TY - JOUR A1 - Balderas-Xicohtencatl, R. A1 - Villajos Collado, José Antonio A1 - Casabán, J. A1 - Wong, D. A1 - Maiwald, Michael A1 - Hirscher, M. T1 - ZIF‑8 Pellets as a Robust Material for Hydrogen Cryo-Adsorption Tanks N2 - Cryoadsorption on the inner surface of porous materials is a promising solution for safe, fast, and reversible hydrogen storage. Within the class of highly porous metal−organic frameworks, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) show high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. In this study, we selected ZIF-8 synthesized mechanochemically by twin-screw extrusion as powder and pellets. The hydrogen storage capacity at 77 K and up to 100 bar has been analyzed in two laboratories applying three different measurement setups showing a high reproducibility. Pelletizing ZIF-8 increases the packing density close to the corresponding value for a single crystal without loss of porosity, resulting in an improved volumetric hydrogen storage capacity close to the upper limit for a single crystal. The high volumetric uptake combined with a low and constant heat of adsorption provides ca. 31 g of usable hydrogen per liter of pellet assuming a temperature−pressure swing adsorption process between 77 K − 100 bar and 117 K − 5 bar. Cycling experiments do not indicate any degradation in storage capacity. The excellent stability during preparation, handling, and operation of ZIF-8 pellets demonstrates its potential as a robust adsorbent material for technical application in pilot- and full-scale adsorption vessel prototypes. KW - Hydrogen adsorption storage KW - Metal−organic frameworks KW - ZIF-8 KW - Cryoadsorption KW - Hydrogen Storage KW - MefHySto PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-569473 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.2c03719 SN - 2574-0962 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington DC AN - OPUS4-56947 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gugin, Nikita A1 - Schwab, Alexander A1 - Carraro, Francesco A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana A1 - Villajos, Jose A1 - Falcaro, Paolo A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - ZIF-8-based biocomposites via reactive extrusion: towards industrial-scale manufacturing N2 - Mechanochemistry, a sustainable synthetic method that minimizes solvent use, has shown great promise in producing metal–organic framework (MOF)-based biocomposites through ball milling. While ball milling offers fast reaction times, biocompatible conditions, and access to previously unattainable biocomposites, it is a batch-type process typically limited to gram-scale production, which is insufficient to meet commercial capacity. We introduce a scalable approach for the continuous solid-state production of MOF-based biocomposites. Our study commences with model batch reactions to examine the encapsulation of various biomolecules into Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8) via hand mixing, establishing a foundation for upscaling. Subsequently, the process is scaled up using reactive extrusion, enabling continuous and reproducible kilogram-scale production of bovine serum albumin (BSA)@ZIF-8 with tunable protein loading. Furthermore, we achieve the one-step formation of shaped ZIF-8 extrudates encapsulating clinical therapeutic hyaluronic acid (HA). Upon release of HA from the composite, the molecular weight of HA is preserved, highlighting the industrial potential of reactive extrusion for the cost-effective and reliable manufacturing of biocomposites for drug-delivery applications. KW - Mechanochemistry KW - Extrusion KW - Biocompoites KW - MOFs PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-654777 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA08276E SN - 2050-7496 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-65477 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braymer, Joseph J. A1 - Knauer, Lukas A1 - Crack, Jason C. A1 - Oltmanns, Jonathan A1 - Heghmanns, Melanie A1 - Soares, Jéssica C. A1 - Le Brun, Nick E. A1 - Schünemann, Volker A1 - Kasanmascheff, Müge T1 - Yeast [FeFe]-hydrogenase-like protein Nar1 binds a [2Fe–2S] cluster N2 - Nar1 is an essential eukaryotic protein proposed to function as an iron–sulphur (Fe/S) cluster trafficking factor in the cytosolic iron–sulphur protein assembly (CIA) machinery. However, such a role has remained unclear due to difficulties in purifying adequate amounts of cofactor-bound protein. The [FeFe]-hydrogenase-like protein has two conserved binding sites for [4Fe–4S] clusters but does not show hydrogenase activity in vivo due to the lack of an active site [2Fe]H cofactor. Here, we report a new preparation procedure for Nar1 that facilitated studies by UV-vis, EPR, and Mössbauer spectroscopies, along with native mass spectrometry. Nar1 recombinantly produced in E. coli contained a [4Fe–4S] cluster, bound presumably at site 1, along with an unexpected [2Fe–2S] cluster bound at an unknown site. Fe/S reconstitution reactions installed a second [4Fe–4S] cluster at site 2, leading to protein with up to three Fe/S cofactors. It is proposed that the [2Fe–2S] cluster occupies a cavity in Nar1 that is filled by the [2Fe]H cofactor in [FeFe]-hydrogenases. Strikingly, two of the Fe/S clusters were rapidly destroyed by molecular oxygen, linking Nar1 oxygen sensitivity in vitro to phenotypes observed previously in vivo. Our biochemical results, therefore, validate a direct link between cellular oxygen concentrations and the functioning of the CIA pathway. These advances also now allow for the pursuit of in vitro Fe/S cluster transfer assays, which will shed light on Fe/S trafficking and insertion by CIA components. KW - Biocorrosion KW - Hydrogenases KW - Metalloprotein KW - Yeast PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-649463 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SC04860E SN - 2041-6520 VL - 17 IS - 1 SP - 373 EP - 380 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-64946 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Grauel, Bettina A1 - Pons, Monika A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Rissiek, P. A1 - Rücker, Kerstin A1 - Haase, Markus A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Yb- and Er concentration dependence of the upconversion luminescence of highly doped NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Lu core/shell nanocrystals prepared by a water-free synthesis N2 - High sensitizer and activator concentrations have been increasingly examined to improve the performance of multi-color emissive upconversion (UC) nanocrystals (UCNC) like NaYF4:Yb,Er and first strategies were reported to reduce concentration quenching in highly doped UCNC. UC luminescence (UCL) is, however, controlled not only by dopant concentration, yet by an interplay of different parameters including size, crystal and shell quality, and excitation power density (P). Thus, identifying optimum dopant concentrations requires systematic studies of UCNC designed to minimize additional quenching pathways and quantitative spectroscopy. Here, we quantify the dopant concentration dependence of the UCL quantum yield (ΦUC) of solid NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Lu upconversion core/shell nanocrystals of varying Yb3+ and Er3+ concentrations (Yb3+ series: 20%‒98% Yb3+; 2% Er3+; Er3+ series: 60% Yb3+; 2%‒40% Er3+). To circumvent other luminescence quenching processes, an elaborate synthesis yielding OH-free UCNC with record ΦUC of ~9% and ~25 nm core particles with a thick surface shell were used. High Yb3+ concentrations barely reduce ΦUC from ~9% (20% Yb3+) to ~7% (98% Yb3+) for an Er3+ concentration of 2%, thereby allowing to strongly increase the particle absorption cross section and UCNC brightness. Although an increased Er3+ concentration reduces ΦUC from ~7% (2% Er3+) to 1% (40%) for 60% Yb3+. Nevertheless, at very high P (> 1 MW/cm2) used for microscopic studies, highly Er3+-doped UCNC display a high brightness because of reduced saturation. These findings underline the importance of synthesis control and will pave the road to many fundamental studies of UC materials. KW - Upconverion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Lanthanides KW - Quantum yield PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551346 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4570-5 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55134 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Krumrey, Julian Frederic A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Workflow towards automated segmentation of agglomerated, non‑spherical particles from electron microscopy images using artificial neural networks N2 - We present a workflow for obtaining fully trained artificial neural networks that can perform automatic particle segmentations of agglomerated, non-spherical nanoparticles from scanning electron microscopy images “from scratch”, without the need for large training data sets of manually annotated images. The whole process only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on time by a user and can typically be finished within less than 12 hours when training on a single graphics card (GPU). After training, SEM image analysis can be carried out by the artificial neural network within seconds. This is achieved by using unsupervised learning for most of the training dataset generation, making heavy use of generative adversarial networks and especially unpaired image-to-image translation via cycle-consistent adversarial networks. We compare the segmentation masks obtained with our suggested workflow qualitatively and quantitatively to state-of-the-art methods using various metrics. Finally, we used the segmentation masks for automatically extracting particle size distributions from the SEM images of TiO2 particles, which were in excellent agreement with particle size distributions obtained manually but could be obtained in a fraction of the time. KW - Electron microscopy KW - Neural networks KW - Artificial intelligence KW - Image segmentation KW - Automated image analysis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-522454 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84287-6 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - 4942 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-52245 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidinger, J. A1 - Barkov, V. A1 - Tavakoli, H. A1 - Correa, J. A1 - Ostermann, Markus A1 - Atzmueller, M. A1 - Gebbers, R. A1 - Vogel, S. T1 - Which and how many soil sensors are ideal to predict key soil properties: A case study with seven sensors N2 - Soil sensing enables rapid and cost-effective soil analysis. However, a single sensor often does not generate enough information to reliably predict a wide range of soil properties. Within a case-study, our objective was to identify how many and which combinations of soil sensors prove to be suitable for high-resolution soil mapping. On a subplot of an agricultural field showing a high spatial soil variability, six in-situ proximal soil sensors (PSSs) next to remote sensing (RS) data from Sentinel-2 were evaluated based on their capabilities to predict a set of soil properties including: soil organic carbon, pH, moisture as well as plant-available phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. The set of PSSs consisted of ion-selective pH electrodes, a capacitive soil moisture sensor, an apparent soil electrical conductivity measuring system as well as passive gamma-ray-, X-ray fluorescence- and nearinfrared spectroscopy. All possible combinations of sensors were exhaustively evaluated and ranked based on their predict KW - XRF KW - Soil KW - Remote Sensing KW - Precision agriculture PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-613920 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117017 VL - 450 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-61392 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grauel, Bettina A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Homann, C. A1 - Krukewitt, Lisa A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Roik, Janina A1 - Recknagel, Sebastian A1 - Haase, M. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Volume and surface effects on two-photonic and three-photonic processes in dry co-doped upconversion nanocrystals N2 - Despite considerable advances in synthesizing high-quality core/shell upconversion (UC) nanocrystals (NC; UCNC) and UCNC photophysics, the application of near-infrared (NIR)-excitable lanthanide-doped UCNC in the life and material sciences is still hampered by the relatively low upconversion luminescence (UCL) of UCNC of small size or thin protecting shell. To obtain deeper insights into energy transfer and surface quenching processes involving Yb3+ and Er3+ ions, we examined energy loss processes in differently sized solid core NaYF4 nanocrystals doped with either Yb3+ (YbNC; 20% Yb3+) or Er3+ (ErNC; 2% Er3+) and co-doped with Yb3+ and Er3+ (YbErNC; 20% Yb3+ and 2% Er3+) without a surface protection shell and coated with a thin and a thick NaYF4 shell in comparison to single and co-doped bulk materials. Luminescence studies at 375 nm excitation demonstrate backenergy transfer (BET) from the 4G11/2 state of Er3+ to the 2F5/2 state of Yb3+, through which the red Er3+ 4F9/2 state is efficiently populated. Excitation power density (P)-dependent steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements at different excitation and emission wavelengths enable to separate surface-related and volume-related effects for two-photonic and threephotonic processes involved in UCL and indicate a different influence of surface passivation on the green and red Er3+ emission. The intensity and lifetime of the latter respond particularly to an increase in volume of the active UCNC core. We provide a threedimensional random walk model to describe these effects that can be used in the future to predict the UCL behavior of UCNC. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Pphotophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - Excitation KW - Power density KW - Single particle KW - Brightness KW - NIR KW - Mechanism KW - Modeling KW - Simulation KW - Energy transfer PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-535317 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3727-y SN - 1998-0124 VL - 15 IS - 3 SP - 2362 EP - 2373 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-53531 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Golusda, L. A1 - Kühl, A. A. A1 - Lehmann, M. A1 - Dahlke, K. A1 - Mueller, S. A1 - Boehm-Sturm, P. A1 - Saatz, Jessica A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Schnorr, J. A1 - Freise, C. A1 - Taupitz, M. A1 - Biskup, K. A1 - Blanchard, V. A1 - Klein, O. A1 - Sack, I. A1 - Siegmund, B. A1 - Paclik, D. T1 - Visualization of inflammation in experimental colitis by magnetic resonance imaging using very small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles N2 - Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) comprise mainly ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn´s disease (CD). Both forms present with a chronic inflammation of the (gastro) intestinal tract, which induces excessive changes in the composition of the associated extracellular matrix (ECM). In UC, the inflammation is limited to the colon, whereas it can occur throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract in CD. Tools for early diagnosis of IBD are still very limited and highly invasive and measures for standardized evaluation of structural changes are scarce. To investigate an efficient non-invasive way of diagnosing intestinal inflammation and early changes of the ECM, very small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (VSOPs) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were applied in two mouse models of experimental colitis: the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis and the transfer model of colitis. For further validation of ECM changes and inflammation, tissue sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. For in depth ex-vivo investigation of VSOPs localization within the tissue, Europium-doped VSOPs served to visualize the contrast agent by imaging mass cytometry (IMC). VSOPs accumulation in the inflamed colon wall of DSS-induced colitis mice was visualized in T2* weighted MRI scans. Components of the ECM, especially the hyaluronic acid content, were found to influence VSOPs binding. Using IMC, colocalization of VSOPs with macrophages and endothelial cells in colon tissue was shown. In contrast to the DSS model, colonic inflammation could not be visualized with VSOP-enhanced MRI in transfer colitis. VSOPs present a potential contrast agent for contrast-enhanced MRI to detect intestinal inflammation in mice at an early stage and in a less invasive manner depending on hyaluronic acid content. KW - Inflammation KW - Imaging KW - Immunohistochemistry KW - MRI KW - Nanoparticle KW - Extracellular matrix KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-555395 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.862212 SN - 1664-042X VL - 13 IS - July 2022 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-55539 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kader, A. A1 - Brangsch, J. A1 - Reimann, C. A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Mangarova, D. B. A1 - Moeckel, J. A1 - Adams, L. C. A1 - Zhao, J. A1 - Saatz, Jessica A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Buchholz, R. A1 - Karst, U. A1 - Hamm, B. A1 - Makowski, M. R. T1 - Visualization and Quantification of the Extracellular Matrix in Prostate Cancer Using an Elastin Specific Molecular Probe N2 - One of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men is prostate cancer (PCa). Understanding tumor progression can help diagnose and treat the disease at an early stage. Components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) play a key role in the development and progression of PCa. Elastin is an essential component of the ECM and constantly changes during tumor development. This article visualizes and quantifies elastin in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a small molecule probe. Results were correlated with histological examinations. Using an elastin-specific molecular probe, we were able to make predictions about the cellular structure in relation to elastin and thus draw conclusions about the size of the tumor, with smaller tumors having a higher elastin content than larger tumors. Human prostate cancer (PCa) is a type of malignancy and one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in men. Elastin is an important component of the extracellular matrix and is involved in the structure and organization of prostate tissue. The present study examined prostate cancer in a xenograft mouse model using an elastin-specific molecular probe for magnetic resonance molecular imaging. Two different tumor sizes (500 mm3 and 1000 mm3) were compared and analyzed by MRI in vivo and histologically and analytically ex vivo. The T1-weighted sequence was used in a clinical 3-T scanner to calculate the relative contrast enhancement before and after probe administration. Our results show that the use of an elastin-specific probe enables better discrimination between tumors and surrounding healthy tissue. Furthermore, specific binding of the probe to elastin fibers was confirmed by histological examination and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Smaller tumors showed significantly higher signal intensity (p > 0.001), which correlates with the higher proportion of elastin fibers in the histological evaluation than in larger tumors. A strong correlation was seen between relative enhancement (RE) and Elastica–van Gieson staining (R2 = 0.88). RE was related to inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry data for Gd and showed a correlation (R2 = 0.78). Thus, molecular MRI could become a novel quantitative tool for the early evaluation and detection of PCa. KW - Magnetic resonance imaging KW - MRI KW - Molecular imaging KW - Cancer KW - LA-ICP-MS PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-538410 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10111217 VL - 10 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53841 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adamus, A. A1 - Ali, I. A1 - Vasileiadis, V. A1 - Al-Hileh, L. A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Frank, M. A1 - Seitz, G. A1 - Engel, N. T1 - Vincetoxicum arnottianum modulates motility features and metastatic marker expression in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma by stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton N2 - Background: Prevention of metastatic invasion is one of the main challenges in the treatment of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Still the therapeutic options are limited. Therefore, an anti-tumor screening was initiated focusing on the anti-metastatic and anti-invasion properties of selected medicinal plant extracts and phytoestrogens, already known to be effective in the prevention and treatment of different cancer entities. Methods: Treatment effects were first evaluated by cell viability, migration, invasion, and colony forming assays on the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RH-30 in comparison with healthy primary cells. Results: Initial anti-tumor screenings of all substances analyzed in this study, identified the plant extract of Vincetoxicum arnottianum (VSM) as the most promising candidate, harboring the highest anti-metastatic potential. Those significant anti-motility properties were proven by a reduced ability for migration (60%), invasion (99%) and colony formation (61%) under 48 h exposure to 25 μg/ml VSM. The restricted motility features were due to an induction of the stabilization of the cytoskeleton – actin fibers were 2.5-fold longer and were spanning the entire cell. Decreased proliferation (PCNA, AMT, GCSH) and altered metastasis (e. g. SGPL1, CXCR4, stathmin) marker expression on transcript and protein level confirmed the significant lowered tumorigenicity under VSM treatment. Finally, significant alterations in the cell metabolism were detected for 25 metabolites, with levels of uracil, N-acetyl serine and propanoyl phosphate harboring the greatest alterations. Compared to the conventional therapy with cisplatin, VSM treated cells demonstrated a similar metabolic shutdown of the primary cell metabolism. Primary control cells were not affected by the VSM treatment. Conclusions: This study revealed the VSM root extract as a potential, new migrastatic drug candidate for the putative treatment of pediatric alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma with actin filament stabilizing properties and accompanied by a marginal effect on the vitality of primary cells. KW - Mass Spectroscopy KW - Metabolomics KW - Cancer PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-533530 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-021-03299-x VL - 21 IS - 1 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-53353 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -