TY - JOUR A1 - Tuma, Dirk A1 - Mady, A. H. A1 - Baynosa, M. L. A1 - Saad, M. A1 - Dhakal, G. A1 - Kim, W. K. A1 - Shim, Jae-Jin T1 - Morphology-engineered hollow NiTiO₃/C–Ag/Ag₃PO₄ S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst: mechanistic insights into sunlight-driven tetracycline degradation N2 - Tetracycline (TCH), a widely used antibiotic, persists in aquatic and terrestrial environments, posing ecological risks and accelerating antibiotic resistance. To address this, we report a hollow-structured NiTiO₃/C–Ag/Ag₃PO₄ (NT/C–AAP) photocatalyst—the first hollow-type nickel titanate—synthesized via a self-template solvothermal route followed by photodeposition. The catalyst integrates key design strategies—hollow architecture, oxygen vacancies, carbon coating, and an S-scheme heterojunction—to optimize photocatalytic performance. The hollow structure enhances light harvesting via internal scattering, oxygen vacancies facilitate O2 adsorption and superoxide (O₂•⁻) generation, and the S-scheme heterojunction effectively suppresses electron–hole recombination while preserving strong redox potential. NT/C–AAP achieved 96% TCH degradation within 1 h and 82% mineralization in 3 h under solar light, far exceeding core–shell (18%) and aggregated (47%) NiTiO₃-based catalysts. Complete removal was realized within 40 min under 400 W visible light. The catalyst maintained 96% activity after five cycles, confirming excellent durability. Compared with previously reported NiTiO₃ photocatalysts, NT/C–AAP delivered a 50–400% performance enhancement arising from its engineered hollow structure and improved electronic properties. Mechanistic studies identified O₂•⁻ and •OH radicals as dominant species, validating the role of morphology and interface engineering in directing charge separation and redox activity. Additionally, a catalyst performance index was proposed to facilitate comparison across diverse conditions. Overall, this work introduces a novel, durable photocatalyst that links structural design to functional performance and demonstrates strong potential for practical environmental remediation. KW - Heterojunction photocatalyst KW - Photodegradation KW - Tetracycline PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655946 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-025-01600-x SN - 2522-0128 VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-65594 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - von der Au, Marcus A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Meermann, Björn T1 - An optimized method for PFAS analysis using HR–CS–GFMAS via GaF detection N2 - The analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) via sum parameters like extractable organic fluorine (EOF) in combination with high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR–CS–GFMAS) is highly promising regarding fluorine sensitivity and selectivity. However, the HR–CS–GFMAS method includes several drying and heating steps which can lead to losses of volatile PFAS before the molecular formation step using e.g., GaF formation. Hence, the method leads to a strong discrimination of PFAS within the EOF depending on their physical/chemical properties and is therefore associated with reduced accuracy. To reduce this discrepancy and to indicate realistic PFAS pollution values, an optimization of the HR–CS–GFMAS method for PFAS analysis is needed. Hence, we determined fluorine response factors of several PFAS with different physical/chemical properties upon application of systematic optimization steps. We could therefore improve the method's sensitivity for PFAS analysis using a modifier drying pre-treatment step followed by a sequential injection of sample solutions. The highest improvement in sensitivity of volatile PFAS was shown upon addition of a Mg modifier during drying pre-treatment. Thereby, during optimization the relative standard deviation of fluorine response factors could be reduced from 55 % (initial method) to 27 % (optimized method) leading to a more accurate determination of organofluorine sum parameters. The method provides an instrumental LOD and LOQ of β(F) 1.71 μg/L and 5.13 μg/L, respectively. Further validation aimed to investigate several matrix effects with respect to water matrices. Here, substance-specific behavior was observed. For example, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) which was used as calibrator, showed signal suppressions upon high chloride concentrations (>50 mg/L). Hence, a thorough separation of Cl from analytes during sample preparation is needed for accurate sum parameter analysis. KW - PFAS KW - GF-AAS KW - Method optimization PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-610522 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126811 VL - 281 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-61052 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zöllner, Moritz T. A1 - Dariz, Petra A1 - Riedel, Jens A1 - Schmid, Thomas T1 - Dolomite and Mg Calcite as Mineral Thermometers in Mortar Binders. A High Resolution Raman Spectroscopic Study N2 - This paper suggests the use of high‐resolution Raman scattering bands of MgCa carbonates as posteriori thermometer minerals in archaeometric studies. Therefore, the thermal behavior of two dolomite samples and the hydration and carbonation reaction in air of the decomposition products were investigated by Raman microspectroscopy. The increase in the calcination temperature resulted in the formation of – Raman silent MgO and – inert Mg calcite at 700°C–750°C. In contrast, the decarbonation, hydration, and recarbonation of sample material exposed to 750°C–900°C in a muffle furnace led to the appearance of Mg‐free calcite. High spectral resolution Raman spectroscopy enabled a spectral distinction between these two groups due to differences in the band parameters (peak position, bandwidth) of the vibrational (v1, v4, L) modes of calcite. In combination with Raman microspectroscopic mapping, this spectral information represents a new approach for the estimation of burning temperatures of medieval high‐fired gypsum mortars via natural dolomite impurities. Thus, the results of this work highlight the importance and potential of Raman microspectroscopy as a thermometric tool for elucidating the thermal history of anthropogenic fired materials, with potential applications for archaeometry and art technology, as well as for quality controls in the frame of the production of mineral mortar binders and ceramics or bricks, respectively. KW - Mineral thermometry KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Dolomite KW - High-fired gypsum mortar PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-630270 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/jrs.6810 SN - 1097-4555 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-63027 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - McGonigle, Rebecca A1 - Glasgow, Jodie A1 - Houston, Catriona A1 - Cameron, Iain A1 - Homann, Christian A1 - Black, Dominic J. A1 - Pal, Robert A1 - MacKenzie, Lewis E. ED - MacKenzie, Lewis E. T1 - Autoclave reactor synthesis of upconversion nanoparticles, unreported variables, and safety considerations N2 - Autoclave reactors are widely used across chemical and biological sciences, including for the synthesis of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and other nanomaterials. Yet, the details of how autoclave reactors are used in such synthesis are rarely reported in the literature, leaving several key synthesis variables widely unreported and thereby hampering experimental reproducibility. In this perspective, we discuss the safety considerations of autoclave reactors and note that autoclaves should only be used if they are (a) purchased from reputable suppliers/manufacturers and (b) have been certified compliant with relevant safety standards. Ultimately, using unsuitable autoclave equipment can pose a severe physical hazard and may breach legal safety requirements. In addition, we highlight several parameters in autoclave synthesis that should be reported as standard to maximise the reproducibility of autoclave synthesis experiments across materials and chemistry research. We encourage users of autoclave synthesis vessels to: (1) adopt high-safety autoclaves and (2) report the many experimental variables involved to enhance experimental reproducibility. KW - Reference material KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Shell KW - Fluorescence KW - Lifetime KW - Decay kinetics KW - Synthesis KW - Quality assurance KW - Method KW - Energy transfer KW - Upconversion KW - Autoclave synthesis KW - Data comparability PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625672 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-025-01415-3 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-62567 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duarte Bernardino, Carolina A1 - Lee, Mihyun A1 - Ren, Qun A1 - Ruehle, Bastian T1 - Facile Spray-Coating of Antimicrobial Silica Nanoparticles for High-Touch Surface Protection N2 - The rising threat from infectious pathogens poses an ever-growing challenge. Metal-based nanomaterials have gained a great deal of attention as active components in antimicrobial coatings. Here, we report on the development of readily deployable, sprayable antimicrobial surface coatings for high-touch stainless steel surfaces that are ubiquitous in many healthcare facilities to combat the spread of pathogens. We synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with different surface functional groups, namely, amine (MSN-NH2), carboxy (MSN-COOH), and thiol groups (MSN-SH). These were chosen specifically due to their high affinity to copper and silver ions, which were used as antimicrobial payloads and could be incorporated into the mesoporous structure through favorable host−guest interactions, allowing us to find the most favorable combinations to achieve antimicrobial efficacy against various microbes on dry or semidry high-touch surfaces. The antimicrobial MSNs were firmly immobilized on stainless steel through a simple two-step spray-coating process. First, the stainless steel surfaces are primed with sprayable polyelectrolyte solutions acting as adhesion layers, and then, the loaded nanoparticle dispersions are spray-coated on top. The employed polyelectrolytes were selected and functionalized specifically to adhere well to stainless steel substrates while at the same time being complementary to the MSN surface groups to enhance the adhesion, wettability, homogeneity, and stability of the coatings. The antimicrobial properties of the nanoparticle suspension and the coatings were tested against three commonly found pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, as well as a fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Especially MSN-SH loaded with silver ions showed excellent antimicrobial efficacy against all tested pathogens under application-relevant, (semi)dry conditions. The findings obtained here facilitate our understanding of the correlation between the surface properties, payloads, and antimicrobial activity and show a new pathway toward simple and easily deployable solutions to combat the spread of pathogens with the help of sprayable antimicrobial surface coatings. KW - Mesoporous silica nanoparticles KW - Thin films KW - Antimicrobial coatings KW - Spray-coating KW - Infectious diseases KW - Pathogen transmission KW - High-touch surfaces PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626269 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c18916 SN - 1944-8252 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-62626 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ruehle, Bastian T1 - Natural language processing for automated workflow and knowledge graph generation in self-driving labs N2 - Natural language processing with the help of large language models such as ChatGPT has become ubiquitous in many software applications and allows users to interact even with complex hardware or software in an intuitive way. The recent concepts of Self-Driving Labs and Material Acceleration Platforms stand to benefit greatly from making them more accessible to a broader scientific community through enhanced user-friendliness or even completely automated ways of generating experimental workflows that can be run on the complex hardware of the platform from user input or previously published procedures. Here, two new datasets with over 1.5 million experimental procedures and their (semi)automatic annotations as action graphs, i.e., structured output, were created and used for training two different transformer-based large language models. These models strike a balance between performance, generality, and fitness for purpose and can be hosted and run on standard consumer-grade hardware. Furthermore, the generation of node graphs from these action graphs as a user-friendly and intuitive way of visualizing and modifying synthesis workflows that can be run on the hardware of a Self-Driving Lab or Material Acceleration Platform is explored. Lastly, it is discussed how knowledge graphs – following an ontology imposed by the underlying node setup and software architecture – can be generated from the node graphs. All resources, including the datasets, the fully trained large language models, the node editor, and scripts for querying and visualizing the knowledge graphs are made publicly available. KW - Natural Language Processing KW - Large Language Models KW - Self-Driving Labs KW - Materials Acceleration Platforms KW - Workflows KW - Nanomaterials KW - Advanced Materials PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-631947 UR - https://github.com/BAMresearch/MAPz_at_BAM/tree/main/Minerva-Workflow-Generator DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5dd00063g SN - 2635-098X SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-63194 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kamdem Tamo, Arnaud A1 - Doench, Ingo A1 - Deffo, Gullit A1 - Jiokeng, Sherman Lesly Zambou A1 - Doungmo, Giscard A1 - Fotsop, Cyrille Ghislain A1 - Temgoua, Ranil Clement Tonleu A1 - Montembault, Alexandra A1 - Serghe, Anatoli A1 - Njanja, Evangeline A1 - Tonle, Ignas Kenfack A1 - Osorio-Madrazo, Anayancy T1 - Lignocellulosic biomass and its main structural polymers as sustainable materials for (bio)sensing applications N2 - (Bio)sensors are integral to various aspects of daily life, contributing to safety, monitoring, and awareness. In modern sensor devices, polymers play an important role, with increasing interest in bio-based materials. Biopolymers, unlike their synthetic counterparts, are abundant in nature and exhibit interesting functional properties that make them highly suitable as biomaterials for sensor technologies. Enhancing sensor performance to achieve a rapid response to stimuli is a key objective in sensor development. Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) from plants holds promise in meeting such requirements due to its high surface area, tunable surface characteristics (including diverse pore sizes and morphologies), flexibility, printability, low density, and favorable physicochemical and thermal properties. Growing research in recent decades has focused on lignocellulosic composite materials due to their functional and environmentally friendly attributes. This review focuses on the valorization of lignocellulosic biomass and its three main biopolymer constituents (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) for the development of electrochemical (bio)sensors. It also explores the macromolecular structure, sources, and inherent properties of LCB, with emphasis on the three main biopolymers and their applications in sensor technologies. Recent advances in the use of LCB and its structural biopolymers as materials for (bio)sensing applications are described and reviewed. The challenges associated with using these biomaterials in electroanalytical applications are also discussed, along with the exploration of their future potential for developing high-performance sensing technologies. KW - Chemical safety KW - Material safety KW - Quality ensurance PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-637230 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ta02900g SN - 2050-7496 SP - 1 EP - 69 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-63723 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bruno, Francesco A1 - Fiorucci, Letizia A1 - Vignoli, Alessia A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Maiwald, Michael A1 - Ravera, Enrico T1 - pyIHM: Indirect Hard Modeling, in Python N2 - NMR is a powerful analytical technique that combines an exquisite qualitative power, related to the unicity of the spectra of each molecule in a mixture, with an intrinsic quantitativeness, related to the fact that the integral of each peak only depends on the number of nuclei (i.e., the amount of substance times the number of equivalent nuclei in the signal), regardless of the molecule. Signal integration is the most common approach in quantitative NMR but has several drawbacks (vide infra). An alternative is to use hard modeling of the peaks. In this paper, we present pyIHM, a Python package for the quantification of the components of NMR spectra through indirect hard modeling, and we discuss some numerical details of the implementation that make this approach robust and reliable. KW - Algorithms KW - Chemical Structure KW - Deconvolution KW - Mixtures KW - NMR spectroscopy PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626793 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c06484 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 97 IS - 8 SP - 4598 EP - 4605 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington D.C. AN - OPUS4-62679 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dorgerloh, Ute A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Freeling, Finnian A1 - Scheurer, Marco A1 - Gökçe, Emine A1 - Strack, Katrin A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Sauer, Andreas A1 - Schneider, Jonas A1 - Härtel, Christoph A1 - Valkov, Vassil A1 - Moser, Lukas A1 - Geiß, Sabine A1 - Junginger, Sabine A1 - Schlittenbauer, Linda A1 - Suess, Elke A1 - Ruth, Katinka T1 - Standardising the quantification of trifluoroacetic acid in water: Interlaboratory validation trial using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric detection (LC–MS/MS) N2 - The concentration of trifluoroacetic acid in surface and groundwaters and drinking water is subject of increasing concern. Since there is no standardised procedure available, German standardisation body DIN has initiated the first draft standard using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) after direct injection for the concentration range between ≥ 0.1 and 3 µg/L. Herein, the interlaboratory comparison as final validation step involving 12 expert laboratories from Germany and Switzerland is described. Two groundwaters, two surface waters, a drinking water, a rainwater, and two fortified groundwater samples displayed relative repeatability standard deviations between 3 and 7% and relative reproducibility standard deviation between 6 and 20% and were included in the draft standard DIN 38407-53. KW - TFA Trifluoroacetic acid KW - LC/MS-MS KW - Validation trial PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-632376 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-025-01640-2 SN - 0949-1775 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-63237 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Michalska, Karina A1 - Heiermann, Monika A1 - Lühr, Carsten A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Pecenka, Ralf A1 - Schulz, Andreas A1 - Langhammer, Nicole A1 - Theuerl, Susanne A1 - Prochnow, Annette T1 - Potentials of typical plant species from rewetted fenlands for the supply of strategic elements N2 - Rewetting of peatlands requires the development of new biomass utilization pathways. The supply of strategic elements with key importance for the development of priority technologies, such as germanium (Ge), silicon (Si) and rare earth elements, from fenland plants is one option. To provide a first estimation of the potential, concentrations of strategic elements were determined in nine biomass samples covering typical fenland vegetation in northeast Germany. Subsequently, a simplified estimation of potential revenue from strategic element recovery was made. The analysed plant species can be classified as high or intermediate Si plant accumulators with highest contents of more than 16.0 g Si kg−1 dry mass (DM) in sedges and common reeds. Ge concentrations were lower with reed canary grass containing the highest amounts of 465.3 µg Ge kg−1 DM. Simultaneous acquisition of Ge and Si could provide higher total element yields and revenues of up to 500 $ ha−1. In contrast, the potentials for supplying rare earth elements appeared to be very low, with common reed containing the highest sum of rare earth elements of 437.4 µg kg−1 DM. Biomass from rewetted fenlands is capable of accumulating strategic elements. More knowledge is required to understand the factors affecting their accumulation. KW - Recycling KW - Fenlands KW - Strategic elements PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-635631 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05180-0 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-63563 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -