TY - JOUR A1 - Amiri, Hesam A1 - Nikookhesal, Aidin A1 - Murugan, Divagar A1 - Scholz, Stefan A1 - Frentzen, Michael A1 - Cao, Yuan A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Stockmann, Jörg M. A1 - Vu, Xuan-Thang A1 - Narayanan, Madaboosi S. A1 - Knoch, Joachim A1 - Ingebrandt, Sven A1 - Adeli, Mohsen A1 - Pachauri, Vivek T1 - High precision correlative analysis of dielectric behavior evolution and anisotropy in graphene oxide thin film as a function of thermal annealing parameters N2 - Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) attract keen interest from different science and technology sectors owing to their tunable material characteristics dependent on C/O ratio. Thermal annealing in different gaseous environments serves as an effective approach to manipulate the C/O ratio in graphitic lattice, making it suitable for various electronic, optical and composites applications. Despite regular use of thermal annealing, systematic studies on dielectric properties evolution in GO against different annealing parameters remain elusive. This work reports on a reliable approach that adopts a joint Raman Spectroscopy, Mueller Matrix Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (MMSE) and high-precision electrical impedance spectroscopy (HP-EIS) framework for studying the evolution of dielectric behavior and anisotropies in GO. The experimental platform involved lithography-defined GO patterns connected to metal microelectrodes and glass passivation for protection from gaseous environments during annealing and measurements using Raman, MMSE and HP-EIS. The presented study delineates the effects of annealing parameters such as temperature, heating rate, and gaseous environment on GO permittivity. Novel findings include the discovery of a direct relationship between heating rate and dielectric properties, as well as determination of vertical limitation of MMSE for permittivity distribution characterization in GO, for the first time, to be around 8 nm. KW - Thermal annealing KW - Reduced graphene oxide KW - Thin films KW - 2D materials KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-652428 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nwnano.2025.100130 SN - 2666-9781 VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-65242 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Rajotte, Isabelle A1 - Thibeault, Marie-Pier A1 - Sander, Philipp C. A1 - Kodra, Oltion A1 - Lopinski, Gregory A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Johnston, Linda J. A1 - Brinkmann, Andreas A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Quantifying surface groups on aminated silica nanoparticles of different size, surface chemistry, and porosity with solution NMR, XPS, optical assays, and potentiometric titration N2 - We assessed the quantification of surface amino functional groups (FGs) for a large set of commercial and custom-made aminated silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) with sizes of 20–100 nm, prepared with different sol–gel routes, different amounts of surface amino FGs, and different porosity with four methods providing different, yet connected measurands in a bilateral study of two laboratories, BAM and NRC, with the overall aim to develop standardizable measurements for surface FG quantification. Special emphasis was dedicated to traceable quantitative magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) performed with dissolved SiO2 NPs. For the cost efficient and automatable screening of the amount of surface amino FGs done in a first step of this study, the optical fluorescamine assay and a potentiometric titration method were utilized by one partner, i.e., BAM, yielding the amount of primary amino FGs accessible for the reaction with a dye precursor and the total amount of (de)protonatable FGs. These measurements, which give estimates of the minimum and maximum number of surface amino FGs, laid the basis for quantifying the amount of amino silane molecules with chemo-selective qNMR with stepwise fine-tuned workflows, involving centrifugation, drying, weighting, dissolution, measurement, and data evaluation steps jointly performed by BAM and NRC. Data comparability and relative standard deviations (RSDs) obtained by both labs were used as quality measures for method optimization and as prerequisites to identify method-inherent limitations to be later considered for standardized measurement protocols. Additionally, the nitrogen (N) to silicon (Si) ratio in the near-surface region of the SiO2 NPs was determined by both labs using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a well established surface sensitive analytical method increasingly utilized for microparticles and nano-objects which is currently also in the focus of international standardization activities. Overall, our results underline the importance of multi-method characterization studies for quantifying FGs on NMs involving at least two expert laboratories for effectively identifying sources of uncertainty, validating analytical methods, and deriving NM structure–property relationships. KW - Advanced Materials KW - Amino Groups KW - Calibration KW - Characterization KW - Functional groups KW - Method Comparison KW - Nano Particle KW - Validation KW - XPS KW - Optical Assay KW - Quantification KW - Surface Analysis KW - Reference Materials KW - Synthesis KW - Fluorescence PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-649992 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5na00794a VL - 7 IS - 21 SP - 6888 EP - 6900 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-64999 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schusterbauer, Robert A1 - Schünemann, Pia A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Er, Jasmin A1 - Kämmer, Victoria A1 - Junge, Florian A1 - Fazzani, Salim A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Haag, Rainer A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen T1 - Bifunctional Reduced Graphene Oxide Derivatives for PFOA Adsorption N2 - Innovative materials are crucial for removing persistent pollutants per‐ and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from water. Here, a novel bifunctional reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) adsorbent is developed and characterized by advanced surface sensitive methods. Compared to pristine TRGO, the functionalized TRGO shows markedly improved PFAS removal efficiency and demonstrates strong potential for water purification applications. KW - Adsorber KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-651238 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ceur.202500240 SN - 2751-4765 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-65123 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Smerechuk, Anastasiia A1 - Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Büchner, Bernd A1 - Wurmehl, Sabine A1 - Morrow, Ryan T1 - Synthesis and properties of Sr2La2NiW2O12, a new S = 1 triangular lattice magnet N2 - Magnetic materials featuring triangular arrangements of spins are frequently investigated as platforms hosting magnetic frustration. Hexagonal perovskites with ordered vacancies serve as excellent candidates for two-dimensional triangular magnetism due to the considerable separation of the magnetic planes. In this work, the effects of chemical pressure on the ferromagnetic ground state of Ba2La2NiW2O12 by substitution of Ba2+ with Sr2+ to produce Sr2La2NiW2O12 are investigated. The two materials are characterized using synchrotron-based XRD, XANES and EXAFS in addition to magnetometry in order to correlate their crystal structures and magnetic properties. Both materials form in space group R 3, yet as a result of the enhanced bending of key bond angles due to the effects of chemical pressure, the T C value of the magnetic Ni2+ sublattice is reduced from ∼6 K in Ba2La2NiW2O12 to 4 K in Sr2La2NiW2O12. KW - XRD KW - Magnetic materials KW - EXAFS PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-652982 DO - https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052520624007091 SN - 2052-5206 VL - 80 IS - 5 SP - 467 EP - 473 PB - International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) AN - OPUS4-65298 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Guitton-Spassky, Tiffany A1 - Schade, Boris A1 - Zoister, Christian A1 - Veronese, Eleonora A1 - Rosati, Marta A1 - Baldelli Bombelli, Francesca A1 - Cavallo, Gabriella A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Ghermezcheshme, Hassan A1 - Makki, Hesam A1 - Netz, Roland R. A1 - Ludwig, Kai A1 - Metrangolo, Pierangelo A1 - Singh, Abhishek Kumar A1 - Haag, Rainer T1 - Fluorinated Hexosome Carriers for Enhanced Solubility of Drugs N2 - Designing nanomaterials for drug encapsulation is a crucial, yet challenging, aspect for pharmaceutical development. An important step is synthesizing amphiphiles that form stable supramolecular systems for efficient drug loading. In the case of fluorinated drugs, these have superior properties and also a tendency toward reduced water solubility. For the first time, we report here fluorinated hexosome carriers made from nonionic dendritic amphiphiles, capable of encapsulating the fluorinated drug Leflunomide with high efficiency (62 ± 3%) and increasing its solubility by 12-fold. We synthesized amphiphiles with varying tail groups (fluorinated/alkylated), and their supramolecular self-assembly was investigated using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering. Furthermore, Leflunomide and its equivalent nonfluorinated counterpart were encapsulated within fluorinated and nonfluorinated assemblies. Self-assembly and encapsulation mechanisms were well supported by coarse-grained molecular simulations, yielding a fundamental understanding of the new systems. KW - PEFAS KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - Reference method PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-632002 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.5c00198 SN - 2691-3704 VL - 5 IS - 5 SP - 2223 EP - 2236 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-63200 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Qiang A1 - Heuchel, Matthias A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Machatscheck, Rainhard T1 - The role of diffusion in the hydrolytic degradation of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid): A molecular perspective N2 - This research emphasizes the importance of internal surface erosion as a key factor in the hydrolytic degradation of PLGA (poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)) providing an alternative view of the established surface and bulk erosion degradation modes. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, this study reveals the role of water and oligomer diffusion during the degradation of PLGA and highlights the importance of water channels formed as the overall water content increases. We found that these continuous water channels play a crucial role in accelerating the transport of water and the release of degradation products from the polymer matrix, as the diffusion coefficients of water and small oligomers exhibit significant differences spanning 2 to 3 orders of magnitude between the water and polymer phases. Water follows a different diffusion mechanism than polymer fragments. The diffusion rate of the fragments up to a size of octamers was found to be size-dependent and reasonably well approximated by a 1/N behavior, in line with the Rouse model. KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - Nanostructure KW - PLGA PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-621250 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2024.111119 VL - 232 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-62125 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lange, Alyna A1 - Holtzheimer, Lea A1 - Clarke, Coby A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Taubert, Andreas T1 - Complex Self-Organization in n-Alkylammonium Sulfobetaine Zwitterions with High Thermal Stabilities and High Expansion Coefficients N2 - Sulfobetaine zwitterions made from n-alkyl dimethylamines and butanesultone yield a series of n-alkylammonium sulfobetaine zwitterions with complex self-organization behavior. The compounds are thermally quite stable and the length of the alkyl chain directly affects all phase transition temperatures of the compounds: the longer the alkyl chain, the higher the transition temperature. All compounds exhibit lamellar order and the different phases are characterized by a lower temperature orthorhombic and a higher temperature hexagonal in-plane order. The phase transition from the orthorhombic to the hexagonal phase is always associated with an increase of the long period. The phase transition is also associated with a rather high thermal expansion coefficient. KW - SAXS KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - Nanostructure PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626276 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c02892 SN - 1520-5827 VL - 41 SP - 4422 EP - 4434 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-62627 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kieserling, Helena A1 - Sieg, Holger A1 - Heilscher, Jasmin A1 - Drusch, Stephan A1 - Braeuning, Albert A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Rohn, Sascha T1 - Towards Understanding Particle-Protein Complexes: Physicochemical, Structural, and Cellbiological Characterization of β-Lactoglobulin Interactions with Silica, Polylactic Acid, and Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanoparticles N2 - Nanoplastic particles and their additives are increasingly present in the food chain, interacting with biomacromolecules with not yet known consequences. A protein corona forms around the particles in these usually complex matrices, primarily with a first contact at surface-active proteins. However, systematic studies on the interactions between the particles and proteins –especially regarding protein affinity and structural changes due to surface properties like polarity – are limited. It is also unclear whether the protein corona can "mask" the particles, mimic protein properties, and induce cytotoxic effects when internalized by mammalian cells. This study aimed at investigating the physicochemical properties of model particle-protein complexes, the structural changes of adsorbed proteins, and their effects on Caco-2 cells. Whey protein β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg) was used as a well-characterized model protein and studied in a mixture with nanoparticles of varying polarity, specifically silica, polylactic acid (PLA), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The physicochemical analyses included measurements of the hydrodynamic diameter and the zeta potential, while the protein conformational changes were analyzed using Fourier-transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and intrinsic fluorescence. Cellular uptake in Caco-2 cells was assessed through flow cytometry, cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium-bromide (MTT) assay, and cellular impedance was analyzed with xCELLigence® technology. The results indicated that β-Lg had the highest affinity for hydrophilic silica particles, forming silica-β-Lg complexes and large aggregates through electrostatic interactions. The affinity decreased for PLA and was lowest for hydrophobic PET, which formed smaller complexes. Adsorption onto silica caused partial unfolding and refolding of β-Lg. The silica-β-Lg complexes were internalized by Caco-2 cells, impairing cell proliferation. In contrast, PLA- and PET-protein complexes were not internalized, though PLA complexes slightly reduced cell viability. This study enhances our understanding of protein adsorption on nanoparticles and its potential biological effects. KW - Nanoplastics KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Scattering KW - DLS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-630093 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2025.114702 SN - 1873-4367 VL - 253 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier BV CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-63009 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mikhlin, Yuri A1 - Muzikansky, Anya A1 - Zysler, Melina A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Zitoun, David T1 - Emerging electrochemistry of high-concentration colloids: Redox-activity, wide potential window and electrophoretic transport of iron oxide nanoparticles N2 - High-concentration, steric stabilizer free colloids and particularly their electrochemical behavior remains almost unexplored. Herein, we report on the electrochemistry (cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, etc.) of highly concentrated aqueous colloidal dispersion up to 800 g/L of citrate-capped ∼11 nm Fe3-xO4 nanoparticles (NPs) without background electrolyte on glassy carbon electrodes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was applied to analyze the reaction products. Solid-state Fe(II)/Fe(III) conversion was concluded to determine the cathodic and anodic faradaic reactions of the particles, with the currents depending on approximately square root of the concentration. The electrochemical reactions are coupled with the electrophoretic transfer of the negatively charged NPs on toward the anode, with the ohmic-type behavior in the bulk demonstrated by the nearly linear voltametric cathodic curves and frequency-independent impedance above ∼10–100 Hz. Accumulation and clogging of the NPs retards diffusion near anode. Hydrogen and especially oxygen evolution are arrested, and very large oxidation overpotentials result in extraordinary wide, up to 12 V, electrochemical window of water stability. The findings shed light onto basic features of the electrochemistry of high-concentration colloids without added electrolyte and their potential applications in redox flow batteries, electrophoretic deposition and beyond. KW - Nanoplastics KW - SAXS KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-644340 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139247 SN - 0021-9797 VL - 703 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-64434 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chowdhary, S. A1 - Moschner, J. A1 - Mikolajczak, D. J. A1 - Becker, M. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Kästner, Claudia A1 - Klemczak, D. A1 - Stegemann, A.-K. A1 - Böttcher, C. A1 - Metrangolo, P. A1 - Netz, R. R. A1 - Koksch, B. T1 - The Impact of Halogenated Phenylalanine Derivatives on NFGAIL Amyloid Formation N2 - The hexapeptide hIAPP22–27 (NFGAIL) is known as a crucial amyloid core sequence of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) whose aggregates can be used to better understand the wild‐type hIAPP′s toxicity to β‐cell death. In amyloid research, the role of hydrophobic and aromatic‐aromatic interactions as potential driving forces during the aggregation process is controversially discussed not only in case of NFGAIL, but also for amyloidogenic peptides in general. We have used halogenation of the aromatic residue as a strategy to modulate hydrophobic and aromatic‐aromatic interactions and prepared a library of NFGAIL variants containing fluorinated and iodinated phenylalanine analogues. We used thioflavin T staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) to study the impact of side‐chain halogenation on NFGAIL amyloid formation kinetics. Our data revealed a synergy between aggregation behavior and hydrophobicity of the phenylalanine residue. This study introduces systematic fluorination as a toolbox to further investigate the nature of the amyloid self‐assembly process. KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - Nanoparticle KW - Nanostructure KW - Peptide KW - Amyloid PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-518632 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202000373 VL - 21 IS - 24 SP - 3544 EP - 3554 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51863 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -