scattering and Encoding dyes and enables straightforward validation by method comparison. KW - Polymer particles KW - Cleavable reporter KW - Optical quantification KW - Validation PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b00666 SN - 1520-6882 SN - 0003-2700 N1 - Geburtsname von Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. - Birth name of Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. VL - 90 IS - 9 SP - 5887 EP - 5895 PB - ACS Publ. CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-44830 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - 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 U6 - 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 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 - 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 - Hirsch, A. A1 - Lohmann, S.-H. A1 - Strelow, C. A1 - Kipp, T. A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Komoski, A. A1 - Wolter, C. A1 - Weller, H. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Mews, A. T1 - Fluorescence Quantum Yield and Single-Particle Emission of CdSe N2 - The fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of CdSe dot/CdS rod (DR) nanoparticle ensembles is dependent on the Shell growth and excitation wavelength. We analyze the origin of this dependency by comparing the optical properties of DR ensembles to the results obtained in single-particle experiments. On the Ensemble level, we find that the QY of DRs with shell lengths shorter than 40 nm exhibits no dependence on the excitation wavelength, whereas for DRs with shell lengths longer than 50 nm, the QY significantly decreases for excitation above the CdS band gap. Upon excitation in the CdSe core, the ensemble QY, the fluorescence wavelength, and the fluorescence blinking behavior of individual particles are only dependent on the radial CdS shell thickness and not on the CDs shell length. If the photogenerated excitons can reach the CdSe core region, the fluorescence properties will be dependent only on the surface passivation in close vicinity to the CdSe core. The change in QY upon excitation above the band gap of CdS for longer DRs cannot be explained by nonradiative particles because the ratio of emitting DRs is found to be independent of the DR length. We propose a model after which the decrease in QY for longer CdS shells is due to an increasing fraction of nonradiative exciton recombination within the elongated shell. This is supported by an effective-mass-approximation-based calculation, which suggests an optimum length of DRs of about 40 nm, to combine the benefit of high CdS absorption cross section with a high fluorescence QY. KW - Fluorescence KW - Quantum dot KW - Photophysics KW - Single particle spectroscopy KW - Mechanism KW - Theory KW - Ensemble measurements KW - Quantum yield KW - CdSe KW - CdS shell PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b07957 VL - 123 IS - 39 SP - 24338 EP - 24346 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-49556 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -