TY - CONF
A1 - Schmitt, Johannes
T1 - Data acquisition system for single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) with nanosecond time resolution
N2 - This study presents our data acquisition system prototype for single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) with nanosecond time resolution (nanoDAQ) and a matching data processing approach for time-resolved data in the nanosecond range. The system continuously samples the secondary electron multiplier (SEM) detector signal with a dwell time of approximately 2 ns and enables detection of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) as small as 7.5 nm with a commercial single quadrupole ICP-MS instrument. [1]
Analysis of acquired transient data is based on the temporal distance between detector events and a derived ion event density. It was shown that the inverse logarithm of the distance between detector events is proportional to particle size. Also, the number of detector events per particle can be used to calibrate and determine the particle number concentration (PNC) of a nanoparticle dispersion.
Particle-by-particle-based analysis of ion event density and other parameters derived from nanosecond time resolution show promising results. High data acquisition frequency of the systems allows recording of a statistically significant number of data points in 60 s or less, which leaves only the sample uptake and rinsing steps as remaining factors for limiting the total measurement time.
T2 - 20th European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 02.03.2025
KW - ICP-MS
KW - Instrumentation
KW - Nano
KW - Nanoparticle Characterization
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63599
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Engelhard, Carsten
T1 - On ICP-MS with Nanosecond Time Resolution: From Nanoparticles to Microplastics
N2 - In this presentation, recent developments in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation for particle characterization in complex mixtures will be reviewed. The current state-of-the-art in single-particle (sp) ICP-MS instrumentation for the detection and characterization of nanoparticles (NP) and microplastics (MPs) as well as remaining challenges will be discussed.
While millisecond dwell times were used in the advent of spICP-MS, the use of microsecond dwell times helped to improve nanoparticle data quality and particle size detection limits. We could show that a custom-built high-speed data acquisition unit with microsecond time resolution (μsDAQ) can be used to successfully address issues of split-particle events and particle coincidence, to study the temporal profile of individual ion clouds, and to extend the linear dynamic range by compensating for dead time related count losses.
Our latest development is an in-house built data acquisition system with nanosecond time resolution (nanoDAQ). Recording of the SEM signal by the nanoDAQ is performed on the nanosecond time scale with a dwell time of approximately 2 ns and enables detection of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) as small as 7.5 nm with a commercial single quadrupole ICP-MS instrument. [1] Analysis of acquired transient data is based on the temporal distance between detector events and a derived ion event density. It was shown that the inverse logarithm of the distance between detector events is proportional to particle size. Also, the number of detector events per particle can be used to calibrate and determine the particle number concentration (PNC) of a nanoparticle dispersion. In addition to inorganic nanoparticles, first results on the detection of microplastics with spICP-MS will be discussed.
T2 - ANAKON 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Microplastics
KW - Nanoparticle Characterization
KW - ICP-MS
KW - Instrumentation
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63580
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Engelhard, Carsten
T1 - From Particles to PFAS: Recent Advances in Plasma-based Instrumentation Development
N2 - In this presentation, recent advances in plasma spectrochemistry with hot and cold plasma sources for the direct detection of nanoparticles as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will be discussed. In the first part, single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) with an in-house built data acquisition system with nanosecond time resolution (nanoDAQ) will be presented. In the second part, we turn to a cooler plasma source. Specifically, a flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow source (FAPA) and its application for the direct mass spectrometric analysis of PFAS will be discussed.
T2 - 20th European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 02.03.2025
KW - ICP-MS
KW - Instrumentation
KW - Nano
KW - Nanoparticle Characterization
KW - PFAS
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63581
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Schmitt, Johannes
T1 - Data acquisition system for single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) with nanosecond time resolution
N2 - This study presents our data acquisition system prototype for single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) with nanosecond time resolution (nanoDAQ) and a matching data processing approach for time-resolved data in the nanosecond range. The system continuously samples the secondary electron multiplier (SEM) detector signal with a dwell time of approximately 2 ns and enables detection of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) as small as 7.5 nm with a commercial single quadrupole ICP-MS instrument. [1]
Analysis of acquired transient data is based on the temporal distance between detector events and a derived ion event density. It was shown that the inverse logarithm of the distance between detector events is proportional to particle size. Also, the number of detector events per particle can be used to calibrate and determine the particle number concentration (PNC) of a nanoparticle dispersion. [1]
Particle-by-particle-based analysis of ion event density and other parameters derived from nanosecond time resolution show promising results. High data acquisition frequency of the systems allows recording of a statistically significant number of data points in 60 s or less, which leaves only the sample uptake and rinsing steps as remaining factors for limiting the total measurement time.
T2 - ANAKON 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - ICP-MS
KW - Instrumentation
KW - Nano
KW - Nanoparticle Characterization
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63603
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Amorphous, fluorescent silica particles for bioimaging applications
N2 - Nowadays amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NP) are one of the most abundant engineered nanomaterials, with an annual production of hundreds of thousands of tons, that are used in a broad field of industrial products and processes. Since SiO2 NP are highly stable and easily produced on a large scale at low cost, they are widely employed as fillers for rubbers and composites, absorbents, catalysts, advanced coating additives as well as plant growth agents in agriculture, anti-caking agents in food products, or as carrier material in cosmetic industry. Moreover, they are promising candidates for colloidal scaffolds in biomedical applications like bioimaging, sensing or controlled drug delivery. SiO2 NP modified with luminescent chromophores have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, ease of designing ratiometric systems, and increased photostability. Here we present our work on multicolored SiO2 NP for imaging and sensing applications.
T2 - FUNGLASS Workshop
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 06.03.2024
KW - Sensors
KW - Nano
KW - Particles
KW - Silica
KW - Luminescence
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Method
KW - Synthesis
KW - Dye
KW - pH
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62167
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schlögl, Johanna
A1 - Krappe, Alexander R.
A1 - Fürstenwerth, Paul C.
A1 - Brosius, Amelie L.
A1 - Fasting, Carlo
A1 - Hoffmann, Kurt F.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Eigler, Siegfried
A1 - Steinhauer, Simon
A1 - Riedel, Sebastian
T1 - Luminescent Perhalofluoro Trityl Radicals
N2 - In this proof-of-concept study, we show that polyfluorinated trityl radicals with the, to this date, highest fluorination grade can be accessed in quantitative yields in a straightforward manner starting from the perfluorinated trityl cation. The trityl skeleton is functionalized with trimethylsilyl halides to yield perhalofluoro trityl cations, which are subsequently reduced using commercial zinc powder. In this way, we prepare three perhalofluoro trityl radicals and analyze the impact of the fluorine ligands on their electro-optical properties, revealing some interesting trends. In comparison to literature-known polychlorinated trityl radicals, the new polyfluorinated derivatives exhibit substantially higher fluorescence quantum yields, longer luminescence lifetimes, and an expanded emission range that extends into the yellow spectral region. They further display enhanced photostability under light irradiation. In radical-stained polystyrene nanoparticles, an additional broad emission band in the red−NIR wavelength region is observed, which is attributed to excimer formation. Finally, the stability of the new radicals is investigated under ambient conditions, showing the slow conversion with atmospheric oxygen yielding the respective peroxides, which are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All in all, our study extends the present scope of luminescent trityl radicals, as the functionalization of the perfluorinated cationic precursor unlocks the path toward a vast variety of polyfluorinated trityl radicals.
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Radical
KW - Synthesis
KW - Mechanism
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Characterization
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Polarity
KW - Polymer
KW - Solvatchromism
KW - Excimer
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647973
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c16418
SN - 0002-7863
VL - 147
IS - 46
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
AN - OPUS4-64797
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - GEN
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Zou, Shan
A1 - Johnston, Linda
T1 - Behind the Paper: Nanoscale Reference and Test Materials for the Validation of Characterization Methods for Engineered Nanomaterials – Current State, Limitations and Needs
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) of different material composition, morphology, and surface chemistry are widely used in material and life sciences. For NM quality control and risk assessment, NM key properties must be characterized with validated methods, requiring reference materials (RMs).
KW - Engineered Nanomaterials
KW - Nanoscale reference materials
KW - Interlaboratory comparisons
KW - Traceability
KW - Standardization and Regulation
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Surface chemistry
PY - 2025
UR - https://communities.springernature.com/posts/nanoscale-reference-and-test-materials-for-the-validation-of-characterization-methods-for-engineered-nanomaterials-current-state-limitations-and-needs
SP - 1
EP - 3
PB - Springer Nature
CY - Online
AN - OPUS4-62572
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Reliable Photoluminescence Quantum Yields – New Reference Materials and Interlaboratory Comparisons
N2 - The rational design and choice of molecular and nanoscale reporters, the comparison of different emitter classes, and photophysical and mechanistic studies require quantitative photoluminescence measurements and the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons. This is of special importance for all photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR. To improve the reliability and comparability of photoluminescence and QY measurements across laboratories, pitfalls, achievable uncertainties, and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes must be explored. Also, suitable protocols and reference materials are needed which have been validated in interlaboratory comparisons for different wavelength regions and transparent and scattering luminophores.[1]
Based on absolute and relative photoluminescence measurements of functional dyes and luminescent nanomaterials, reliable methods for determining QY of transparent and scattering luminophores, nonlinear emitters, and solid luminescent nanomaterials have been developed.[1-4] Thereby, material- and method-related uncertainties of relative and absolute QY measurements and achievable uncertainties could be quantified for linear and nonlinear UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emitters and lately for also luminescent and scattering materials and solid phoshors.
In this context, we present the development and certification of a first set of UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards with a complete uncertainty budget,[5] which present simple tools for a better comparability of QY measurements. In addition, a first interlaboratory comparison of absolute QY measurements of solid and scattering LED converter materials with integrating sphere spectroscopy has been performed.[5] The outcome of this study is presented, thereby addressing common pitfalls and measurement uncertainties and providing recommendations for the performance of reliable QY measurements of linear and non-linear emitters in transparent, scattering, and solid samples.
T2 - Anakon 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Method
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Absolute
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Dye
KW - Film
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Scattering
KW - Uncertainty
KW - LED converter
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62792
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Osiopova, Viktoriia
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Ge, L.
A1 - Kitzmann, W. R.
A1 - Heinze, K.
A1 - Reithofer, M. R.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Complete protection of NIR-luminescent molecular rubies from oxygen quenching in air by L-arginine-mediated silica nanoparticles
N2 - The application of emerging luminophores such as near-infrared (NIR) emissive complexes based on earth-abundant chromium as central ion and triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) systems in air as optical reporters for bioimaging or photonic materials for energy conversion requires simple and efficient strategies for their complete protection from uminescence quenching by oxygen. Therefore, we explored the influence of sol–gel synthesis routes on the oxygen protection efficiency of the resulting core and core/shell silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs), utilizing the molecular ruby-type luminophores CrPF6 ([Cr(ddpd)2](PF6)3; ddpd = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-dipyridin-2-ylpyridin-2,6-diamine) and CrBF4 ([Cr(ddpd)2](BF4)3) with their oxygendependent, but polarity-, proticity-, viscosity-, and concentration-independent luminescence as optical probes for oxygen permeability. The sol–gel chemistry routes we assessed include the classical Stöber method and the underexplored Larginine approach, which relies on the controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a biphasic cyclohexane/water system with the catalyst L-arginine. As demonstrated by luminescence measurements of air- and argon-saturated dispersions of CrPF6- and CrBF4-stained SiO2 NPs of different size and particle architecture, utilizing the luminescence decay kinetics of argon-saturated solutions of CrPF6 and CrBF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) as benchmarks, only SiO2 NPs or shells synthesized by the L-arginine approach provided complete oxygen protection of the CrIII complexes under ambient conditions. We ascribe the different oxygen shielding efficiencies of the silica networks explored to differences in density and surface chemistry of the resulting nanomaterials and coatings, leading to different oxygen permeabilities. Our Larginine based silica encapsulation strategy can open the door for the efficient usage of oxygen-sensitive luminophores and TTA-UC systems as optical reporters and spectral shifters in air in the future.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced materials
KW - Nano
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Synthesis
KW - Oxygen sensing
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
KW - Cr(III) complex
KW - Shielding
KW - Sensing
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638271
DO - https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907241
SN - 1998-0000
VL - 18
IS - 3
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - SciOpen
AN - OPUS4-63827
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Hartmann, Yannic
A1 - El Abbassi, Abdelouahad
A1 - Mayer, Bernhard
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Müller, Thomas J. J.
T1 - Ester‐Aroyl‐S,N‐Ketene Acetals with Solid‐State Luminescence: AIEgens from Sequential Three‐Component Desymmetrization
N2 - AbstractDi(hetero)aroyl dichlorides are desymmetrized upon sequential reaction with alcohols and 2‐methyl N‐benzyl thiazolium salts within the course of a one‐pot three‐component reaction yielding ester‐substituted aroyl‐S,N‐ketene acetals under mild conditions in good yields. A prerequisite for the concise one‐pot process is the different nucleophilicity of the alcohols and in situ generated S,N‐ketene acetals. The resulting compounds are merocyanines with dominant charge‐transfer absorption bands which are fluorescent in the solid state, but not in solution. In water/ethanol solvent mixtures of increasing water content, the water‐insoluble dyes display typical aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) characteristics. The water fraction inducing AIE as well as the emission color, and fluorescence quantum yield (Φf) of the aggregated dyes can be controlled by the alcohol part of the ester moiety. Encapsulation into polystyrene nanoparticles can lead to a considerable increase of the fluorescence quantum yield Φf to 30% as shown for a representatively chosen dye revealing the highest Φf of 11% within the dye series in the water/ethanol mixtures and enabling the usage of these dyes as fluorescent reporters in aqueous environments.
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Aggregation
KW - Mechanism
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Characterization
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Probe
KW - Sensor
KW - Lifetime
KW - Polarity
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642400
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202502071
SN - 0947-6539
SP - 1
EP - 10
PB - Wiley-VCH
CY - Weinheim
AN - OPUS4-64240
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Johnston, L. J.
A1 - Zou, S.
T1 - Nanoscale reference and test materials for the validation of characterization methods for engineered nanomaterials — current state, limitations, and needs
N2 - The rational design of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) with improved functionality and their increasing industrial application requires reliable, validated, and ultimately standardized characterization methods for their application-relevant, physicochemical key properties such as size, size distribution, shape, or surface chemistry. This calls for nanoscale (certified)
reference materials (CRMs; RMs) and well-characterized reference test materials (RTMs) termed also quality control (QC) samples, assessed, e.g., in interlaboratory comparisons, for the validation and standardization of commonly used characterization methods. Thereby, increasing concerns regarding potential risks of NMs are also addressed and the road for safe and
sustainable-by-design concepts for the development of new functional NMs and their use as nanomedicines is paved. With this respect, we will provide an overview of relevant international standardization and regulatory activities, definitions, and recommendations on characterization methods and review currently available organic or inorganic nanoscale CRMs, RMs, and RTMs, including their characterization or certification. In addition, we will highlight typical applications to streamline the regulatory approval process and improve manufacturability including the special challenges imposed by the colloidal nature and sometimes limited stability of NMs. Subsequently, we will critically assess the limitations of currently available nanoscale RMs and RTMs and address the gaps to be filled in the future such as the availability of NMs that come with reference data on properties other than commonly addressed particle size, such as surface chemistry or particle number concentration, or
more closely resemble commercially available formulations or address application-relevant matrices.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Review
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Lipid nanoparticles
KW - Metal nanoparticles
KW - Liposomes
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625746
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05719-6
SN - 1618-2650
SP - 1
EP - 21
PB - Springer
AN - OPUS4-62574
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Labrador-Paez, Lucia, L.
A1 - Kankare, J.
A1 - Hyppanen, I.
A1 - Soukka, T.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Widengren, J
A1 - Liu, H.
T1 - Frequency-Domain Method for Characterization of Upconversion Luminescence Kinetics
N2 - The frequency-domain (FD) method provides an alternative to the commonly used time-domain (TD) approach in characterizing the luminescence kinetics of luminophores, with its own strengths, e.g., the capability to decouple multiple lifetime components with higher reliability and accuracy. While extensively explored for characterizing luminophores with down-shifted emission, this method has not been investigated for studying nonlinear luminescent materials such as lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), featuring more complicated kinetics. In this work, employing a simplified rate-equation model representing a standard two-photon energy-transfer upconversion process, we thoroughly analyzed the response of the luminescence of UCNPs in the FD method. We found that the FD method can potentially obtain from a single experiment the effective decay rates of three critical energy states of the sensitizer/activator ions involved in the upconversion process. The validity of the FD method is demonstrated by experimental data, agreeing reasonably well with the results obtained by TD methods.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Luminescence
KW - Method
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lifetime
KW - Method development
PY - 2023
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597435
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00269
SP - 3436
EP - 3444
AN - OPUS4-59743
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - From molecular and nanoscale chromophores with UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR luminescence to multi method characterization of surface coatings
N2 - An overview of the research activities of division Biophotonics is presented covering examples for photophysical studies of different types of molecular and nanocrystalline luminophores, luminescent particles, and sensor systems in solution, in dispersion, and in the solid state and multi-method charactreization workflow for the characterization of surface-functionalized engineered nanomaterials. In addition, the importance of reliable optical measurements, particularly standardized workflows for the determination of the key performance parameter luminescence quantum yield of transparent and scattering luminescent samples with fluorescence and integrating sphere spectroscopy, and validated methods for quantifying surface functional groups and ligands on nanomaterials is highlighted. Thereby, also ongoing standardization activities are presented as well as certified reference materials and reference materials from division Biophotonics.
T2 - Chinese-German Chemical Association - Annual Meeting
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 22.08.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor
KW - Oxygen
KW - Ph
KW - Standardization
KW - Fluorescent probe
KW - Reference material
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64181
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Reiber, T.
A1 - Hübner, Oskar
A1 - Dose, C.
A1 - Yushchenko, D. A.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Fluorophore multimerization on a PEG backbone as a concept for signal amplification and lifetime modulation
N2 - Fluorescent labels have strongly contributed to many advancements in bioanalysis, molecular biology, molecular imaging, and medical diagnostics. Despite a large toolbox of molecular and nanoscale fluorophores to choose from, there is still a need for brighter labels, e.g., for flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, that are preferably of molecular nature. This requires versatile concepts for fluorophore multimerization, which involves the shielding of dyes from other chromophores and possible quenchers in their neighborhood. In addition, to increase the number of readout parameters for fluorescence microscopy and eventually also flow cytometry, control and tuning of the labels’ fluorescence lifetimes is desired. Searching for bright multi-chromophoric or multimeric labels, we developed PEGylated dyes bearing functional groups for their bioconjugation and explored their spectroscopic properties and photostability in comparison to those of the respective monomeric dyes for two exemplarily chosen fluorophores excitable at 488 nm. Subsequently, these dyes were conjugated with anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 immunoglobulins to obtain fluorescent conjugates suitable for the labeling of cells and beads. Finally, the suitability of these novel labels for fluorescence lifetime imaging and target discrimination based upon lifetime measurements was assessed. Based upon the results of our spectroscopic studies including measurements of fluorescence quantum yields (QY) and fluorescence decay kinetics we could demonstrate the absence of significant dye-dye interactions and self-quenching in these multimeric labels. Moreover, in a first fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) study, we could show the future potential of this multimerization concept for lifetime discrimination and multiplexing.
KW - Imaging
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Antibody
KW - Conjugate
KW - Cell
KW - FLIM
KW - PEG
KW - Flow cytometry
KW - Lifetime
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Dye
KW - Amplification
KW - Microscopy
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602197
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62548-4
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
IS - 1
SP - 1
EP - 11
AN - OPUS4-60219
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Fiedler, Saskia
A1 - Frenzel, Florian
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Grüne, M.
A1 - Schweizer, S.
A1 - Engel, A.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison on Absolute Photoluminescence Quantum Yield Measurements of Solid Light Converting Phosphors with Three Commercial Integrating Sphere Setups
N2 - Scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders are increasingly relevant for fundamental research and industry. Examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different compositions in various matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter to characterize the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence/fluorescence quantum yield (Φf), i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. To identify and quantify the sources of uncertainty of absolute measurements of Φf of scattering samples, the first interlaboratory comparison (ILC) of three laboratories from academia and industry was performed by following identical measurement protocols. Thereby, two types ofcommercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring the Φf of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors, namely, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness, used as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While the Φf values of the liquid samples matched between instruments, Φf measurements of the optoceramics with different blanks revealed substantial differences. The ILC results underline the importance of the measurement geometry, sample position, and blank for reliable Φf data of scattering the YAG:Ce optoceramics, with the blank’s optical properties accounting for uncertainties exceeding 20%.
KW - Nano
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Reference material
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Phosphor
KW - Converter material
KW - Lifetime
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600945
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00372
SN - 0003-2700
SP - 6730
EP - 6737
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-60094
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - López-Iglesias, C.
A1 - Markovina, A.
A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, N.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Klinger, D.
T1 - Optically monitoring the microenvironment of a hydrophobic cargo in amphiphilic nanogels: influence of network composition on loading and release
N2 - Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts.
Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation.
These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels.
KW - Particle
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Limit of detection
KW - Polymer
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Dye
KW - Probe
KW - Sensor
KW - Nile Red
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601603
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00051j
SN - 2040-3364
IS - 16
SP - 9525
EP - 9535
PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry
AN - OPUS4-60160
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Sander, P. C.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Schedler, U.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Expanding the Toolbox of Simple, Cost-Efficient, and Automatable Methods for Quantifying Surface Functional Groups on Nanoparticles� Potentiometric Titration
N2 - Measuring surface functional groups (FGs) on nanomaterials (NMs) is essential for designing dispersible and stable NMs with tailored and predictable functionality. FG screening and quantification also plays a critical role for subsequent processing steps, NM long-term stability, quality control of NM production, and risk assessment studies and enables the implementation of sustainable and safe(r)-by-design concepts. This calls for simple and cost-efficient methods for broadly utilized FGs that can be ideally automated to speed up FG screening, monitoring, and quantification. To expand our NM surface analysis toolbox, focusing on simple methods and broadly available, cost-efficient instrumentation, we explored a NM-adapted pH titration method with potentiometric and optical readout for measuring the total number of (de)protonable FGs on representatively chosen commercial and custom-made aminated silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs). The accuracy and robustness of our stepwise optimized workflows was assessed by several operators in two laboratories and method validation was done by cross-comparison with two analytical methods relying on different signal generation principles. This included traceable, chemo-selective quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), providing the amounts of amino silanes released by particle dissolution and the total mass of the surface coatings. A comparison of the potentiometric titration results with the reporter-specific amounts of surface amino FGs determined with the previously automated fluorescamine (Fluram) assay highlights the importance of determining both quantities for surface-functionalized NMs. In the future, combined NM surface analysis with optical assays and pH titration will simplify quality control of NM production processes and stability studies and can yield large data sets for NM grouping that facilitates further developments in regulation and standardization.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Automation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Method
KW - Validation
KW - Optical assay
KW - Fluram
KW - Fluorescamine
KW - qNMR
KW - Comparison
KW - ILC
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642371
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00062
SN - 2694-250X
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - American Chemical Society
CY - Washington, DC
AN - OPUS4-64237
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Deumer, J.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Gollwitzer, C.
A1 - Schürmann, R.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Adding More Shape to Nanoscale Reference Materials-LiYF4:Yb,Tm Bipyramids as Standards for Sizing Methods and Particle Number Concentration
N2 - The increasing industrial use of nanomaterials calls for the reliable characterization of their physicochemical key properties like size, size distribution, shape, and surface chemistry, and test and reference materials (RMs) with sizes and shapes, closely matching real-world nonspheric nano-objects. An efficient strategy to minimize efforts in producing nanoscale RMs (nanoRMs) for establishing, validating, and standardizing methods for characterizing nanomaterials are multimethod nanoRMs.
Ideal candidates are lanthanide-based, multicolor luminescent, and chemically inert nanoparticles (NPs) like upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which can be prepared in different sizes, shapes, and chemical composition with various surface coatings. This makes UCNPs interesting candidates as standards not only for sizing methods, but also for element-analytical methods like laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), quantitative bioimaging methods like X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), and luminescence methods and correlative measurements.
Here, we explore the potential of two monodisperse LiYF4:Yb,Tm bipyramids with peak-to-peak distances of (43 ± 2) nm and (29 ± 2) nm as size standards for small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and tools for establishing and validating the sophisticated simulations required for the analysis of SAXS data derived from dispersions of nonspheric nano-objects. These SAXS studies are supplemented by two-dimensional (2D)-transmission electron microscopy measurements of the UCNP bipyramids. Additionally, the particle number concentration of cyclohexane dispersions of these UCNP bipyramids is determined by absolute SAXS measurements, complemented by gravimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). This approach enables traceable particle number concentration measurements of ligand-capped nonspheric particles with unknown chemical composition.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Upconversion nanoparticles
KW - SAXS
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Reference material
KW - Traceability
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Spectroscopy
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantification
KW - NanoRM
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Bipyramid
KW - Reference data
KW - Simulation
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-617940
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c03641
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-61794
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Molecular and nanoscale emitters photophysics , photoluminescence quantum yields, and surface chemistry
N2 - Inorganic nanocrystals such as spectrally shifting lanthanide-based nanoparticles (LnNCs) like NaYF4: Yb, Er and semiconductor quantum dots, organic and inorganic particles stained with sensor molecules, and organic dyes showing aggregation-induced emission are meanwhile broadly applied in the life and material sciences. The identification of optimum particle architectures and molecular structures for photonic applications requires quantitative spectroscopic studies and methods to control and analyse particle surface chemistry. In the following, photoluminescence studies of different emitter classes are presented, thereby addressing the measurement of particle brightness and photoluminescence quantum yields in different spectral windows parameters required for an in-depth mechanistic understanding. In addition, examples for the quantification of surface functional groups on nanomaterials with optical spectroscopy are given.
T2 - GdCH Kolloquium
CY - Düsseldorf, Germany
DA - 11.11.2025
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor materials
KW - Temperature
KW - Cr(III) complex
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Polymer
KW - Metrology
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Method
KW - Optical assay
KW - qNMR
KW - Validation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - XPS
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64728
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
A1 - Eckert, J. G.
A1 - Graf, Rebecca T.
A1 - Kunst, A.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Bigall, N. C.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Correlating semiconductor nanoparticle architecture and applicability for the controlled encoding of luminescent polymer microparticles
N2 - Luminophore stained micro- and nanobeads made from organic polymers like polystyrene (PS) are broadly used in the life and material sciences as luminescent reporters, for bead-based assays, sensor arrays, printable barcodes, security inks, and the calibration of fluorescence microscopes and flow cytometers. Initially mostly prepared with organic dyes, meanwhile luminescent core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) like spherical semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are increasingly employed for bead encoding. This is related to their narrower emission spectra, tuneability of emission color, broad wavelength excitability, and better photostability. However, correlations between particle architecture, morphology, and photoluminescence (PL) of the luminescent nanocrystals used for encoding and the optical properties of the NP-stained beads have been rarely explored. This encouraged us to perform a screening study on the incorporation of different types of luminescent core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals into polymer microparticles (PMPs) by a radical-induced polymerization reaction. Nanocrystals explored include CdSe/CdS QDs of varying CdS shell thickness, a CdSe/ZnS core/shell QD, CdSe/CdS quantum rods (QRs), and CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets (NPLs).
Thereby, we focused on the applicability of these NPs for the polymerization synthesis approach used and quantified the preservation of the initial NP luminescence. The spectroscopic characterization of the resulting PMPs revealed the successful staining of the PMPs with luminescent CdSe/CdS QDs and CdSe/CdS NPLs. In contrast, usage of CdSe/CdS QRs and CdSe QDs with a ZnS shell did not yield luminescent PMPs. The results of this study provide new insights into structure–property relationships between NP stained PMPs and the initial luminescent NPs applied for staining and underline the importance of such studies for the performance optimization of NP-stained beads.
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Synthesis
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Semiconductor quantum dot
KW - Luminescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Polymer particle
KW - Quantum rod
KW - Nanoplatelet
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602206
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62591-1
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
SP - 1
EP - 16
AN - OPUS4-60220
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Sander, P.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Schedler, U.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Potentiometric and Optical Titration for Cost- Efficient Quantification of Surface Functional Groups on Silica Nanoparticles
N2 - Surface chemistry of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) plays a critical role not only in determining their interactions with the environment but also in their stability, safety, and functionality across diverse applications ranging from catalysis to biomedicine. Accurate quantification of surface functional groups (FGs) is therefore essential for quality control, risk assessment, and performance optimization.[1] However, many existing analytical techniques are either cost-intensive, require specialized instrumentation, or lack scalability for routine use.
In this study, we present a comparative evaluation of potentiometric and optical titration as two simple, cost-efficient, and automatable methods for quantifying surface functional groups on a variety of surface-modified silica nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs). These NPs were chosen as they are among the most frequently utilized engineered NMs in the life and material sciences.
Potentiometric titration, based on pH monitoring during acid-base neutralization, offers a direct and label-free approach to determine the total amount of FGs. Optical titration provides a complementary method with potential for high-throughput screening. To examine the accuracy and robustness of our stepwise-optimized workflows and the achievable relative standard deviations (RSDs), measurements were performed by multiple operators in two laboratories. Method validation was conducted through cross-comparison with traceable, chemo-selective quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). A comparison with optical assays highlights the importance of measuring both quantities for comprehensive characterization of surface-modified NMs.[2]
A combined NM surface analysis using optical assays and pH titration will simplify quality control of NM production processes and stability studies, and can yield large datasets for NM grouping in sustainable and safe(r)-by-design studies.
T2 - eMRS Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Advanced material
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Validation
KW - qNMR
KW - Fluram assay
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Amino groups
KW - Fluorescamine
KW - Calibration
KW - Method comparison
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64205
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying functional groups and coatings on nanoobjects
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry are increasingly used for many key technologies of the 21st century and consumer products. This includes polymer and silica or silica-coated nanoparticles (NP) with covalently bound surface groups, semiconductor quantum dots (QD), metal and metal oxide NP, and lanthanide NP with coordinatively or electrostatically bound ligands, as well as surface-coated nanostructures like micellar encapsulated NP. Decisive for most applications of NMs are their specific surface properties, which are largely determined by the chemical nature and amounts of ligands and functional groups (FGs) on the NM surface. The surface chemistry can strongly affect the physicochemical properties of NM, their charge, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, reactivity, function, stability, and processability and thereby their impact on human health and environment. Knowledge of NM surface chemistry plays an important role for NM functionality and performance in (bio)applications and the fate, exposure, dissolution, transformation, and accumulation of NM, and thus, the potential risks for human health and the environment. This highlights the importance of reliable, validated, and eventually standardized analytical methods for analyzing and quantifying NM surface chemistry for process and quality control of NM production, safe use of NMs, design of novel NM, and sustainable concepts for NM fabrication.[1-3] In this context, interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) are needed to assess method reliability and reference materials with known surface chemistries for establishing surface analytical methods and their performance validation.[2,4] Also, to respond to the increasing number of samples to be analyzed, cost-efficient automation concepts for surface analysis are needed that can be realized with affordable and preferably commercial instrumentation.[5] Here, we provide an overview of analytical methods for FG analysis and quantification used by us for quantifying broadly utilized FGs and ligands on different types of NMs with electrochemical titration methods, optical assays, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vibrational (IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray based and thermal analysis methods.[1,2] Thereby, method- and material-related challenges are addressed, and the importance of multi-method characterization approaches easing method validation by method cross-validation. Special emphasis is dedicated to simple, versatile, and cost-efficient methods such as optical assays and electrochemical titration methods.
T2 - eMRS Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64183
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Assessing different types of silica networks for the complete protection of nir luminescent molecular rubies from oxygen quenching in air
N2 - The application of emerging luminophores such as near-infrared (NIR) emissive earth-abundant chromium(III) (CrIII) complexes and triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) systems in air as optical reporters for bioimaging or photonic materials for energy conversion requires simple and efficient strategies for their complete protection from luminescence quenching by oxygen. Therefore, we explored the influence of sol-gel synthesis routes on the oxygen protection efficiency of the resulting core and core/shell silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs), utilizing the molecular ruby-type luminophores CrPF6 ([Cr(ddpd)2](PF6)3; ddpd = N,N’-dimethyl- N,N’-dipyridin-2-ylpyridin-2,6-diamine) and CrBF4 ([Cr(ddpd)2](BF4)3) with their oxygen-dependent, but polarity-, proticity-, viscosity-, and concentration-independent luminescence as optical probes for oxygen permeability. The sol-gel chemistry routes we assessed include the classical Stöber method and the underexplored larginine approach, which relies on the controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a biphasic cyclohexane/water system with the catalyst l-arginine. As demonstrated by luminescence measurements of air- and argon-saturated dispersions of CrPF6- and CrBF4-stained SiO2 NPs of different size and particle architecture, utilizing the luminescence decay kinetics of argon-saturated solutions of CrPF6 and CrBF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) as benchmarks, only SiO2 NPs or shells synthesized by the l-arginine approach provided complete oxygen protection of the CrIII complexes under ambient conditions. We ascribe the different oxygen shielding efficiencies of the silica networks explored to differences in density and surface chemistry of the resulting nanomaterials and coatings, leading to different oxygen permeabilities. Our l-arginine based silica encapsulation strategy can open the door for the efficient usage of oxygen-sensitive luminophores and TTA-UC systems as optical reporters and spectral shifters in air in the future.
T2 - eMRS Strasbourg
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 26.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Oxygen sensing
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
KW - Cr(III) complex
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63300
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Getting it right with photoluminescence quantum yields of molecular and nanoscale luminophores and luminescent particles
N2 - Photophysical and mechanistic studies, the comparison of different emitter classes, and the rational design of the next generation of molecular and nanoscale reporters require quantitative photoluminescence measurements and the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons. This is of special importance for all photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR. To improve the reliability and comparability of photoluminescence and QY measurements across laboratories, pitfalls, achievable uncertainties, and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes must be explored. Also, suitable protocols and reference materials are needed which have been validated in interlaboratory comparisons for different wavelength regions and transparent and scattering luminophores.[1] Based on absolute and relative photoluminescence measurements of functional dyes and nanomaterials like semiconductor quantum dots and rods, spectrally shifting lanthanide upconversion nanocrystals, perovskites, and YAG:Cer converter materials, reliable methods for determining QY of transparent and scattering luminophores, nonlinear emitters, and solid luminescent nanomaterials have been developed.[2,3] Thereby, material- and method-related uncertainties of relative and absolute QY measurements and achievable uncertainties could be quantified for linear and nonlinear UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emitters and lately for also luminescent and scattering materials and solid phoshors, here in an interlaboratory comparison of three labs utilizing integrating sphere spectroscopy.[4,5] In addition, to provide simple tools for a better comparability of QY measurements, recently, a first set of UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards has been developed and certified with complete uncertainty budgets.[6] In the following, the outcome of these studies will be presented, thereby addressing common pitfalls and providing recommendations on the performance of reliable QY measurements of linear and non-linear emitters in transparent, scattering, and solid samples.
T2 - 29th Lecture Conference on Photochemistry (LCP 2024) GDCh
CY - Mainz, Germany
DA - 16.09.2024
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nano
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Reference data
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - ILC
KW - Converter material
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - Optoceramic
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-61075
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Frenzel, F.
A1 - Fiedler, S.
A1 - Bardan, A.
A1 - Güttler, Arne
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Influence of Measurement Geometry and Blank on Absolute Measurements of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering Luminescent Films
N2 - For a series of 500 μm-thick polyurethane films containing different concentrations of luminescent and scattering YAG:Ce microparticles, we systematically explored and quantified pitfalls of absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yields (Φf) for often employed integrating sphere (IS) geometries, where the sample is placed either on a sample holder at the bottom of the IS surface or mounted in the IS center. Thereby, the influence of detection and illumination geometry and sample position was examined using blanks with various scattering properties for measuring the number of photons absorbed by the sample. Our results reveal that (i) setup configurations where the scattering sample is mounted in the IS center and (ii) transparent blanks can introduce systematic errors in absolute Φf measurements.
For strongly scattering, luminescent samples, this can result in either an under- or overestimation of the absorbed photon flux and hence an under- or overestimation of Φf. The size of these uncertainties depends on the scattering properties of the sample and instrument parameters, such as sample position, IS size, wavelength-dependent reflectivity of the IS surface coating, and port configuration. For accurate and reliable absolute Φf measurements, we recommend (i) a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample to realize similar distributions of the diffusely scattered excitation photons within the IS, and (ii) a sufficiently high sample absorption at the excitation wavelength. For IS setups with center-mounted samples, measurement geometries should be utilized that prevent the loss of excitation photons by reflections from the sample out of the IS.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Characterization
KW - Silica
KW - Scattering
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Film
KW - Pphosphor
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - LED
KW - Converter material
KW - Solid material
KW - Polymer
KW - Composite material
KW - Advanced material
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638304
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c06726
SN - 1520-6882
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-63830
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Güttler, Arne
T1 - Certified Reference Materials for the Quantification and Standardization of Fluorescence-based Measurements
N2 - The size and shape of photoluminescence signals is affected by wavelength-, polarization-, and time-dependent instrumentspecific contributions and the compound- and environment-specific photoluminescence quantum yield. The former hamper the comparability of fluorescence measurements performed on different measuring devices. The commonly relatively done determination of the performance parameter requires suitable quantum yield standards with well-known. The performance of such measurements is, e.g., described in the written standard IEC 62607 currently revised.
T2 - Colloquium für Optische Spektrometrie 2025
CY - Jena, Germany
DA - 24.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Advanced material
KW - Calibration
KW - Characterization
KW - Fluorescence quantum yield
KW - Phosphor
KW - Absolute
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Dye
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64213
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Citrate Ligands on the Surface of Nanoparticles
N2 - In this study, different methods for determining nanoparticle surface ligands including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are explored to quantify citrate as one of the most popular hydrophilic ligands on the surface of nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The purpose of work is to understand which analytical methods are best suited for surface chemistry analysis of citrate stabilized IONPs and to validate these methods.
T2 - SALSA Make and Measure 2024: Interfaces
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 11.09.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Functional group
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62310
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Parastu
T1 - Thermoresponsive UCNP@MSN Nanoparticles for Doxorubicin Delivery in Melanoma Cells
N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) possess unique photophysical characteristics, such as excita bility by near infrared (NIR) light, which facilitates deep tissue penetration, multi color emission , long luminescence lifetimes, and an excellent photostability. These features have made UCNPs promising tools for biomedical applications . M esoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) functionalized with stimuli responsive nanovalves or specific coatings enable the encapsulation and controlled release of therapeutic agen ts, thereby offering spatiotemporal precision in drug delivery 1 3 ]]. Among drug delivery strategies, photoresponsive systems have attracted growing attention due to their potential for clinical applications . This is especially relevant for melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer with increasing global incidence, for which conventional therapeutic modalities remain largely insufficient in advanced stage 4 In this work, core shell UCNP@MSN nanoparticles were synthetised by coating UCNPs with a mesoporous silica layer, which was subsequently functionalized with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves [ and loaded with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). Controlled drug release was effectively achieved under 980 nm NIR i llumination . Treatment with functionalized nanoparticles significantly reduced the viability of melanoma cell lines, with an enhanced cytotoxicity being observed upon combined nanoparticle exposure and NIR illumination . Mechanistic analyses revealed that neither UCNPs nor NIR i llumination alone could induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS); however, their combination induced a marked increase in ROS levels in two of the three tested cell lines. Furthermore, this dual treatment promoted substantial apoptotic and/or necrotic responses across all cell models. These findings underscore the potential of UCNP@MSN nanoplatforms, equipped with thermoresponsive ga tes , as efficient photoactivated drug delivery systems for melanoma therapy.
T2 - Conference Jornadas CICECO
CY - Aveiro, Portugal
DA - 09.10.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64371
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying the total and accessible amount of surface functionalities and ligands on nanomaterials
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) of various chemical composition and surface functionalization are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage. NM dispersibility, stability, processability, and function as well as the interaction with biological species and environmental fate are largely determined by NM surface functionalities, i.e., functional groups (FGs) and ligands. Therefore, reliable, reproducible, and eventually standardized surface characterization methods are vital for quality control of NMs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety.
Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods.[1] The latter less costly and fast methods, which can be automated, are often used by NM producers for process and quality control.[1,2] To validate methods, establish measurement uncertain-ties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, multi-method characterization studies are needed.[3,4] as well as interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on determining NM surface chemistry and well characterized test and reference NMs providing benchmark values.[5,6] Here, we present examples for quantifying common surface FGs such as amino and carboxyl groups on functional NMs of different chemical composition such as silica, polymer, iron oxide, and lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles with optical assays, electrochemical titration methods, qNMR, and chromatographic separation techniques. In addition, ongoing interlaboratory comparisons will be presented.
T2 - Yucomat 2025
CY - Herec Novi, Montenegro
DA - 01.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64182
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Measurements of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering LED Converter Materials
N2 - How to Get it Right with the Absolute Measurement of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering LED Converter Materials Saskia Fiedler+,a, Florian Frenzel+,a, Christian Würth a, Isabella Tavernaro a, Michelle Grüne c, Stefan Schweizer c,d, Axel Engel e, and Ute Resch-Genger a* a Division Biophotonics, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstaetter-Strasse 11, D-12489 Berlin, Germany; email: ute.resch@bam.de b Present address: Photonic Materials, NWO-Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands c Faculty of Electrical Engineering, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Lübecker Ring 2, 59494, Soest, Germany d Fraunhofer Application Center for Inorganic Phosphors, Branch Lab of Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, Lübecker Ring 2, 59494, Soest, Germany e Schott AG Technical Services, Hattenbergstrasse 10, D-55122 Mainz, Germany Optical measurements of scattering materials such as luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors dispersed in liquid and solid matrices play an important role in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. A key performance parameter is the photoluminescence quantum yield QY, i.e., the number of emitted per number of absorbed photons. QY of transparent luminophore solutions can be obtained relative to a fluorescence QY standard of known QY, meanwhile available as certified reference materials.[1] The determination of QY of scattering liquid and solid samples like nanoparticle dispersions, phosphors, and optoceramics requires, however, absolute measurements with an integrating sphere setup. Despite the need for reliable absolute QY measurements, no interlaboratory comparison (ILCs) on measurement uncertainties has been performed and scattering standards with known QY are not available. We present the results of an ILC of 3 labs from academia and industry on measurements of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors and converter materials like YAG:Ce optoceramics with commercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups of different illumination and detection geometries. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of measurement geometry, optical properties of the blank for determining the number of incident photons absorbed by the sample, and sample-specific surface roughness. Matching QY values could be obtained for transparent dye solutions and scattering dispersions with a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample, QY measurements of optoceramic samples with different blanks revealed substantial differences of more than 20 %. Based on our data, we recommend non-absorbing blank materials with a high reflectivity (>95 %) such as a 2 mm-thick PTFE target placed on the sample holder as blanks.
T2 - eMRS
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 26.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Film
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Calibration
KW - Lifetime
KW - Advanced materials
KW - LED converter
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - ILC
KW - Measurement uncertainty
KW - Absolute quantum yield
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63327
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Rezvani, A.
A1 - Wang, Z.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Soltanmoradi, H.
A1 - Kichigin, A.
A1 - Zhou, X.
A1 - Gantenberg, T.
A1 - Schram, J.
A1 - Zubiri, B. A.
A1 - Spiecker, E.
A1 - Walter, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Segets, D.
T1 - Separation of Indium Phosphide/Zinc Sulfide Core−Shell Quantum Dots from Shelling Byproducts through Multistep Agglomeration
N2 - Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) possess unique electronic and optical properties, making them promising candidates for applications in lightemitting diodes, solar cells, bioimaging, and photocatalysis. Precise control over their size, shape, and chemical and electronic structure is crucial to ensure the desired functional properties and optimize device performance. However, challenges in QD synthesis and post-synthesis modification persist, especially in large-scale production. This study addresses the classification of QDs synthesized in a tubular flow reactor consisting of a mixture of the desired InP/ZnS core−shell QDs and QDs made from the shell material, i.e., here ZnS QDs formed as a byproduct during the formation step of the ZnS shell. The homogeneous nucleation of ZnS nanoparticles from the shelling material introduces a heterogeneity in size and composition and affects the optical properties of the resulting QDs. To address this issue, we developed a size-selective agglomeration (SSA) technique by incrementally introducing ethanol as a poor solvent and classified the synthesized QDs into 13 distinct fractions. These 13 fractions are sorted into three distinct groups: (i) larger InP/ZnS QDs, (ii) a combination of smaller InP/ZnS QDs and larger ZnS QDs, and (iii) predominant ZnS QDs with some very tiny InP/ZnS QDs. The comprehensive characterization of the fractions was conducted using UV−visible absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, total reflection X-ray fluorescence, and analytical ultracentrifugation. We could demonstrate that our method effectively separated unwanted ZnS QDs from the target InP/ZnS QDs. In addition, the fractions enriched in smaller InP/ZnS QDs exhibited a higher photoluminescence quantum yield compared to the fractions with larger QDs. This demonstrates the efficacy of SSA in finetuning the composition of QD mixtures produced on a larger scale to improve their functional properties. This approach provides fundamental understanding toward the development of a scalable two-dimensional classification process for such ultrasmall nanoparticles by particle size and composition.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Synthesis
KW - Flow reactor
KW - InP
KW - Shell
KW - ZnS
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Method
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - TEM
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c18530
SN - 1936-086X
VL - 19
IS - 20
SP - 19080
EP - 19094
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-63215
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Párástu
T1 - Cell mechanisms induced by doxorubicin-loaded UCNP@MSN nanoparticles with a thermosresponsive nanovalve in melanoma cells
N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) exhibit several remarkable optical properties, including excitation by near infrared (NIR) light, which enables deep tissue penetration, multiple distinct emission bands across a wide range of wavelengths, long luminescen ce lifetimes, and high photostability. These features make them particularly attractive for various biomedical applications. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), functionalized with nanovalves or specific coatings, have been explored for controlled and targeted drug delivery, where therapeutic agents are encapsulated within the nanopores, allowing spatiotemporal release 1 3 ]]. Among the promising approaches, photoactivated drug delivery systems have drawn considerable interest due to their versatility and potential. One relevant application is in the treatment of melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer with a rising global incidence. In advanced stages, conventional therapies often fail to achieve complete tumour eradication, resulting in poor prognose s 4 In this study, UCNPs were coated with a mesoporous silica shell to form core shell UCNP@MSN nanoparticles, which were further functionalized with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves and loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), a chemotherapeutic drug used in melanoma treatment. Upon exposure to 980 nm NIR light, DOX release was successfully triggered in the culture medium. Exposure to functionalized UCNPs decreased the viability of the tested melanoma cell lines, with further reductions observed when the ex posure to the nanoparticles was combined with irradiation. Subsequently, t he toxicity mechanisms were evaluated and showed that w hile individual treatments with either the functionalized UCNPs or NIR irradiation alone had no effect on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, their combination significantly increased ROS levels in two of the three tested cell lines. This combined treatment also led to notable increases in apoptotic , necrotic or both type of cells’ percentages on all cell lines. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of these nanoparticles with thermoresponsive gating mechanisms as effective platforms for targeted drug delivery in melanoma therapy.
T2 - EUROTOX 2025
CY - Athens, Greece
DA - 14.09.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64372
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Hydrophilic Surface Ligands on Nanoparticles
N2 - The rapid development of nanotechnology is driven by a wide range of possible applications of nanoparticles (NPs) depending on their functions and composition, for example, in biomedicine, energy harvesting, and optoelectronics. Due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of nanoparticles, their properties and function are often highly dependent on surface chemistry, which also determines their stability and interaction with the environment. To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials in biomedical applications as well as in material sciences, it is hence crucial to develop reliable methods to control and quantify ligand molecules and functional groups on the NP surface for different NP processing steps including ligand exchange and the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., antifouling agents and recognition moieties. These methods must then be validated and eventually standardized. This also calls for suitable reference materials with known surface chemistries or functionalities.
Methods for determining and quantifying surface functional groups and NP capping ligands include quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) techniques, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mass spectrometric (MS) methods, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and optical assays with photometric and/or fluorometric readout.[1] In the focus of this study on ligand exchange and quantification are differently sized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), already used in biomedicine with applications as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents or for magnetic hyperthermia. IONPs can be prepared by a high temperature synthesis in nonpolar solvents, resulting in a superior monodispersity and crystallinity compared to particles prepared by aqueous synthesis methods. Such IONPs bear, however, hydrophobic surface ligands, that need to be exchanged for hydrophilic molecules to ensure water dispersibility required for biomedical applications. For these applications, a complete removal of potentially toxic surface ligands remaining from IONP synthesis is crucial. Here, we will present the synthesis of differently sized spherical IONPs capped with hydrophobic oleic acid molecules and an in-depth study of the ligand exchange to hydrophilic molecules such as citrate. We assessed the size, size distribution, and colloidal stability of the IONPs utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta potential measurements before and after ligand exchange. In addition, several approaches to ligand quantification have been explored involving a variety of analytical tools. Our ultimate goal is here to identify the optimal methods for ligand analysis and to develop schemes for method validation, via the comparison of analytical techniques relying on different principles of signal generation (method cross-validation).
T2 - E-MRS 2024 SPRING MEETING
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Functional group
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62296
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Párástu
T1 - Effects of upconversion nanoparticles with a thermo-responsive nanovalve loaded with doxorubicin in melanoma cells
N2 - Melanoma skin cancer has an increasingly higher incidence , and w hen detected in advanced stages, tumour eradication is often incomplete, contributing to poor prognosis with conventional treatments. Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have unique properties, such as excitability under near infrared (NIR) excitation light, which confers a relatively high penetration depth in tissue that allow their effective use in several biomedical applications Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with nanovalves or derived coatings have widely been used for triggered and targeted drug delivery in the past. Anticancer drugs can be loaded into the pores of MSN, enabling controlled drug release. In this work, UCNPs were coated with a mesoporous silica shell yielding UCNP@MSN core shell nanoparticles which were equipped with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves and then loaded with DOX , a chemotherapeutic agent for melanoma treatmen t (UCNP@MSN DOX) Subsequent DOX release from this drug delivery system was triggered by 980 nm NIR light. Melanoma cells exposed to UCNP@MSN DOX or the NIR laser exhibited no change in ROS production , while the combination of both induced an increase in ROS production. This combination of conditions also induced changes on apoptosis and necrosis levels. These findings underscore the potential use of UCNP @MSN drug delivery systems with thermoresponsive caps as effective drug delivery platforms for melanoma therapy.
T2 - VII iBiMED Symposium
CY - Aveiro, Portugal
DA - 23.05.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64373
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Andreato, E.
A1 - Panov, N.
A1 - Artiga, A.
A1 - Osipova, Viktoriia
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Ximendes, E.
A1 - Molina, P.
A1 - Canton, P.
A1 - Marin, R.
T1 - Indium-Based Fluoride Nanoparticles Doped with Chromium for Near-Infrared Luminescence
N2 - Transition metal (TM) and rare earth (RE) ion-doped nanoparticles (NPs) are photoluminescent materials of technological relevance in bioimaging, sensing, and light conversion. Fluoride NPs are particularly attractive in this context, since they combine low-energy phonons, high chemical stability, optical transparency, size, and architecture tunability. Yet, nearly all reported colloidal fluoride NPs (e.g., NaYF4 and LiYF4) can only be efficiently doped with RE3+ and not with luminescent TM ions. Herein, we contribute to filling this gap in materials science by reporting Na3InF6 NPs doped with Cr3+ as a model luminescent TM ion. We unveil the heat-driven NP formation mechanism, which involves a cubic-to-monoclinic phase conversion, similarly to the cubic-tohexagonal phase conversion in NaYF4. Reaction temperatures above 225 °C and reaction time have a limited impact on the NP morphology, while the amount of fluoride precursor and oleylamine grants control over the NP size. After verifying that Na3InF6 NPs show negligible cytotoxicity toward U-87 cell line, we study the optical properties of these NPs upon Cr3+ doping.
Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements indicate that Cr3+ ions experience a weak crystal field in the Na3InF6 host lattice, while their photoluminescence lifetime varies linearly in the 20−50 °C range. These results set the ground for further studies of photoluminescent TM-doped fluoride NPs, toward their applications in bioimaging, sensing, and light-converting devices.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Traceability
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - XRD
KW - Phase transition
KW - Ligand
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c03335
SN - 1520-5002
SP - 1
EP - 14
PB - American Chemical Society
AN - OPUS4-63073
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Citrate Ligands on Nanoparticle Surfaces
N2 - To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials (NM) in applications and their safe use, it is crucial to develop reliable methods to control and quantify ligands and functional groups (FG) on the nanoparticle (NP) surface as surface chemistry largely determines the interactions of NPs with their surroundings. Many analytical methods can be used for this purpose. However, their applicability strongly depends on the type of NM and ligand(s) and most of them require challenging protocols for sample preparation, i.e., the removal of the NPs or their dissolution, which can influence the accuracy of the measurements. While some methods allow the precise quantification of specific ligands such as quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), others provide only semi-quantitative results like Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) or target more general analyte groups like thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) detecting mass losses (total organic content) or conductometry (e.g., (de)protonable FGs such as carboxyl or amine groups). [1] The calculation of the coverage of the NP surface with ligands, additionally requires knowledge of their total surface area, which can be obtained, e.g., from a precise characterization of NP size and concentration.
Citrate is one of the most frequently utilized surface ligand for stabilizing metal, metal oxide, and lanthanide-based upconversion NPs in hydrophilic environments. However, its quantification on NP surfaces has rarely been addressed although it is a frequent analyte in medical or food analysis. In this study we compare several methods for quantifying citrate as capping ligands of iron oxide NPs (IONPs), exemplarily chosen because of their broad applications in the life science. [2] The size of the IONPs was characterized by electron microscopy (EM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), while their concentration was determined by quantifying iron ions after acidic particle dissolution using a colorimetric assay and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The simplest approach for citrate quantification, direct photometric UV-detection after acidic digestion of the IONPs, yielded only reasonable results when combined with reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These results were cross validated with qNMR that required the development of a reliable sample preparation protocol addressing not only particle dissolution in deuterated solvents but also the removal of the paramagnetic iron ions interfering with NMR measurements. Comparison with results from TGA gives insight into the sensitivity and specificity of these methods and their potential for quantifying surface ligands on NPs.
T2 - Anakon 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Advanced material
KW - Functional group
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantification
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64861
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Peeters, Régis
A1 - Mirmajidi, Hana
A1 - Berg, Jessica
A1 - Fay, Michael
A1 - Rodrigues, Lucas Carvalho Veloso
A1 - Radicchi, Eros
A1 - Jain, Akhil
A1 - Speghini, Adolfo
A1 - Hemmer, Eva
T1 - Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of morphology-controlled luminescent lanthanide-doped Gd2O2S nanostructures
N2 - Gadolinium oxysulfide (Gd2O2S) is an attractive material of demonstrated suitability for a variety of imaging applications, leveraging its magnetic, scintillating, and luminescent properties, particularly when doped with optically active lanthanide ions (Ln3+). For many of these applications, control over size and morphology at the nanoscale is crucial. This study demonstrates the rapid microwave-assisted Synthesis of colloidal Ln2O2S (Ln = Gd and dopants Yb, Er, Tb) nanostructures in as little as 20 min. Structural characterization using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, as well as Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), including elemental mapping via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), unveiled the key role of elemental sulphur (S8) in the reaction mixtures for materials growth. By systematically varying the Ln-to-S ratio from 1 : 0.5 to 1 : 15, controlled morphologies ranging from triangular nanoplatelets to berry- and flower-like shapes were achieved. Doping with Er3+/Yb3+ endowed the nano-triangles with upconverting and near-infrared emitting properties. Tb3+-doped Gd2O2S exhibited the characteristic green Tb3+ emission under UV excitation, while also showing X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL), rendering the material interesting as a potential nano-scintillator.
KW - Upconversion
KW - Microwave-assisted synthesis
KW - Synthesis
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - NIR
KW - XRD
KW - X-ray fluoressence
KW - Morphology control
KW - Raman
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647907
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TC01646K
SN - 2050-7526
VL - 13
IS - 35
SP - 18492
EP - 18507
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
AN - OPUS4-64790
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Andresen, Elina
T1 - Lanthanide based multi element nanoparticles: a versatile platform for surface chemistry analysis and potential reference materials
N2 - The use of engineered nanoparticles of different size, shape, and composition is continuously increasing in the life and materials sciences. This calls for methods and reference materials enabling the reliable and accurate determination of nanoparticle size, particle size distribution, shape, number concentration, degree of aggregation and agglomeration in different environments as well as for nanoparticle dispersibility and stability.
We are currently building up and exploring a platform of lanthanide-based nanocrystals (LnNCs) with application-specifically tuned size, shape, composition, architecture, optical properties, and surface chemistry for emerging applications in life sciences. As a prerequisite for the broad applicability of these nanomaterials, we assess simple, robust, and easily upscaleable synthesis protocols for LnNCs with defined morphologies and tunable optical properties, and the short-term and long-term stability of LnNCs with selected surface coatings in aqueous environments under different application-relevant conditions.
T2 - Anakon 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Method
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Synthesis
KW - Upconversion
KW - Ligand
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62768
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - How to Quantify the Total and Accessible Number of Functional Groups and Ligands on Nanomaterials Using a Multimodal Approach – A Bilateral Comparison
N2 - Surface-functionalized organic and inorganic engineered nanomaterials (NM) have gained increasing interest in various fields of application such as nanomedicine, bioimaging and sensing, or as additives in food and consumer products. The performance and safe use of these NM in such applications depend not only on their composition, primary particle size, and morphology, but also on surface chemistry, which controls surface charge, colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and toxicity.[1] NM surface chemistry is mainly determined by the total number of surface functional groups (FG) and the number of FG accessible for subsequent functionalization with ligands or biomolecules. Thus, methods for FG quantification are not only important tools for the control of NM production processes, but can also foster the sustainable development of functional and safe(r) NM. In addition, this need underlines the importance of validated and standardized analytical methods that provide accurate information on application-relevant physicochemical properties with known uncertainties, flanked by suitable quality control samples and reference materials. Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of common bioanalytically relevant FG, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification.[2,3] The potential of multimodal approaches for FG quantification was recently demonstrated in a bilateral comparison of the surface analysis of commercially available aminated silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NP).[3] These results demonstrate not only an influence of the size and synthesis methods on the number of FG but also on NM performance. This concept is currently explored in a second bilateral comparison of quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) measurements and optical assays for differently sized commercial and in-house synthesized SiO2-NP with varying amounts of amine functionalities, utilizing further optimized protocols for sample preparation, qNMR measurements, and data evaluation. This strategy can contribute to establishing multi-method characterization strategies for NMs and can provide a more detailed picture of structure-properties relationships for different types of functional NM.
T2 - E-MRS Spring Meeting 2024 & ALTECH 2024
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2024
KW - Quantification
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Reference material
KW - Sensors
KW - Synthesis
KW - Silica
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62161
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Richstein, R.
A1 - Reithofer, M. R.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Michaelis, Matthias
A1 - Koch, Matthias
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying Citrate Surface Ligands on Iron Oxide Nanoparticles with TGA, CHN Analysis, NMR, and RP-HPLC with UV Detection
N2 - Although citrate is frequently used as a surface ligand for nanomaterials (NMs) such as metal, metal oxide, and lanthanide-based NMs in hydrophilic environments due to its biocompatibility and simple replacement by other more strongly binding ligands in postsynthetic surface modification reactions, its quantification on NM surfaces has rarely been addressed. Here, we present a multimethod approach for citrate quantification on iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) broadly applied in the life and material sciences. Methods explored include thermogravimetric (TGA) and elemental (CHN) analysis, providing citrate-nonspecific information on the IONP coating, simple photometry, and citrate-selective reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with absorption (UV) detection and quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR). Challenges originating from the strongly absorbing magnetic NM and paramagnetic iron species interfering with optical and NMR Methods were overcome by suitable sample preparation workflows. Our multimethod approach to citrate quantification highlights the advantages of combining specific and unspecific methods for characterizing NM Surface chemistry and method cross-validation. It also demonstrates that chemically nonselective measurements can favor an overestimation of the amount of a specific surface ligand by signal contributions from molecules remaining on the NM surface, e.g., from particle synthesis, such as initially employed ligands and/or surfactants. Our results emphasize the potential of underexplored selective RPHPLC for quantifying ligands on NMs, which does not require a multistep sample preparation workflow such as qNMR for many NMs and provides a higher sensitivity. These findings can pave the road to future applications of versatile HPLC methods in NM characterization.
KW - Advanced material
KW - Functional group
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantification
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-648632
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5c03024
SN - 0003-2700
VL - 97
IS - 36
SP - 19627
EP - 19634
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
CY - Washington, DC
AN - OPUS4-64863
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Photoluminescence quantum yields of molecular & nanoscale luminophores in the UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR in dispersion and in the solid state
N2 - Photophysical and mechanistic studies, the comparison of different emitter classes, and the rational design of the next generation of molecular and nanoscale reporters require quantitative photoluminescence measurements and the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons. This is of special importance for all photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR.
T2 - MAF 2024 Conference
CY - Valencia, Spain
DA - 08.09.2024
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nano
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Reference data
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - ILC
KW - Converter material
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-61072
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Absolute Determination of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering LED Converter Materials – How to Get it Right
N2 - Optical measurements of scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders play an important role in fundamental research and industry. Typical examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different composition in different matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter for the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence quantum yield QY, i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. QY of transparent luminophore solutions can be determined relatively to a fluorescence quantum yield standard of known QY. Such standards are meanwhile available as certified reference materials.[1] The determination of QY of scattering liquid and solid samples like dispersions of luminescent nanoparticles, solid phosphors, and optoceramics requires, however, absolute measurements with an integrating sphere setup. Although the importance of reliable absolute QY measurements has been recognized, no interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) on measurement uncertainties and the identification of typical sources of uncertainty have been yet reported. Also, no scattering reference materials with known QY are available.
We present here the results of a first ILC of 3 laboratories from academia and industry performed to identify and quantify sources of uncertainty of absolute QY measurements of scattering samples. Thereby, two types of commercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring QY of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors. As representative and industrially relevant solid and scattering samples, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness were chosen, applied, e.g., as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank, utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While matching QY values could be obtained for transparent dye solutions and scattering dispersions, here using a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample, QY measurements of optoceramic samples with different blanks revealed substantial differences, with the blank's optical
properties accounting for measurement uncertainties of more than 20 %. Based upon the ILC results, we recommend non-absorbing blank materials with a high reflectivity (>95 %) such as a 2 mm-thick PTFE target placed on the sample holder which reveals a near-Lambertian light scattering behavior, yielding a homogeneous light distribution within the integrating sphere.
T2 - e-MRS 2024
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2024
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Phosphor
KW - Converter marterial
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Interlaboratory
KW - Comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Reference material
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60490
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Rational Design of Analyte-responsive Fluorescent Particle Sensors for Life Sciences Applications
N2 - Engineered and tailor-made nanomaterials (NM) are of increasing relevance for current and future developments in the life and material sciences for applications, e.g., as drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays, and reporters for imaging applications. For instance, NM-based reporters and sensors, that are labelled or stained with a multitude of conventional or sensor dyes, have several advantages as compared to molecular probes like enhanced brightness, i.e., amplified signals, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte-sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, this can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments. For rational NM design, choosing and tailoring the intrinsic physicochemical properties, such as particle size, size distribution, morphology, and surface chemistry of the NM application-specific considerations like biocompatibility, ease and low cost of preparation, and colloidal stability and performance in the targeted environment must be considered. In this lecture, different design concepts of inorganic, organic, and hybrid NM and microparticles with hydrophilic surface chemistries and different functionalities are presented that can be used for the targeting of lysosomes; and to monitor functional parameters of endo-lysosomal compartments, like pH or enable oxygen sensing.
T2 - Chemical Probes for Lysosomal Biology
CY - York, United Kingdom
DA - 09.09.2024
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantification
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Reference material
KW - Sensor
KW - Synthesis
KW - Dye
KW - pH
KW - Silica
KW - Polystyrene
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62173
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Citrate Ligands on the Surface of Nanoparticles
N2 - In this study, different methods for determining nanoparticle surface ligands including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are explored to quantify citrate as one of the most popular hydrophilic ligands on the surface of nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The purpose of work is to understand which analytical methods are best suited for surface chemistry analysis of citrate stabilized IONPs and to validate these methods.
T2 - SALSA Make and Measure 2024: Interfaces
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 11.09.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Functional group
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62298
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Billimoria, K.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Goenaga-Infante, H.
T1 - A Strategy for Quantitative Imaging of Lanthanide Tags in A549 Cells Using the Ratio of Internal Standard Elements
N2 - One remaining handicap for spatially resolved elemental quantification in biological samples is the lack of a suitable internal standard (IS) that can be reliably measured across both calibration standards and samples. In this work, multielement quantitative intracellular imaging of cells tagged with lanthanide nanoparticles containing key lanthanides, e.g., Eu and Ho, is described using a novel strategy that uses the ratio of IS elements and LA-ICP-TOFMS analysis. To achieve this, an internal standard layer is deposited onto microscope slides containing either gelatin calibration standards or Euand Ho-tagged cell samples. This IS layer contains both gallium (Ga) and indium (In).
Monitoring either element as an IS individually showed significant variability in intensity signal between sample or standards prepared across multiple microscope slides, which is indicative of the difficulties in producing a homogeneous film at intracellular resolution.
However, normalization of the lanthanide signal to the ratio of the IS elements improved the calibration correlation coefficients from 0.9885 to 0.9971 and 0.9805 to 0.9980 for Eu and Ho, respectively, while providing a consistent signal to monitor the ablation behavior between standards and samples. By analyzing an independent quality control (QC) gelatin sample spiked with Eu and Ho, it was observed that without normalization to the IS ratio the concentrations of Eu and Ho were highly biased by approximately 20% in comparison to the expected values.
Similarly, this overestimation was also observed in the lanthanide concentration distribution of the cell samples in comparison with
the normalized data.
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nano
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - ICP-MS
KW - LA-ICP-MS
KW - Quantification
KW - Bioimaging
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c02763
SN - 0003-2700
VL - 96
IS - 30
SP - 12570
EP - 12576
AN - OPUS4-60768
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Multivalent presentation of phenylpropenic acid amide inspired ligands by various nanoparticles and their potential use in anti-inflammatory therapy
N2 - Over the years, inflammation has become one of the most rapidly developing areas in medical research, due to new studies indicating its important role in chronical diseases, thrombosis and cancer. A promising target for anti-inflammatory therapy are the multistep adhesion process of leukocytes from the blood vessels into the inflamed tissue. and the numerous involved receptors and ligands. In particular, selectins and their respective carbohydrate ligands can inhibit this key step of the inflammation cascade. In previous work, it was shown that the multivalent presentation of highly negatively charged sulfated and carboxylated ligands on the particle surface can mimic natural selectin binders and increase the inhibition significantly.
Recent studies of the antioxidant and health promoting properties of cocoa, dark chocolate and red clover indicating potential anti-inflammatory properties of their clovamide-type phenylpropenoic acid amides, which are able to inhibit p-selectin expression and platelet-leukocyte interactions. Following the idea of small-molecule targeting drugs, we selected different epitopes and immobilized their sulfated derivatives onto different types nanoparticles, followed by a screening of their performance.
T2 - SALSA Make and Measure 2024: Interfaces
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 11.09.2024
KW - Gold colloids
KW - Surface group analysis
KW - Method
KW - Quantification
KW - Screening
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Surface ligands
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62159
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Oskoei, Párástu
A1 - Afonso, Rúben
A1 - Bastos, Verónica
A1 - Nogueira, João
A1 - Keller, Lisa-Marie
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Saleh, Maysoon I.
A1 - Rühle, Bastian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Daniel-da-Silva, Ana L.
A1 - Oliveira, Helena
T1 - Upconversion Nanoparticles with Mesoporous Silica Coatings for Doxorubicin Targeted Delivery to Melanoma Cells
N2 - Melanoma is one of the most aggressive skin cancers and requires innovative therapeutic strategies to overcome the limitations of conventional therapies. In this work, upconversion nanoparticles coated with mesoporous silica and functionalized with folic acid (UCNP@mSiO2-FA) were developed as a targeted nanocarrier system for the delivery of doxorubicin (DOX). The UCNPs were synthesized via thermal decomposition, coated with mesoporous silica shells, and functionalized with folic acid (FA) to enable receptor-mediated targeting. DOX was then loaded into the mesoporous silica coating by adsorption, yielding UCNP@mSiO2-FA-DOX. The different UCNPs were characterized for size, composition, colloidal stability, and loading and release of DOX. This comprehensive physicochemical characterization confirmed a high DOX loading efficiency and a slightly increased drug release under acidic conditions, mimicking the tumour microenvironment. In vitro assays using four melanoma cell lines (A375, B16-F10, MNT-1, and SK-MEL-28) revealed an excellent biocompatibility of UCNP@mSiO2-FA and a significantly higher cytotoxicity of UCNP@mSiO2-FA-DOX compared to unloaded UCNPs, in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated G2/M phase arrest after treatment with UCNP@mSiO2-FA-DOX, confirming its antiproliferative effect. Overall, UCNP@mSiO2-FA-DOX represents a promising nanoplatform for targeted melanoma therapy, combining active tumour targeting and enhanced anticancer efficacy.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Synthesis
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Cell
KW - Uptake
KW - Drug
KW - Characterization
KW - DOX
KW - Imaging
KW - Toxicity
KW - Release
KW - pH
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653596
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31010074
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 31
IS - 1
SP - 1
EP - 18
PB - MDPI AG
AN - OPUS4-65359
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Rodriguez, Santiago
A1 - Kumanski, Sylvain
A1 - Ayed, Zeineb
A1 - Fournet, Aurélie
A1 - Bouanchaud, Charlène
A1 - Sagar, Amin
A1 - Allemand, Frédéric
A1 - Baulin, Vladimir A.
A1 - Resch‐Genger, Ute
A1 - Cortés, Juan
A1 - Sibille, Nathalie
A1 - Chirot, Fabien
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Antoine, Rodolphe
A1 - Le Guével, Xavier
A1 - Bernadó, Pau
T1 - Programming the Optoelectronic Properties of Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters Using the Conformational Landscape of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
N2 - The rational design of hybrid nanomaterials with precisely controlled properties remains a central challenge in materials science. While atomically precise gold nanoclusters (Au‐NCs) offer molecule‐like control over a metallic core, tuning their optoelectronic behavior via surface engineering is often empirically driven. Here, we establish a design principle by demonstrating that the conformational landscape of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) can be used as a programmable scaffold to rationally modulate the photophysical properties of a covalently bound Au‐NC. We synthesized a series of bioconjugates between Au 25 nanoclusters and bioengineered IDPs containing a variable number of cysteine anchoring points. A combination of mass spectrometry, small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and modeling on the conjugates indicates that increasing the number of covalent anchors systematically restricts the conformational ensemble, inducing a progressively more compact protein shell around nanoclusters. This structural rigidification at the interface directly translates into a 15‐fold enhancement of the Au‐NC near‐infrared photoluminescence and a six‐fold increase in its average lifetime. Our findings demonstrate that the conformational plasticity of IDPs and the capacity to engineer them can be harnessed as a molecular tuning knob, moving to a new regime of programmable soft‐matter control over the properties of quantum‐confined nanomaterials for tailored biotechnological applications.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Custer
KW - Nano
KW - Advanced material
KW - Characterization
KW - Fluorescence quantum yield
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Thiol ligands
KW - Gold
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - SWIR
KW - Mass spectrometry
KW - Protein
PY - 2026
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655086
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202502991
SN - 0947-6539
SP - 1
EP - 9
PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag
AN - OPUS4-65508
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
T1 - Luminescent, Semiconductor Nanoparticle-Loadedpolymer Microbeads–Comparingparticlearchitectures
N2 - Luminescent polymer microparticles (PMPs) are applied in various (bio)analytical and diagnostic processes.[1] The staining of these beads is important for the realization of optically distinguishable barcodes that can be read out, e.g., by a flow cytometer or fluorescence microscope. Typically, luminescent semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) absorb in a broad wavelength range and show narrow emission bands, which enables simultaneous excitation of differently colored luminophores and facilitates a spectral discrimination.[1] This makes them ideal candidates for this purpose and encouraged us to explore and develop a simple, effective approach to luminescent semiconductor NP encoding of polystyrene PMPs and identify suitable synthesis conditions.[2]
Until now, mainly semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have been used for the synthesis of luminescent PMPs, although NPs with different shapes could introduce beneficial new features. Aiming for the application of our developed procedure to non-spherical NPs, we systematically investigated the luminescence properties of the resulting NP-stained beads using fluorescence and integrating sphere spectroscopy as well as fluorescence and electron microscopy. These studies showed that the suitability of semiconductor NPs for the synthesis of luminescent PMPs depends not only on their shape, but also heavily on their surface chemistry.[3] The successful incorporation of nonspherical NPs opens the path to include even more NPs, and the results can help to deduce future applications for the beads which best suit their specific properties.
T2 - E-MRS Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Quantum rod
KW - Platelet
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Polymer particle
KW - Encoding
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - Lifetime
KW - Barcode
KW - Polymerization
KW - Method
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64242
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kossatz, Philipp
A1 - Mezhov, Alexander
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Prinz, Carsten
A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Assessing the Applicability of Lanthanide-Based Upconverting Nanoparticles for Optically Monitoring Cement Hydration and Tagging Building Materials
N2 - Chemically stable, lanthanide-based photon upconversion micro- and nanoparticles (UCNPs) with their characteristic multicolor emission bands in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (vis), near-infrared (NIR), and short-wave infrared (SWIR) arepromising optical reporters and barcoding tags. To assess the applicability of UCNPs for the monitoring of early stage cement hydration processes and as authentication tags for cementitious materials, we screened the evolution of the luminescence of Selfmade core-only NaYF4:Yb,Er UCNPs and commercial μm-sized Y2O2S:Yb,Er particles during the first stages of cement hydration, which largely determines the future properties of the hardened material. Parameters explored from the UCNP side included particle size, morphology, surface chemistry or coating, luminescence properties, and concentration in different cement mixtures. From the cement side, the influence of the mineral composition of the cement matrix was representatively examined for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and its constituents tricalcium aluminate (C3A), tricalcium silicate (C3S), and gypsum at different water to cement ratios. Based on reflection and luminescence measurements, enabling online monitoring, which were complemented by XRD and isothermal heat-flow calorimetric measurements to determine whether the incorporation of these particles could impair cement hydration processes, well suited lanthanide particle reporters could be identified as well as application conditions. In addition, thereby the reporter influence on cement hydration kinetics could be minimized while still preserving a high level of information content. The best performance for the luminescence probing of changes during early stage cement hydration processes was observed for 25 nm-sized oleate (OA)-coated UCNPs added in a concentration of 0.1 wt %. Higher UCNP amounts of 1.0 wt % delayed cement hydration processes size- and surface coatingspecifically in the first 24 h. Subsequent luminescence stability screening studies performed over a period of about one year support the applicability of UCNPs as optical authentication tags for construction materials.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - XRD
KW - Calorimetry
KW - Advanced material
KW - Cement
KW - Monitoring
KW - Surface
KW - Size
KW - Lifetime
KW - Barcode
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Encoding
KW - Method
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638318
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.5c02236
SN - 2470-1343
VL - 10
IS - 29
SP - 31587
EP - 31599
PB - ACS Publications
CY - Washington, DC
AN - OPUS4-63831
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bresch, Harald
A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan
A1 - Schmidt, Alexandra
A1 - Rasmussen, K.
A1 - Rauscher, H.
T1 - Counting Small Particles in Electron Microscopy Images — Proposal for Rules and Their Application in Practice
N2 - Electron microscopy (EM) is the gold standard for the characterisation of the morphology (size and shape) of nanoparticles. Visual observation of objects under examination is always a necessary first step in the characterisation process. Several questions arise when undertaking to identify and count particles to measure their size and shape distribution. In addition to challenges with the dispersion and identification of the particles, more than one protocol for counting particles is in use. This paper focuses on precise rules for the counting of particles in EM micrographs, as this influences the measurement accuracy of the number of particles, thus implicitly affecting the size values of the counted particles. We review and compare four different, commonly used methods for counting, which we then apply in case studies. The impact of the selected counting rule on the obtained final particle size distribution is highlighted. One main aim of this analysis is to support the application of a specific, well-defined counting approach in accordance with regulatory
requirements to contribute to achieving more reliable and reproducible results. It is also useful for the new harmonised measurement procedures for determining the particle size and particle size distribution of nanomaterials.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle size distribution
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - OECD
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551891
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12132238
SN - 2079-4991
VL - 12
IS - 13
SP - 2238
PB - MDPI
CY - Basel
AN - OPUS4-55189
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - The emp project smurfnano – Standardizing the quantification of surface functionalities, ligands, and coatings on nanomaterials
N2 - For industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage, meanwhile engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated. NP function, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by surface functionalities. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Also, industry, international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated and standardized measurement methods and reference materials.
These needs are addressed by the recently started European metrology project SMURFnano involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated institutes, and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs. This project as well as first results derived from the development of test and reference materials with a well characterized surface chemistry and ongoing interlaboratory comparisons will be presented.
T2 - LNE Workshop
CY - Paris, France
DA - 04.11.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Automation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Method
KW - Validation
KW - Optical assay
KW - Fluram
KW - qNMR
KW - Comparison
KW - ILC
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64725
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
T1 - Standardized Measurements of Surface Functionalities on Nanoparticles
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely and commonly fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage. NP function, their interaction with biological species, and also their environmental fate are largely determined by the surface functionalities of the particles. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, determination of their applicability, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. In addition, industry as well as international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated and standardized measurement methods and reference materials.
However, methodologies for determining NP surface properties, including the amount, chemical composition, and homogeneity of surface functionalities and coatings are largely non-standardized up until now. Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods. The latter, typically less costly methods are often used by SMEs, e.g., for quality control. To validate methods, establish measurement uncertainties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, international interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on NP surface functionalization measurements are required to provide well characterized test and reference nanomaterials including benchmark values.[1] These needs are addressed by the current European metrology project SMURFnano, involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs. This project, as well as first results derived from the development of test and reference materials with a well characterized surface chemistry, and ongoing interlaboratory comparisons, will be presented.
T2 - eMRS - Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Polymer
KW - Metrology
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Method
KW - Optical assay
KW - qNMR
KW - Validation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - XPS
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64243
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Where Do We Stand – Quantifying Amino Groups on Silica (Nano)Particles
N2 - Industry and regulators are increasingly requesting validated and standardized measurement protocols to support the manufacturing, quality control, and safe use of engineered nanomaterials. Addressing a remaining gap in method development and standardization for nanomaterial characterization, we investigated in a bilateral comparison various methods commonly used for surface functional group quantification, like quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical assays. These results demonstrate not only an influence of the size and synthesis methods on the number of surface functional groups for differently sized commercial and in-house synthesized silica nanoparticles but also on their functionality.
T2 - Kickoff-Meeting SMURFnano
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 09.07.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particles
KW - Silica
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantification
KW - Functional groups
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Sensor
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62164
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Characterization and quantification of functional groups and coatings on nanoobjects an overview
N2 - Characterization of Nanoparticles – Questions to Ask, Functional Nanoparticles (NPs) – Organic, Inorganic, and Hybrid Nanoparticles Nanomaterial Characterization Standardization – Addressing Remaining Gaps Surface FGs Particle Surface Chemistry - Why is it Important? Particle Surface Chemistry - A Key Driver for Performance, Applications, and Safety Aspects Method Development for Quantifying FGs and Ligands on Particle Surfaces FG Quantification – Method Choice & Criteria Relevant for Data Interpretation Quantifying the Amount of Total and Accessible FGs on Aminated Silica Nanoparticles (SiO2-NH2) Comparing the Total and Accessible –NH2 Content on Aminated Silica NPs of Different Size Characterization of Nanoparticles Standardization Standardized Measurements of Surface FGs on Nanoparticles EMP Project SMURFnano EMP Project SMURFnano Work Packages & Goals Certified Reference Materials from BAM
T2 - e-MRS 2024 (Spring Meeting of the European Materials Research Society, Altech Symposium)
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2024
KW - Luminescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Optical assay
KW - NMR
KW - Silica
KW - Ligand
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60495
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - The SMURFnano project - standardized measurements of surface functionalities on nanoparticles
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, optoelectronics, and information storage. NP function, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by surface functionalities. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Also, industry, international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated and standardized measurement methods and reference materials. However, methodologies for determining NP surface properties, including the amount, chemical composition, and homogeneity of surface functionalities and coatings are largely non-standardized. Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods. The latter less costly methods are often used by SMEs, e.g., for quality control. To validate methods, establish measurement uncertainties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, international interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on NP surface functionalization measurements are required and well characterized test and reference nanomaterials providing benchmark values.[1] These needs are addressed by the recently started European metrology project SMURFnano involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated institutes, and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs. This project as well as first results derived from the development of test and reference materials with a well characterized surface chemistry and ongoing interlaboratory comparisons will be presented.
T2 - eMRS
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference analysis
KW - Standardization
KW - Metrology
KW - Reference products
KW - Reference materials
KW - Mission
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - qNMR
KW - XPS
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Optical assays
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63243
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
A1 - Radnik, Jörg
T1 - Validated and standardized measurements and quantification of surface functionalities on nanoparticles
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage which improve the quality of life and European prosperity. Nanoparticle function, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by surface functionalities. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Also, industry, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated traceable measurement methods and reference materials. Industry, e.g., must comply with various regulations, including the chemicals´ regulation REACH (2006/1907) and cosmetic products regulation (2009/1223), depending on the use. Therefore, standardization organizations such as the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as well as industrial stakeholders, European Medicine Agency (EMA), and the nanosafety community responsible for guidelines for nanomaterial (NM) regulation like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have expressed needs for standardized methodologies to measure NP surface chemical properties.
Despite these needs, methodologies for determining NP surface properties, including the amount, chemical composition, and homogeneity of surface functionalities and coatings are largely non-standardized. Specifically, validated quantitative procedures for the measurement of thickness and composition of nanoparticle coatings and other surface functionalities are needed. Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods. The latter less costly methods are often used by SMEs, e.g., for quality control. To validate methods, establish measurement uncertainties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, international interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on NP surface functionalization measurements are required. These needs have been addressed by us in two interlaboratory comparisons, that will be presented. In addition, the European metrology project SMURFnano will be briefly presented involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated institutes, and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs.
T2 - NanoCarbon Annual Conference 2025
CY - Würzburg, Germany
DA - 18.03.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Method
KW - Optical assay
KW - QNMR
KW - Validation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - XPS
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62790
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Brinkmann, A.
T1 - A qNMR Method for Quantification of Surface Functional Groups on Silica Nanoparticles: Bilateral Comparisons
N2 - Nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, morphology, composition, and surface chemistry are used in a wide range of applications, including medical diagnostics, and imaging and consumer products. The importance of an adequate and reliable characterization is crucial for quality control during NM production, for ensuring an optimum function for the desired application, and for risk assessment studies. Currently there is a lack of reliable and validated methods and reference materials for quantifying NM surface functional groups, despite the importance of surface chemistry for the production of colloidally stable materials, further processing steps, and the interaction with the environment and biological species.
Following our initial study on the use of qNMR for quantifying the amount of amino groups on surface modified silica (1), we have carried out two bilateral comparisons between NRC and BAM to further develop and optimize a reliable protocol for these measurements (2,3), using aminated silica nanoparticles prepared by multiple methods, both commercial and in-house synthesized, and with varying amine content. Solution qNMR is based on dissolving aminated silica nanoparticles in strong base to release the surface grafted amino silane molecules, followed by the quantification of these molecules by solution qNMR using an internal standard. This method provides the amount of total amino groups present in the sample, which can differ from probe accessible or surface-sensitive measurements performed with X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Complementary measurements using optical assays, involving a labeling step with a dye reporter, and XPS are employed to assess the probe accessible and surface amine content for representative samples. These measurements, which illustrate the advantages and potential limitations of the different characterization methods, will contribute to establish a basis for testing the protocol in an international inter-laboratory comparison and for standardization at ISO Technical Committee 229 – Nanotechnologies.
T2 - BERM
CY - Halifax, Canada
DA - 01.06.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Advanced materials
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Surface
KW - qNMR
KW - Optical assay
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Metrology
KW - Standardization
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63527
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
A1 - Radnik, Jörg
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Validated and standardized measurements and quantification of surface functionalities on nanoparticles
N2 - Surface-functionalized organic and inorganic engineered nanomaterials (NMs) are widely applied in the life and materials sciences. NM performance depends on key factors such as particle size and shape, crystal phase, morphology, chemical composition, and surface chemistry, i.e., surface coatings, functional groups (FGs), and ligands.1 The latter controls their processability and interaction with the environment and largely their possible toxicity. Thus, methods for FG quantification are important tools for quality control of NM production processes and can foster the sustainable development of functional and safe(r) NMs. This underlines the importance of validated and standardized analytical methods for surface analysis and reference materials.2 This encouraged us to explore simple and versatile tools for quantifying common bioanalytically relevant FGs such as optical assays, electrochemical titration methods, quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR), and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and to perform a first interlaboratory comparison (ILC) on surface FG quantification.3,4 In a follow-up ILC, BAM and NRC explored qNMR sample preparation, measurement, and data evaluation protocols for commercial and custom-made aminated SiO2 NPs with sizes of 20-100 nm, different amounts of surface amino FGs, and different porosity.5,6 First, the number of amino FGs accessible for a dye reporter was determined with a cost-efficient, automated optical fluorescamine assay. Then, qNMR workflows and protocols were stepwise fine-tuned. The qNMR ILC was complemented by joint XPS measurements. BAM also examined the applicability of fast and automatable potentiometric titrations to screen the total amount of (de)protonable FGs on aminated SiO2 NPs. Our results underline the need to evaluate protocols for FG quantification in ILCs and the advantages of multi-method characterization strategies for efficient method cross validation.
T2 - Surface and Micro/Nano Analysis Working Group
CY - Paris, France
DA - 08.04.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Surface analysis
KW - XPS
KW - Traceability
KW - Metrology
KW - Calibration
KW - Reference data
KW - Reference product
KW - Digital certificate
KW - QNMR
KW - Potentiometry
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62969
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Portesi, C.
T1 - qNMR for standardised measurements of surface functionalities on nanoparticles
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles have a large application potential in fields such as medicine, sensing, catalysis, energy storage, and opto-electronics [1]. The applicability and performance of engineered nanoparticles is largely determined by their surface chemistry, i.e. functional groups and ligands on the particle surface. However, documented standards to quantify functional groups and ligands currently do not exist. Such standards are required to support quality control of nanomaterial production and surface modification processes, and safe-by-design concepts and to meet regulatory requirements.
Here, this issue is addressed by developing and standardizing quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR) methods for the characterization of surface functionalized nanoparticles which specifically address the determination of the amount and chemical composition of surface functionalities and coatings.
This work is being developed under the EMP project 23NRM02 SMURFnano - Standardised measurements of surface functionalities on nanoparticles. qNMR competence of 7 qNMR laboratories involved in the project was first tested with a molecular model sample i.e. citrate, to be assessed in terms of purity. Citrate is often used as hydrophilic surface ligand for different nanoparticles. Then, the first nanoparticle samples, here a set of aminated SiO2 NPs [1] with a particle size of 100 nm and two amino group densities, prepared and characterized by BAM regarding size and surface charge as well as stability over 21 months with an optical assay and qNMR, were assessed in an international interlaboratory comparison (ILC) on qNMR. Thereby, the amount of surface amino groups introduced by grafting of the silica cores with different amounts of 3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) was quantified by each participant following a sample preparation protocol previously developed by BAM and NRC.The results of the ILC were then used to refine the protocol for sample preparation and to identify critical points for qNMR measurement and data analysis.
This work will contribute to the development of a Preliminary Work Item (PWI) 19257 (ISO/TC 229) on surface functional groups and coatings on nano-objects. Also, it will lay the groundwork to perform ILCs on the quantification and determination of the amount of surface functional groups under the roof of VAMAS TWA2 (Surface Chemical Analysis) for different types of nanomaterials possessing industry-relevant surface functionalities using qNMR. These ILCs will be complemented by other techniques like X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS).
T2 - BERM
CY - Halifax, Canada
DA - 01.06.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Advanced materials
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Surface
KW - qNMR
KW - Optical assay
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Metrology
KW - Validation
KW - Standardization
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63443
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying the total and accessible amount of surface functionalities and ligands on nano-materials: Overview and recommended methods
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage. NP function, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by surface functionalities. This calls for reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods, which are vital for quality control of NPs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Validated and standardized workflows for surface analysis are also increasingly requested by industry, international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers. To establish comparable measurements of surface functionalities across different labs and ease instrument performance validation, reference test materials and reference materials of known surface chemistry as well as reference data are needed.
In the following, different methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques are presented and discussed regarding method-inherent advantages and limitations. Special emphasis is dedicated to traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods.
T2 - LNE Workshop
CY - Paris, France
DA - 04.11.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Automation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Method
KW - Validation
KW - Optical assay
KW - Fluram
KW - Fluorescamine
KW - qNMR
KW - Comparison
KW - ILC
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64726
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Standardized Measurements of Surface - Functionalities on Nanoparticles
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, optoelectronics, and information storage. NP function, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by surface functionalities. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Also, industry, international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated and standardized measurement methods and reference materials. However, methodologies for determining NP surface properties, including the amount, chemical composition, and homogeneity of surface functionalities and coatings are largely non-standardized. Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods. The latter less costly methods are often used by SMEs, e.g., for quality control. To validate methods, establish measurement uncertainties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, international interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on NP surface functionalization measurements are required and well characterized test and reference nanomaterials providing benchmark values.[1] These needs are addressed by the recently started European metrology project SMURFnano involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated institutes, and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs. This project as well as first results derived from the development of test and reference materials with a well characterized surface chemistry and ongoing interlaboratory comparisons will be presented.
T2 - eMRS
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Silica
KW - Upconversion nanoparticles
KW - Optical assay
KW - qNMR
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Functional group
KW - XPS
KW - ToF-SIMS
KW - Polymer particle
KW - Surface modification
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Metrology
KW - Method
KW - Validation
KW - ILC
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63339
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Standardized Measurements of Surface Functionalities on Nanoparticles - F. Synthesis and characterization of functional nanocomposite materials
N2 - Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely and commonly fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage. NP function, their interaction with biological species, and also their environmental fate are largely determined by the surface functionalities of the particles. Reliable, reproducible, and standardized surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, determination of their applicability, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. In addition, industry as well as international standardization organizations, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated and standardized measurement methods and reference materials.
However, methodologies for determining NP surface properties, including the amount, chemical composition, and homogeneity of surface functionalities and coatings are largely non-standardized up until now. Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods. The latter, typically less costly methods are often used by SMEs, e.g., for quality control. To validate methods, establish measurement uncertainties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, international interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on NP surface functionalization measurements are required to provide well characterized test and reference nanomaterials including benchmark values.[1] These needs are addressed by the current European metrology project SMURFnano, involving 12 partners from different National Metrology Institutes, designated and research institutes, two university groups as well as one large company and one SME producing NPs. This project, as well as first results derived from the development of test and reference materials with a well characterized surface chemistry, and ongoing interlaboratory comparisons, will be presented.
T2 - Shift 2025
CY - La Laguna, Tenerife
DA - 13.10.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Metrology
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Method
KW - Optical assay
KW - qNMR
KW - Validation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - XPS
KW - ILC
KW - Standardization
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64370
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -