TY - JOUR A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Fluorescence calibration standards made from broadband emitters encapsulated in polymer beads for fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry N2 - We present here the design and characterization of a set of spectral calibration beads. These calibration beads are intended for the determination and regular control of the spectral characteristics of fluorescence microscopes and other fluorescence measuring devices for the readout of bead-based assays. This set consists of micrometer-sized polymer beads loaded with dyes from the liquid Calibration Kit Spectral Fluorescence Standards developed and certified by BAM for the wavelength-dependent Determination of the spectral responsivity of fluorescencemeasuring devices like spectrofluorometers. To cover the wavelength Region from 400 to 800 nm, two new near-infrared emissive dyes were included, which were spectroscopically characterized in solution and encapsulated in the beads. The resulting set of beads presents the first step towards a new platform of spectral calibration beads for the determination of the spectral characteristics of fluorescence instruments like fluorescence microscopes, FCM setups, and microtiter plate readers, thereby meeting the increasing demand for reliable and comparable fluorescence data especially in strongly regulated areas, e.g., medical diagnostics. This will eventually provide the basis for standardized calibration procedures for imaging systems as an alternative to microchannel slides containing dye solutions previously reported by us. KW - Fluorescence standard KW - Fluorescence KW - Dye KW - Microscopy KW - Bead KW - Particle KW - NIR KW - calibration KW - Quality assurance KW - Traceability PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-508117 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02664-y SN - 1618-2642 VL - 412 IS - 24 SP - 6499 EP - 6507 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-50811 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kothavale, S. A1 - Jadhav, A. G. A1 - Scholz, Norman A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Sekar, N. T1 - Corrigendum to "Deep red emitting triphenylamine based coumarin-rhodamine hybrids with large stokes shift and viscosity sensing: Synthesis, photophysical properties and DFT studies of their spirocyclic and open forms" [Dyes Pigments 137 (2017) 329-341] N2 - We designed and synthesized triphenylamine based and coumarin fused rhodamine hybrid dyes and characterized using 1H, 13C NMR and HR-LCMS analysis. Both the newly synthesized hybrid dyes were found to show red shifted absorption as well as emissions and large Stokes shift (40e68 nm) as compared to the small Stokes shift (25e30 nm) of reported dyes Rhodamine B and 101. Photophysical properties of these dyes were studied in different solvents and according to the solvents acidity or basicity they preferred to remain in their spirocyclic or open form in different ratio. We studied the spirocyclic as well as open form derivatives of these dyes for their viscosity sensitivity in three different mixture of solvents i.e. polar-protic [EtOH-PEG 400], polar-aprotic [toluene-PEG 400] and non-polaraprotic [toluene-paraffin]. They are found to show very high viscosity sensitivity in polar-protic mixture of solvents [EtOH-PEG 400] and hence concluded that both polarity as well as viscosity factor worked together for the higher emission enhancement rather than only viscosity factor. As these dyes showed very high viscosity sensitivity in their spirocyclic as well as open form, they can be utilized as viscosity sensors in visible as well as deep red region. We also correlated our experimental finding theoretically by using Density Functional theory computations. KW - Dye KW - Fluorescence KW - Synthesis KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Coumarin KW - Rhodamine KW - Probe KW - Viscosity PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2017.06.021 SN - 0143-7208 SN - 1873-3743 N1 - Geburtsname von Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. - Birth name of Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. VL - 149 SP - 929 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-44038 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Witte, F. A1 - Rietsch, P. A1 - Sinha, S. A1 - Krappe, A. A1 - Joswig, J.-O. A1 - Götze, J. P. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Eigler, S. A1 - Paulus, B. T1 - Fluorescence Quenching in J‑Aggregates through the Formation of Unusual Metastable Dimers N2 - Molecular aggregation alters the optical properties of a system as fluorescence may be activated or quenched. This is usually described within the well-established framework of H- and J-aggregates. While H-aggregates show nonfluorescent blueshifted absorption bands with respect to the isolated monomer, Jaggregates are fluorescent displaying a redshifted peak. In this publication, we employ a combined approach of experiment and theory to study the complex aggregation features and photophysical properties of diaminodicyanoquinone derivatives, which show unusual and puzzling nonfluorescent redshifted Absorption bands upon aggregation. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that stable aggregates do not account for the experimental observations. Instead, we propose an unprecedented mechanism involving metastable dimeric species formed from stable dimers to generate nonfluorescent J-aggregates. These results represent a novel kind of aggregation-induced optical effect and may have Broad implications for the photophysics of dye aggregates. KW - Fluorescence KW - Llifetime KW - Dye KW - Quantum yield KW - Label KW - Reporter KW - Aggregation KW - Monomer KW - Heory KW - Mechanism KW - photophysics PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c01600 SN - 1520-5207 VL - 125 IS - 17 SP - 4438 EP - 4446 PB - ACS Publikations AN - OPUS4-52619 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 DO - 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 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Kage, Daniel A1 - Gers-Panther, Charlotte F. A1 - Frank, Walter A1 - Müller, Thomas J. J. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Crystallization and Aggregation-Induced Emission in a Series of Pyrrolidinylvinylquinoxaline Derivatives N2 - Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has been meanwhile observed for many dye classes and particularly for fluorophores containing propeller-like groups. Herein, we report on the AIE characteristics of a series of four hydrophobic pyrrolidinylvinylquinoxaline (PVQ) derivatives with phenyl, pyrrolyl, indolyl, and methoxythienyl substituents used to systematically vary the torsion angle between this substituent at the quinoxaline C2 position and the planar PVQ moiety. These molecules, which are accessible via four- or five-component one-pot syntheses, were spectroscopically studied in organic solvents and solvent−water mixtures, as dye aggregates, solids, and entrapped in polystyrene particles (PSP). Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements revealed a strong fluorescence enhancement for all dyes in ethanol−water mixtures of high water content, accompanying the formation of dye aggregates with sizes of a few hundred nm, overcoming polarity and H-bonding-induced fluorescence quenching of the chargetransfer-type emission of these PVQ dyes. The size and shape of these dye aggregates and the size of the AIE effect are controlled by the water content and the substituent-dependent torsion angle that influences the nucleation process and the packing of the molecules during aggregation. Staining of 1 μm-sized carboxy-functionalized PSP with the PVQ dyes resulted also in a considerable increase in the fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime, reflecting the combined influence of the restricted molecular motion and the reduced polarity of the dye microenvironment. KW - Spectroscopy KW - AIE KW - Aggregates KW - Nanoparticle PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b01425 SN - 1932-7447 N1 - Geburtsname von Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. - Birth name of Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya: Nirmalananthan, N. VL - 122 IS - 20 SP - 11119 EP - 11127 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-45176 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunc, F. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Sung, Y. A1 - Johnston, L.J. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison on the Quantification of Total and Accessible Amine Groups on Silica Nanoparticles with qNMR and Optical Assays N2 - Risk assessment of nanomaterials requires not only standardized toxicity studies but also validated methods for nanomaterial surface characterization with known uncertainties. In this context, a first bilateral interlaboratory comparison on Surface group quantification of nanomaterials is presented that assesses different reporter-free and labeling methods for the quantification of the total and accessible number of amine functionalities on commercially available silica nanoparticles that are widely used in the life sciences. The overall goal of this comparison is the identification of optimum methods as well as achievable measurement uncertainties and the comparability of the results across laboratories. We also examined the robustness and ease of implementation of the applied analytical methods and discussed method-inherent limitations. In summary, this comparison presents a first step toward the eventually required standardization of methods for surface group quantification. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Surface KW - Method KW - QNMR KW - Quantification KW - Comparison KW - Quality assurance KW - Optical probe KW - Sensor KW - Interlabority comparison KW - Standardization KW - Optical assay KW - Functional group analysis KW - Silica KW - Particle KW - Safety KW - Environment PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02162 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 93 IS - 46 SP - 15271 EP - 15278 PB - ASC Publications AN - OPUS4-53818 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Heinrich, Thomas A1 - Tougaard, S. A1 - Werner, W. S. M. A1 - Hronek, M. A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Benemann, Sigrid A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Determining the thickness and completeness of the shell of polymer core-shell nanoparticles by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and transmission scanning electron microscopy N2 - Core–shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) have become indispensable in various industrial applications. However, their real internal structure usually deviates from an ideal core–shell structure. To control how the particles perform with regard to their specific applications, characterization techniques are required that can distinguish an ideal from a nonideal morphology. In this work, we investigated poly(tetrafluoroethylene)–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PTFE–PMMA) and poly(tetrafluoroethylene)–polystyrene (PTFE–PS) polymer CSNPs with a constant core diameter (45 nm) but varying shell thicknesses (4–50 nm). As confirmed by transmission scanning electron microscopy (T-SEM), the shell completely covers the core for the PTFE–PMMA nanoparticles, while the encapsulation of the core by the shell material is incomplete for the PTFE–PS nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied to determine the shell thickness of the nanoparticles. The software SESSA v2.0 was used to analyze the intensities of the elastic peaks, and the QUASES software package was employed to evaluate the shape of the inelastic background in the XPS survey spectra. For the first time, nanoparticle shell thicknesses are presented, which are exclusively based on the analysis of the XPS inelastic background. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA)-assisted time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) of the PTFE–PS nanoparticle sample set revealed a systematic variation among the samples and, thus, confirmed the incomplete encapsulation of the core by the shell material. As opposed to that, no variation is observed in the PCA score plots of the PTFE–PMMA nanoparticle sample set. Consequently, the complete coverage of the core by the shell material is proved by ToF-SIMS with a certainty that cannot be achieved by XPS and T-SEM. KW - XPS KW - T-SEM KW - ToF-SIMS KW - Core-shell nanoparticles PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-499165 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b09258 VL - 123 IS - 49 SP - 29765 EP - 29775 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-49916 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roloff, Alexander A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Borcherding, H. A1 - Thiele, T. A1 - Schedler, U. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Quantification of Aldehydes on Polymeric Microbead Surfaces via Catch and Release of Reporter Chromophores N2 - Aldehyde moieties on 2D-supports or microand nanoparticles can function as anchor groups for the attachment of biomolecules or as reversible binding sites for proteins on cell surfaces. The use of aldehyde-based materials in bioanalytical and medical settings calls for reliable methods to detect and quantify this functionality. We report here on a versatile concept to quantify the accessible aldehyde moieties on particle surfaces through the specific binding and subsequent release of small reporter molecules such as fluorescent dyes and nonfluorescent chromophores utilizing acylhydrazone formation as a reversible covalent labeling strategy. This is representatively demonstrated for a set of polymer microparticles with different aldehyde labeling densities. Excess reporter molecules can be easily removed by washing, eliminating inaccuracies caused by unspecific adsorption to hydrophobic surfaces. Cleavage of hydrazones at acidic pH assisted by a carbonyl trap releases the fluorescent reporters rapidly and quasi-quantitatively and allows for their fluorometric detection at low concentration. Importantly, this strategy separates the signal-generating molecules from the bead surface. This circumvents common issues associated with light scattering and signal distortions that are caused by binding-induced changes in reporter fluorescence as well as quenching dye− dye interactions on crowded particle surfaces. In addition, we demonstrate that the release of a nonfluorescent chromophore via disulfide cleavage and subsequent quantification by absorption spectroscopy gives comparable results, verifying that both assays are capable of rapid and sensitive quantification of aldehydes on microbead surfaces. These strategies enable a quantitative comparison of bead batches with different functionalization densities, and a qualitative prediction of their coupling efficiencies in bioconjugations, as demonstrated in reductive amination reactions with Streptavidin. KW - Fluorescent label KW - Surface group quantification KW - Polymer particle KW - Cleavable linker KW - Catch and release assay PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05515 SN - 0003-2700 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 91 IS - 14 SP - 8827 EP - 8834 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-48284 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Moser, Marko A1 - Kläber, Christopher A1 - Schäfer, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Multimodal cleavable reporters for quantifying carboxy and amino groups on organic and inorganic nanoparticles N2 - Organic and inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used as drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in the life and material sciences. These applications require knowledge of the chemical nature, total number of surface groups, and the number of groups accessible for subsequent coupling of e.g., antifouling ligands, targeting bioligands, or sensor molecules. To establish the concept of catch-and-release assays, cleavable probes were rationally designed from a quantitatively cleavable disulfide moiety and the optically detectable reporter 2-thiopyridone (2-TP). For quantifying surface groups on nanomaterials, first, a set of monodisperse carboxy-and amino-functionalized, 100 nm-sized polymer and silica NPs with different surface group densities was synthesized. Subsequently, the accessible functional groups (FGs) were quantified via optical spectroscopy of the cleaved off reporter after its release in solution. Method validation was done with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) utilizing the sulfur atom of the cleavable probe. This comparison underlined the reliability and versatility of our probes, which can be used for surface group quantification on all types of transparent, scattering, absorbing and/or fluorescent particles. The correlation between the total and accessible number of FGs quantified by conductometric titration, qNMR, and with our cleavable probes, together with the comparison to results of conjugation studies with differently sized biomolecules reveal the potential of catch-and-release reporters for surface analysis. Our findings also underline the importance of quantifying particularly the accessible amount of FGs for many applications of NPs in the life sciences. KW - Advanced Materials KW - Surface Chemistry KW - Organic–inorganic nanostructures KW - Funtional Groups KW - Quantitative Analysis PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-499081 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53773-3 VL - 9 SP - 17577-1 EP - 17577-11 PB - Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-49908 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Zengchao A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - Separation of polystyrene nanoparticles bearing different carboxyl group densities and functional groups quantification with capillary electrophoresis and asymmetrical flow field flow fractionation N2 - Two sets of polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs) with comparable core sizes but different carboxyl group densities were made and separated using asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AF4), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and the off-line hyphenation of both methods. Our results revealed the significant potential of two-dimensional off-line AF4-CE hyphenation to improve the separation and demonstrated for the first time, the applicability of CE to determine the functional group density of nanoparticles (NPs). Compared to the result acquired with conductometric titration, the result obtained with synthesized 100 nm sized PSNPs revealed only a slight deviation of 1.7%. Commercial 100 nm sized PSNPs yielded a deviation of 4.6 %. For 60 nm sized PSNPs, a larger deviation of 10.6 % between both methods was observed, which is attributed to the lower separation resolution. KW - Nanoparticle KW - A4F KW - Capillary electrophoresis KW - Carboxyl group PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461392 VL - 1626 SP - 461392 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51080 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -