TY - JOUR A1 - Xue, Boyang A1 - You, Yi A1 - Gornushkin, Igor B. A1 - Zheng, R. A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - High-throughput underwater elemental analysis by μJ-laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy at kHz repetition rates: part I, ultrasound-enhanced optical emission spectroscopy towards application perspectives JF - Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry N2 - In recent years, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has gained significant attention as a means for simple elemental analyses. The suitability of LIBS for contactless analysis allows it to be a perfect candidate for underwater applications. While the majority of LIBS systems still rely upon sub-kHz pulsed lasers, this contribution introduces 10s-kHz low pulse-energy lasers into underwater LIBS to improve the throughput and statistical validity. Interestingly, the spectral component significantly changed above a critical laser repetition-rate threshold. Spectral lines of atomic hydrogen and oxygen stemming from water become visible beyond a ∼10 kHz repetition rate. This observation suggests a different plasma dynamic compared to low repetition rates. When the pulse-to-pulse interval becomes sufficiently short, a cumulative effect begins to be significant. Apparently, the new phenomena occur on a timescale corresponding to a threshold rate of ∼10 kHz, i.e. ∼100 μs. Analytically, the high repetition rates result in improved statistical validity and throughput. More plasma events per unit time allowed the use of low efficiency Echelle spectrometers without compromising on the analytical performance. Meanwhile, the presence of H I and O I out of the water (as the matrix) also offers internal standardization in underwater elemental analysis. Since the laser fluence was on the lower edge of the plasma threshold, an additional ultrasound source was introduced to induce external perturbation, which significantly improved the plasma formation stability. A huge advantage of LIBS is the possibility of detecting almost all elements within a sample simultaneously. Throughout the periodic table, chlorine is one of the most challenging elements. Consequently, Ca2+ and Na+ were used as samples to demonstrate the capability of this high repetition-rate LIBS platform. As an ambitious benchmark for our system, chlorine detection in water was also discussed. KW - High repetition rate KW - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0JA00290A VL - 35 IS - 12 SP - 2901 EP - 2911 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51564 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Xue, Boyang A1 - You, Yi A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - High-throughput underwater elemental analysis by μJ-laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy at a kHz repetition rate: part II, understanding the high repetition-rate from a fundamental perspective JF - Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry N2 - The technological advances in lasers enabled the wide application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a powerful analytical means for elemental analyses. Rather than commonly used lasers that operate at several to several-tens of Hz, the high repetition rate ones that operate at tens of kHz showed superior analytical advantages while implying unique excitation pathways. Specifically, the production of excited atomic hydrogen and oxygen, which can serve as internal standards, is quite different from that in commonly reported double-pulse LIBS. In this part of the work, it was found that the atomic emitters stemming from water are not related to cavitation bubbles. Moreover, the emitter productions of dissolved species, e.g., Na+, and water-related species, e.g., H-α, are two distinctive mechanisms. Towards analytical applications of the high repetition-rate system, the fundamental investigation can provide important guidelines to address real-life challenges. In this part of the work, the high repetition-rate regime of operation is explored from a more kinetic perspective. KW - High repetition rate KW - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0JA00291G VL - 35 IS - 12 SP - 2912 EP - 2919 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51565 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yildirim, Arda A1 - Kolmangadi, Mohamed Aejaz A1 - Bühlmeyer, A. A1 - Huber, P. A1 - Laschat, S. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Electrical conductivity and multiple glassy dynamics of crow-ether based columnar liquid crystals JF - The Journal of Physical Chemistry B N2 - The phase behavior of two unsymmetrical triphenylene crown ether-based columnar liquid crystals (CLCs) bearing different lengths of alkyl chains, KAL465 and KAL468, was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A plastic crystalline (Cry), columnar liquid crystalline (Colh) and an isotropic phase were observed along with two glass transitions in the Cry phase. The molecular mobility of the KAL compounds was further studied by a combination of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and advanced calorimetric techniques. By the BDS investigations, three dielectric active relaxation processes were observed for both samples. At low temperatures, a γ-process in the Cry state was detected and is assigned to the localized fluctuations taking place in the alkyl chains. An α2-process takes place at higher temperatures in the Cry phase. An α3 process was found in the Colh mesophase. The advanced calorimetric techniques consist of fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) and specific heat spectroscopy (SHS) employing temperature modulated DSC and FSC (TMDSC and TMFSC). The advanced calorimetric investigations revealed that besides the α2 process in agreement with BDS, a second dynamic glass transition (α1-process) is present which is not observed by dielectric spectroscopy. The results are in good agreement with the glass transitions detected by DSC for this process. The temperature dependences of the relaxation rates of the α1 , α2 and α3 processes are all different. Therefore, different molecular assignments for the relaxation processes are proposed. In addition to the relaxation processes, a conductivity contribution was explored by BDS for both KAL compounds. The conductivity contribution appears in both Cry and Colh phases, where the conductivity increases by ca. one order of magnitude at phase transition from the crystalline to the hexagonal phase. KW - Columnar Liquid Crystal PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c06854 VL - 124 IS - 39 SP - 8728 EP - 8739 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-51374 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yildirim, Arda A1 - Krause, Christina A1 - Zorn, R. A1 - Lohstroh, W. A1 - Schneider, G. J. A1 - Zamponi, M. A1 - Holerer, O. A1 - Frick, B. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Complex molecular dynamics of a symmetric model discotic liquid crystal revealed by broadband dielectric, thermal and neutron spectroscopy JF - Soft Matter N2 - The molecular dynamics of the triphenylene-based discotic liquid crystal HAT6 is investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy, advanced dynamical calorimetry and neutron scattering. Differential scanning calorimetry in combination with X-ray scattering reveals that HAT6 has a plastic crystalline phase at low temperatures, a hexagonally ordered liquid crystalline phase at higher temperatures and undergoes a clearing transition at even higher temperatures. The dielectric spectra show several relaxation processes: a localized gamma-relaxation a lower temperature and a so called alpha-2-relaxation at higher temperatures. The relaxation rates of the alpha-2-relaxation have a complex temperature dependence and bear similarities to a dynamic glass transition. The relaxation rates estimated by hyper DSC, Fast Scanning calorimetry and AC Chip calorimetry have a different temperature dependence than the dielectric alpha-2-relaxation and follows the VFT-behavior characteristic for glassy dynamics. Therefore, this process is called alpha-1-relaxation. Its relaxation rates show a similarity with that of polyethylene. For this reason, the alpha-1-relaxation is assigned to the dynamic glass transition of the alkyl chains in the intercolumnar space. Moreover, this process is not observed by dielectric spectroscopy which supports its assignment. The alpha-2-relaxation was assigned to small scale translatorial and/or small angle fluctuations of the cores. The neutron scattering data reveal two relaxation processes. The process observed at shorter relaxation times is assigned to the methyl group rotation. The second relaxation process at longer time scales agree in the temperature dependence of its relaxation rates with that of the dielectric gamma-relaxation. KW - Discotic Liquid Crystals PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm02487e VL - 16 IS - 8 SP - 2005 EP - 2016 PB - Royal Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-50466 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - You, Zengchao A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - Separation of polystyrene nanoparticles bearing different carboxyl group densities and functional groups quantification with capillary electrophoresis and asymmetrical flow field flow fractionation JF - Journal of Chromatography A N2 - Two sets of polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs) with comparable core sizes but different carboxyl group densities were made and separated using asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (AF4), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and the off-line hyphenation of both methods. Our results revealed the significant potential of two-dimensional off-line AF4-CE hyphenation to improve the separation and demonstrated for the first time, the applicability of CE to determine the functional group density of nanoparticles (NPs). Compared to the result acquired with conductometric titration, the result obtained with synthesized 100 nm sized PSNPs revealed only a slight deviation of 1.7%. Commercial 100 nm sized PSNPs yielded a deviation of 4.6 %. For 60 nm sized PSNPs, a larger deviation of 10.6 % between both methods was observed, which is attributed to the lower separation resolution. KW - Nanoparticle KW - A4F KW - Capillary electrophoresis KW - Carboxyl group PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461392 VL - 1626 SP - 461392 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51080 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zancajo, V. M. R. A1 - Lindtner, T. A1 - Eisele, M. A1 - Huber, A. J. A1 - Elbaum, R. A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - FTIR Nanospectroscopy Shows Molecular Structures of Plant Biominerals and Cell Walls JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - Plant tissues are complex composite structures of organic and inorganic components whose function relies on molecular heterogeneity at the nanometer scale. Scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) in the mid-infrared (IR) region is used here to collect IR nanospectra from both fixed and native plant samples. We compared structures of chemically extracted silica bodies (phytoliths) to silicified and nonsilicified cell walls prepared as a flat block of epoxy-embedded awns of wheat (Triticum turgidum), thin sections of native epidermis cells from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) comprising silica phytoliths, and isolated cells from awns of oats (Avena sterilis). The correlation of the scanning-probe IR images and the mechanical phase image enables a combined probing of mechanical material properties together with the chemical composition and structure of both the cell walls and the phytolith structures. The data reveal a structural heterogeneity of the different silica bodies in situ, as well as different compositions and crystallinities of cell wall components. In conclusion, IR nanospectroscopy is suggested as an ideal tool for studies of native plant materials of varied origins and preparations and could be applied to other inorganic–organic hybrid materials. KW - Cells KW - Plants KW - Organic polymers KW - Silica KW - Infrared light PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00271 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 92 IS - 20 SP - 13694 EP - 13701 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-54445 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Zhiyang A1 - Li, Y. A1 - Frisch, J. A1 - Bär, M. A1 - Rappich, J. A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - In situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering shows ligand-enhanced hot electron harvesting on silver, gold, and copper nanoparticles JF - Journal of Catalysis N2 - Hot carriers (electrons and holes) generated from the decay of localized surface plasmon resonances can take a major role in catalytic reactions on metal nanoparticles. By obtaining surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of p-aminothiophenol as product of the reduction of p-nitrothiophenol by hot electrons, different catalytic activity is revealed here for nanoparticles of silver, gold, and copper. As a main finding, a series of different ligands, comprising halide and non-halide species, are found to enhance product formation in the reduction reaction on nanoparticles of all three metals. A comparison with the standard electrode potentials of the metals with and without the ligands and SERS data obtained at different electrode potential indicate that the higher catalytic activity can be associated with a higher Fermi level, thereby resulting in an improved efficiency of hot carrier generation. The concept of such a ligand-enhanced hot electron reduction provides a way to make light-to-chemical energy conversion more efficient due to improved electron harvesting. KW - Ligands KW - Hot electrons KW - SERS KW - p-Nitrothiophenol KW - p-Aminothiophenol PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2020.01.006 VL - 383 SP - 153 EP - 159 PB - Elsevier Inc. CY - Amsterdam, NL AN - OPUS4-50626 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Kunert, A. T. A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Leifke, A. L. A1 - Widera, D. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Schuppan, D. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Pöschl, U. T1 - Chemical modification of pro-inflammatory proteins by peroxynitrite increases activation of TLR4 and NF-κB: Implications for the health effects of air pollution and oxidative stress JF - Redox Biology N2 - Environmental pollutants like fine particulate matter can cause adverse health effects through oxidative stress and inflammation. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) such as peroxynitrite can chemically modify proteins, but the effects of such modifications on the immune system and human health are not well understood. In the course of inflammatory processes, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) can sense damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Here, we investigate how the TLR4 response and pro-inflammatory potential of the proteinous DAMPs α-Synuclein (α-Syn), heat shock protein 60 (HSP60), and high-mobility-group box 1 protein (HMGB1), which are relevant in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, changes upon chemical modification with peroxynitrite. For the peroxynitrite-modified proteins, we found a strongly enhanced activation of TLR4 and the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB in stable reporter cell lines as well as increased mRNA expression and secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-8 in human monocytes (THP-1). This enhanced activation of innate immunity via TLR4 is mediated by covalent chemical modifications of the studied DAMPs. Our results show that proteinous DAMPs modified by peroxynitrite more potently amplify inflammation via TLR4 activation than the native DAMPs, and provide first evidence that such modifications can directly enhance innate immune responses via a defined receptor. These findings suggest that environmental pollutants and related ROS/RNS may play a role in promoting acute and chronic inflammatory disorders by structurally modifying the body's own DAMPs. This may have important consequences for chronic neurodegenerative, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal diseases that are prevalent in modern societies, and calls for action, to improve air quality and climate in the Anthropocene. KW - Protein nitration KW - Protein oligomerization KW - Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) KW - Pattern recognition receptor KW - Anthropocene KW - Environmental pollutants PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517128 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101581 VL - 37 SP - 101581 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51712 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, T. A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Reese, A. A1 - Klein, O. A1 - Hildebrandt, L. A1 - Pröfrock, D. T1 - Substituting HF by HBF4 – an optimized digestion method for multi-elemental sediment analysis via ICP-MS/MS JF - Analytical Methods N2 - Determination of elemental mass fractions in sediments plays a major role in evaluating the environmental status of aquatic ecosystems. Herewith, the optimization of a new total digestion protocol and the subsequent analysis of 48 elements in different sediment reference materials (NIST SRM 2702, GBW 07313, GBW 07311 and JMC-2) based on ICP-MS/MS detection is presented. The developed method applies microwave acid digestion and utilizes HBF4 as fluoride source for silicate decomposition. Similar to established protocols based on HF, HBF4 ensures the dissolution of the silicate matrix, as well as other refractory oxides. As HBF4 is not acutely toxic; no special precautions have to be made and digests can be directly measured via ICP-MS without specific sample inlet systems, evaporation steps or the addition of e.g. H3BO3, in order to mask excess HF. Different acid mixtures with and without HBF4 were evaluated in terms of digestion efficiency based on the trace metal recovery. The optimized protocol (5 mL HNO3, 2 mL HCL, 1 mL HBF4) allows a complete dissolution of the analyzed reference materials, as well as quantitative recoveries for a wide variety of certified analytes. Low recoveries for e.g. Sr, Ba and rare earth elements due to fluoride precipitation of HF-based digestions protocols, can be avoided by the usage of HBF4 instead. Based on the usage of high purity HBF4 all relevant trace, as well as matrix elements can be analyzed with sufficiently low LOQs (0.002 μg L−1 for U up to 6.7 μg L−1 for Al). In total, 34 elements were within a recovery range of 80%–120% for all three analyzed reference materials GBW 07313, GBW 07311 and JMC-2. 14 elements were outside a recovery range of 80%–120% for at least one of the analyzed reference materials. KW - Reference Materials KW - Sediment KW - HF free Digestion PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510480 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0AY01049A SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51048 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zorn, R. A1 - Lohstroh, W. A1 - Zamponi, M. A1 - Harrison, W. A1 - Budd, P. A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Molecular mobility of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity revealed by quasielastic neutron scattering JF - Macromolecules N2 - Quasielastic neutron scattering by employing a combination of time-of-flight and backscattering techniques is carried out to explore the molecular mobility of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) at microscopic time scales in comparison with a high-performance polyimide. Molecular fluctuations can change the structure of the temporary network of micropores and open or close pathways for gas molecules. Therefore, the investigation might help to understand the selectivity of PIMs in gas separation processes. The performed neutron scattering experiments provide evidence for a low-temperature relaxation process, which was assigned to methyl group rotation. This methyl group rotation was analyzed in terms of jump diffusion in a three-fold potential. The analysis results in a fraction of methyl groups which are immobilized. For PIM-1 it was found that the fraction of immobilized methyl groups decreases with increasing temperature up to 350 K. At higher temperatures the number of immobilized methyl group increases gain due to an underlying relaxation process. This motional process on a somewhat larger length scale might lead to a reversible structural rearrangement which partially hinders the strongly localized methyl group rotation. In addition, it was found that the activation energy for the methyl group rotation for PIM-1 and the polyimide is significantly higher than for conventional polymers. KW - Polymer of intrinsic microporosity KW - Quasielastic neutron scattering PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00963 SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 53 IS - 15 SP - 6731 EP - 6739 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-51147 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zorn, R. A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Kolmangadi, Mohamed Aejaz A1 - Wolf, M. A1 - Alentiev, D. A1 - Bermeshev, M. A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Low frequency vibrational density of state of highly permeable super glassy polynorbornenes – The Boson peak JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics N2 - Inelastic incoherent neutron time-of flight scattering was employed to measure the low frequency density of states for a series of addition polynorbornenes with bulky side groups. The rigid main chain in combination with the bulky side groups give rise to a microporosity of these polymers in the solid state. The microporosity characterized by the BET surfaces area varies systematically in the considered series. Such materials have some possible application as active separation layer in gas separation membranes. All investigated materials show excess contributions to the Debye type density of states characteristic for glasses known as Boson peak. The maximum position of the Boson peak shifts to lower frequency values with increasing microporosity. Data for PIM-1 and Matrimid included for comparison are in good agreement to this dependency. This result supports the sound wave interpretation of the Boson peak. KW - Polynorbornes KW - Neutron Scattering PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp03360j SN - 1463-9076 VL - 22 IS - 33 SP - 18381 EP - 18387 PB - Royal Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-51165 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -