TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Kim, K.J. T1 - Elemental Composition and Thickness Determination of Thin Films by Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) N2 - microscopy (AFM), or X-ray reflectometry. For the additional determination of thin film composition, techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) or mass spectrometry-based techniques can be used. An alternative non-destructive technique is electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). This method assumes a sample of homogenous (bulk) chemical composition, so that it cannot be usually applied to thin film samples. However, in combination with the thin film software StrataGEM, the thickness as well as the composition of such films on a substrate can be determined. This has been demonstrated for FeNi on Si and SiGe on Al2O3 film systems. For both systems five samples with different elemental composition and a reference were produced and characterised by Korean research institute KRISS using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These samples were used for an international round robin test. In 2021, a new and open-source thin film evaluation programme called BadgerFilm has been released. It can also be used to determine thin film composition and thickness from intensity ratios of the unknown sample and standards (k-ratios). In this contribution, we re-evaluated the data acquired for the FeNi and SiGe systems using the BadgerFilm software package and compared the resulting composition and thickness with the results of the established StrataGEM software and other reference methods. With the current evaluation, the BadgerFilm software shows good agreement with the composition and thickness calculated by StrataGEM and as the reference values provided by the KRISS. T2 - ECASIA 2022 CY - Limerick, Ireland DA - 29.05.2022 KW - Thin films KW - Electron Probe Microanalysis KW - Interlaboratory Comparisons PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54963 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Maurino, V. T1 - Morpho-Chemical Characterisation of Me-TiO2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photocatalytical Activity N2 - The conversion of solar energy into electricity and solar fuels is of crucial importance for a green and sustainable future. Water splitting using semiconductor photo-catalysts is considered a sustainable method to produce clean hydrogen (H2) fuel. Nevertheless, H2 photo-production efficiency remains still low, although extensive research works to understand better the mechanisms of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) are being carried out. In this respect, TiO2 is a key photoactive material, usually employed with a co-catalyst deposited onto the surface to enhance charge carriers’ separation and catalyze surface charge transfer reactions. The deposition of a co-catalyst on the TiO2 nanoparticle surface represents one successful way to enhance the activity of the photocatalyst through a modification of its surface and redox properties. In this context, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy coupled with elemental analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is fundamental for studying and understanding the effect of the nanoparticle morphology on the functional properties of shape-controlled TiO2 crystals (bipyramides, platelets, and elongated particles). Different types of metal-semiconductor combinations, TiO2 shapes and dopant metals (Ag, Pt, etc) and metal concentrations will be discussed. T2 - ECASIA 2022 CY - Limerick, Ireland DA - 29.05.2022 KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - Photocatalysis KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54977 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bresch, Harald A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Schmidt, Alexandra A1 - Rasmussen, K. A1 - Rauscher, H. T1 - Counting Small Particles in Electron Microscopy Images — Proposal for Rules and Their Application in Practice N2 - Electron microscopy (EM) is the gold standard for the characterisation of the morphology (size and shape) of nanoparticles. Visual observation of objects under examination is always a necessary first step in the characterisation process. Several questions arise when undertaking to identify and count particles to measure their size and shape distribution. In addition to challenges with the dispersion and identification of the particles, more than one protocol for counting particles is in use. This paper focuses on precise rules for the counting of particles in EM micrographs, as this influences the measurement accuracy of the number of particles, thus implicitly affecting the size values of the counted particles. We review and compare four different, commonly used methods for counting, which we then apply in case studies. The impact of the selected counting rule on the obtained final particle size distribution is highlighted. One main aim of this analysis is to support the application of a specific, well-defined counting approach in accordance with regulatory requirements to contribute to achieving more reliable and reproducible results. It is also useful for the new harmonised measurement procedures for determining the particle size and particle size distribution of nanomaterials. KW - Nano KW - Particle size distribution KW - Nanoparticle KW - Nanomaterial KW - OECD PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551891 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 12 IS - 13 SP - 2238 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55189 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sachse, René A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Kraehnert, R. A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Multilevel effective material approximation for modeling ellipsometric measurements on complex porous thin films N2 - Catalysts are important components in chemical processes because they lower the activation energy and thus determine the rate, efficiency and selectivity of a chemical reaction. This property plays an important role in many of today’s processes, including the electrochemical splitting of water. Due to the continuous development of catalyst materials, they are becoming more complex, which makes a reliable evaluation of physicochemical properties challenging even for modern analytical measurement techniques and industrial manufacturing. We present a fast, vacuum-free and non-destructive analytical approach using multi-sample spectroscopic ellipsometry to determine relevant material parameters such as film thickness, porosity and composition of mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films. Mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films were deposited on Si wafers by sol–gel synthesis, varying the composition of the mixed oxide films between 0 and 100 wt%Ir. The ellipsometric modeling is based on an anisotropic Bruggeman effective medium approximation (a-BEMA) to determine the film thickness and volume fraction of the material and pores. The volume fraction of the material was again modeled using a Bruggeman EMA to determine the chemical composition of the materials. The ellipsometric fitting results were compared with complementary methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) as well as environmental ellipsometric porosimetry (EEP). KW - Electrochemical catalysts KW - Mixed metal oxide KW - Multi-sample analysis KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry KW - Thin mesoporous films PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551026 SN - 2192-8584 SN - 2192-8576 VL - 11 IS - 3-4 (Topical issue: Ellipsometry) SP - 137 EP - 147 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-55102 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Reiss, P. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - One-Pot Heat-Up Synthesis of ZnSe Magic-Sized Clusters Using Thiol Ligands N2 - The synthesis of two new families of ZnSe magic-sized clusters (MSCs) is achieved using the thiol ligand 1-dodecanethiol in a simple one-pot heat-up approach. The sizes of the MSCs are controlled with the thiol ligand concentration and reaction temperature. KW - ZnSe KW - Magic-sized cluster KW - Dodecanethiol KW - Semiconductor nanocrystals KW - One-pot synthesis PY - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c00041 VL - 61 IS - 19 SP - 7207 EP - 7211 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC (USA) AN - OPUS4-54880 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schmid, Thomas A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Correlative Analysis by Raman and other Micro & Nanospectroscopic Imaging Techniques N2 - In the present talk the basics of the Raman spectroscopy and particularly of Raman microscopy are explained. Advantages and disadvantages of the method are highlighted through selected case studies. In the second part of the lecture examples of correlative imaging with electron, X-ray, ion and optical microscopies from micro- to the nanoscale are highlighted. T2 - Charisma School on Raman Harmonisation CY - Turin, Italy DA - 19.10.2022 KW - Raman KW - Correlative Imaging KW - Microscopy KW - Hyperspectral imaging PY - 2022 UR - https://amdgroup.inrim.it/events/vamas-sc-meeting-47/program-sc47 AN - OPUS4-56094 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Heilmann, Maria T1 - Nanoparticle Populations N2 - Two new projects P15 Measurement of particle size and shape distribution of bipyramidal titania including deposition from liquid suspension and P16 Measurement of (relative) number concentration of bimodal silica nanoparticles including deposition from liquid suspension have been started at VAMAS/TWA 34 under the lead of BAM. First results are presented and discussed. T2 - Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) 47th Steering Committee Meeting CY - Turin, Italy DA - 18.10.2022 KW - VAMAS KW - Nanoparticles KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Particle size distribution KW - Nanoparticle concentration PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56196 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Quantitative Microstructural Analysis - VAMAS TWA 37 & Liaison with ISO/TC 202 Microbeam Analysis N2 - The progress in activities on Microbeam Analysis under VAMAS/TWA 37 is reviewed. Particularly the liaison with the new projects within the ISO technical committee TC 202 is presented and discussed with respect to the possibility of identifying and launching related VAMAS projects. The recently started project FIB sample processing for TEM is highlighted. Need of more promotion for the engagement of more participants from industry and academia at national, European and international level is highlighted. Also, the competition with the other technical working areas (on 'nano' or materials-related) is critically discussed. Further, a short overview of the VAMAS areas of activities is given where Germany is involved. Planed regional VAMAS Workshops in Germany in 2023 are announced. T2 - Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) 47th Steering Committee Meeting CY - Torino, Italy DA - 18.10.2022 KW - VAMAS KW - Microbeam analysis KW - FIB KW - TEM KW - Sample preparation KW - EBSD PY - 2022 UR - https://amdgroup.inrim.it/events/vamas-sc-meeting-47 AN - OPUS4-56146 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Gojani, Ardian B. A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Hülagü, Deniz T1 - Towards automated scanning electron microscopy image analysis of core-shell microparticles for quasi-3D determination of the surface roughness N2 - Core-shell (CS) particles have been increasingly used for a wide range of applications due to their unique properties by merging individual characteristics of the core and the shell materials. The functionality of the designed particles is strongly influenced by their surface roughness. Quantitative evaluation of the roughness of CS microparticles is, however, a challenging task for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The SEM images contain two-dimensional (2D) information providing contour roughness data only from the projection of the particle in the horizontal plane. This study presents a practical procedure to achieve more information by tilting the sample holder, hence allowing images of different areas of a single particle to be recorded at different orientations under the same view angle. From the analysis of these images, quasi three-dimensional (3D) information is obtained. Three types of home-made particles were investigated: i) bare polystyrene (PS) particles, ii) PS particles decorated with a first magnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticle shell forming CS microbeads, iii) PS/Fe3O4 particles closed with a second silica (SiO2) shell forming core-shell-shell (CSS) microbeads. A series images of a single particle were taken with stepwise tilted sample holder up to 10° by an SEM with high-resolution and surface sensitive SE-InLens® mode. A reliable analysis tool has been developed by a script in Python to analyze SEM images automatically and to evaluate profile roughness quantitatively, for individual core-shell microparticles. Image analysis consists of segmentation of the images, identifying contour and the centre of the particle, and extracting the root mean squared roughness value (RMS-RQ) of the contour profile from the particle projection within a few seconds. The variation in roughness from batch-to-batch was determined with the purpose to set the method as a routine quality check procedure. Flow cytometry measurements provided complementary data. Measurement uncertainties associated to various particle orientations were also estimated. T2 - ICASS 5th International Conference on Applied Surface Science CY - Palma, Mallorca, Spain DA - 25.04.2022 KW - Core-shell particles KW - Image analysis KW - Roughness KW - Scanning electron microscopy PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54774 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR nPSize - Improved Traceability Chain of Nanoparticle Size Measurement - What nPSize can offer to ISO/TC 229? N2 - The main outcomes of the EMPIR project nPSize are presented and the suitability of the new capabilities, e.g. reference materials, sample preparation protocols, measurement procedures, and data analysis, to be standardized and implemented in accredited analytical laboratories is discussed. Complementation and/or filling gaps of published and ongoing standardisation projects on size, shape and number concentration measurements under ISO/TC 229/JWG 2 are offered. The two VAMAS inter-laboratory comparisons resulted from the nSPize project and just started under TWA 34 Nanoparticle Populations (Projects #15 and #16) of bipyramidal TiO2 anatase and bimodal SiO2 nanoparticles are presented in detail. T2 - Interim Meeting of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies - Strategy and Metrology Group CY - Online meeting DA - 09.05.2022 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Particle size distribution KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Electron microscopy KW - AFM KW - SAXS KW - ISO/TC229 PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54819 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -