TY - CONF A1 - Röhsler, Andreas A1 - Sobol, Oded A1 - Nolze, Gert A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Böllinghaus, Thomas T1 - In-situ observation of the hydrogen behaviour in austenitic stainless steel by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry during mechanical loading N2 - The reduction of harmful emissions to the environment is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. To achieve this goal, it is inevitable to shift from using fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Within this transition, hydrogen can play a key role serving as fuel in transportation and as means for energy storage. The storage and transport of hydrogen using austenitic stainless steels as the infrastructure, as well as the use of these grades in hydrogen containing aggressive environments, remains problematic. The degradation of the mechanical properties and the possibility of phase transformation by ingress and accumulation of hydrogen are the main drawbacks. Advanced studies of the behaviour of hydrogen in austenite is necessary to fully understand the occurring damage processes. This knowledge is crucial for the safe use of components in industry and transportation facilities of hydrogen. A powerful tool for depicting the distribution of hydrogen in steels, with high accuracy and resolution, is time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). We here present a comprehensive research on the hydrogen degradation processes in AISI 304L based on electrochemical charging and subsequent ToF-SIMS experiments. To obtain furthermore information about the structural composition and cracking behaviour, electron-backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed afterwards. All the gathered data was treated employing data fusion, thus creating a thorough portrait of hydrogen diffusion and its damaging effects in AISI 304L. Specimens were charged with deuterium instead of hydrogen. This necessity stems from the difficulty to separate between artificially charged hydrogen and traces existing in the material or adsorbed from the rest gas in the analysis chamber. Similar diffusion and permeation behaviour, as well as solubility, allow nonetheless to draw onclusions from the experiments. T2 - International Conference on Metals and Hydrogen; Steely Hydrogen 2018 CY - Ghent, Belgium DA - 29.05.2018 KW - Hydrogen KW - Deuterium KW - ToF-SIMS KW - AISI 304L PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45079 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tan, K. H. A1 - Sattari, S. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Cuellar-Camacho, J. L. A1 - Cheng, C. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Functionalized 2D nanomaterials with switchable binding to investigate graphene–bacteria interactions N2 - Graphene and its derivatives have recently attracted much attention for sensing and deactivating pathogens. However, the mechanism of multivalent interactions at the graphene–pathogen interface is not fully understood. Since different physicochemical parameters of graphene play a role at this interface, control over graphene’s structure is necessary to study the mechanism of these interactions. In this work, different graphene derivatives and also zwitterionic graphene nanomaterials (ZGNMs) were synthesized with defined exposure, in terms of polymer coverage and functionality, and isoelectric points. Then, the switchable interactions of these nanomaterials with E. coli and Bacillus cereus were investigated to study the validity of the generally proposed “trapping” and “nano-knives” mechanisms for inactivating bacteria by graphene derivatives. It was found that the antibacterial activity of graphene derivatives strongly depends on the accessible area, i.e. edges and basal plane of sheets and tightness of their agglomerations. Our data clearly confirm the authenticity of “trapping” and “nano-knives” mechanisms for the antibacterial activity of graphene sheets. KW - XPS KW - Graphene KW - Graphene–bacteria interaction PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr01347k SN - 2040-3364 SN - 2040-3372 VL - 10 IS - 20 SP - 9525 EP - 9537 PB - RSC CY - London AN - OPUS4-45084 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Busch, I. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Bütefisch, S. A1 - Lenck, O. A1 - Koenders, L. A1 - Weimann, T. A1 - Weinert, M. T1 - Analytical and topographical Reference Material for the Nanoscale N2 - Reliable standards are required to support research and development as well as end-user in application. Appropriate standards have to fulfill three requirements: small uncertainty, easy to use and low overall costs of application. For calibration of microscopes at nanoscale and/or element analysis special requirements for standards are given, which are challenging in manufacture. T2 - Workshop on Reference Nanomaterials CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.05.2018 KW - XPS KW - Imaging KW - Reference material KW - NoStep Standards PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45156 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Park, J. A1 - Kim, G. B. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Kim, Y. M. A1 - Jung, D. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Kim, Y.-P. A1 - Lee, T. G. T1 - Plasma-polymerized antifouling biochips for label-free measurement of protease activity in cell culture media N2 - We report polyethylene glycol (PEG)-grafting antifouling surfaces using a plasma copolymerized (PcP) technique to monitor protease activity in complex media. By varying the mixing ratio of the PEG and ethylenediamine (EDA) precursors, the PcP-PEG-EDA (PcP-PE) film was able to easily control surface amine density with good preservation of the internal PEG structure. We found that nonspecific protein adsorption was dramatically reduced in serum-containing media on the PcP-PE films, as opposed to that on plasma polymerized-EDA (PP-E) films without PEG. When SPR sensor chips coated with PcP-PE film were employed to detect protease activity, biotinylated luciferase probes (luciferase-peptide-biotin) on streptavidin-conjugated SPR chips enabled real-time and label-free measurement of matrix metalloproteinase activity in cell culture media. Owing to its excellent antifouling ability, this newly developed method boasts minimal nonspecific binding and can serve as a biochip platform to promote a wide range of applications in the biological field. KW - Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-grafting antifouling surface KW - Biochip KW - ATR-FTIR spectroscopy KW - XPS KW - NEXAFS KW - Plasma PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2018.10.123 SN - 0925-4005 VL - 281 SP - 527 EP - 534 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-46463 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Potthoff, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Report on SOP for dispersing nanomaterials in water and report on round robin test. N2 - This report describes a standard operation procedure for dispersion of nanomaterials in liquids prior to toxicological or ecotoxicological testing. Main factors, who determine the state of agglomeration and aggregation of ENMs after dispersion are specific energy input, particle concentration and fluid composition. The method was validated in two round robin tests, where two typical nanomaterials (a nanopowder and a nanodispersion) were investigated. One main result arising out of the data comparison was that only those participants, who were able to follow the instructions in the SOPs completely, received similar results regarding particle size and zeta potential. The SOP is easy to adapt for other types of nanomaterials. The results provide the standardization process and were presented at DIN working group. KW - Dispersion of nano materials KW - AEROSIL® OX50 KW - LEVASIL 50/50 PY - 2019 UR - http://publica.fraunhofer.de/documents/N-541033.html DO - https://doi.org/10.24406/ikts-n-541033 SP - 1 EP - 24 AN - OPUS4-48022 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dietrich, Paul A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Summary of ISO/TC 201 technical report: ISO/TR 19693 surface chemical analysis—characterization of functional glass substrates for biosensing applications N2 - ISO/TR 19693:2018—Surface chemical analysis—Characterization of functional glass substrates for biosensing applications gives an overview of methods, strategies, and guidance to identify possible sources of problems related to substrates, device production steps (cleaning, activation, and chemical modification), and shelf life (storage conditions and aging). It is particularly relevant for surface chemical analysts characterizing glass‐based biosensors, and developers or quality managers in the biosensing device production community. Based on quantitative and qualitative surface chemical analysis, strategies for identifying the cause of poor Performance during device manufacturing can be developed and implemented. A review of measurement capabilities of surface analytical methods is given to assist readers from the biosensing community. KW - Bio sensing device KW - Surface chemical analysis KW - XPS KW - SIMS KW - Standardization PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6481 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 50 IS - 8 SP - 835 EP - 838 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. AN - OPUS4-45829 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cant, D. A1 - Shard, A. A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Clifford, C. A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface chemical analysis – Electron spectroscopies – Measurement of the thickness and nature of nanoparticle coatings N2 - Recent years have seen increasing development of nanoparticles for applications in a wide range of fields, including but not limited to areas of great impact such as catalysis, medicine, energy, optoelectronics, cosmetics, and many others. In particular, nanoparticles bearing some form of coating layer, whether by design or due to incidental processes such as contamination or oxidation, are among the most commonly studied and utilised. In the characterisation of nanoparticles, the surface properties are of great importance, because a large proportion of the particle forms a part of the surface or interface. In the case of coated nanoparticles, the thickness of the coating is significant in determining the properties of the nanoparticle, and defines its interactions with its environment. Measurement of surface chemistry and coating thickness of nanoparticles is a challenge to which electron spectroscopies are well suited, due to high surface sensitivity, well-understood physical principles and accessibility. T2 - Annual Meeting of ISO/TC 201/SC7 CY - Cancun, Mexico DA - 21.09.2018 KW - Nanoparticle characterization KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) KW - Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) KW - Core-shell nanoparticles PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46259 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Elert, Anna Maria A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Short- and long-range mechanical and chemical interphases caused by interaction of Boehmite (γ-AlOOH) with anhydride-cured epoxy resins N2 - Understanding the interaction between boehmite and epoxy and the formation of their interphases with different mechanical and chemical structures is crucial to predict and optimize the properties of epoxy-boehmite nanocomposites. Probing the interfacial properties with atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based methods, especially particle-matrix long-range interactions, is challenging. This is due to size limitations of various analytical methods in resolving nanoparticles and their interphases, the overlap of interphases, and the effect of buried particles that prevent the accurate interphase property measurement. Here, we develop a layered model system in which the epoxy is cured in contact with a thin layer of hydrothermally synthesized boehmite. Different microscopy methods are employed to evaluate the interfacial properties. With intermodulation atomic force microscopy (ImAFM) and amplitude dependence force spectroscopy (ADFS), which contain information about stiffness, electrostatic, and van der Waals forces, a soft interphase was detected between the epoxy and boehmite. Surface potential maps obtained by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) revealed another interphase about one order of magnitude larger than the mechanical interphase. The AFM-infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) technique reveals that the soft interphase consists of unreacted curing agent. The long-range electrical interphase is attributed to the chemical alteration of the bulk epoxy and the formation of new absorption bands. KW - Nanocomposites KW - Interphase KW - Intermodulation AFM KW - Electron microscopy KW - Infrared nano AFM PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-483672 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/6/853/htm DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9060853 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 9 IS - 6 SP - 853, 1 EP - 20 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-48367 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Streeck, C. A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Beckhoff, B. T1 - Qualifying calibration samples for advanced thin film materials characterisation N2 - In this article the question of the certification of calibration samples for the characterisation of advanced thin film materials is addressed within the framework of reliable process control or quality management purposes. Reference measurement techniques can be used in order to address the gap in appropriate certified reference materials (CRMs) for thin film analyses. They allow for qualifying out-of-production samples originating from an operating production line as calibration samples. As a template for this procedure, CIGS [Cu(In,Ga)Se2] layers, that are absorber layers for high efficiency thin-film solar cells, have been used for establishing and validating reference-free X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and Auger-electron spectroscopy (AES) as reference measurement techniques. The focus was on determining the average mole fractions in the CIGS layers obtaining results traceable to the SI unit system. Reference-free XRF is physically traceable and is based upon radiometrically calibrated instrumentation and knowledge of atomic fundamental data. Sputter-assisted AES can be established as a chemically traceable method after careful calibration using a certified reference material (CRM) based on a total number counting method. KW - CIGS KW - X-ray fluorescence (XRF) KW - Auger-electron spectroscopy (AES) PY - 2018 UR - https://www.spectroscopyeurope.com/article/qualifying-calibration-samples-advanced-thin-film-materials-characterisation VL - 30 IS - 1 SP - 11 EP - 14 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd CY - Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, UK AN - OPUS4-44260 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinen, S. A1 - Rackow, S. A1 - Cuellar-Camacho, J. L. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Weinhart, M. T1 - Transfer of functional thermoresponsive poly(glycidyl ether) coatings for cell sheet fabrication from gold to glass surfaces N2 - Thermoresponsive polymer coatings can facilitate cell sheet fabrication under mild conditions by promoting cell adhesion and proliferation at 37 1C. At lower temperatures the detachment of confluent cell sheets is triggered without enzymatic treatment. Thus, confluent cell sheets with intact extracellular matrix for regenerative medicine or tissue engineering applications become available. Herein, we applied the previously identified structural design parameters of functional, thermoresponsive poly(glycidyl ether) brushes on gold to the more application-relevant substrate glass via the self-assembly of a corresponding block copolymer (PGE-AA) with a short surface-reactive, amine-presenting anchor block. Both, physical and covalent immobilization on glass via either multivalent ionic interactions of the anchor block with bare glass or the coupling of the anchor block to a polydopamine (PDA) adhesion layer on glass resulted in stable coatings. Atomic force microscopy revealed a high degree of roughness of covalently attached coatings on the PDA adhesion layer, while physically attached coatings on bare glass were smooth and in the brush-like regime. Cell sheets of primary human dermal fibroblasts detached reliably (86%) and within 20 ± 10 min from physically tethered PGE-AA coatings on glass when prepared under cloud point grafting conditions. The presence of the laterally inhomogeneous PDA adhesion layer, however, hindered the spontaneous temperature-triggered cell detachment from covalently grafted PGE-AA, decreasing both detachment rate and reliability. Despite being only physically attached, self-assembled monolayer brushes of PGE-AA block copolymers on glass are functional and stable thermoresponsive coatings for application in cell sheet fabrication of human fibroblasts as determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Thermoresponsive poly(glycidyl ether) coatings KW - Cell sheet fabrication KW - Nm film thickness PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c7tb03263c SN - 2050-750X SN - 2050-7518 VL - 6 IS - 10 SP - 1489 EP - 1500 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-44600 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Shard, A. G. ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Conclusions and perspectives N2 - This chapter briefly summarizes the methods selected within this book for the characterization of nanoparticles with regard to commonly accessible properties: nanoparticle size and size distribution, shape, surface area, surface charge, aggregation state, structure, chemical composition, surface chemistry, and nanoparticle number concentration. Current progress of measurement and analysis, as far as possible according to standard operation procedures, has been the focus of this work. A number of new and less commonly used methods have not been covered, and we outline some of these in this chapter. Future challenges such as automated measurement and analysis, read-across approaches for the prediction of properties, knowledge of measurement uncertainties, the need for certified reference materials, and the necessity to complement measurements methods to obtain more reliable results are covered, and the unmet measurement requirements for real-world nanoparticles are described. KW - Physicochemical characterization KW - Standard operation procedures KW - Data correlation KW - Method development KW - Trends PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00006-7 SP - 527 EP - 534 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50167 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holzweber, Markus A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Hesse, R. A1 - Denecke, R. A1 - Werner, W. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - The use of ionic liquids for the determination of the spectrometer transmission function in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) N2 - The uncertainty of measurement in quantitative XPS analysis can be reduced by using a calibrated spectrometer transmission function T (E), which is usually determined by taking spectra from Au, Ag, Cu and Ge elemental reference materials. However, this approach is quite time-consuming due to required sample preparation steps like sputter cleaning etc., and the relatively big number of samples to be measured. This contribution proposes the use of the ionic liquids [C2C1im][NTf2] and [C3C1im][NTf2] as reference materials for a determination of T(E). These multi-elemental samples deliver five intensive photoemission peaks, F 1s, O 1s, N 1s, C 1s and S 2p, in an energy window from 160 eV to 700 eV which is of specific interest for applications of quantitative XPS for surface chemical analysis of soft matter, one of the major applications of XPS. KW - Quantitative XPS KW - Ionic liquid KW - Transmission function PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2019.03.008 VL - 233 SP - 51 EP - 56 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-48019 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Near-ambient pressure XPS of hydrated Escherichia coli samples with EnviroESCA N2 - This application note presents how EnviroESCA can be used to analyze E. coli biofilms on silicon under near ambient pressure conditions in various states of hydration. Such investigations of the outer bacterial cell surface in their hydrated state are essential for studying biological interfaces at work. KW - Biofilms KW - E. coli KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 UR - http://www.enviroai.com/uploads/1/0/2/8/102861712/nap_xps_of_escherichia_coli_samples.pdf IS - Application Note #000400 SP - 1 EP - 4 CY - Berlin, Germany AN - OPUS4-45720 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Baer, D. R. A1 - Cant, D. J. H. A1 - Castner, D. G. A1 - Ceccone, G. A1 - Engelhard, M. H. A1 - Karakoti, A. S. A1 - Müller, Anja ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Preparation of nanoparticles for surface analysis N2 - A variety of methods used to prepare nano-objects for surface analysis are described along with information about when they might be best applied. Intrinsic properties of NPs which complicate their characterization and need to be considered when planning for surface or other analyses of NPs are identified, including challenges associated with reproducible synthesis and functionalization of the particles as well as their dynamic nature. The relevant information about the sample preparation processes, along with analysis details and data that need to be added to the collection of material provenance information is identified. Examples of protocols that have been successfully used for preparation of nano-objects for surface analysis are included in an annex. KW - Sample preparation KW - Nanoparticles KW - Surface chemistry KW - XPS KW - Dynamic behavior KW - Nano-object KW - Surface analysis PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00018-3 SP - 295 EP - 347 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50186 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Röhsler, Andreas A1 - Sobol, Oded A1 - Nolze, Gert A1 - Böllinghaus, Thomas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Analysis of deuterium in austenitic stainless steel AISI 304L by Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry N2 - Due to their excellent combination of ductility, strength and corrosive resistance, austenitic stainless steels (ASS) are widely used in many industrial applications. Thus, these steel grades can be found as structural components in the (petro-)chemical industry, in offshore applications and more recent for storage and transport of hydrogen fuel. Steels employed for these applications are exposed to aggressive environments and hydrogen containing media. The ingress and accumulation of hydrogen into the microstructure is commonly observed during service leading to a phenomenon called “hydrogen embrittlement”. A loss in ductility and strength, the formation of cracks and phase transformations are typical features of this hydrogen-induced degradation of mechanical properties. Although, great efforts are made to understanding hydrogen embrittlement, there is an ongoing debate of the underlying mechanisms. This knowledge is crucial for the safe use and durability of components on the one side and the development of new materials on the other. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was proven to be a powerful tool for depicting the distribution of the hydrogen isotope deuterium in the microstructure of austenitic and duplex steels. The combination with imaging techniques such as electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), delivering structural and morphological information, creates a comprehensive picture of the hydrogen/deuterium-induced effects in the materials. All the gathered data is treated with principal component analysis (PCA) and data fusion to enhance the depth of information. The mobility of hydrogen and deuterium in a steel microstructure is affected by external mechanical stress. To investigate the behaviour of deuterium in a strained microstructure, a new in situ experimental approach was developed. This gives the possibility of analysing samples in the SIMS instrument simultaneously to four-point-bending-tests. Specimens made from ASS AISI 304L were electrochemically charged with deuterium instead of hydrogen. This necessity stems from the difficulty to separate between artificially charged hydrogen and hydrogen existing in the pristine material or adsorbed from the rest gas in the analysis chamber. Nonetheless, similar diffusion, permeation and solubility data allow to draw qualitative conclusions from the experiments, which are relevant for the application addressed. T2 - SIMS Europe 2018 CY - Münster, Germany DA - 16.09.2018 KW - Hydrogen KW - Deuterium KW - Austenitic stainless steel KW - SIMS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46029 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Daneshnia, S. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Yari, A. A1 - Shams, A. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Low temperature functionalization of two-dimensional boron nitride for electrochemical sensing N2 - Two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN)as an emerging nanomaterial exhibits uniquephysicochemical properties, making it suitable candidate for a wide spectrum of applications.However, due to its poor functionality, the processability of this nanomaterial is low. In this work, wereport on a straightforward and scalable approach for the functionalization of h-BN by nitrene[2+1]cycloaddition at room temperature. The triazine-functionalized h-BN(Trz-BNs)showed ahigh reactivity toward nucleophiles, through which post-modifications are performable. The post-modification of Trz-BNs by L-cysteine was studied using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulsevoltammetry. Taking advantage of the scalable and straightforward functionalization as well as abilityof triazine functional groups for the controlled post-modifications, Trz-BNs is a promisingnanoplatform for a wide range of future applications. KW - Two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN) KW - Nitrene[2+1]cycloaddition KW - Post-modification by L-cysteine KW - Electrochemical sensing KW - XPS PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab317b SN - 2053-1591 VL - 6 IS - 9 SP - 095076, 1 EP - 11 PB - IOP Publishing Ltd AN - OPUS4-48635 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Heinrich, Thomas A1 - Schneider, Markus A1 - Schäpe, Kaija A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. T1 - Classification of engineered Titania nanomaterials via surface analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) assisted Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) N2 - Due to the growing number of engineered nanomaterials (NM) the need for a reliable risk assessment for these materials is today bigger than ever before. Especially the nanomaterial’s surface or shell directly interacts with its environment and therefore is a crucial factor for NM’ toxicity or functionality. Especially, titania is one of the NM with the greatest technological importance. It is used for a large number of applications and can be found in food, cosmetics, glasses, mirrors, paints to mention only a few. In 2012, experts estimate[d] the annual European nano-titania production or utilization at an amount of more than 10,000 t. Great progress has been achieved in the area of NM investigation and characterization during the past decade. A variety of publications provide information about technological innovation as well as hazard potential, which means the potential risk on human health and ecosystems. However, enhanced data harmonization and well-defined standards for nanomaterial analysis, could significantly improve the reliability of such studies which often suffers from varying methods, parameters and sample preparations. To develop a suitable approach for the NM’s risk assessment, the ACEnano project aims at establishing a toolbox of verified methods. The size of this well-structured European project allows to handle even those big challenges like data harmonization and standardization. Due to its powerful combination of superior surface sensitivity and lateral resolution down to the Nano regime, ToF-SIMS could become one of these toolbox methods. Supported by multivariate data analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA), the method can be used for sub-classification of nanomaterial families using slight differences in surface chemistry. Here, we show a PCA supported classification of titania nanoparticles from various sources (NIST, JRC, BAM) with ToF-SIMS. Parameters like size, shell, pre-preparation and crystal system cause variance in the data and allow us to distinguish the species from each other. Moreover, this variance in the data also occurs and can be used for investigation when we compare our measurements of particle ensembles with those of grown titania films. The carefully selected and refined peaks allow a reasonable particle categorization and further a reliable allocation of blank feeds, which introduces a promising approach for NM characterization in the context of NM risk assessment. T2 - SIMS-Europe CY - Münster, Germany DA - 16.09.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - ToF-SIMS KW - XPS KW - PCA KW - Titania PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46250 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Depth-dependent analysis of model biofilms by combining laboratory- and synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy N2 - Synchrotron XPS in the soft-X-ray regime is suitable for the detection of light elements commonly found in biological samples. Various model systems of biofilms have been developed and characterised at synchrotron- and lab-based facilities. By obtaining the chemical composition at various information depths, the vertical distribution of iodine in an artificial biofilm have been determined. T2 - Tenth Joint BER II and BESSY II User Meeting CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 05.12.2018 KW - Biofilms KW - HAXPES KW - XPS KW - Iodine KW - Synchrotron-XPS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46929 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Gholami, M. F. A1 - Algara-Siller, G. A1 - Witte, F. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Paulus, B. A1 - Rabe, J. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Scalable Production of Nanographene and Doping via Nondestructive Covalent Functionalization N2 - A new method for top‐down, one‐pot, gram‐scale production of high quality nanographene by incubating graphite in a dilute sodium hypochlorite solution at only 40 °C is reported here. The produced sheets have only 4 at% oxygen content, comparable with nanographene grown by chemical vapor deposition. The nanographene sheets are covalently functionalized using a nondestructive nitrene [2+1] cycloaddition reaction that preserves their π‐conjugated system. Statistical analyses of Raman spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate a low number of sp3 carbon atoms on the order of 2% before and 4% after covalent functionalization. The nanographene sheets are significantly more conductive than conventionally prepared nanographene oxide, and conductivity further increases after covalent functionalization. The observed doping effects and theoretical studies suggest sp2 hybridization for the carbon atoms involved in the [2+1] cycloaddition reaction leading to preservation of the π‐conjugated system and enhancing conductivity via n‐type doping through the bridging N‐atom. These methods are easily scalable, which opens the door to a mild and efficient process to produce high quality nanographenes and covalently functionalize them while retaining or improving their physicochemical properties. KW - Graphene KW - XPS KW - NEXAFS PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201805430 VL - 15 IS - 12 SP - 1805430 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-48021 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Dietrich, P. M. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Nefedov, A. A1 - Natzeck, C. A1 - Wöll, C. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Application of near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) in an in-situ analysis of the stability of the surface-supported metal-organic framework HKUST-1 in water, methanol and pyridine atmospheres N2 - Surface-supported metal-organic frameworks HKUST-1 (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) were used as a model system for a development of a near ambient pressure (NAP) XPS based approach to investigate interaction with atmospheres of water, methanol or pyridine at pressures ranging from 1 to 4 mbar. The films were grown on a gold substrate functionalized with a COOH-terminated self-assembled monolayer using liquidphase epitaxy in a step-by-step fashion. Measurement protocols were developed and optimised for different gases in order to obtain spectra of similar quality in terms of signal intensity, noise and shape. Peak shapes were found to depend on the efficiency of charge compensation. Reference measurements in argon proved to be a useful strategy not only for the evaluation of the Cu(II)-fraction in pristine samples, but also to identify the contributions by the respective gas atmosphere to the C 1s and O 1s photoelectron spectra. Reduced copper was found during the exposition of HKUST-1 to water vapour and pyridine, but this effect was not observed in case of methanol. Additionally, it was established that there are no changes in relative Cu(II) percentage with increasing exposure time. This indicates that saturation was reached already at the lowest time of gas exposure. A detailed elucidation of the mechanism of Cu(II) reduction to Cu(I) in HKUST-1 mediated by water and pyridine is part of ongoing work and not in the scope of the present paper. KW - HKUST-1 KW - Near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Metal-organic frameworks KW - Interaction with atmospheres KW - Water PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2020.147042 SN - 0368-2048 IS - 247 SP - 147042 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam, Netherlands AN - OPUS4-52098 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - THES A1 - Sobol, Oded T1 - Hydrogen assisted cracking and transport studied by ToF-SIMS and data fusion with HR-SEM N2 - For almost 150 years it is known that hydrogen has a deleterious effect on the mechanical properties of metallic components. Nowadays, the problem of hydrogen assisted degradation is highly relevant in energy related fields due to the massive use of steel as a structural component in these applications and its sensitivity to hydrogen. Since the discovery of hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC), researchers studied intensively and suggested possible explanations and mechanisms in order to define how hydrogen is affecting the material. In general, it is considered that hydrogen changes the mechanical properties more in terms of ductility (deformation capacities) than in strength (load capacities). Hydrogen concentration is one of three crucial factors in the degradation process, together with the microstructure of the material and the internal/external mechanical load. The relatively high concentration of hydrogen resulting in this loss of ductility can originate during production or before service (e.g. welding processes) and during service (i.e. catholically protected systems to eliminate corrosion processes in sour environments). In parallel to the theoretical work, tremendous efforts were, and are still, invested in searching for a proper method to elucidate, map and quantify the hydrogen in the microstructure, which is the basis for this work. For steels, the focus is mainly on the observations of diffusion processes and the interaction of hydrogen with the microstructure in regions with high local stresses/strains (for example around evolving cracks). The challenge for reaching this goal arises from the fact that accurate indication of hydrogen by means of position, unlike heavier atoms, can be made only by mass spectrometry or by interaction with another element (e.g. silver decoration, special coating and resonant nuclear reaction by nitrogen). In addition to this, the difficulty recording the hydrogen behavior while it rapidly diffuses through the material, leaving only the unpredicted failure, should be taken into account. Although using powerful characterization methods, models and computational simulations, the key to defining the mechanisms behind HAC is still under debate and not fully understood. The relationship between material and hydrogen is determined by three factors, i.e., the material structure and microstructure – determining the physical properties, the mechanical load applied on the material and the hydrogen concentration. It is well known that in order to have a complete definition of HAC these three factors must be examined locally with the minimal scale and the maximal resolution reachable. The major gap is the lack in such a characterization method or a technique by which one has the ability to detect and observe the hydrogen in the metallic microstructure. The commonly used techniques nowadays are capable of characterization of the microstructure without the ability to observe the hydrogen distribution. Global hydrogen concentration and localized hydrogen observation are possible by some techniques which are incapable of indicating a change in the structure or microstructure therefore a comprehensive overview can be gained only by combining several methods. In the presented research, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was adopted as the main tool to detect and locally map the hydrogen distribution in two types of duplex stainless steel grades: EN 1.4462 (standard 2205 duplex stainless steel) and EN 1.4162 (2101 lean duplex stainless steel). The term duplex stainless steel (DSS) refers to the austenitic-ferritic microstructure of the steel where the combination of physical and mechanical properties of the two phases is achieved. The DSS was selected as a case study for this work due to the wide use of this grade in many energy and the lack of knowledge on hydrogen behavior in two-phase containing microstructures. ToFSIMS was exploited in-situ and ex-situ in three experimental approaches during or following an electrochemical charging procedure. This type of hydrogen charging was selected as it simulated a procedure of cathodic protection of most sub-water oil and gas extraction and delivery systems. The experimental procedures were: 1. Ex-situ charging followed by ToF-SIMS imaging for basic understanding of hydrogen distribution. 2. Ex-situ charging followed by in-situ mechanical loading to obtain information on hydrogen behavior around a propagating crack. 3. In-situ permeation of hydrogen through a steel membrane inside the ToF-SIMS to obtain information on diffusion behavior of hydrogen in a two-phase microstructure. The comprehensive view of the effect of hydrogen on steel was gained by using supplementary methods, such as high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), focused ion beam (FIB) and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). The state of the art in this work lies in applying both: in-situ experimental approaches and data treatment of the ToF-SIMS raw data. The data treatment includes the combination of data from several sources (data fusion). The results for the ex-situ charging followed by static sample imaging and data fusion showed that when the analyzed surface is directly exposed to the electrolyte the degradation is pronounced differently in the ferrite, austenite and interface. The degradation mechanisms in the ferrite and austenite were reflected by the formation of cracks on the surface of both, where a high concentration of hydrogen was obtained. This result supports the assumption that hydrogen is attracted to highly deformed regions. The advantage of using in-situ charging/permeation in comparison to ex-situ charging is that the effect of hydrogen on the ferrite and austenite phases when the hydrogen is evolving from within the microstructure is realized, in comparison to when the analyzed surface is initially exposed directly to the electrolyte. In both experiments the ferrite was observed as a fast diffusion path for the hydrogen. The faster diffusion of hydrogen through the ferrite is expected due to the higher diffusion coefficient, however, a direct proof for the diffusion sequence in this scale was never shown. Most significant results were achieved by the ‘core’ experiments of this research. These experiments included the design of a novel dynamic mechanical loading device to apply an external load during SIMS imaging of a hydrogen precharged-notched sample. For the first time it was shown that plastic deformation induced by applying a mechanical load is resulting in a redistribution of hydrogen locally around the notch. T3 - BAM Dissertationsreihe - 160 KW - Duplex stainless steels KW - Hydrogen assisted cracking KW - Time-of-Flight secondary ion mass spectrometry KW - Data fusion PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-447331 SN - 1613-4249 VL - 160 SP - I EP - 180 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-44733 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Röhsler, Andreas A1 - Sobol, Oded A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Böllinghaus, Thomas T1 - Comprehensive study of deuterium-induced effects in in austenitic stainless steel AISI 304L N2 - The damaging impact of hydrogen on the austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 L was analysed. To this aim, samples were charged electrochemically with the hydrogen isotope deuterium (2H, D) and examined with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The fusion of the obtained chemical and structural information revealed local enrichment of deuterium in austenite, transformation into martensite, crack formation and severe roughening of the specimen surface. The results indicated that martensite was not only formed during charging but also during Desorption and ToF-SIMS examinations. Furthermore, cross-sections of deuterium-charged samples revealed that in preferred deformation bands a g/ε/a 0 evolution is taking place. By means of microscopic analyses and carrier gas hot extraction (CGHE), it was found that the use of NaAsO2 as recombination poison decreased the uptake of hydrogen significantly and resulted in severe precipitation on the specimen surfaces. This is in contrast to the popular presumption that NaAsO2 enhances the uptake of hydrogen (and deuterium) during electrochemical charging by hampering its recombination from Atoms to molecules. KW - AISI 304L KW - Hydrogen KW - ToF-SIMS KW - Deuterium KW - Martensite PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-477540 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.03.058 SN - 0360-3199 SN - 1879-3487 VL - 44 IS - 23 SP - 12228 EP - 12238 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-47754 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Natte, Kishore A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - NanoValid D.5.47 Annex 1, Inter-laboratory comparison on measurand particle size/particle size distribution - Report of the results N2 - An inter-laboratory comparison on the particle size, expressed as mean diameter d, of nanoscaled SiO2 (#14 BAM Silica (see NanoValid DoW, D.5.41/5.42)) has been performed. The majority of participants used Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). A few used Electron Microscopy as method. Following methods had been applied by only one partner, respectively: Small Angle X-ray Scattering, Analytical Ultracentrifugation, Atomic Force Microscopy and Atomizer with electric mobility spectrometer. KW - Nanoparticle size measurement KW - Silica nanoparticles KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - EU FP7 project NanoValid PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-488117 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3380570 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-48811 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Swaraj, S. A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Shell thickness determination for PTFE‐PS core‐shell nanoparticles using scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy (STXM) N2 - A scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy (STXM)‐based methodology is introduced for determining the dimensions (shell thickness, core and total diameter) of core‐shell nanoparticles, which exhibit a strong X‐ray absorption contrast and a well‐defined interface between core and shell material. A low radiation dosage during data acquisition and, therefore, less X‐ray beam‐induced damage of the sample is achieved by recording STXM images only at 2 predetermined energies of maximum Absorption contrast, instead of recording a stack of images across the whole absorption edge. A model core‐shell nanoparticle, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) cores with polystyrene (PS) shell, is used for demonstration. Near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy confirms the significant difference in X‐ray absorption behavior between PTFE and PS. Additionally, because of the insolubility of styrene in PTFE a well‐defined interface between particle core and shell is expected. To validate the STXM results, both the naked PTFE cores as well as the complete core‐shell nanoparticles are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The introduced STXM‐based methodology yields particle dimensions in agreement with the SEM results and provides additional information such as the position of the particle core, which cannot be extracted from a SEM micrograph. T2 - European conference on applications of surface and interface analysis (ECASIA'17) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2017 KW - Core-shell nanoparticles KW - Polymers KW - PS KW - PTFE KW - SEM KW - STXM PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-449700 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6464 SN - 1096-9918 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 50 IS - 11 SP - 1077 EP - 1082 PB - John Wiley & Sons CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA AN - OPUS4-44970 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface characterisation of Escherichia coli under various conditions by near-ambient pressure XPS N2 - Bacteria are inherently in a hydrated state and therefore not compatible to ultra-high vacuum techniques such as XPS without prior sample preparation involving freeze drying or fast freezing. This has changed with the development of near-ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS, which makes it possible to characterise the bacterial surface with minimal sample preparation. This paper presents NAP-XPS measurements of Escherichia coli under various NAP conditions: at 11 mbar in a humid environment, at 2 mbar after drying in the chamber, pre-dried at 4 mbar, and at 1 mbar after overnight pumping at 10^−4 mbar. The high-resolution spectra of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are presented and found to be in general agreement with XPS measurements from freeze-dried and fast-frozen bacteria. However, it was found that the amount of carbon components associated with polysaccharides increases relative to aliphatic carbon during drying and increases further after overnight pumping. This implies that drying has an impact on the bacterial surface. T2 - European conference on applications of surface and interface analysis (ECASIA'17) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2018 KW - Bacteria KW - E. coli KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-454047 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6480 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 50 IS - 11 SP - 996 EP - 1000 PB - John Wiley & Sons CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA AN - OPUS4-45404 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Natte, Kishore A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - NanoValid D.5.47 Annex 2 Inter-laboratory comparison on measurand surface charge (Zeta Potential) of silica particles: Report of the results N2 - An inter-laboratory comparison on the surface charge, expressed as zeta potential ζ, of nanoscaled SiO2 has been performed using #14 BAM Silica (see D.5.41/5.42) nanoparticles. The comparability of results delivered by participants has been tested. The Task 5.4 of NanoValid is designed to test, compare and validate current methods to measure and characterize physicochemical properties of selected engineered nanoparticles. The measurand is Surface charge expressed as zeta-Potential. The measurements are to be accompanied by estimates of the uncertainties at a confidence level of 95%, deduced from the standard uncertainties. Therefore an uncertainty budget comprising statistical (Type A) and systematic (Type B) errors has to be established and delivered for the measurand. The protocol comprises two Annexes addressing the establishment of uncertainty budgets following GUM. The final goal of the comparison is to identify those methods of measurement which have potential as reference methods in pc characterization of nanoparticles for the determination of a given measurand. KW - Inter-laborator comparison KW - Surface charge KW - Zeta potential KW - Uncertainty budget KW - Silica nanoparticles KW - NanoValid PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-488483 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3379815 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-48848 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Afantitis, A. A1 - Melagraki, G. A1 - Isigonis, P. A1 - Tsoumanis, A. A1 - Varsou, D. D. A1 - Valsami-Jones, E. A1 - Papadiamantis, A. A1 - Ellis, L.-J. A. A1 - Sarimveis, H. A1 - Doganis, P. A1 - Karatzas, P. A1 - Tsiros, P. A1 - Liampa, I. A1 - Lobaskin, V. A1 - Greco, D. A1 - Serra, A. A1 - Kinaret, P. A. S. A1 - Saarimäki, L. A. A1 - Grafström, R. A1 - Kohonen, P. A1 - Nymark, P. A1 - Willighagen, E. A1 - Puzyn, T. A1 - Rybinska-Fryca, A. A1 - Lyubartsev, A. A1 - Jensen, K. A. A1 - Brandenburg, J. G. A1 - Lofts, S. A1 - Svendsen, C. A1 - Harrison, S. A1 - Maier, D. A1 - Tamm, K. A1 - Jänes, J. A1 - Sikk, L. A1 - Dusinska, M. A1 - Longhin, E. A1 - Rundén-Pran, E. A1 - Mariussen, E. A1 - El Yamani, N. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Tropsha, A. A1 - Cohen, Y. A1 - Lesczynski, J. A1 - Hendren, C. O. A1 - Wiesner, M. A1 - Winkler, D. A1 - Suzuki, N. A1 - Yoon, T. H. A1 - Choi, J.-S. A1 - Sanabria, N. A1 - Gulumian, M. A1 - Lynch, I. T1 - NanoSolveIT Project: Driving nanoinformatics research to develop innovative and integrated tools for in silico nanosafety assessment N2 - Nanotechnology has enabled the discovery of a multitude of novel materials exhibiting unique physicochemical (PChem) properties compared to their bulk analogues. These properties have led to a rapidly increasing range of commercial applications; this, however, may come at a cost, if an association to long-term health and environmental risks is discovered or even just perceived. Many nanomaterials (NMs) have not yet had their potential adverse biological effects fully assessed, due to costs and time constraints associated with the experimental assessment, frequently involving animals. Here, the available NM libraries are analyzed for their suitability for integration with novel nanoinformatics approaches and for the development of NM specific Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) for human and environmental risk assessment, all within the NanoSolveIT cloud-platform. These established and well-characterized NM libraries (e.g. NanoMILE, NanoSolutions, NANoREG, NanoFASE, caLIBRAte, NanoTEST and the Nanomaterial Registry (>2000 NMs)) contain physicochemical characterization data as well as data for several relevant biological endpoints, assessed in part using harmonized Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) methods and test guidelines. Integration of such extensive NM information sources with the latest nanoinformatics methods will allow NanoSolveIT to model the relationships between NM structure (morphology), properties and their adverse effects and to predict the effects of other NMs for which less data is available. The project specifically addresses the needs of regulatory agencies and industry to effectively and rapidly evaluate the exposure, NM hazard and risk from nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, enabling implementation of computational ‘safe-by-design’ approaches to facilitate NM commercialization. KW - Nanoinformatics KW - Hazard assessment KW - (Quantitative) Structure-Active Relationships KW - Safe-by-design KW - Predictive modelling PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-505952 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2020.02.023 VL - 18 SP - 583 EP - 602 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-50595 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 - Tu, Z. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Qiao, H. A1 - Zhu, Z. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Hackenberger, C. P. R. A1 - Chen, W. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Graphene Oxide-Cyclic R10 Peptide Nuclear Translocation Nanoplatforms for the Surmounting of Multiple-Drug Resistance N2 - Multidrug resistance resulting from a variety of defensive pathways in Cancer has become a global concern with a considerable impact on the mortality associated with the failure of traditional chemotherapy. Therefore, further research and new therapies are required to overcome this challenge. In this work, a cyclic R10 peptide (cR10) is conjugated to polyglycerol-covered nanographene oxide to engineer a nanoplatform for the surmounting of multidrug resistance. The nuclear translocation of the nanoplatform, facilitated by cR10 peptide, and subsequently, a laser-triggered release of the loaded doxorubicin result in efficient anticancer activity confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo experiments. The synthesized nanoplatform with a combination of different features, including active nucleus-targeting, highloading capacity, controlled release of cargo, and photothermal property, provides a new strategy for circumventing multidrug resistant cancers. KW - Graphen Oxide KW - Nanoplatform KW - Cancer PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510061 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202000933 VL - 30 IS - 35 SP - 2000933 PB - Wiley VCH AN - OPUS4-51006 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - NanoValid D.5.47 Annex 3 Inter-laboratory comparison on measurand specific surface area (BET) of nanoparticular Titania (#15 BAM Titania): Report of the results N2 - This Report describes an inter-laboratory comparison aiming on the establishment of the used method (BET) as a reference method. Another purpose was the certification of the porous reference material #15 BAM Titania as CRM BAM-P110 (cf. D 5.41/42). The certified values determined by nitrogen ad-sorption at 77.3 K according to the international standards ISO 15901-2 and ISO 9277 are summarized in the Table below. KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Specific Surface Area (BET) KW - Nanoparticular TiO2 (Anatase) KW - EU FP7 project NanoValid PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-488491 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3379612 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-48849 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Bütefisch, S. A1 - Busch, I. A1 - Weimann, T. A1 - Passiu, C. A1 - Rossi, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - A new test specimen for the determination of the field of view of small-area X-ray photoelectron spectrometers N2 - Small-area/spot photoelectron spectroscopy (SAXPS) is a powerful tool for the investigation of small surface features like microstructures of electronic devices, sensors or other functional surfaces, and so forth. For evaluating the quality of such microstructures, it is often crucial to know whether a small signal in a spectrum is an unwanted contamination of the field of view (FoV), defined by the instrument settings, or it originated from outside. To address this issue, the d80/20 parameter of a line scan across a chemical edge is often used. However, the typical d80/20 parameter does not give information on contributions from the long tails of the X-ray beam intensity distribution or the electron-optical system as defined by apertures. In the VAMAS TWA2 A22 project “Applying planar, patterned, multi-metallic samples to assess the impact of analysis area in surface-chemical analysis,” new test specimen was developed and tested. The here presented testing material consists of a silicon wafer substrate with an Au-film and embedded Cr circular and square spots with decreasing dimensions from 200 μm down to 5 μm. The spot sizes are traceable to the length unit due to size measurements with a metrological SEM. For the evaluation of the FoV, we determined the Au4f intensities measured with the center of the FoV aligned with the center of the spot and normalized to the Au4f intensity determined on the Au-film. With this test specimen, it was possible to characterize, as an example, the FoV of a Kratos AXIS Ultra DLD XPS instrument. T2 - ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Field of view KW - Reference material KW - Selected area XPS KW - Small-area XPS KW - Small-spot XPS PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-509902 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6831 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 890 EP - 894 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-50990 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Gram-scale production of high quality nanographene under mild conditions and doping via non-destructive covalent functionalization N2 - We report a new method for top-down one-pot, gram-scale production of high-quality nanographene from graphite under mild conditions. The nanographene sheets had a very low oxygen content, comparable to that of nanographene grown by chemical vapor deposition. This method is easily scalable and comparatively mild, opening the door to an environmentally friendly process to produce high-quality nanographenes. Nanographene sheets were further covalently functionalized using a non-destructive [2+1] cycloaddition reaction that left the π-conjugated system intact. T2 - 10th Joint BER II and BESSY II User Meeting CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 05.12.2018 KW - Nano graphene KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) KW - NEXAFS KW - Raman spectroscopy PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-47086 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface characterisation of bacteria and biofilms by NAP-XPS N2 - The XPS information depth of approximately 10 nm is in the same size range as the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacteria, which makes XPS a suitable tool for determining the elemental composition of the bacterial surface and monitor changes caused by outer stress like dehydration or exposure to antimicrobials. However, bacteria are inherently in a hydrated state, and therefore only compatible to ultra-high vacuum after extensive sample preparation, which may degrade the sample constituents. This issue is addressed by the development of near-ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS, which enables bacteria and biofilms to be characterised in their native wet state. Artificial biofilms, bacteria and biofilms of Escherichia coli have been characterised with the laboratory NAP-XPS instrument EnviroESCA from SPECS GmbH, at pressures ranging from high vacuum to 12 mbar, and in both humid and dry environment. By studying biological samples in their native wet state, new insight about composition and transport of drugs through cell membranes and the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of biofilms can be obtained. In this contribution, the latest progress on biofilm characterisation by NAP-XPS will be presented, and measurement capabilities and limitations will be discussed. T2 - Die Frühjahrstagung der Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 12.03.2018 KW - Biofilms KW - E. coli KW - Alginate KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44500 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cant, D. J. H. A1 - Minelli, C. A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Kalbe, H. A1 - Stoger-Pollach, M. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Werner, W. S. M. A1 - Shard, A. G. T1 - Surface-Energy Control and Characterization of Nanoparticle Coatings N2 - Accurate and reproducible measurement of the structure and properties of high-value nanoparticles is extremely important for their commercialization. A significant proportion of engineered nanoparticle systems consist of some form of nominally core-shell structure, whether by design or unintentionally. Often, these do not form an ideal core-shell structure, with typical deviations including polydispersity of the core or shell, uneven or incomplete shells, noncentral cores, and others. Such systems may be created with or without intent, and in either case an understanding of the conditions for formation of such particles is desirable. Precise determination of the structure, composition, size, and shell thickness of such particles can prove challenging without the use of a suitable range of characterization techniques. Here, the authors present two such polymer core-shell nanoparticle systems, consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene cores coated with a range of thicknesses of either polymethylmethacrylate or polystyrene. By consideration of surface energy, it is shown that these particles are expected to possess distinctly differing coating structures, with the polystyrene coating being incomplete. A comprehensive characterization of these systems is demonstrated, using a selection of complementary techniques including scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, differential centrifugal sedimentation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. By combining the results provided by these techniques, it is possible to achieve superior characterization and understanding of the particle structure than could be obtained by considering results separately. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Core-shell KW - XPS KW - Size KW - Thickness KW - Damage PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c02161 VL - 124 IS - 20 SP - 11200 EP - 11211 PB - ACS CY - Washington DC AN - OPUS4-50899 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beyranvand, S. A1 - Pourghobadi, Z. A1 - Sattari, S. A1 - Soleymani, K. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Gharabaghi, M. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Farjanikish, G. A1 - Nayebzadeh, H. A1 - Adeli, M. T1 - Boronic acid functionalized graphene platforms for diabetic wound N2 - While noncovalent interactions between graphene derivatives and biosystems are extensively studied, less knowledge about their covalent multivalent interactions at biointerfaces is available. Due to the affinity of boronic acids towards cis-diol bearing biosystems, graphene sheets with this functionality were synthesized and their covalent interactions with the bacteria and nematode were investigated. As expected, graphene platforms with boronic acid functionality were able to wrap bacteria and destroy it in a short time. Surprisingly, body of nematodes was ruptured and their viability decreased to 30% after 24 h incubation with the functionalized graphene sheets. Because of their antibacterial and antiparasitic activities as well as their ability for wound dressing, graphene platforms with the boronic acid functionality were further investigated for diabetic wound healing. In vivo experiments showed that graphene platforms are more efficient than the commercially available drug, phenytoin, and restore both infected and non-infected diabetic wounds in ten days. Taking advantage of their straightforward synthesis, strong interactions with different biosystems as well as their ability to heal diabetic wounds, the boronic Acid functionalized graphene sheets are promising candidates for a broad range of future biomedical applications. KW - Graphene KW - Boronic acid KW - Functionalized graphene KW - XPS PY - 2020 UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0008622319310954 DO - https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2019.10.077 VL - 158 SP - 327 EP - 336 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-50559 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Defedov, A. A1 - Wöll, C. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Exploring the capabilities of NAP-XPS: Application to metal-organic frameworks, nanoparticles and biofilms N2 - Near-ambient pressure XPS makes it possible to characterise samples not compatible to ultra-high vacuum, and enables the study of liquid-solid, gas-liquid and gas-solid interfaces. NAP-XPS meas-urements of biofilms, suspended nanoparticles and metal-organic frameworks were performed with EnviroESCA developed by SPECS. An interesting application is surface characterisation of biofilms, which are bacterial communities embedded in a self-produced polysaccharide matrix. Various model systems ranging from pure polysaccharides of alginate to biofilms harvested directly from the growth medium have been char-acterised in humid conditions[1]. NAP-XPS also makes it possible to characterise nanoparticles in solution. Silver nanoparticles in aqueous solution were characterised and the Ag 3d-spectrum compared to spectra obtained of dried nanoparticles in UHV-conditions[2]. The binding energy of the Ag 3d-core level peak was shifted by 0,6 eV towards higher binding energy for suspended nanoparticles compared to the dried sample measured in UHV. This can be assigned to a change in surface potential at the water-nanoparticle interface. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are suitable materials for gas storage of small molecules due to their nanoporous, crystalline structure. However, instability in humidity remains an issue for many types of MOFs. XPS-measurements of the MOF-structure HKUST-1 were performed in various NAP-conditions to assess the stability of the sample and its interaction with the gas molecules as water, methanol and pyridine. T2 - 5th AP-XPS Workshop CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 11.12.18 KW - Biofilms KW - E. coli KW - NAP-XPS KW - Metal organic frameworks KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-47060 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Dietrich, P. T1 - Progress on characterisation of biofilms by NAP-XPS N2 - Progress talk on characterisation of biofilms by NAP-XPS in the framework of the MetVBadBugs EURAMET-project T2 - MetVBadBugs 24 M project meeting CY - Turin, Italy DA - 06.02.2018 KW - Biofilms KW - E. coli KW - Alginate KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44065 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Giovannozzi, A A1 - Putzu, M A1 - Fadda, M A1 - Sacco, A A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Snekkevik, V A1 - Van Bavel, B A1 - Benismail, N T1 - Standardization and Harmonization Effort on Microplastics Analysis by Spectroscopic Methods N2 - This talk presents the EU funded project PlasticTrace. It shows the challenges in micro- and nanoplastic reference materials and gives some solutions regarding spectroscipc methods such as Raman or IR microscopy to determine the particle numbers. Materials are prepared by cryo milling to get some powder that is later pressed into tablets. The polymer type used is PET, because that is highly important for drinking water directive of EU commission. T2 - International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy (ICORS) CY - Roma, Italy DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60881 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Salzmann, Christoph A1 - Heilmann, Maria A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Durand, B. A1 - Taché, O. A1 - Zurutuza, A. T1 - Ongoing International Interlaboratory Comparisons on Size, Shape and (Relative) Concentration of Complex Nanoparticles under the Pre-Standardization Platform of VAMAS N2 - Traceable morphological and chemical characterization of nanomaterials with respect to the various possible sizes, size distributions, shapes, and concentrations of real-world nanoparticles (NPs) is a challenging task. Particularly for the nonspherical, non-monodisperse nanoparticles – as typically for most of the commercial particles, including their strong tendency to agglomerate, there is a lack of standard operation procedures providing accurate nanoparticle characterisation. In the framework of the pre-standardisation framework of VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards, www.vamas.org) two interlaboratory comparison (ILC) studies are being carried out under the Technical Working Area (TWA) 34 “Nanoparticle Populations”:i) Project #15 addresses the analysis of the size and shape distribution of TiO2 bipyramidal NPs by traceable imaging methods such as TEM, SEM, STEM-in-SEM, AFM as well as with SAXS as an ensemble method. This ILC is thought as the next level development of the case studies exemplified in the published ISO standards ISO 21363 and ISO 19749. It was agreed to complete the first ILC with the NPs already prepared according to the same procedure on a TEM grid, and, at a later stage, to carry out second ILCs with the same NPs distributed to the participants as liquid suspensions together with protocols for the uniform NP deposition on suited substrates - as developed and optimized within the European project nPSize. Once having good deposition protocols available, the door for automated image analysis gets opened. Corresponding image analysis protocols and reporting templates have been distributed to the ILC participants, too. ii) Project #16: two spherical SiO2 NP samples with bi-modal size distributions in two nominal relative number concentrations were prepared and distributed also as liquid suspensions accompanied by sample preparation, measurement, and image analysis protocols and reporting templates. Here, the NP concentration is the primary parameter to be measured. For the imaging methods it is targeted to measure the relative nanoparticle concentrations (relative populations of the two modes). The results of all the participating laboratories, in both ILCs, compiled in comparative representations will be shown and discussed for the first time. The reduction of the measurement uncertainties associated to the size, shape and number-concentration results induced by the significant improvement of the sample preparation on substrates (as single particles with a high-density coverage), combined with well-defined image analysis procedures will be highlighted. Finally, a very recent 3rd ILC an the determination of lateral size of Graphene Oxide flakes by SEM is presented as project P13 under VAMAS TWA41 Graphene and Related 2D. T2 - Microscopy and Microanalysis 2024 CY - Cleveland, OH, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - VAMAS KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Imaging KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - Graphene oxide KW - Particle size distribution PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60875 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Characterization of nanoparticles - Measurement processes for nanoparticles N2 - Characterization of Nanoparticles: Measurement Processes for Nanoparticles surveys this fast growing field, including established methods for the physical and chemical characterization of nanoparticles. The book focuses on sample preparation issues (including potential pitfalls), with measurement procedures described in detail. In addition, the book explores data reduction, including the quantitative evaluation of the final result and its uncertainty of measurement. The results of published inter-laboratory comparisons are referred to, along with the availability of reference materials necessary for instrument calibration and method validation. The application of these methods are illustrated with practical examples on what is routine and what remains a challenge. In addition, this book summarizes promising methods still under development and analyzes the need for complementary methods to enhance the quality of nanoparticle characterization with solutions already in operation. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Characterization method KW - Sample preparation KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Standardisation KW - Measurement uncertainty KW - Case studies PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/C2017-0-00312-9 SP - 1 EP - 566 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50284 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kulka, M. W. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Wurzler, Nina A1 - Salz, D. A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Mussel-Inspired Multivalent Linear Polyglycerol Coatings Outperform Monovalent Polyethylene Glycol Coatings in Antifouling Surface Properties N2 - Biofouling constitutes a major challenge in the application of biosensors and biomedical implants, as well as for (food) packaging and marine equipment. In this work, an antifouling surface coating based on the combination of mussel-inspired dendritic polyglycerol (MI-dPG) and an amine-functionalized block copolymer of linear polyglycerol (lPG−b−OA11, OA = oligo-amine) was developed. The coating was compared to a MI-dPG surface which was postfunctionalized with commercially available amine-terminated Polyethylene glycol (HO−PEG−NH2) of similar molecular weight. In the current work, These coatings were compared in their chemical stability, protein fouling characteristics, and cell fouling characteristics. The lPG−b−OA11-functionalized coating showed high chemical stability in both phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions and reduced the adhesion of fibrinogen from human plasma with 99% and the adhesion of human serum albumin with 96%, in comparison to the bare titanium dioxide substrate. Furthermore, the Proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was reduced with 85% when the lPG−b−OA11 system was compared to bare titanium dioxide. Additionally, a reduction of 94% was observed when the lPG−b−OA11 system was compared to tissue culture polystyrene. KW - Antifouling surface coatings KW - Human umbilical cell adhesion KW - Linear polyglycerol KW - Polyethylene glycol KW - Mussel-inspired adhesives PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.9b00786 VL - 2 IS - 12 SP - 5749 EP - 5759 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-50342 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Senoner, Mathias A1 - Weimann, T. A1 - Bütefisch, S. A1 - Passiu, C. A1 - Spencer, N. D. A1 - Rossi, A. T1 - Introduction to lateral resolution and analysis area measurements in XPS N2 - Imaging and small-spot (small area) XPS have become increasingly important components of surface chemical analysis during the last three decades, and its use is growing. Some ambiguity in the use of terminology, understanding of concepts, and lack of appropriate reference materials leads to confusing and not always reproducible data. In this paper, it is shown that by using existing knowledge, appropriate test specimens, and standardized approaches, problems of comparability and such reproducibility issues recently observed for XPS data reported in the scientific literature can be overcome. The standardized methods of ISO 18516:2019, (i) the straight-edge, (ii) the narrow-line, and (iii) the grating method, can be used to characterize and compare the lateral resolution achieved by imaging XPS instruments and are described by reporting examples. The respective measurements are made using new test specimens. When running an XPS instrument in the small-spot (small area) mode for a quantitative analysis of a feature of interest, the question arises as to what contribution to the intensity originates from outside the analysis area. A valid measurement approach to control the intensity from outside the nominal analysis area is also described. As always, the relevant resolution depends on the specific question that needs to be addressed. The strengths and limitations of methods defining resolution are indicated. KW - Imaging XPS KW - Lateral resolution KW - Analysis area measurements KW - Small-spot XPS PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000398 VL - 38 IS - 5 SP - 053206 AN - OPUS4-51394 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Mast, J. A1 - Verleysen, E. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Kaegi, R. ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Characterization of nanomaterials by transmission electron microscopy - Measurement procedures N2 - In this chapter, approaches are proposed for the descriptive and quantitative characterization of nano-objects with nanometer resolution. Measurements are based on the analysis of the characteristics of 2D projections of individual particles visualized on transmission electron micrographs. Incorporation of spectroscopic methods (EDS and EELS) for elemental analysis of nano-objects is recommended to identify subpopulations of nano-objects in mixtures based on their chemical composition. The focus lies on the determination of physicochemical properties which are essential in a legislatory and regulatory context to define the material as a nanomaterial (NM), and to assess its safety and toxicological potential, using widely accessible equipment. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Sample preparation KW - Image analysis KW - Transmission electron microscopy PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00004-3 SP - 29 EP - 48 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50121 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cant, D. J. H. A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Clifford, C. A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Shard, A. G. T1 - Summary of ISO/TC 201 Technical Report 23173—Surface chemical analysis—Electron spectroscopies—Measurement of the thickness and composition of nanoparticle coatings N2 - ISO Technical Report 23173 describes methods by which electron spectroscopies, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and synchrotron techniques, can be employed to calculate the Coating thicknesses and compositions of nanoparticles. The document has been developed to review and outline the current state-of-the-art for such measurements. Such analyses of core–shell nanoparticles are common within the literature, however the methods employed are varied; the relative advantages and disadvantages of These methods, and the optimal usage of each may not be clear to the general analyst. ISO Technical Report 23173 aims to clarify the methods that are available, describe them in clear terms, exhibit examples of their use, and highlight potential issues users may face. The information provided should allow analysts of electron spectroscopy data to make clear choices regarding the appropriate analysis of electron spectroscopy data from coated nanoparticle systems and provide a basis for understanding and comparing results from different methods and systems. KW - Electron spectroscopy KW - Core-shell KW - Nanoparticles KW - ISO 23173 KW - XPS KW - Thickness KW - Composition PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6987 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 53 IS - 10 SP - 893 EP - 899 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-52976 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Clifford, C. A1 - Stintz, M. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Fujimoto, T. ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - International standards in nanotechnologies N2 - This chapter provides an overview of what standards are, why they are important, and how they are developed. There is a focus on the work of standards committees relevant to nanotechnology measurement and characterization with tables detailing the standards that are currently available for a large number of different techniques, materials, and applications at the nanoscale. KW - Standards KW - Nanotechnology KW - Reproducibility KW - ISO KW - CEN KW - VAMAS PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00026-2 SP - 511 EP - 525 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50165 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Shard, A. G. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Introduction N2 - The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive collection of analytical methods that are commonly used to measure nanoparticles, providing information on one, or more, property of importance. The chapters provide up-to-date information and guidance on the use of these techniques, detailing the manner in which they may be reliably employed. Within this chapter, we detail the rationale and context of the whole book, which is driven by the observation of a low level of reproducibility in nanoparticle research. The aim of the book is to encourage awareness of both the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods used to measure nanoparticles and raise awareness of the range of methods that are available. The editors of the book have, for many years, been engaged in European projects and standardization activities concerned with nanoparticle analysis and have identified authors who are experts in the various methods included within the book. This has produced a book that can be used as a definitive guide to current best practice in nanoparticle measurement. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size distribution KW - Shape KW - Chemistry KW - Coating KW - Concentration KW - Standards KW - Charge KW - Characterisation PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00001-8 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50166 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Bütefisch, S. A1 - Busch, I. A1 - Weimann, T. A1 - Passiu, C. A1 - Rossi, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - New Test Specimen for the Determination of the Field of View of Small-Area XPS N2 - Small-area/spot photoelectron spectroscopy (SAXPS) is a powerful tool for the investigation of small surface features like microstructures of electronic devices, sensors or other functional surfaces. For evaluating the quality of such microstructures, it is crucial to know whether a small signal in a spectrum is an unwanted contamination of the field of view (FoV), defined by the instrument settings, or it originated from outside. The aperture has a major influence on the signal-contribution from the outside. For the evaluation of the FoV, we determined the Au4f intensities measured with the center of the FoV aligned with the center of the spot and normalized to the Au4f intensity determined on the Au-film. With this test specimen, it was possible to characterize the FoV: The signal-contribution from the outside is reduceable down to lower than 50 %, when the aperture is 30 % of the structure dimension for our Kratos AXIS Ultra DLD system. T2 - Kratos User's Meeting 2020 CY - Online meeting DA - 21.09.2020 KW - Small Area XPS KW - Reference Material KW - Imaging XPS KW - Field of View PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51413 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) N2 - As one of the widely used analytical methods for the analysis of elemental composition of solid matter, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) has recently gained significant importance regarding its application to the chemical analysis of nanoparticles, especially in conjunction with the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the use of the transmission operation mode of SEM (STEM-in-SEM). This development was mainly driven by the technological progress with highly sensitive EDS detectors, such that individual nanoparticles can be quickly inspected with EDS at a SEM. Qualitative information on elemental composition with about 10 nm spatial resolution can be achieved complementary to the high-resolution information of the sample surface morphology within the same scanned area as provided by the electron microscope. Representative examples with successful EDS analysis on nanoparticles are presented, but also limitations of the method are described. KW - EDS KW - EPMA KW - X-rays KW - SEM/EDS PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00021-3 SP - 397 EP - 417 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-49991 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Vladár, A. E. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Characterization of nanoparticles by scanning electron microscopy N2 - In this chapter sample preparation, image acquisition, and nanoparticle size and shape characterization methods using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) in reflective and transmitted working modes are described. These help in obtaining reliable, highly repeatable results. The best solutions vary case-by-case and depend on the raw (powdered or suspension) nanoparticle material, the required measurement uncertainty and on the performance of the SEM. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Sample preparation KW - Electron microscopy KW - SEM KW - Size measurement KW - Shape KW - Threshold PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00002-X SP - 7 EP - 27 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50120 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Heinrich, Thomas A1 - Tougaard, S. A1 - Werner, W. S. M. A1 - Hronek, M. A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Benemann, Sigrid A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Determining thickness and completeness of the shell for polymer core shell nanoparticles by XPS, ToF SIMS and T SEM 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 non-ideal morphology. In this work, we investigated PTFE-PMMA (four samples) and PTFE-PS (six samples) polymer CSNPs with constant core diameter (45 nm) but varying shell thickness (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 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. Opposed to that, no variation is observed in the PCA scores 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. T2 - 18th European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis (ECASIA) CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Core-shell nanoparticles KW - Polymers KW - ToF-SIMS KW - XPS KW - XPS background analysis PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49187 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Nymark, P. A1 - Hongisto, V. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Kohonen, P. A1 - Haase, A. A1 - Jensen, K. A. A1 - Grafström, R. T1 - Grouping of representative nanomaterials is efficiently executed by combining high-throughput-generated biological data with physicochemical data N2 - Grouping of nanomaterials (NM) promises to serve effectively to reduce the extensive safety testing needs associated with regulatory risk assessment. Key challenges in this task are how to rapidly and cost-efficiently generate the needed data, and how to best combine structural material characteristics with biological effects data. Herein, we performed NM grouping from combining existing physiochemical data with high-throughput screening (HTS)-derived hazard assessment data generated in the human lung epithelial cell line BEAS-2B. Twenty-one NMs from the European Joint Research Centre´s Representative Nanomaterials Repository (diverse nanoforms of substances ZnO, SiO2 and TiO2) and five reference chemicals were analyzed by HTS assays for cytotoxicity/cell viability (CellTiterGlo, Dapi-staining), oxidative stress (8-OHdG), apoptosis (Caspase-3), and DNA damage repair (γH2AX). Additionally, physicochemical data relevant for grouping of NMs under REACH (ECHA, 2017 Appendix R.6-1) were collated for 15 of the NMs, including from EU-funded projects (NanoReg2, caLIBRAte) and the OECD Testing Programme of Nanomaterials. The diverse data types were scaled, normalized and integrated using a newly developed scoring pipeline inspired by the US-EPA Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi). Results demonstrated that the in vitro-derived hazard data permitted substance-based grouping of the selected NMs, whereas integration of physicochemical data deepened the grouping of specific nanoforms within each substance group. Furthermore, a case study on 10 TiO2 NMs showed that hazard-based grouping allowed for read across of physicochemical data between 6 NMs acting as source nanoforms and 4 NMs acting as target nanoforms. The ToxPi tool and scoring pipeline permitted transparent visualization of the final grouping, while giving equal weight to different types of data/results related to structure and biology. Overall, this study aligns fully with the ECHA recommendations for grouping of NM (Appendix R.6-1), i.e. i) to aim at identification of criteria for grouping nanoforms (and non-nanoforms) within one substance, and ii) to provide additional information beyond physicochemical data to support read across between nanoforms. T2 - Eurotox 2019 CY - Helsinki, Finland DA - 08.09.2019 KW - Grouping KW - Nanomaterials KW - Regulatory risk assesment KW - High-throughput screening PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49439 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Schneider, Markus A1 - Nymark, Penny A1 - Grafström, Roland A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Combining surface analytic and toxicity data for safer nanomaterials N2 - Nanomaterials are present in our everyday life. Paint coats, sunscreens, catalysts and additives for tyres are good examples for the use of such materials in mass-market products. The problem of the safety of nanomaterials is recognized as a problem for health and environment, which lead to the special registration of nanomaterials according to an annex of REACH as of 2020. But a great problem for the risk assessment of nanomaterials that several factors could influence the hazardous nature of them. Additional to composition, crystal structure, size and shape the surface properties of such particles belong to these parameters for risk assesment. The reason for the relevance of the surface is obvious: the smaller the particle, the higher is the share of the surface. Additionally, the surface is the region of the particle which interacts with the surrounding which is another crucial factor for the understanding the effect of a nanomaterial on health and environment. In the OECD Testing Programme on Manufactured Nanomaterials exists consequently an Endpoint 4.30 Surface Chemistry in Chapter 4. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES. In summary, there is obviously a need for a correlation between surface chemical analytic data and toxicity. To fill in this gap, we present surface analytic results obtained with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and correlate them with cytotoxic data gain by high-throughput screening experiments. It must be noted, that these experiments were done at the same set of titania materials taken from the JRC (Joint Research Centre of the European Union) Nanomaterials Repository. As material TiO2 was chosen due to its widespread use in consumer products, e.g. paint coats and sunscreens. With this new approach a better understanding of the influence of surface properties on the toxicity can be expected leading to a better risk assessment of these materials. T2 - ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Risk assessment KW - Nanomaterials KW - Surface analytic KW - Toxicology PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49090 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Brown, J. A1 - Hardie, K. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Model systems and sample preparation for surface characterisation of bacteria and biofilms by near-ambient pressure XPS N2 - Bacterial samples are typically freeze dried or cryo-prepared prior to XPS analysis to allow for measurements in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). The sample environment in the near-ambient pressure (NAP) XPS instrument EnviroESCA allows for measurements in up to 15 mbar water vapor, thus, sample preparation is no longer restricted to UHV-compatible techniques. For instance, biofilms grown in medium can be transferred directly from the medium to the measurements chamber, maintaining a humid environment throughout the measurements. Considering the complexity of bacterial samples, sample preparation must be carefully considered in order to obtain meaningful and reproducible results. In this talk, various strategies for sample preparation of bacteria and biofilms for NAP-XPS measurements will be discussed. Model systems of planktonic bacteria, artificial biofilms resembling the exopolysaccharide matrix and biofilms have been characterised in various conditions. The stability and homogeneity of the samples was assessed by monitoring the C1s core level peak at different sample locations. The quality of the XPS-spectra is also influenced by the gas environment, which will be exemplified by core level spectra of P. Fluorescens acquired in air, water vapor and ultra-high vacuum. T2 - 18th European conference on applications of surface and interface analysis (ECASIA) CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - NAP-XPS KW - Biofilms KW - Bacteria KW - E. coli KW - XPS PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49189 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Bütefisch, S. A1 - Busch, I. A1 - Passiu, C. A1 - Rossi, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - A new reference material for the determination of the Field of View of Small Area XPS N2 - Small Area Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) is a powerful tool for investigating small surface features. It is often unclear, if the signal in the spectrum is an unwanted contamination of the Field of View (FoV) or is it originated from outside. The reason is, that XPS-spectra are affected by beam shapes. Scheithauer proposed to measure Pt apertures of different diameters and normalize the Pt4f count rate by a second measurement on the Pt metal. New reference materials were developed and tested in the VAMAS TWA2 A22 Project. T2 - ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Reference material KW - Small Area XPS KW - Selected Area XPS KW - Small Spot XPS KW - Field of Analysis PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49236 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dietrich, P. M. A1 - Kjærvik, Marit A1 - Willneff, E. A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - In-depth analysis of iodine in artificial biofilm model layers by variable excitation energy XPS and argon gas cluster ion sputtering XPS N2 - Here, we present a study on agarose thin-film samples that represent a model system for the exopolysaccharide matrix of biofilms. Povidone-iodide (PVP-I) was selected as an antibacterial agent to evaluate our x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)-based methodology to trace specific marker elements, here iodine, commonly found in organic matrices of antibiotics. The in-depth distribution of iodine was determined by XPS analyses with variable excitation energies and in combination with argon gas cluster ion beam sputter cycles. On mixed agarose/PVP-I nanometer-thin films, both methods were found to solve the analytical task and deliver independently comparable results. In the mixed agarose/PVP-I thin film, we found the outermost surface layer depleted in iodine, whereas the iodine is homogeneously distributed in the depth region between this outermost surface layer and the interface between the thin film and the substrate. Depletion of iodine from the uppermost surface in the thin-film samples is assumed to be caused by ultrahigh vacuum exposure resulting in a loss of molecular iodine (I2) as reported earlier for other iodine-doped polymers. KW - Biofilm KW - XPS KW - Argon gas cluster ion sputtering KW - Variable excitation KW - Iodine PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001812 SN - 1934-8630 VL - 17 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - AVS AN - OPUS4-54973 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Fujimoto, T. T1 - The Surface Analysis Working Group at the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance, Metrology in Chemistry and Biology: A successful initiative by Martin Seah N2 - Dr Martin Seah, NPL, was the initiator, founder, and first chairman of the Surface Analysis Working Group (SAWG) at the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance, Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), the international organization established by the Metre Convention. This tribute letter summarizes his achievements during his chairmanship and his long-running impact on the successful work of the group after his retirement. KW - CCQM (Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance) KW - Metrology in Chemistry and Biology KW - Martin Seah KW - Metrology KW - Quantitative surface chemical analysis KW - Surface Analysis Working Group PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.7033 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 54 IS - 4 SP - 314 EP - 319 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-53714 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P.M. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - NAP-XPS spectra of the bacterial cell-envelope of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria N2 - Pseudomonas fluorescens (Gram-negative) bacteria purchased from Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures were analyzed using high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at near ambient pressure conditions (NAP-XPS), 1500 Pa water vapor atmosphere. Fresh layers of P. fluorescence bacteria were grown on Luria Broth agar plates. Bacteria were taken from the agar plate with a sterile spatula and gently spread on a Si-wafer piece for NAP-XPS analysis. The NAP-XPS spectra of the bacterial envelope of P. fluorescence were obtained using monochromatic Al Kα radiation and include a survey scan and high-resolution spectra of C 1s, N 1s, P 2p, and O 1s as well. The presentation of the C 1s high-resolution spectrum includes the results of peak fitting analysis. KW - Pseudomonas fluorescens KW - Cell-envelope KW - Water atmosphere KW - Near ambient x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001543 SN - 1055-5269 VL - 29 IS - 1 SP - 014008-1 PB - AVS AN - OPUS4-54464 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - THES A1 - Müller, Anja T1 - Determination of the actual morphology of core-shell nanoparticles by advanced X-ray analytical techniques: A necessity for targeted and safe nanotechnology N2 - Even though we often do not knowingly recognize them, nanoparticles are present these days in most areas of our daily life, including food and its packaging, medicine, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, pigments as well as electronic products, such as computer screens. The majority of these particles exhibits a core-shell morphology either intendedly or unintendedly. For the purpose of practicability, this core-shell nanoparticle (CSNP) morphology is often assumed to be ideal, namely a spherical core fully encapsulated by a shell of homogeneous thickness with a sharp interface between core and shell material. It is furthermore widely presumed that all nanoparticles in the sample possess the same shell thickness. As a matter of fact, most real CSNPs deviate in several ways from this ideal model with quite often severe impact on how efficiently they perform in a specific application. The topic of this cumulative PhD thesis is the accurate characterization of the actual morphology of CSNPs by advanced X-ray analytical techniques, namely X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). A special focus is on CSNPs which deviate from an ideal core-shell morphology. In the paper from 2019 nanoparticle shell thicknesses are extracted from the elastic-peak intensities in an XPS spectrum based on an ideal particle morphology. This happens for a series of CSNP samples comprising a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) core and either a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or polystyrene (PS) shell. The same paper as well as the paper from 2020 demonstrate for the first time, that the analysis of the inelastic background in an XPS spectrum of CSNPs can identify and quantify the heterogeneity of the shell and the incomplete encapsulation of the core. The result from an XPS experiment is always an average across a large nanoparticle ensemble. Deviations from an ideal morphology within a single particle of the sample cannot be assessed separately. As opposed to that, a spatial resolution of 35 nm enables STXM to visualize the interior of single CSNPs which exhibit a sufficient X-ray absorption contrast between core and shell material. In the paper from 2018 a STXM analysis is demonstrated based on the example of the PTFE-PS CSNP samples already mentioned in the previous paragraph. In the publication from 2021 (Ca/Sr)F₂ core-shell like nanoparticle ensembles for the practical use in, among others, antireflective coatings are investigated. These nanoparticles do not possess a sharp interface between core and shell material, which is why a shell thickness determination as described in the second paragraph is inappropriate. Instead, in-depth profiles of the chemical composition are obtained by XPS experiments based on synchrotron radiation with variable X-ray photon energy to elucidate the internal morphology of the particles. Additionally, theoretical in-depth profiles of Ca and Sr XPS peak intensities are simulated, in order to facilitate the interpretation of the experiments. Thus, an enrichment of CaF₂ at the particle surface was determined, which could hardly have been assessed by any other analytical technique. Because this kind of non-destructive depth profiling by XPS is very demanding, more than usual effort is spent on gapless documentation of the experiments to ensure full reproducibility. Due to the vast diversity of nanoparticles differing in material, composition and shape, a measurement procedure cannot unalteredly be transferred from one sample to another. Nevertheless, because the papers in this thesis present a greater depth of reporting on the experiments than comparable publications, they constitute an important guidance for other scientists on how to obtain meaningful information about CSNPs from surface analysis. N2 - Obwohl wir sie oft nicht bewusst wahrnehmen, sind Nanopartikel heutzutage in den meisten Bereichen unseres Alltags präsent, unter anderem in Lebensmitteln und ihren Verpackungen, Medizin, Medikamenten, Kosmetik, Pigmenten und in elektronischen Geräten wie Computermonitoren. Ein Großteil dieser Partikel weist, beabsichtigt oder unbeabsichtigt, eine Kern-Schale Morphologie auf. Einfachheitshalber wird diese Morphologie eines Kern-Schale-Nanopartikels (CSNP) oft als ideal angenommen, d.h. als ein sphärischer Kern, der komplett von einer Schale homogener Dicke bedeckt ist, mit einer scharfen Grenzfläche zwischen Kern- und Schalenmaterial. Außerdem wird vielfach auch davon ausgegangen, alle Partikel der Probe hätten gleiche Schalendicken. Tatsächlich weichen die meisten realen CSNPs in verschiedenster Weise von diesem Idealmodell ab, mit oft drastischen Auswirkungen darauf, wie gut sie ihre Aufgabe in einer bestimmten Anwendung erfüllen. Das Thema dieser kumulativen Doktorarbeit ist die exakte Charakterisierung der wirklichen Morphologie von CSNPs mit modernen Röntgen-basierten Methoden, konkret Röntgen-Photoelektronen-Spektroskopie (XPS) und Raster-Transmissions-Röntgen-Mikroskopie (STXM). Der Fokus liegt insbesondere auf CSNPs, die von einer idealen Kern-Schale-Morphologie abweichen. Im Artikel von 2019 werden Schalendicken von Nanopartikeln aus den elastischen Peakintensitäten im XPS-Spektrum unter Annahme einer idealen Partikelmorphologie abgeleitet. Dies geschieht für eine Reihe von CSNP-Proben, welche aus einem Polytetrafluoroethylen- (PTFE) Kern und entweder einer Polymethylmethacrylat- (PMMA) oder Polystyrol- (PS) Schale bestehen. Sowohl dieser Artikel als auch der von 2020 zeigen erstmals, dass die Auswertung des inelastischen Untergrunds eines CSNP-XPS-Spektrums in der Lage ist, die Heterogenität der Schale und die unvollständige Ummantelung des Kerns zu identifizieren und zu quantifizieren. Das Ergebnis eines XPS-Experiments ist immer ein Mittelwert über ein großes Nanopartikelensemble. Inwiefern ein einzelner Partikel innerhalb der Probe von einer idealen Morphologie abweicht, kann nicht gesondert erfasst werden. Im Gegensatz dazu kann STXM mit einer räumlichen Auflösung von 35 nm das Innere einzelner CSNPs visualisieren, sofern sie genügend Röntgenabsorptionskontrast zwischen Kern- und Schalenmaterial aufweisen. Im Artikel von 2018 wird am Beispiel der bereits im vorherigen Abschnitt genannt PTFE-PS-CSNPProben eine solche STXM-Untersuchung demonstriert. In der Veröffentlichung von 2021 werden Kern-Schale-artige (Ca/Sr)F₂-Nanopartikel für den praktischen Einsatz in unter anderem entspiegelnden Beschichtungen untersucht. Da hier keine scharfe Grenzfläche zwischen Kern- und Schalenmaterial vorliegt, ist eine Schalendickenbestimmung, wie sie im zweiten Abschnitt diskutiert wird, nicht sinnvoll. Stattdessen werden mit Hilfe von XPS, angeregt mit Synchrotronstrahlung bei variabler Röntgenphotonenenergie, Tiefenprofile der chemischen Zusammensetzung generiert, um die innere Morphologie der Partikel aufzuklären. Zusätzlich werden theoretische Tiefenprofile der Ca- und Sr-XPS-Peakintensitäten simuliert, um die Interpretation der Experimente zu erleichtern. So wurde eine CaF₂-Anreicherung an der Oberfläche der Partikel festgestellt, die kaum mit einer anderen analytischen Methode hätte entdeckt werden können. Da diese zerstörungsfreie Bestimmung von XPS-Tiefenprofilen sehr anspruchsvoll ist, wird noch mehr als üblich auf die lückenlose Dokumentation des Experiments geachtet, um vollständige Reproduzierbarkeit zu gewährleisten. Aufgrund der enormen Vielfalt an CSNPs, die sich in Material, Zusammensetzung und Form unterscheiden, kann eine Messmethode nicht völlig unverändert von einer Probe auf eine andere übertragen werden. Nichtsdestotrotz, da die als Teil dieser Doktorarbeit präsentierten Artikel eine deutlich ausführlichere Beschreibung der Experimente enthalten als vergleichbare Publikationen, stellen sie eine wichtige Anleitung für andere Wissenschaftler dafür dar, wie aussagekräftige Informationen über CSNPs durch Oberflächenanalytik erhalten werden können. KW - Core-shell nanoparticle (CSNP) KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) KW - Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.18452/24312 SP - i EP - 243 PB - Humboldt-Universität CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-54991 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Auger electron spectroscopy N2 - An introduction in the application of Auger Electron Spectroscopy to surface chemical analysis of nanoparticles is given. Auger Electron Spectroscopy is a mature method in the field of surface chemical analysis. The chapter addresses the physical basis of the method, the principal design of recent instruments together with modes of operation and options for the presentation of spectra, as well as different approaches for qualitative (including identification of chemical species) and quantitative surface analysis of elements. An application paragraph on surface chemical analysis of nanoparticles by AES or SAM introduces the different measurement approaches and sample preparation strategies applied by analysts. The analysis of nanoparticle ensembles, the so-called selected point analysis where a narrow primary electron beam is centered on an individual nanoparticle, and chemical mapping of individual nanoparticles (or a line scan across) are addressed. Existing literature is reviewed and informative case studies presented. Limitations and pitfalls in the application of AES in surface chemical analysis of nanoparticles are also addressed. KW - Auger Electron Spectroscopy KW - Surface chemical analysis KW - Imaging surface chemical analysis KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanotechnology PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00020-1 SP - 373 EP - 395 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50119 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Drüke, M. A1 - Silberreis, K. A1 - Lauster, D. A1 - Ludwig, K. A1 - Kühne, C. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Böttcher, C. A1 - Herrmann, A. A1 - Dernedde, J. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Interactions of fullerene-polyglycerol sulfates at viral and cellular interfaces N2 - Understanding the mechanism of interactions of nanomaterials at biointerfaces is a crucial issue to develop new antimicrobial vectors. In this work, a series of water-soluble fullerene-polyglycerol sulfates (FPS) with different fullerene/polymer weight ratios and varying numbers of polyglycerol sulfate branches are synthesized, characterized, and their interactions with two distinct surfaces displaying proteins involved in target cell recognition are investigated. The combination of polyanionic branches with a solvent exposed variable hydrophobic core in FPS proves to be superior to analogs possessing only one of these features in preventing interaction of vesicular Stomatitis virus coat glycoprotein (VSV-G) with baby hamster kidney cells serving as a model of host cell. Interference with L-selectin-ligand binding is dominated by the negative charge, which is studied by two assays: a competitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based inhibition assay and the leukocyte cell (NALM-6) rolling on ligands under flow conditions. Due to possible intrinsic hydrophobic and electrostatic effects of synthesized compounds, pico- to nanomolar half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) are achieved. With their highly antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, together with good biocompatibility, FPS are promising candidates for the future development towards biomedical applications. KW - Fullerene-Polyglycerol Sulfates KW - Fullerene KW - Biointerfaces KW - XPS PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201800189 SN - 1613-6829 SN - 1613-6810 VL - 14 IS - 17 SP - 1800189, 1 EP - 7 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-44573 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Beblo-Vranesevic, K. A1 - Kjærvik, Marit A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Hardie, K. A1 - Brown, J. T1 - XPS surface analysis of bacterial samples N2 - This application note presents how EnviroESCA can be used to analyze bacterial samples under near ambient pressure conditions in various states of hydration using different levels of humidity. Such investigations of bacterial cell wall surfaces in their hydrated state are essential for studying biological interfaces at work. The use of innovative near-ambient pressure (NAP-)XPS instrumentation allows the detailed analysis of irregularly-surfaced biofilms. NAP-XPS enables the surface analysis of bacterial samples in their natural hydrated state without complex sample preparation techniques such as freeze-drying or fast-freezing, which are needed for XPS analysis in ultrahigh vacuum. KW - Near ambient pressure XPS KW - Biofilms PY - 2018 UR - http://www.enviroai.com/uploads/1/0/2/8/102861712/xps_surface_analysis_of_bacillus_subtilis_biofilms_final.pdf IS - Application Note #000399 SP - 1 EP - 5 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-44588 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface chemical analysis surface chemical analysis of cells and biofilms N2 - The status of the planned technical report "Surface characterization of biomaterials" will be presented. T2 - ISO TC201 Meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 05.09.2020 KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - X-ray spectroscopy KW - Biomaterials KW - Standardization PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51197 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, M. A1 - Schlaich, C. A1 - Kulka, M. W. A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Schwerdtle, T. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Mussel-inspired coatings with tunable wettability, for enhanced antibacterial efficiency and reduced bacterial adhesion N2 - Over the last few decades, there has been a tremendous increase in research on antibacterial surface coatings as an alternative strategy against bacterial infections. Although there are several examples of effective strategies to prevent bacterial adhesion, the effect of the wetting properties on the coating was rarely considered as a crucial factor. Here we report an in-depth study on the effect of extreme wettability on the antibacterial efficiency of a silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)-based coating. By Controlling surface polymerization of mussel-inspired dendritic polyglycerol (MI-dPG) and post-functionalization, surfaces with wetting properties ranging from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic were fabricated. Subsequently, AgNPs were embedded into the coatings by applying in situ reduction using the free catechols-moieties present in the MI-dPG coating. The resulting polymer coatings exhibited excellent antibacterial ability against planktonic Escherichia coli (E. coli) DH5a and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) SH1000. The antibacterial efficiency of the coatings was analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and bacterial viability tests. Furthermore, the Antifouling properties of the coatings in relation to the antibacterial properties were evaluated. KW - Antibacterial surface coatings KW - Silver nanoparticles KW - XPS KW - Mussel-inspired dendritic polyglycerol (MI-dPG) PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c9tb00534j SN - 2050-750X SN - 2050-7518 VL - 7 IS - 21 SP - 3438 EP - 3445 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-48520 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen A1 - Azab, W. A1 - Cuellar-Camach, J.L. A1 - Guday, G. A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Osterrieder, K. A1 - Adeli, M. A1 - Haag, R. T1 - Functionalized nanographene sheets with high antiviral activity through synergistic electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions N2 - As resistance to traditional drugs emerges for treatment of Virus infections, the need for new methods for virus inhibition increases. Graphene derivatives with large surface areas have shown strong activity against different viruses. However, the inability of current synthetic protocols to accurately manipulate the structure of graphene sheets in order to control their antiviral activity remains a major challenge. In this work, a series of graphene derivatives with defined polyglycerol sulfate and fatty amine functionalities have been synthesized and their interactions with herpes simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) are investigated. While electrostatic interactions between polyglycerol sulfate and virus particles trigger the binding of graphene to virus, alkyl chains induce a high antiviral activity by secondary hydrophobic interactions. Among graphene sheets with a broad range of alkyl chains, (C3–C18), the C12-functionalized sheets showed the highest antiviral activity, indicating the optimum synergistic effect between electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, but this derivative was toxic against the Vero cell line. In contrast, sheets functionalized with C6- and C9-alkyl chains showed low toxicity against Vero cells and a synergistic Inhibition of HSV-1. This study shows that antiviral agents against HSV-1 can be obtained by controlled and stepwise functionalization of graphene sheets and may be developed into antiviral agents for future biomedical applications. KW - Functionalized nanographene KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) KW - NEXAFS KW - Antiviral activity PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nr05273a SN - 2040-3364 VL - 11 IS - 34 SP - 15804 EP - 15809 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-48807 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Persson, K. A1 - Johansson Salazar-Sandoval, E. A1 - Ernstsson, M. A1 - Sundin, M. A1 - Wachtendorf, Volker A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - The EC4SafeNano Project - and the case study of Surface Chemical Transformations of Nano-TiO2 Samples upon Weathering N2 - A central challenge to ensure the sustainable production and use of nanotechnologies is to understand and effectively control the risks along the industrial innovation value chain. Knowledge about nanotechnology processes and nanosafety issues (hazards, fate, risk...) is growing rapidly but the effective use of this knowledge for risk management by market actors is lagging behind. EC4SafeNano (European Centre for Risk Management and Safe Innovation in Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies) promotes a harmonized vision of expertise in risk assessment and management for the public and private sectors to enable the safe development and commercialization of nanotechnology. EC4SafeNano is operated together by major European risk institutes with the support of numerous associated partners, gathering all stakeholders involved in Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies (regulators, industry, society, research, service providers...). In a case study the surface chemical transformations upon 2 different ageing procedures (long-term UV irradiation or swimming pool water) of a representative set of titanium dioxide nanoparticles has been investigated. The materials have been analyzed by various analytical techniques. Each method addresses different aspects of the complex endpoint surface chemistry. The multi technique approach allows evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of the applied methods regarding their suitability to address the endpoint surface chemistry and their sensitivity to identify even small surface chemical transformations. Results: - To obtain a comprehensive picture, it is insufficient to concentrate on a single analysis technique. - By using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) in combination with principal component analysis (PCA) it was possible to identify even subtle changes in the surface chemistry of the investigated materials. - A general trend that was observed for the UV-aged samples is the decrease of organic material on the nanomaterial surface. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 723623. T2 - FormulaX/NanoFormulation 2019 CY - Manchester, England, United Kingdom DA - 24.06.2019 KW - TiO2 nanoparticle KW - Surface Chemical Transformation KW - UV Weathering KW - SIMS KW - XPS KW - IR spectroscopy KW - EC4SafeNano PY - 2019 UR - https://www.formulation.org.uk/images/stories/FormulaX/Posters/P-14.pdf AN - OPUS4-48912 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Mansfeld, Ulrich A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Marguet, S. A1 - Testard, F. A1 - Tache, O. A1 - Bartzcak, D. T1 - New reference material candidates for traceable size measurement of nonspherical nanoparticles N2 - Size measurement of nanoparticles (NP) becomes a challenging analytical problem when non-spherical shapes must be traceably measured. However, most industrial NPs have irregular shapes and broad size distribution making it often more complex to follow European regulatory to identify a material as a nanomaterial according to which accurate measurement of the smallest dimension and its size Distribution is necessary. The European research project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements aims to fill this gap by developing potential non-spherical reference nanoparticles, measurement procedures and physical modelling to improve the traceability chain, comparability and compatibility for NP size measurements between different methods. Therefore, new model NP with well-controlled shape has been synthesized and are supposed to be systematically characterized using the traceable methods scanning/transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Following NP candidates are under investigation with respect to their homogeneity and stability: (i) titania nanoplatelets (10-15 nm thickness x 50-100 nm lateral), (ii) titania bipyramides (~60 nm length x 40 nm width), (iii) titania acicular particles (100 nm length x 15-20 nm width; aspect ratio 5.5/6), (iv) gold nanorods (~10 nm width x 30 nm length), and (v) gold nanocubes (~55 nm x 55 nm x 55 nm). In addition, sample preparation procedures as well as measurement analysis procedures with evaluation of appropriate measurands and descriptors for each material class and method are being developed to support standardization. To underpin the traceability of the size measurement of nonspherical NP, physical modelling of the signals in e.g. electron microscopy techniques will be used and in combination, the implementation of machine learning is aimed to facilitate measurement Analysis procedures, especially regarding the accurate thresholding/segmentation of the NPs. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size distribution KW - Electron microscopy KW - Certified reference materials KW - Traceability PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49227 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Procop, Mathias T1 - Performance of SEM/EDS systems with the Test Material EDS-TM001/002 and Evaluation Software EDS Spectrometer Test – Application and Updates N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDS spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS with a SEM. With EDS-TM001/002 test material, this periodical check is simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDS spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the EDS performance in terms of energy resolution and calibration, as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a 6 μm thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr deposited on a steel (EDS-TM001) or silicon (EDS-TM002) substrate. The chemical composition of EDS-TM was chosen such as to give nearly equal intensities of the low energy lines in a 10 kV spectrum, thus, making it very sensitive against spectrometer efficiency changes. New results and gained experiences will be presented. When the FWHM of the X-ray lines in the EDS-TM spectrum are determined, the spectrum Background must be subtracted accurately. The applied physical background subtraction procedure is robust and considers the transmission of the detector window. While the previous version considers only Moxtek AP windows, the new software version includes selection of silicon nitride window and the case of windowless detector. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Test material KW - EDS X-ray spectrometer KW - EPMA KW - Performance check PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49233 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. A1 - Thissen, A. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface characterisation of biofilms by nearambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy N2 - The XPS information depth of approximately 10 nm is in the same size range as the outer membrane of the gram-negative bacteria, which makes XPS a suitable tool for determining the elemental composition of the bacterial surface and monitor changes caused by outer stress like dehydration or exposure to antimicrobials. However, bacteria are inherently in a hydrated state, and therefore only compatible to ultra-high vacuum after extensive sample preparation, which may degrade the sample constituents. This issue is addressed by the development of near-ambient pressure (NAP)-XPS, which enables bacteria and biofilms to be characterised in their native wet state. Artificial biofilms, bacteria and biofilms of Escherichia coli have been characterised with the laboratory NAP-XPS instrument EnviroESCA from SPECS GmbH, at pressures ranging from high vacuum to 12 mbar, and in both humid and dry environment. By studying biological samples in their native wet state, new insight about composition and transport of drugs through cell membranes and the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of biofilms can be obtained. T2 - Royal Society of Chemistry Twitter Conference CY - Worldwide (online conference) DA - 06.03.2018 KW - Biofilms KW - E. coli KW - Alginate KW - NAP-XPS PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44498 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Müller, A. A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Skroblin, D. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Combining HR‑TEM and XPS to elucidate the core–shell structure of ultrabright CdSe/CdS semiconductor quantum dots N2 - Controlling thickness and tightness of surface passivation shells is crucial for many applications of core–shell nanoparticles (NP). Usually, to determine shell thickness, core and core/shell particle are measured individually requiring the availability of both nanoobjects. This is often not fulfilled for functional nanomaterials such as many photoluminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QD) used for bioimaging, solid state lighting, and display technologies as the core does not show the applicationrelevant functionality like a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield, calling for a whole nanoobject approach. By combining high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a novel whole nanoobject approach is developed representatively for an ultrabright oleic acid-stabilized, thick shell CdSe/CdS QD with a PL quantum yield close to unity. The size of this spectroscopically assessed QD, is in the range of the information depth of usual laboratory XPS. Information on particle size and monodispersity were validated with dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and compared to data derived from optical measurements. In addition to demonstrating the potential of this novel whole nanoobject approach for determining architectures of small nanoparticles, the presented results also highlight challenges faced by different sizing and structural analysis methods and method-inherent uncertainties. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Single particle KW - Microscopy KW - Particle architecture KW - Thickness KW - SAXS KW - Shell KW - XPS KW - TEM KW - Semiconductor KW - Quantum dot KW - Photophysics KW - Quantum yield PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517911 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77530-z VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 20712 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-51791 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Sparnacci, K. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Tougaard, S. T1 - Determining nonuniformities of core-shell nanoparticle coatings by analysis of the inelastic background of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy survey spectra N2 - Most real core-shell nanoparticle (CSNP) samples deviate from an ideal core-shell structure potentially having significant impact on the particle properties. An ideal structure displays a spherical core fully encapsulated by a shell of homogeneous thickness, and all particles in the sample exhibit the same shell thickness. Therefore, analytical techniques are required that can identify and characterize such deviations. This study demonstrates that by analysis of the inelastic background in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) survey spectra, the following types of deviations can be identified and quantified: the nonuniformity of the shell thickness within a nanoparticle sample and the incomplete encapsulation of the cores by the shell material. Furthermore, CSNP shell thicknesses and relative coverages can be obtained. These results allow for a quick and straightforward comparison between several batches of a specific CSNP, different coating approaches, and so forth. The presented XPS methodology requires a submonolayer distribution of CSNPs on a substrate. Poly(tetrafluoroethylene)-poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(tetrafluoroethylene)-polystyrene polymer CSNPs serve as model systems to demonstrate the applicability of the approach. KW - Core-shell KW - Nanoparticles KW - Inelastic background KW - Polymers KW - QUASES KW - XPS PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-511315 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6865 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 52 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley CY - Chichester AN - OPUS4-51131 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kovacevic, E. A1 - Strunskus, T. A1 - Santhosh, N. M. A1 - Zavasnik, Z. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Sauvage, T. A1 - Ammar, M.-R. A1 - Cvelbar, U. A1 - Berndt, J. T1 - Thermal stability studies of plasma deposited hydrogenated carbon nitride nanostructures N2 - Thermally stable carbon nitride nanostructures have potential applications in surface coatings and automotive fields. In this work, hydrogenated nitrogen-rich carbon nitride nanoparticles have been synthesised via low-pressure low-power plasma vapour deposition technique from methane/Nitrogen gas mixture in a dry process. Thermal stability of the initially prepared hydrogenated carbon Nitride structures has been analysed by near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS, insitu), Raman spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and nuclear reaction Analysis (NRA). Thermal studies reveal the excellent stability of the material and nitrogen-rich characteristics (N/C ratio 0.5e0.2 ± 0.01). The obtained results suggest transformation of sp3-rich as-deposited carbon Nitride into sp2-carbon phase with more graphitic features upon thermal annealing. Such in-situ thermal studies of plasma deposited carbon nitrides confirm the conversion of sp3-rich phase to sp2-rich carbon phase at the critical temperature (about 450 K), without a huge loss in nitrogen content. The analysis revealed that the material is a stable plasma deposit after this critical temperature up to >1100 K. Additionally, super hydrophilic carbon nitride nanostructure transforms into a hydrophobic surface after thermal annealing. These thermally stable hydrophobic carbon nitride nanoparticles could be used as a promising material for the hydrophobic coatings for various applications, especially for harsh conditions. KW - Carbon nanoparticles KW - Hydrogenated nanostructures KW - Plasma deposition KW - NEXAFS KW - Thermal annealing PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-536163 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2021.08.008 SN - 0008-6223 VL - 184 SP - 82 EP - 90 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-53616 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Krahl, T. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Wagner, Andreas A1 - Werner, W. S. M. A1 - Ritter, B. A1 - Kemnitz, E. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Chemical in-depth analysis of (Ca/Sr)F2 core–shell like nanoparticles by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with tunable excitation energy N2 - The fluorolytic sol–gel synthesis is applied with the intention to obtain two different types of core–shell nanoparticles, namely, SrF2–CaF2 and CaF2–SrF2. In two separate fluorination steps for core and shell formation, the corresponding metal lactates are reacted with anhydrous HF in ethylene glycol. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) confirm the formation of particles with mean dimensions between 6.4 and 11.5 nm. The overall chemical composition of the particles during the different reaction steps is monitored by quantitative Al Kα excitation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Here, the formation of stoichiometric metal fluorides (MF2) is confirmed, both for the core and the final core–shell particles. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis by synchrotron radiation XPS (SR-XPS) with tunable excitation energy is performed to confirm the core–Shell character of the nanoparticles. Additionally, Ca2p/Sr3d XPS intensity ratio in-Depth profiles are simulated using the software Simulation of Electron Spectra for Surface Analysis (SESSA). In principle, core–shell like particle morphologies are formed but without a sharp interface between calcium and strontium containing phases. Surprisingly, the in-depth chemical distribution of the two types of nanoparticles is equal within the error of the experiment. Both comprise a SrF2-rich core domain and CaF2-rich shell domain with an intermixing zone between them. Consequently, the internal morphology of the final nanoparticles seems to be independent from the synthesis chronology. KW - Metal fluorides KW - Sol-gel synthesis KW - Synchrotron radiation KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-522284 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6937 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 53 IS - 5 SP - 494 EP - 508 PB - Wiley VCH AN - OPUS4-52228 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kjaervik, Marit A1 - Ramstedt, M. A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Dietrich, P. M A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Comparative Study of NAP-XPS and Cryo-XPS for the Investigation of Surface Chemistry of the Bacterial Cell-Envelope N2 - Bacteria generally interact with the environment via processes involving their cell-envelope. Thus, techniques that may shed light on their surface chemistry are attractive tools for providing an understanding of bacterial interactions. One of these tools is Al Kα-excited photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with its estimated information depth of <10 nm. XPS-analyses of bacteria have been performed for several decades on freeze-dried specimens in order to be compatible with the vacuum in the analysis chamber of the spectrometer. A limitation of these studies has been that the freeze-drying method may collapse cell structure as well as introduce surface contaminants. However, recent developments in XPS allow for analysis of biological samples at near ambient pressure (NAP-XPS) or as frozen hydrated specimens (cryo-XPS) in vacuum. In this work, we have analyzed bacterial samples from a reference strain of the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens using both techniques. We compare the results obtained and, in general, observe good agreement between the two techniques. Furthermore, we discuss advantages and disadvantages with the two analysis approaches and the output data they provide. XPS reference data from the bacterial strain are provided, and we propose that planktonic cells of this strain (DSM 50090) are used as a reference material for surface chemical analysis of bacterial systems. KW - P. Fluorescens KW - Cryo XPS KW - NAP-XPS KW - DSM 5009 PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-525640 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.666161 VL - 9 SP - Article 666161 PB - Frontiers CY - Switzerland AN - OPUS4-52564 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Senoner, M. A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Fernandez, V. A1 - Fairley, N. A1 - Passiu, C. A1 - Spencer, N. D. A1 - Rossi, A. T1 - Summary of ISO/TC 201 International Standard ISO 18516:2019 Surface chemical analysis - Determination of lateral resolution and sharpness in beam-based methods with a range from nanometres to micrometres and its implementation for imaging laboratory X-ray photoelectron spectrometers (XPS) N2 - ISO 18516:2019 Surface chemical analysis—Determination of lateral resolution and sharpness in beam-based methods with a range from nanometres to micrometres revises ISO 18516:2006 Surface chemical analysis—Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy—Determination of lateral resolution. It implements three different methods delivering parameters useful to express the lateral resolution: (1) the straight edge method, (2) the narrow line method and (3) the grating method. The theoretical background of these methods is introduced in ISO/TR 19319:2013 Surface chemical analysis—Fundamental approaches to determination of lateral resolution and sharpness in beam-based methods. The revised International Standard ISO 18516 delivers standardized procedures for the determination of the (1) effective lateral resolution by imaging of square-wave gratings, the (2) lateral resolution expressed as the parameter D12–88 characterizing the steepness of the sigmoidal edge spread function (ESF) determined by imaging a straight edge and (3) the lateral resolution expressed as the full width of half maximum of the line spread function (LSF), wLSF, determined by imaging a narrow line. The last method also delivers information on the shape of the LSF, which characterizes an individual imaging instrument. Finally, the implementation of all three standardized methods in the field of imaging laboratory X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is shortly presented. This part of the letter is based on the use of a new test sample developed at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. This test sample displays a micrometre scaled pattern motivated by the resolving power of recent imaging XPS instruments. KW - Grating method KW - Imaging AES KW - Imaging SIMS KW - Imaging XPS KW - Lateral resolution KW - Narrow line method KW - Noise in image KW - Resolution criterion KW - Straight edge method PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-536330 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.7025 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 54 IS - 4 SP - 320 EP - 327 PB - Wiley CY - Chichester AN - OPUS4-53633 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steiner, S. A1 - Heldt, J. A1 - Sobol, Oded A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Frömeling, T. T1 - Influence of oxygen vacancies on core-shell formation in solid solutions of (Na,Bi)TiO3 and SrTiO3 N2 - Solid solutions of (Na,Bi)TiO3 (NBT) and SrTiO3 (ST) are materials of interest for high-strain or high-energy density capacitor applications. Often, they exhibit chemical heterogeneity and develop core-shell structures during regular solid-state synthesis with an NBT-rich core. In this case, the NBT forms first so that the strontium needs to diffuse into the material to reach chemical homogeneity. Depending on the presence of core-shell structures, the electrical properties can vary drastically. In this work, we rationalize the effect of variations in oxygen vacancy concentration by Fe-acceptor and Nb-donor doping. It can be shown that a diffusion couple of strontium and oxygen is responsible for chemical homogenization and that the oxygen vacancy content can control the formation of a core-shell structure. KW - Lead-free ceramics KW - Bismuth titanates KW - Core-shell structures KW - Diffusion/diffusivity KW - Ferroelectricity/ferroelectric materials PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-525988 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.17845 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley Periodicals LLC, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. AN - OPUS4-52598 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Validation of microplastics detection methods and proficiency testing: Suitable microplastic reference materials for interlaboratory comparison N2 - The talk summarizes challenges in microplastic analysis. It shows the preparation of microplastic reference materials as well as the testing on homogeneity and stability. The reference material is used in an international laboratory comparison to compare different detection methods used for microplastic analysis. The methods used were µ-IR (FTIR+LDIR) for number-based methods and TED-GC/MS and Py-GC/MS for mass-based methods. The ILC was done under the umbrella of VAMAS TWA 45. Results of the participants are presented. T2 - BAM Akademie CY - Online meeting DA - 16.05.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - ILC KW - Microplastics detection KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60085 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Identification of toxicologically relevant functional groups on micro- and nanoplastic particles’ surface by means of X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy N2 - Microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNP) are spread all over the world in various types, shapes and sizes making it very challenging to accurately analyse them. Each sampling procedure, sample preparation method and detection technique needs suitable reference materials to validate the method for accurate results. Furthermore, the effects of these MNPs should be evaluated by risk and hazard assessment with test particles close to reality. To better understand MNP behavior and aid in clarification of their interactions with organisms, we produced several MNP materials by top-down procedure and characterized their properties. Since surface properties mostly determine particles’ toxicity, the aim of the present study was to determine which functional groups are present on MNPs and how the surface can be affected by the production process and particle’s environment. T2 - SETAC 34th Meeting CY - Seville, Spain DA - 05.05.2024 KW - Microplastics KW - Nanoplastics KW - Polypropylene KW - XPS KW - SEM PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60037 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Correlative analysis with electron microscopy applied in different operating modes (SEM, STEM-in-SEM and TEM) for the accurate morphological characterisation of non-spherical fine nanoparticles N2 - Electron microscopy applied in different operating modes, e.g., SEM, TEM or STEM-in-SEM, is the gold standard method to investigate the exact size and shape of individual nanoparticles. However, when fine nanoparticles with a non-monodisperse size distribution and non-spherical shapes are analysed, achieving an accurate result is challenging. Deviations in size measurements of more than 10% may occur. Understanding of the contrasts and sensitivities characteristic to the individual operating modes of an electron microscope is key in interpreting and evaluating quantitatively the measurement uncertainties needed for an eventual certification of specific nanoparticles via traceable results. Further, beyond the pure measurement, the other components in the analysis workflow with significant impact on the overall measurement uncertainties are the sample preparation and the image segmentation. In the present study the same areas of selected iron oxide fine nanoparticles (<25 nm) as reference nanomaterial (candidate) prepared on substrate for electron microscopy imaging are analysed correlatively with SEM, STEM-in-SEM and TEM with respect to their size and shape distribution. Individual significant measurement uncertainties are discussed, e.g., the sensitivity of secondary electron detectors of InLens-type to the surface morphology, particularly to the presence of an ultrathin organic coating or signal saturation effects on the particle edges, to electron beam exposure, to surface contamination, or the selection of the threshold for image segmentation. Another goal of this study is to establish a basis of analysis conditions which shall guarantee accurate results when both manual and particularly (semi-)automated segmentation approaches are applied. Advantages as well as limitations of the use of different electron microscopy operating modes, applied individually and correlatively, are highlighted. T2 - E-MRS 2024 Spring Meeting CY - Strasbourg, France DA - 27.05.2024 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron Microscopy KW - Metrology KW - Imaging KW - Reference materials PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60436 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Habibimarkani, Heydar A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Comparative chemical analysis of Ni-Fe oxide nanoparticles N2 - Ni-Fe oxide nanoparticles have gained a lot of interest because of their high activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) which is crucial for water splitting. [1] Although there have been great efforts in the last years, the understanding of the synergistic effect between Fe and Ni is still under discussion. Therefore, we prepared different Ni-Fe oxide nanoparticles with different compositions from pure iron oxide to pure nickel oxide adapting a known procedure. [2,3] Size and morphology of the nanoparticles depend on the composition which was shown with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The compositions of the nanoparticles were measured with a comparative approach using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) coupled with the TEM providing detailed chemical information of the nanoparticles in different sample regions. EDS reveals that the different sample regions are dominated by one of the components, Fe or Ni, but a slight mixing between the components can be found (see Figure 1), which was confirmed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD). XPS indicates the enrichment of Fe at the sample surface, while HAXPES and EDS data agree on the stoichiometry of the bulk. High-resolution XPS and HAXPES exhibit some differences in the valence states of Fe and Ni, whereas Ni seems to be easier to reduce than Fe. Further investigations combining these different techniques and additionally Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) are ongoing by using in situ approaches and coupling cyclic voltammetry to the analytical techniques. T2 - ECASIA 2024 CY - Gothenburg, Sweden DA - 09.06.2024 KW - Oxygen evolution reaction KW - Transmission Electron Microscopy KW - (Hard) X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy KW - Synergistic effects PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60534 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Bennet, F. A1 - Meirer, F. A1 - Duijndam, A. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Drexel, R. A1 - Fadda, M. A1 - Sacco, A. A1 - Giovannozzi, A.M. A1 - Donskyi, I. A1 - Schusterbauer, R. A1 - Nickl, P. A1 - Reichardt, P. A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Revealing surface functionalities of micro- and nanoplastic particles’ surface by means of XPS N2 - Over the last 20 years, many researchers, politicians, and citizens themselves have become increasingly aware of the growing plastic problem of our time. Inadequate recycling concepts, collection points, and careless dumping of plastic products in the environment lead to an accumulation of plastic. External weather influences can cause these to degrade and fractionate, so that today microplastics (1-1000 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020) [1] of different polymer materials can be detected in all parts of the world. The precautionary principle applies to microplastics. The particles can break down further to form nanoplastics (<1 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020) [1]. Whether microplastics or nanoplastics pose a toxicological hazard is being investigated in a variety of ways. Valid results are still pending, however, investigations into the frequency, transport, possible sinks and entry paths must be taken into account. This is why monitoring of microplastics is already required in the revision of the Drinking Water Framework Directive [2]. The same is still pending in the final version of the revision of the Waste Water Framework Directive this year, but is expected. Nanoplastics are particularly under discussion for having a toxic effect on humans and animals, as these particles are small enough to be absorbed by cells. For targeted toxicological studies, it is important to have test and reference materials that resemble the particles found in the environment. To mimic environmental samples, these materials should also have an irregular shape and show aging at the surface, which can be detected with XPS or SEM/EDS. BAM in collaboration with the EMPIR project "PlasticTrace" works on a reference material candidate of nano-sized polypropylene (nano-PP) [3]. The nano-PP vials were tested for homogeneity with PTA and further characterized with bulk and surface-sensitive techniques. An SEM image and a corresponding XPS spectrum are presented in Figure 1. Raman measurements as well as XPS indicate an aged surface. T2 - ECASIA 2024 CY - Gothenburg, Sweden DA - 09.06.2024 KW - Surface chemistry KW - Micro- and nanoplastics KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy KW - MNP production technique PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60535 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Measurement of Lateral Dimensions of Particles & Flakes (2D) by Imaging Methods N2 - An overview with the basics of size and shape measurement of particles and 2D structures according to established methodologies (and popular imaging processing software packages) with imaging techniques is given. Main descriptors are explained based on practical cases are determined interactively at the flipchart. T2 - MaterialsWeek 2024 CY - Limassol, Cyprus DA - 17.06.2024 KW - Nanoparticles KW - 2D materials KW - Lateral dimensions KW - ISO KW - Imaging PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60454 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Validation of microplastics detection methods and proficiency testing: Suitable microplastic reference materials for interlaboratory comparison N2 - Since microplastics (MPs) can be found everywhere and are becoming a problem of high concern, it is necessary to understand their physico-chemical properties. To obtain reliable analytical data a set of validated methods for sampling, sample preparation, detection, and data evaluation are needed. To meet these needs an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) with 84 participants worldwide has been organized under the international pre-standardisation platform VAMAS (www.vamas.org/twa45/) as Project 2 “Development of standardized methodologies for characterisation of microplastics with microscopy and spectroscopy methods” within the Technical Working Area TWA 45 “Micro and Nano Plastics in the Environment”. In this ILC thermo-analytical methods (Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS) and vibrational methods (µ-Raman and µ-FTIR) have been tested and compared by providing a set of microplastic representative test materials and measurement protocols developed at BAM. The defined measurands were: particle number concentration, particle size distribution (PSD), and polymer identity and mass content. To increase the statistical quality, 6 samples were shipped together with blank samples. Hence, the ILC provides information on precision and accuracy of the results obtained with different methods as well as strengths and limitations of the proposed protocols. T2 - SETAC 34th Meeting CY - Seville, Spain DA - 05.05.2024 KW - ILC KW - Microplastic KW - Method validation KW - Stakeholder KW - Reference materials KW - Polyethylene KW - Polyethylene Terephtalate PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60039 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Benismail, Nizar A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Interlaboratory comparisons for obtaining reliable data on microplastic detection methods N2 - Since microplastics (MPs) can be found everywhere and are becoming a problem of high concern, it is necessary to understand their occurrence and fate in the environment. However, to obtain data of high quality is very challenging, since measurement operating procedures differ from laboratory to laboratory. Currently, there are no standardized methods to analyze microplastics. One promissing possibility to adress standardization of the methodology and operating procedures are interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs). In this contribution we report the first results of an ILC on microplastic detection methods organized under the pre-stantdardisation plattform of VAMAS (www.vamas.org/twa45/) as Project 2 “Development of standardized methodologies for characterisation of microplastics with microscopy and spectroscopy methods”, within the Technical Working Area TWA 45 “Micro and Nano Plastics in the Environment”. The ILC has gathered 84 participants all over the world representing all continents. BAM, as the project leader, produced a set of reference microplastic materials, which have been distributed to all the participants together with the measurement protocols and reporting data templates. T2 - SETAC 34th Meeting CY - Seville, Spain DA - 05.05.2024 KW - ILC KW - Microplastic KW - Py-GC/MS KW - Polyethylene KW - µ-Raman KW - µ-FTIR KW - Polyethylene Terephtalate KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60038 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Milczewski, Frank A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Hodoroaba, Dan T1 - Preliminary results of an interlaboratory comparison on microplastics organised by plasticsfate N2 - Microplastics are everywhere in the environment, but analytics is challenging. Since harmonisation is missing as well es suitable reference materials, BAM did under th umbrella of VAMAS funded by the EU Horizon 2020 project PlasticsFate a ILC for microplastic detection methods. Methods adressed were IR, Raman, Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS. The talk gives a first presentation and evaluation on the results. T2 - CUSP annual meeting and conference CY - Utrecht, Netherlands DA - 12.09.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Polymer 3R KW - Reference material KW - ILC on detection methods PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-60036 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Dao, Radek A1 - Komarov, Pavel A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Towards 3D determination of the surface roughness of core–shell microparticles as a routine quality control procedure by scanning electron microscopy N2 - AbstractRecently, we have developed an algorithm to quantitatively evaluate the roughness of spherical microparticles using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The algorithm calculates the root-mean-squared profile roughness (RMS-RQ) of a single particle by analyzing the particle’s boundary. The information extracted from a single SEM image yields however only two-dimensional (2D) profile roughness data from the horizontal plane of a particle. The present study offers a practical procedure and the necessary software tools to gain quasi three-dimensional (3D) information from 2D particle contours recorded at different particle inclinations by tilting the sample (stage). This new approach was tested on a set of polystyrene core-iron oxide shell-silica shell particles as few micrometer-sized beads with different (tailored) surface roughness, providing the proof of principle that validates the applicability of the proposed method. SEM images of these particles were analyzed by the latest version of the developed algorithm, which allows to determine the analysis of particles in terms of roughness both within a batch and across the batches as a routine quality control procedure. A separate set of particles has been analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a powerful complementary surface analysis technique integrated into SEM, and the roughness results have been compared. KW - Core–shell particles KW - Image analysis KW - Roughness KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Tilting KW - Batch analysis PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-607590 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68797-7 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-60759 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Rühle, Bastian T1 - Understanding Correlative Electron Microscopy Imaging with SEM, STEM in SEM and TEM for the Accurate Characterization of Size and Shape of FeOx Nanoparticles N2 - The recently certified reference material (CRM) BAM-N012 as cubical iron oxide FeOx nanoparticles (NPs) of 8 nm area equivalent square edge length (ESL) and the RM candidate BAM-N013 as nearly spherical NPs of 22 nm size were analyzed in detail by electron microscopy (EM). For the metrological characterization with SEM, STEM in SEM and TEM, the understanding of the imaging contrasts and sensitivities, and the correct interpretation of the (art)effects which are inherent to each detection mode is necessary. The same sample areas with NPs deposited on a TEM grid were analyzed by two SEM acquisition modes, i. e. SE InLens and STEM in SEM using a dedicated transmission sample holder, and further, correlatively, analyzed with TEM. With increasing kV, SE InLens shows increasing particle size (unless overcharging at the particle boundaries is filtered), as a known effect. For STEM-in-SEM the particle size decreases significantly and individual particles are identified easier (at 2 kV only a few single particles can be detected automatically). ❑ Documentation of the sample preparation and measurement conditions (including optimization process) is important for reproducibility. ❑ Plasma cleaning, analysis in the transmission mode at SEM is recommended for FeOx NPs. ❑ Selection of the threshold algorithm can significantly alter the reported ECD. T2 - Microscopy and Microanalysis 2024 CY - Cleveland, OH, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - Iron oxide KW - Reference materials KW - Correlative microscopy KW - Size and shape distribution PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60806 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Dao, R. A1 - Komarow, P. A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Hodoroaba, Dan T1 - Dataset accompanying the publication "Towards 3D determination of the surface roughness of core-shell microparticles as a routine quality control procedure by scanning electron microscopy" N2 - This dataset accompanies the following publication: Hülagü, D., Tobias, C., Dao, R., Komarov, P., Rurack, K., Hodoroaba, V.-D., Towards 3D determination of the surface roughness of core-shell microparticles as a routine quality control procedure by scanning electron microscopy. Sci.Rep, 14, 17936 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68797-7. It contains SEM and AFM-in-SEM images of polystyrene (PS) core particles, polystyrene-iron oxide (PS/Fe3O4) core-shell particles, and polystyrene-iron oxide-silica (PS/Fe3O4/SiO2) core-shell-shell particles. Please refer to the publication and its supporting information for more details on the acquisition and contents of the dataset, as well as the GitHub repository at https://github.Com/denizhulagu/roughness-analysis-by-electron-microscopy. The investigated particles were produced at BAM laboratories as previously described in: Hülagü, D. et al. Generalized analysis approach of the profile roughness by electron microscopy with the example of hierarchically grown polystyrene–iron oxide–silica core–shell–shell particles. Adv. Eng. Mater. 24, 2101344, https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101344 (2022). Tobias, C., Climent, E., Gawlitza, K. & Rurack, K. Polystyrene microparticles with convergently grown mesoporous silica shells as a promising tool for multiplexed bioanalytical assays. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 207, https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c17940 (2020). KW - Core–shell particles KW - Image analysis KW - Roughness KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Tilting KW - Batch analysis PY - 2024 UR - https://zenodo.org/records/11108726 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11108725 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-60760 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Salzmann, Christoph A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Pellegrino, F. T1 - STEM in SEM vs SE InLens type SEM as a Reliable Analytical Pair Tool for Measurement of Nanoparticle Size and Shape Distribution N2 - In this lecture, following points are addressed: – Advantages of correlative analysis in electron microscopy – Measurement principle of the different electron microscopy modes used – Presentation of the nanomaterials used for this study – Role of sample preparation – Sequence kV variation with InLens & transmission detection of the same field-of-view – Conclusive remarks including Monte Carlo simulations T2 - Microscopy and Microanalysis 2024 CY - Cleveland, OH, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Correlative analysis KW - Electron microscopy KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM KW - STEM-in-SEM KW - Particle size distribution KW - Titanium dioxide PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60804 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Sachse, René A1 - Kotil, L. A1 - Matjacic, L. A1 - McMahon, G. A1 - Bernicke, M. A1 - Bernsmeier, D. A1 - Kraehnert, R. A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Morphological and Chemical Nanoscale Analysis of Mesoporous Mixed IrO x TiO y Thin Films as Electrode Materials N2 - Porous films play an important role particularly in energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. Thin film properties such as thickness, chemical composition, crystallinity of the framework, and porosity define the activity of the porous films. The accurate morpho-chemical characterisation of mesoporous thin films is a challenging analytical task which requires the consideration of new analytical approaches based on the combination of data of different methods able to address the structure and chemical composition at the nanoscale. In this contribution we characterise thin mesoporous iridium-titanium mixed oxide film properties by Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) with Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) at an SEM applied in a dedicated “thin film analysis” approach (1). Thus, the film mass deposition, film thickness and the film density can be determined. Further, by dividing the measured film density to an assumed (theoretical) metal oxide framework (skeletal) density, the thin film porosity can be extracted, too. In order to assess the homogeneity of the thin film properties like the chemical composition, Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and Auger Electron Spectrometry are applied in the depth profiling mode, so that possible in-depth gradients are detected. Lateral inhomogeneities in the chemical composition and structure of the thin mesoporous films are also identified by applying the same methods in the line-scan or mapping mode, which can be further combined with in-depth sputtering for 3D information. The role of the spatial resolution of the analytical methods considered, which can go down well below 100 nm, will be highlighted. T2 - Microscopy and Microanalysis 2024 CY - Cleveland, OH, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Auger electron spectroscopy KW - Iridium oxide KW - Mesoporous thin films KW - SIMS KW - Titanium oxide KW - Porosity PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60805 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Omar, Hassan A1 - Ahamadi, Shayan A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Hidde, Gundula A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Investigations of the adsorbed layer of polysulfone: Influence of the thickness of the adsorbed layer on the glass transition of thin films N2 - This work studies the influence of the adsorbed layer on the glass transition of thin films of polysulfone. Therefore, the growth kinetics of the irreversibly adsorbed layer of polysulfone on silicon substrates was first investigated using the solvent leaching approach, and the thickness of the remaining layer was measured with atomic force microscopy. Annealing conditions before leaching were varied in temperature and time (0–336 h). The growth kinetics showed three distinct regions: a pre-growth step where it was assumed that phenyl rings align parallel to the substrate at the shortest annealing times, a linear growth region, and a crossover from linear to logarithmic growth observed at higher temperatures for the longest annealing times. No signs of desorption were observed, pointing to the formation of a strongly adsorbed layer. Second, the glass transition of thin polysulfone films was studied in dependence on the film thickness using spectroscopic ellipsometry. Three annealing conditions were compared: two with only a tightly bound layer formed in the linear growth regime and one with both tightly bound and loosely adsorbed layers formed in the logarithmic growth regime. The onset thickness and increase in the glass transition temperature increases with annealing time and temperature. These differences were attributed to the distinct conformations of the formed adsorbed layers. KW - Glass transition KW - Adsorbed Layer PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-607701 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0223415 SN - 0021-9606 VL - 161 IS - 5 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - AIP Publishing AN - OPUS4-60770 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 -