TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Uusimäki, T. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - Verleysen, E. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Evaluation of electron microscopy techniques for the purpose of classification of nanomaterials JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - Electron microscopy techniques such as TEM, STEM, SEM or TSEM (transmission in SEM) are capable of assessing the size of individual nanoparticles accurately. Nevertheless, the challenging aspect is sample preparation from powder or liquid form on the substrate, so that a homogeneous distribution of well-separated (deagglomerated) particles is attained. The systematic study in this work shows examples where the extraction of the critical, smallest particle dimension - as the decisive particle parameter for the classification as a NM - is possible by analysing the sample after ist simple, dry preparation. The consequences of additional typical issues like loss of information due to screening of smaller particles by larger ones or the (in)ability to access the constituent particles in aggregates are discussed. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Electron microscopy KW - Particle size distribution KW - Classification PY - 2016 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/evaluation-of-electron-microscopy-techniques-for-the-purpose-of-classification-of-nanomaterials/0B66A25EA7F7A5A3622C02A359C8304F DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616005523 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 22 IS - Suppl. 3 SP - 936 EP - 937 PB - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-38445 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Weigel, St. A1 - Wohlleben, W. T1 - Critical review manuscript with real-world performance data for counting, ensemble and separating methods including in-build mathematical conversion to number distributions submitted for publication N2 - The content of the paper is the assessment of the performance of (conventional) measurement techniques (MTs)with respect to the classification of disperse materials according to the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial. This performance essentially refers to the accurate assessment of the number weighted median of (the constituent) particles. All data and conclusions are based on the analytical study conducted as real-world performance testing. It comprised different types of MTs (imaging, counting, fractionating, spectroscopic and integral) as well as different types of materials. Beside reference materials with well-defined size distribution the study also included several commercial powders (variation of particle composition, morphology, coating, size range and polydispersity). In order to ensure comparability of measurement results, the participants were guided to use uniform protocols in sample preparation, conducting measurements, data analysis and in reporting results. Corresponding documents have been made public, in order to support the reviewing process of the paper, respectively to ensure the reproducibility of data by other users under the same conditions. The scientific paper relies on a comprehensive set of revised measurement data reported in uniform templates, completely describes the experimental procedures and discusses the MTs’ performance for selected materials in detail. Even more, the study is summarised and evaluated, which leads to recommendations for the use of MTs within a tiered approach of NM characterisation. In addition, the paper critically examines the factors that may affect the outcome of such a comparison among different MTs. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Measurement techniques KW - EC definition of nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-389646 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/index.php/downloads/nanodefine-technical-reports UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/publications/reports/NanoDefine_TechnicalReport_D3.3.pdf SP - D3.3, 1 EP - 72 PB - The NanoDefine Consortium CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-38964 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Uusimäki, T. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - Verleysen, E. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Evaluation of electron microscopy techniques for the purpose of classification of nanomaterials T2 - European Microscopy Congress 2016: Proceedings N2 - One current and much-debated topic in the characterization of nanomaterials (NM) is the implementation of the recently introduced recommendation on a definition of a nanomaterial by the European Commission. All currently available sizing techniques able to address nanoparticles were systematically evaluated. It was demonstrated that particle sizing techniques like: analytical centrifugation, particle tracking analysis, single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry, differential electrical mobility analysis, dynamic light scattering, small angle X-ray scattering, ultrasonic attenuation spectrometry, but also gas Adsorption analysis based on the BET-method can be applied for a screening classification. However, the quality of the results depends on the individual material to be classified. For well-dispersed, nearly spherical (nano)particles most of the sizing techniques can be applied in a quick and reliable way. In contrast, the classification of most real-world materials is a challenging task, mainly due to non-spherical particle shape, large polydispersity or strong agglomeration/ aggregation of the particles. In the present study it was shown that these issues can be resolved in most cases by electron microscopy as a confirmatory classification technique. Electron microscopy techniques such as TEM, STEM, SEM or TSEM transmission in SEM) are capable of assessing the size of individual nanoparticles accurately (see Figures 1 and 2). Nevertheless the challenging aspect is sample preparation from powder or liquid form on the substrate, so that a homogeneous distribution of well-separated (deagglomerated) particles is attained. The systematic study in this work shows examples where the extraction of the critical, smallest particle dimension - as the decisive particle parameter for the classification as a NM - is possible by analysing the sample after its simple, dry preparation. The consequences of additional typical issues like loss of information due to Screening of smaller particles by larger ones or the (in)ability to access the constituent particles in aggregates are discussed. T2 - European Microscopy Congress emc 2016 CY - Lyon, France DA - 28.08.2016 KW - Nanomaterial classification KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2016 SN - 9783527808465 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527808465.EMC2016.5767 SP - 13 EP - 14 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-44087 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Ullmann, C. T1 - Evaluation of particle sizing techniques for the implementation of the EC definition of a nanomaterial N2 - What is a nanomaterial? Beyond a pure academic interest, this question has substantial im-plications for consumer protection and regulatory purposes. The European Commission has recommended a definition of nanomaterial (2011/696/EU), which states that a given material is considered a nanomaterial if more than 50 % of the particles in the number size distribution have a smallest dimension between 1 and 100 nm. Although several well established particle sizing techniques exist, the implementation of this definition for any particulate material remains a metrological challenge. The European research project NanoDefine (http://www.nanodefine.eu) has the aim of pro-viding help for the implementation of the definition. One central task is the performance evaluation of the available particle sizing techniques. For this purpose, a wide variety of real world materials has been selected. All available sizing techniques, including imaging, mobility-based and static scattering techniques, independent whether being counting, fractionating, spectroscopic or integrally sizing, will be applied to all of the projects materials to test the techniques performance and to establish their ranges of applicability. Because most of the techniques do not measure in number metrics as required in the nanomaterial definition, the quality of the conversion to the number based particle size distribution is assessed as well. Special care is taken on suitable sample preparation procedures as one of the most chal-lenging issues towards reaching a highly accurate result. Within this contribution, first results of the performance testing of state of the art characterisation techniques on the unique set of NanoDefine real world materials are going to be presented. From these results, first conclu-sions about the material dependent ranges of applicability for the considered particle sizing techniques can be drawn. The technique specific advantages and shortcomings with respect to the application of the EC definition as well as the analytical challenges encountered will be highlighted. Acknowledgements: The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 604347. T2 - PARTEC CY - Nürnberg, Germany DA - 19.04.2016 KW - Nanomaterial PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-35802 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Rauscher, H. A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Gaillard, C. A1 - Stintz, M. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Weigel, St. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Mielke, Johannes T1 - Recommendations on a revision of the EC definition of nanomaterial based on analytical possibilities; updated N2 - In October 2011 the European Commission (EC) published a "Recommendation on the definition of na-nomaterial" (2011/696/EU), to promote consistency in the interpretation of the term "nanomaterial" for legislative and policy purposes in the EU. The EC NM Definition includes a commitment to its review in the light of experience and of scientific and technological developments. This review is ongoing in 2017 and as a contribution to the review the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) has already developed a series of three scientific-technical reports with the title: “Towards a review of the EC Recommendation for a definition of the term nanomaterial” which provides to the EC policy services sci-ence-based options on how the definition could be revised or supported with additional guidance. The overarching nature and wide scope of the EC NM Definition, as it does not exclude a priori any particulate material regardless the state, form and size, creates many analytical challenges in its imple-mentation for all stakeholders, including enterprises and regulators. The NanoDefine project has as core objective to support the implementation of the EC NM Definition. In an earlier report1 key aspects of the EC NM Definition were addressed, with the goal to improve the implementability of the EC NM Definition. Based on further developments and results obtained in NanoDefine project that first report was updated and is presented here. The key aspects are discussed based on the results of four years of research performed within the framework of the project. As a result this report assesses how well the requirements of the EC NM Definition can be fulfilled with currently available analytical possibilities. It presents recommendations and options on a revision of the EC NM Definition to improve the implementability of the definition based on currently available analytical possi-bilities, according to the state of the art in 2017. Of the technical issues considered in this report, the following seem to deserve the most attention in terms of clarification of the definition and/or provision of additional implementation guidance: 'external dimension', ‘number based particle size distribution‘, ‘polydispersity‘ and ‘upper size limit‘, the term ‘particle’, the ‘means to prove that a material is not a nanomaterial‘ and ‘the role of the volume specific sur-face area (VSSA)‘, and "particulate materials'. KW - EU definition of a nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticles KW - Revision KW - Update 2017 PY - 2017 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/index.php/nanodefine-publications/nanodefine-technical-reports SP - D7.10, 1 EP - D7.10, 71 PB - The NanoDefine Consortium CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-43540 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Bianchin, A. A1 - Lecloux, A. A1 - Roebben, G. A1 - Rauscher, H. A1 - Gibson, N. T1 - Development of an integrated approach based on validated and standardized methods to support the implementation of the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial N2 - The VSSA approach has the important advantage over classifying, imaging and counting techniques that it does not involve dispersion protocols. Further, the BET technique as the basis for VSSA determination it is in widespread use, generates low costs and is specified for many commercial materials. Finally, the same equipment allows for a deeper analysis by full isotherm evaluation. The present deliverable assesses all NanoDefine powders, supplemented by further real-world materials (in total 26 powders), and quantitatively compares the relationship between the median size (by Electron Microscopy – considered as benchmark for the EC nanomaterial definition) vs. the size derived from VSSA. The VSSA method mitigates the challenges of EM to assess the thickness of platelets, but worked as well on fibbers and particles of irregular shapes. A screening strategy is proposed. If applied to the further data from real-world materials as validation set, this screening does achieve a correct classification, leaving only borderline materials for tier 2 assessment. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Classification KW - Regulation KW - VSSA KW - Size measurement KW - Particle size PY - 2017 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-398938 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-017-3741-x SP - 1 EP - 26 PB - The NanoDefine Consortium CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-39893 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Dohányosová, P. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - Lopez, S. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Electrospray as a sample preparation tool for electron microscopic investigations: Toward quantitative evaluation of nanoparticles JF - Microscopy and Microanalysis N2 - The potential of electrospray deposition, for the controlled preparation of particles for imaging in electron microscopes, is evaluated on various materials: from mono-modal suspensions of spherical particles to multimodal suspensions and to real-world industrial materials. It is shown that agglomeration is reduced substantially on the sample carrier, compared with conventional sample preparation techniques. For the first time, it is possible to assess the number concentration of a tri-modal polystyrene suspension by electron microscopy, due to the high deposition efficiency of the electrospray. We discovered that some suspension stabilizing surfactants form artifact particles during electrospraying. These can be avoided by optimizing the sprayed suspension. KW - Electrospray deposition KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM KW - TEM KW - Sample preparation PY - 2017 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/electrospray-as-a-sample-preparation-tool-for-electron-microscopic-investigations-toward-quantitative-evaluation-of-nanoparticles/483B212FF290B7EC001A212A19E4E72A DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927617010145 SN - 1435-8115 SN - 1431-9276 VL - 23 IS - S1 (July) SP - 1896 EP - 1897 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY, U.S.A. AN - OPUS4-42453 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - 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 -