TY - JOUR A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Krumrey, Julian Frederic A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Workflow towards automated segmentation of agglomerated, non‑spherical particles from electron microscopy images using artificial neural networks N2 - We present a workflow for obtaining fully trained artificial neural networks that can perform automatic particle segmentations of agglomerated, non-spherical nanoparticles from scanning electron microscopy images “from scratch”, without the need for large training data sets of manually annotated images. The whole process only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on time by a user and can typically be finished within less than 12 hours when training on a single graphics card (GPU). After training, SEM image analysis can be carried out by the artificial neural network within seconds. This is achieved by using unsupervised learning for most of the training dataset generation, making heavy use of generative adversarial networks and especially unpaired image-to-image translation via cycle-consistent adversarial networks. We compare the segmentation masks obtained with our suggested workflow qualitatively and quantitatively to state-of-the-art methods using various metrics. Finally, we used the segmentation masks for automatically extracting particle size distributions from the SEM images of TiO2 particles, which were in excellent agreement with particle size distributions obtained manually but could be obtained in a fraction of the time. KW - Electron microscopy KW - Neural networks KW - Artificial intelligence KW - Image segmentation KW - Automated image analysis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-522454 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84287-6 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - 4942 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-52245 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Olbrich, Adelina-Elisa A1 - An Stepec, Biwen Annie A1 - Wurzler, Nina A1 - Terol, E. C. A1 - Koerdt, Andrea A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - Beyond corrosion: Development of a single cell-ICP-ToF-MS method to uncover the process of microbiologically influenced corrosion N2 - The development of the microbiologically influenced corrosion ( MIC ) -specific inductively coupled plasma-time of flight-mass spectrometry ( ICP-ToF-MS ) analytical method presented here, in combination with the investigation of steel-MIC interactions, contributes significantly to progress in instrumental MIC analysis. For this, a MIC-specific staining procedure was developed, which ensures the analysis of intact cells. It allows the analysis of archaea at a single cell level, which is extremely scarce compared to other well-characterized organisms. The detection method revealed elemental selectivity for the corrosive methanogenic strain Methanobacterium -affiliated IM1. Hence, the possible uptake of individual elements from different steel samples was investigated and results showed the cells responded at a single-cell level to the different types of supplemented elements and displayed the abilities to uptake chromium, vanadium, titanium, cobalt, and molybdenum from solid metal surfaces. The methods developed and information obtained will be used in the future to elucidate underlying mechanisms, compliment well-developed methods, such as SEM-EDS, and develop novel material protection concepts. KW - Single cell KW - Microbiological influenced corrosion MIC KW - Sc-ICP-ToF-MS KW - Method development KW - Ir DNA staining approach KW - Carbon steel corrosion PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/mtomcs/mfac083 SN - 1756-591X VL - 14 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-56254 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Kai A1 - Mirabella, Francesca A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Mezera, Marek A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Wasmuth, Karsten A1 - Voss, Heike A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Chemical and topographical changes upon sub-100-nm laser-induced periodic surface structure formation on titanium alloy: the influence of laser pulse repetition rate and number of over-scans N2 - Titanium and its alloys are known to allow the straightforward laser-based manufacturing of ordered surface nanostructures, so-called high spatial frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures (HSFL). These structures exhibit sub-100 nm spatial periods – far below the optical diffraction limit. The resulting surface functionalities are usually enabled by both, topographic and chemical alterations of the nanostructured surfaces. For exploring these effects, multi-method characterizations were performed here for HSFL processed on Ti–6Al–4V alloy upon irradiation with near-infrared ps-laser pulses (1030 nm, ≈1 ps pulse duration, 1–400 kHz) under different laser scan processing conditions, i.e., by systematically varying the pulse repetition frequency and the number of laser irradiation passes. The sample characterization involved morphological and topographical investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), tactile stylus profilometry, as well as near-surface chemical analyses hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and depth-profiling time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). This provides a quantification of the laser ablation depth, the geometrical HSFL characteristics and enables new insights into the depth extent and the nature of the non-ablative laser-induced near-surface oxidation accompanying these nanostructures. This allows to answer the questions how the processing of HSFL can be industrially scaled up, and whether the latter is limited by heat-accumulation effects. T2 - 2023 E-MRS Spring Meeting, Symposium L "Making light matter: lasers in material sciences and photonics" CY - Strasbourg, France DA - 29.05.2023 KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Ultrashort laser pulses KW - Laser processing KW - Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) KW - Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-589902 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pssa.202300719 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202300719 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 221 IS - 15 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Wiley-VCH GmbH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-58990 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kossatz, Philipp A1 - Mezhov, Alexander A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Assessing the Applicability of Lanthanide-Based Upconverting Nanoparticles for Optically Monitoring Cement Hydration and Tagging Building Materials N2 - Chemically stable, lanthanide-based photon upconversion micro- and nanoparticles (UCNPs) with their characteristic multicolor emission bands in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (vis), near-infrared (NIR), and short-wave infrared (SWIR) arepromising optical reporters and barcoding tags. To assess the applicability of UCNPs for the monitoring of early stage cement hydration processes and as authentication tags for cementitious materials, we screened the evolution of the luminescence of Selfmade core-only NaYF4:Yb,Er UCNPs and commercial μm-sized Y2O2S:Yb,Er particles during the first stages of cement hydration, which largely determines the future properties of the hardened material. Parameters explored from the UCNP side included particle size, morphology, surface chemistry or coating, luminescence properties, and concentration in different cement mixtures. From the cement side, the influence of the mineral composition of the cement matrix was representatively examined for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and its constituents tricalcium aluminate (C3A), tricalcium silicate (C3S), and gypsum at different water to cement ratios. Based on reflection and luminescence measurements, enabling online monitoring, which were complemented by XRD and isothermal heat-flow calorimetric measurements to determine whether the incorporation of these particles could impair cement hydration processes, well suited lanthanide particle reporters could be identified as well as application conditions. In addition, thereby the reporter influence on cement hydration kinetics could be minimized while still preserving a high level of information content. The best performance for the luminescence probing of changes during early stage cement hydration processes was observed for 25 nm-sized oleate (OA)-coated UCNPs added in a concentration of 0.1 wt %. Higher UCNP amounts of 1.0 wt % delayed cement hydration processes size- and surface coatingspecifically in the first 24 h. Subsequent luminescence stability screening studies performed over a period of about one year support the applicability of UCNPs as optical authentication tags for construction materials. KW - Quality assurance KW - Fluorescence KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Synthesis KW - Quantum yield KW - NIR KW - Mechanism KW - Characterization KW - XRD KW - Calorimetry KW - Advanced material KW - Cement KW - Monitoring KW - Surface KW - Size KW - Lifetime KW - Barcode KW - Lanthanide KW - Upconversion KW - Encoding KW - Method PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638318 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.5c02236 SN - 2470-1343 VL - 10 IS - 29 SP - 31587 EP - 31599 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-63831 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Karafiludis, Stephanos A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Heinekamp, Christian A1 - Smales, Glen Jacob A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - ten Elshof, J. E. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Stawski, Tomasz T1 - Template-free synthesis of mesoporous, amorphous transition metal phosphate materials N2 - We present how mesoporosity can be engineered in transition metal phosphate (TMPs) materials in a template-free manner. The method involves a transformation of a precursor metal phosphate phase, called M-struvite (NH4MPO4·6H2O, M = Mg2+, Ni2+, Co2+, NixCo1-x2+). It relies on the thermal decomposition of crystalline M-struvite precursors to an amorphous and simultaneously mesoporous phase, which forms while degassing of NH3 and H2O. The temporal evolution of mesoporous frameworks and the response of the metal coordination environment were followed with in-situ and ex-situ scattering and diffraction, as well as X -ray spectroscopy. Despite sharing the same precursor struvite structure, different amorphous and mesoporous structures were obtained depending on the involved transition metal. We highlight the systematic differences in absolute surface area, pore shape, pore size, and phase transitions depending on a metal cation present in the analogous M-struvites. The amorphous structures of thermally decomposed Mg-, Ni- and NixCo1-x-struvites exhibit high surface areas and pore volumes (240 m²g-1 and 0.32 cm-3 g-1 for Mg and 90 m²g-1 and 0.13 cm-3 g-1 for Ni). We propose that the low-cost, environmentally friendly M-struvites could be obtained as recycling products from industrial and agricultural wastewaters. These waste products could be then upcycled into mesoporous TMPs through a simple thermal treatment for further applications, for instance, in (electro)catalysis. KW - Struvite KW - Pphosphates KW - Transition metal KW - In-situ SAXS/WAXS KW - Mesoporosity PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-569503 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NR05630E SN - 2040-3364 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-56950 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Horton, Matthew K. A1 - Huck, Patrick A1 - Yang, Ruo Xi A1 - Munro, Jason M. A1 - Dwaraknath, Shyam A1 - Ganose, Alex M. A1 - Kingsbury, Ryan S. A1 - Wen, Mingjian A1 - Shen, Jimmy X. A1 - Mathis, Tyler S. A1 - Kaplan, Aaron D. A1 - Berket, Karlo A1 - Riebesell, Janosh A1 - George, Janine A1 - Rosen, Andrew S. A1 - Spotte-Smith, Evan W. C. A1 - McDermott, Matthew J. A1 - Cohen, Orion A. A1 - Dunn, Alex A1 - Kuner, Matthew C. A1 - Rignanese, Gian-Marco A1 - Petretto, Guido A1 - Waroquiers, David A1 - Griffin, Sinead M. A1 - Neaton, Jeffrey B. A1 - Chrzan, Daryl C. A1 - Asta, Mark A1 - Hautier, Geoffroy A1 - Cholia, Shreyas A1 - Ceder, Gerbrand A1 - Ong, Shyue Ping A1 - Jain, Anubhav A1 - Persson, Kristin A. T1 - Accelerated data-driven materials science with the Materials Project N2 - The Materials Project was launched formally in 2011 to drive materials discovery forwards through high-throughput computation and open data. More than a decade later, the Materials Project has become an indispensable tool used by more than 600,000 materials researchers around the world. This Perspective describes how the Materials Project, as a data platform and a software ecosystem, has helped to shape research in data-driven materials science. We cover how sustainable software and computational Methods have accelerated materials design while becoming more open source and collaborative in nature. Next, we present cases where the Materials Project was used to understand and discover functional materials. We then describe our eforts to meet the needs of an expanding user base, through technical infrastructure updates ranging from data architecture and cloud resources to interactive web applications. Finally, we discuss opportunities to better aid the research community, with the vision that more accessible and easy-to-understand materials data will result in democratized materials knowledge and an increasingly collaborative community. KW - Databases KW - Materials Informatics KW - Materials Design KW - Automation KW - Workflows KW - Accelerated Discovery PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02272-0 SN - 1476-1122 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-63616 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoque, Maroof Arshadul A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Das, Prasenjit A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Heinekamp, Christian A1 - Stolar, Tomislav A1 - Etter, Martin A1 - Rosenberger, David A1 - George, Janine A1 - Bhattacharya, Biswajit A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Mechanochemically Synthesized Covalent Organic Framework Effectively Captures PFAS Contaminants N2 - Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants that pose significant health risks, prompting urgent efforts to develop effective removal methods and adsorbers. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are metal‐free adsorbers with high stability and tunable porosity. A highly crystalline COF is synthesised mechanochemically using 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB) and 1,3,5‐triformylbenzene (TFB). The formation dynamics are monitored in real time with time‐resolved in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction. The TAPB‐TFB COF demonstrates good efficiency in eliminating PFAS from water. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are effectively extracted, and most of the adsorption occurred within the first 10 min. Additionally, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and DFT calculations are employed to elucidate the molecular interactions between PFAS and the COF framework. The rapid and efficient removal of PFAS makes TAPB‐TFB COF a promising material for water treatment applications. KW - COFs KW - Ball-milling KW - PFAS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-648712 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202509275 SN - 1613-6810 VL - 21 IS - 44 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-64871 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hirahara, Kenta A1 - Bonse, Jörn A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Schusterbauer, Robert A1 - Unterreiner, Andreas-Neil A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - A multi-method study of femtosecond laser modification and ablation of amorphous hydrogenated carbon coatings N2 - e present a study on femtosecond laser treatment of amorphous hydrogen-containing carbon coatings (a-C:H). The coatings were deposited on silicon wafers by a plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (PA-CVD), resulting in two different types of material with distinct properties (referred to as “absorbing” and “semi-transparent” coatings in the following). The samples were laser-treated with single fs-laser pulses (800 nm center wavelength, 35 fs pulse duration) in the ablative regime. Through a multi-method approach using topometry, Raman spectroscopy, and spectroscopic imaging ellipsometry, we can identify zones and thresholds of diferent fuence dependent efects and have access to the local dielectric function. The two coating materials react signifcantly diferent upon laser treatment. We determined the (non-ablative) modifcation threshold fuence for the absorbing coating as 3.6 × 10−2 Jcm−2 and its ablation threshold as 0.22 Jcm−2. The semi-transparent coating does not show such a low-fuence modifcation but exhibits a characteristic interference-based intra-flm ablation mechanism with two distinguishable ablation thresholds at 0.25 and 0.28 Jcm−2, respectively. The combination of tailored layer materials and correlative imaging spectroscopic methods delivers new insights into the behaviour of materials when treated with ultrashort-pulse laser radiation KW - Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon Coatings KW - Correlative Imaging Measurement Techniques KW - Hybrid Metrology KW - Imaging Spectroscopy KW - Spectroscopic Ellipsometry KW - Ultra-short Pulse Laser Materials Processing PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-617829 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-024-07980-z VL - 130 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-61782 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hildebrandt, Jana A1 - Thünemann, Andreas T1 - Aqueous Dispersions of Polypropylene: Toward Reference Materials for Characterizing Nanoplastics N2 - Microplastics and nanoplastics pollute the natural environment all over the world, but the full extent of the hazards posed by this waste is unclear. While research on microplastics is well advanced, little work has been done on nanoplastics. This discrepancy is mainly due to the lacking ability to detect nanoplastics in biologically and environmentally relevant matrices. Nanoplastics reference materials can help the development of suitable methods for identifying and quantifying nanoplastics in nature. The aim is to synthesize nanoplastics made from one of the most commonly used plastics, namely polypropylene. An easy way to produce long-term stable aqueous dispersions of polypropylene nanoparticles (nano polypropylene) is reported. The nanoplastic particles, prepared by mechanical breakdown, show a mean hydrodynamic diameter of D h = 180.5 ± 5.8 nm and a polydispersity index of PDI = 0.084 ± 0.02. No surfactant is needed to obtain dispersion which is stable for more than 6 months. The colloidal stability of the surfactant-free nano polypropylene dispersions is explained by their low zeta potential of 𝜻 = −43 ± 2 mV. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Reference Material KW - Nanoplastics PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-571799 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202200874 SN - 1022-1336 VL - 44 IS - 6 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-57179 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hallier, Dorothea C. A1 - Smales, Glen Jacob A1 - Seitz, H. A1 - Hahn, Marc Benjamin T1 - Bio-SAXS of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins: Radiation protection by the compatible solute ectoine N2 - Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be used for structural determination of biological macromolecules and polymers in their native states (e.g. liquid phase). This means that the structural changes of (bio-)polymers, such as proteins and DNA, can be monitored in situ to understand their sensitivity to changes in chemical environments. In an attempt to improve the reliability of such experiments, the reduction of radiation damage occurring from exposure to X-rays is required. One such method, is to use scavenger molecules to protect macromolecules against radicals produced during radiation exposure, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study we investigate the feasibility of applying the compatible solute, osmolyte and radiation protector Ectoine (THP(B)), as a scavenger molecule during SAXS measurements of the single-stranded DNA-binding protein Gene-V Protein (G5P/GVP). In this case, we monitor the radiation induced changes of G5P during bio-SAXS measurments and the resulting microscopic energy-damage relation was determined from microdosimetric calculations by Monte-Carlo based particle scattering simulations with TOPAS/Geant4 and a custom target-model. This resulted in a median-lethal energy deposit of pure G5P at 4 mg mL−1 of E1/2 = 7 ± 5 eV, whereas a threefold increase of energy-deposit was needed under the presence of Ectoine to reach the same level of damage. This indicates that Ectoine increases the possible exposure time before radiation-damage to G5P is observed. Furthermore, the dominant type of damage shifted from aggregation in pure solutions towards a fragmentation for solutions containing Ectoine as a cosolute. These results are interpreted in terms of indirect radiation damage by reactive secondary species, as well as post-irradiation effects, related to preferential-exclusion of the cosolute from the protein surface. Hence, Ectoine is shown to provide a non-disturbing way to improve structure-determination of proteins via bio-SAXS in future studies. KW - BioSAXS KW - Bio-SAXS KW - Cosolute KW - Ectoine KW - G5P KW - GVP KW - Radiation damage KW - Radical Scavenger KW - Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins KW - X-ray scattering KW - DNA KW - ssDNA KW - Protein KW - SAXS KW - Small-angle xray scattering KW - McSAS3 KW - Dosimetry KW - Microdosimetry KW - Geant4 KW - Geant4-DNA KW - Topas KW - Topas-MC KW - Monte-Carlo simulations KW - Particle scattering simulations KW - Topas-nBio KW - OH Radical KW - OH radical scavenger KW - LEE KW - Ionizing radiation damage KW - Protein unfolding KW - Ectoin PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-568909 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cp05053f SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 25 IS - 7 SP - 5372 EP - 5382 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-56890 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -