TY - JOUR A1 - Almalla, A. A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Fischer, Daniel A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem A1 - Witt, Julia T1 - Development of layer-by-layer assembled thin coatings on aluminium alloy AA2024-T3 for high resolution studies of local corrosion processes N2 - The aim of this study is to develop nanometer-thin epoxy-based films on aluminium alloy AA2024-T3 as a model coating system for high resolution corrosion studies. Spin coating was used for the layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition of poly-(ethylenimine) (PEI) and poly([o-cresyl glycidyl ether]-co-formaldehyde) (CNER) bilayers. The film chemistry and the cross-linking process were characterized by means of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Ellipsometric data confirmed the linear increase of film thickness. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results indicate the improvement of the film barrier properties with increasing film thickness. Mapping of the topography and the volta potential was performed by means of scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM). The results indicate the presence of a homogeneous film structure, while the intermetallic phases can still be identified below the coating. The SKPFM Analysis confirmed that the model films are suitable for investigation of corrosion processes at the coating/metal interface. KW - Spectroscopy KW - Coatings KW - Electrochemistry KW - Microscopy KW - Resins PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-514627 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/app.49826 SN - 0021-8995 VL - 137 IS - 48 SP - e49826-1 EP - e49826-9 PB - Wiley CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-51462 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR nPSize Improved Traceability Chain of Nanoparticle Size Measurement - Outcomes for the Strategy/Metrology Groups of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies N2 - The main outcomes of the EMPIR project nPSize are presented and the suitability of the new capabilities (e.g. reference materials, measurement procedures, VAMAS inter-laboratory comparisons) to be standardized and implemented in accredited analytical laboratories is discussed. Complementation and/or filling gaps of published and ongoing standardisation projects on size, shape and number concentration measurements under ISO/TC 229/JWG 2 are offered. T2 - Annual Meeting of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies - Strategy and Metrology Groups CY - Online meeting DA - 06.11.2020 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size KW - nPSize KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - ISO/TC 229 KW - VAMAS PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51544 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hunter, R. D. A1 - Rowlandson, J. L. A1 - Smales, Glen Jacob A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Ting, V. P. A1 - Kulak, A. A1 - Schnepp, Z. T1 - The effect of precursor structure on porous carbons produced by iron-catalyzed graphitization of biomass N2 - This paper reports a systematic study into the effect of different biomass-derived precursors on the structure and porosity of carbons prepared via catalytic graphitization. Glucose, starch and cellulose are combined with iron nitrate and heated under a nitrogen atmosphere to produce Fe3C nanoparticles, which catalyze the conversion of amorphous carbon to graphitic nanostructures. The choice of organic precursor provides a means of controlling the catalyst particle size, which has a direct effect on the porosity of the material. Cellulose and glucose produce mesoporous carbons, while starch produces a mixture of micro- and mesopores under the same conditions and proceeds via a much slower graphitization step, generating a mixture of graphitic nanostructures and turbostratic carbon. Porous carbons are critical to energy applications such as batteries and electrocatalytic processes. For These applications, a simple and sustainable route to those carbons is essential. Therefore, the ability to control the precise structure of a biomass-derived carbon simply through the choice of precursor will enable the production of a new generation of energy materials. KW - SAXS KW - Porous carbons KW - Graphitization KW - Iron nanoparticles KW - Catalysis KW - Gas sorption PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-515531 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0ma00692k VL - Royal Society of Chemistry SP - 1 EP - 11 AN - OPUS4-51553 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bresch, Harald T1 - Standard Operating Procedures in the digital context N2 - The intention of the presentation is to inspire a discussion on the needs and challenges for the digitalisation of SOPs. SOPs are available for the disciplines of physical-chemical characterisation, for toxicology, for environmental applications and for exposure applications. Furthermore the SOPs need to be integrated in the regulatory framework and need to be detailed enough for the digital processing. This is highlighted in this presentation. T2 - Nanosafety 2020 CY - Online meeting DA - 07.10.2020 KW - Nano KW - SOP KW - NFDI KW - Digitalisation KW - Operating Procedure PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51491 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Omar, Hassan A1 - Qu, Xintong A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Resolving the mystery of the molecular dynamics of epoxy-based materials using broadband dielectric spectroscopy and hypheneated calorimetry N2 - A detailed calorimetric and dielectric study on two epoxy-based nanocomposite system was performed employing bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) cured with diethylenetriamine (DETA) and methyl tetrahydrophtalic acid anhydride (MTHPA) aas the polymer matrix and taurine-modified MgAL layered double hydroxide (T-LDH) and boehmite as nanofiller. The molecular dynamics investigation revealed an intrinsic structural heterogeneity of the epoxy materials. Moreover the polymer/particle interphase was qualitatively and quantitavely investigated. T2 - Online International Dielectric Society 2020 Workshop CY - Online meeting DA - 28.09.2020 KW - Interfaces KW - Nanocomposites KW - Rigid amorphous fraction KW - BDS KW - TMDSC PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51492 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kuchenbecker, Petra T1 - Praktische Erfahrungen zur Granulometrie von Pulvern im Submikron- und Nanobereich N2 - Der Vortrag beleuchtet insbesondere die Herausforderungen die sich bei der Dispergierung der Nanopulver aufgrund der hohen Adhäsivkräfte ergeben. Die Bewertung der Probenpräparation ist nur indirekt zugänglich, aber essentiell für die Zuverlässigkeit der Messergebnisse. Anhand von Beispielen werden Lösungsvorschläge aufgezeigt. Der Vortrag schließt mit einem Vorschlag zur Strategie der Herangehensweise bei der Partikelgrößenbestimmung von Nanopulvern. T2 - Sitzung des Fachausschusses "Material- und Prozessdiagnostik" der Deutschen Keramischen Gesellschaft: Zuverlässige granulometrische Charakterisierung von Mikro- und Nanopulvern – Voraussetzung für optimierte Keramikwerkstoffe in der Energietechnik CY - Online meeting DA - 19.11.2020 KW - Nano-powder KW - particle size determination KW - dispersion KW - sample preparation PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51665 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Standardisation of concentration measurements of extracellular vesicles for medical diagnoses N2 - Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived particles in body fluids, which have excellent potential as next generation biomarkers for the early diagnosis of common diseases, such as cancer and thrombosis. This project aims to tap into the clinical potential of EVs by developing traceable measurements of number concentration, size distribution, refractive index (RI) and fluorescence intensity of cell-specific EVs in human blood and urine. To realise our aims, we will develop synthetic reference materials with physical properties resembling EVs (WP1), instrumentation and procedures to standardise EV measurements in clinical laboratories (WP2), and ready-to-use biological test samples (WP3). These will then be evaluated in an inter-laboratory comparison study across a range (>20) of standard flow cytometers in clinical labs (WP4). T2 - MetVesII M18 Interim Meeting CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 20.10.2020 KW - EMPIR 18HLT01 MetVesII KW - Extracellular vesicles (EV) KW - Flow cytometry (FCM) KW - Reference materials KW - Fluorescent particles KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51653 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Introduction to Fluorescence Spectroscopy N2 - A brief introduction to fluorescence spectroscopy will be provided, ranging from typically measured fluorescence quantities over instrument-specific contributions to measured fluorescence signals to selected applications. In this context, an overview of the photoluminescence properties of molecular and nanoscale luminescence reporters will be given including a brief insight into their photophysics and fluorescence standards designed by division Biophotonics for the calibration and instrument performance validation of fluorescence measuring devices will be presented. T2 - Analytical Academy CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 13.01.2020 KW - Linearity KW - Fluorescence KW - Dye KW - Quality assurance KW - Nnano particle KW - Method KW - Measurement uncertainty KW - Quantification PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51618 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Introduction to Fluorescence Spectroscopy N2 - A brief introduction to fluorescence spectroscopy will be provided, ranging from typically measured fluorescence quantities over instrument-specific contributions to measured fluorescence signals to selected applications. In this context, an overview of the photoluminescence properties of molecular and nanoscale luminescence reporters will be given including a brief insight into their photophysics and fluorescence standards designed by division Biophotonics for the calibration and instrument performance validation of fluorescence measuring devices will be presented. T2 - Analytical Academy BAM CY - Online meeting DA - 17.11.2020 KW - Fluorescence KW - Quality assurance KW - Quantification KW - Linearity KW - Measurement uncertainty KW - Method KW - Nano particle KW - Dye PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51619 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Typical Measurements in Optical Spectroscopy – Absorption Spectroscopy or Photometry N2 - The basics of absorption spectroscopy (termed also photometry) will be presented with focus on transparent solutions of different molecular and nanocrystalline absorbers and the ultraviolet (UV), visible (vis), and near-infrared (NIR) spectral region. Thereby, also typical sources of uncertainty will be addressed. Subsequently, several examples for typical applications of absorption measurements in the life and material sciences will be briefly shown ranging from aggregation studies and dye labeling densities of biomolecules (dye-to-biomolecule ratios) over optical assays for thiol and protein quantification to the optical determination of the size of semiconductor nanocrystals using size curves. T2 - pHD Seminar CY - Online meeting DA - 03.11.2020 KW - Quantification KW - Absorption KW - Dye KW - Nano particle KW - Method KW - Measurement uncertainty KW - Linearity PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51621 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - You Ask – ACEnano Replies N2 - The workshop starts with introductory information about the workshop and the H2020 project ACEnano, followed by two expert round tables, focussing on how the project could address regulator and industry needs, respectively. This is be followed by parallel sessions on tools (based on preferences expressed by those registered to attend, see “Questions”) and finally a question-and-answer session with the attendees. The experts invited in Round Table 1 have been prepared to answer to questions related to obstacles and advantages for stakeholders such as SMEs to use the ACEnano approaches/tools. Standardisation needs are discussed. T2 - nanoSafety Cluster Training (NSC) Day @ NanoSAFE 2020: ACEnano users’ workshop “You Ask – ACEnano Replies” CY - Online meeting DA - 23.11.2020 KW - ACEnano KW - Standardisation KW - Nanomaterials KW - Nano-characterisation PY - 2020 UR - https://www.nanosafetycluster.eu/ SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-51693 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Marcoulaki, E. A1 - M López de Ipiña, J. A1 - Vercauteren, S. A1 - Witters, H. A1 - Lynch, I. A1 - van Duuren-Stuurman, B. A1 - Shandilya, N. A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Bard, D. A1 - Evans, G. A1 - Viitanen, A.-K. A1 - Pilou, M. A1 - Bochon, A. A1 - Duschl, A. A1 - Himly, M. A1 - Geppert, M. A1 - Persson, K. A1 - Cotgreave, I. A1 - Niga, P. A1 - Scalbi, S. A1 - Caillard, B. A1 - Arevalillo, A. A1 - Jensen, K. A. A1 - Frejafon, E. A1 - Bouillard, J. A1 - Aguerre-Chariol, O. A1 - Dulio, V. T1 - Blueprint for a sustainable new European Centre to support safe innovation for nanotechnology N2 - This paper presents the blueprint for the operation of a sustainable and permanent European Centre of collaborating reference laboratories and research centres, to establish a one-stop shop for a wide variety of nanosafety related services, and to provide a central contact point for questions about nanosafety in Europe. The Centre aims to harmonise service provision, and bring novel risk assessment and management approaches closer to practice. T2 - NANOSAFE 2020 CY - Online meeting DA - 16.11.2020 KW - EC4SafeNano KW - European Centre KW - Nanomaterials KW - Nanosafety KW - Catalogue of Services (CoS) PY - 2020 UR - https://www.nanosafe.org/cea-tech/pns/nanosafe/en AN - OPUS4-51694 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bennet, Francesca A1 - Burr, L. A1 - Schmid, D. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Towards a method for quantitative evaluation of nanoparticles in suspension via Microprinting and SEM analysis N2 - A series of different nanoparticle suspensions (Gold, Latex, and SiO2 in varying concentrations) were microprinted onto TEM grids in a 4 x 4 array in the concentration range 7x10^8 to 1x10^11 NP/mL and imaged with SEM and TSEM. Concentrations and printing conditions (temperature, relative humidity) were varied in order to minimize the coffee ring effect. T2 - nanoSAFE 2020 CY - Online meeting DA - 16.11.2020 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Microprinting KW - Image analysis PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51699 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Kranjc, E. A1 - Bohmer, N. A1 - Drobne, D. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Testing the quality of nanomaterial properties data for nano-risk assessment – towards guidance for all types of users N2 - Data quality is a vast term, which comprises the completeness, relevance (adequacy), and reliability of data. So far, many attempts to assure data quality have been pursued, and evaluation criteria for data quality have been established. One relatively novel but already well-known aspect of data quality refers to the concept of data FAIRness, which states that data should be: findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. In order to find, use, and access data, a user has to be guided properly. Such guidelines already exist for regulators and the scientific community. However, a ‘simple’ non-academic user from general society is very unlikely to be able to access or understand such data. Our objective in the H2020 project NANORIGO is to help and guide all types of users (i.e., scientists, regulators, industry workers, citizens, etc.) to access and make use of high-quality data and information from available and suitable data repositories in order to increase the transparency of and trust in nanotechnology. T2 - nanoSAFE 2020 CY - Online Meeting DA - 16.11.2020 KW - Nano-related data KW - Nanomaterial properties KW - Nano-risk assessment PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51701 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Michaelis, Matthias A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Würth, Christian T1 - Time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy for monitoring the stability and dissolution behaviour of upconverting nanocrystals with different surface coatings† N2 - We demonstrate the potential of time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy for the straightforward assessment and in situ monitoring of the stability of upconversion nanocrystals (UCNPs). Therefore, we prepared hexagonal NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ UCNPs with various coatings with a focus on phosphonate ligands of different valency, using different ligand exchange procedures, and studied their dissolution behaviour in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) dispersions at 20 °C and 37 °C with various analytical methods. The amount of the released UCNPs constituting fluoride ions was quantified by potentiometry using a Fluoride ion-sensitive electrode and particle disintegration was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy studies of the differently aged UCNPs. In parallel, the luminescence features of the UCNPs were measured with special emphasis on the lifetime of the sensitizer emission to demonstrate its suitability as Screening parameter for UCNP stability and changes in particle composition. The excellent correlation between the changes in luminescence lifetime and fluoride concentration highlights the potential of our luminescence lifetime method for UCNP stability screening and thereby indirect monitoring of the release of potentially hazardous fluoride ions during uptake and dissolution in biological systems. Additionally, the developed in situ optical method was used to distinguish the dissolution dynamics of differently sized and differently coated UCNPs. KW - Fluorescence KW - Lifetime KW - Method KW - Quantification KW - Stability KW - Coating KW - Surface chemistry KW - Lanthanide KW - Fluoride KW - Electrochemistry KW - ICP-OES KW - Upconversion KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Aging KW - Quality assurance KW - TEM PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nr02931a VL - 12 IS - 23 SP - 12589 EP - 12601 PB - Royal Society od Chemistry AN - OPUS4-52088 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) N2 - As one of the widely used analytical methods for the analysis of elemental composition of solid matter, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) has recently gained significant importance regarding its application to the chemical analysis of nanoparticles, especially in conjunction with the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the use of the transmission operation mode of SEM (STEM-in-SEM). This development was mainly driven by the technological progress with highly sensitive EDS detectors, such that individual nanoparticles can be quickly inspected with EDS at a SEM. Qualitative information on elemental composition with about 10 nm spatial resolution can be achieved complementary to the high-resolution information of the sample surface morphology within the same scanned area as provided by the electron microscope. Representative examples with successful EDS analysis on nanoparticles are presented, but also limitations of the method are described. KW - EDS KW - EPMA KW - X-rays KW - SEM/EDS PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00021-3 SP - 397 EP - 417 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-49991 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Pauli, Jutta A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin T1 - Standardization of Flourescence Measurements in the UV/VIS/NIR/IR at BAM N2 - Photoluminescence techniques are amongst the most widely used tools in the life sciences, with new and exciting applications in medical diagnostics and molecular imaging continuously emerging. Advantages include their comparative ease of use, unique sensitivity, non-invasive character, and potential for multiplexing, remote sensing, and miniaturization. General drawbacks are, however, signals, that contain unwanted wavelength- and polarization contributions from instrument-dependent effects, which are also time-dependent due to aging of instrument-components, and difficulties to measure absolute fluorescence intensities. Moreover, scattering systems require special measurement geometries and the interest in new optical reporters with emission > 1000 nm strategies for reliable measurements in the second diagnostic for the comparison of material performance and the rational design of new fluorophores with improved properties. Here, we present strategies to versatile method-adaptable liquid and solid fluorescence standards for different fluorescence parameters. Examples are multi-emitter glasses, spectral fluorescence standards, and quantum yield standards for the UV/vis/NIR. T2 - Konsortiumtreffen Mikroskopie CY - Universität Münster, Germany DA - 20.01.2020 KW - Fluorescence standard KW - Instrument calibration KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Fluorescence quantum yield KW - Fluorescent glasses KW - Fluorescence microscopy KW - Particle, imaging PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-50308 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Marcoulaki, E. A1 - van Duuren, B A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Shandilya, N. T1 - Testing and benchmarking nanosafety services N2 - One of the objectives of the EU Project EC4SafeNano (European Centre for Risk Management and Safe Innovation in Nanomaterials & Nanotechnologies) was to test and benchmark the services in order to check their relevance to address identified stakeholder needs, but also to evaluate the governance of the structure delivering the proposed services. The aim is to demonstrate the technical relevance of the services and the overall open structure organisation, including governance rules and operating procedures, by answering relevant identified questions (case studies) selected by a panel of stakeholders. Therefore, a significant part of the project will be devoted to this demonstration of the operational and functional basis of the organized network. T2 - Review Meeting EC4SafeNano CY - Brussels, Belgium DA - 16.01.2020 KW - Nanosafety KW - EC4SafeNano KW - Nanosafety services KW - EU KW - Case studies PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-50273 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina T1 - Spatial Inhomogeneity, Interfaces and Complex Vitrification Behavior of Epoxy and Corresponding Nanocomposites by Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy and Hyphenated Calorimetry N2 - Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) with inorganic nanofillers dispersed in a polymer matrix have been widely studied from the 1990s, since the pioneering work by Toyota Central Research. The possibility of producing advanced tailor-made, light weight and low-cost materials, inspired academic and commercial research towards numerous potential applications, facilitating PNCs to become a billion-dollar global industry. The introduction of nanoparticles (NPs) to a polymer matrix is expected to result in improved properties. The outstanding performance of PNCs is determined not only by the characteristics of the used components but also by their phase morphology, including the dispersion of NPs and interfacial properties. Understanding of structure-property relationships is particularly important for polymer nanocomposites with high industrial significance, such as epoxy-based materials reinforced with inorganic nanofillers. These PNCs have been successfully adopted by the marine, automotive and aerospace industries, although they are still rarely studied on a fundamental level. Therefore, this thesis aims for a detailed understanding of the structure, molecular mobility and vitrification kinetics first, of two epoxy-based materials with different network structures and second, of the corresponding nanocomposites with different alumina-based nanofillers. The first system considered (EP/T-LDH) was based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA) cured with diethylenetriamine (DETA) and taurine-modified layered double hydroxide (T-LDH) NPs. The taurine molecule bears additional functionalities that could enhance the interactions between the matrix and the nanofiller, improving the interphase formation. The seconds system (EP/BNP) was based on DGEBA and methyl tetrahydrophtalic acid anhydride (MTHPA) as a hardener, reinforced with boehmite nanoparticles (BNPs). The comparison of the two systems enables for a comparative study on the effect of different hardeners and the morphology and modification of the alumina-based nanofillers on the material behavior. The materials were investigated employing complementary techniques with different sensitivities and frequency windows. The following methodology was used: transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small – and wide – angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), calorimetry in a form of conventional DSC and fast scanning calorimetry (FSC), as well as specific heat spectroscopy (SHS) in a form of temperature modulated DSC, temperature modulated FSC and static FSC by calculating the thermal relaxation rates from the cooperativity approach. The FSC method (based on adiabatic chip calorimetry to probe micrometer-sized samples) was successfully employed in this work, exploiting all its possibilities for the first time in literature for a PNC. Moreover, a systematic analysis technique was established to overcome the problem of vague glass transition regions observed for highly loaded PNCs in the heat flow and heat capacity curves. First, TEM, SAXS/WAXS and indirectly BDS and SHS were employed to obtain the information about the approximate morphology of the PNCs. It was found that epoxy-based materials exhibit a structural heterogeneity in a form of regions with different average crosslinking density. This was indicated by multiple-peak scattering pattern of the polymer matrix and two distinct α-processes (dynamic glass transition) related to the cooperative fluctuation of the epoxy network found by BDS and SHS. This was described for the first time for epoxy-based materials. The two α-relaxations were evidenced differently for the two systems, which is related to different network structures and dipole moments due to the employed hardeners. Nevertheless, structural heterogeneity is an intrinsic feature of these materials, independent of the type of hardener used for the network formation and nanofiller. In addition, matrix inhomogeneities were more pronounced with increasing nanoparticle content. Furthermore, a powerful new technique was applied for X-ray scattering data, using Monte Carlo fits, to describe the NPs dispersion throughout the whole sample volume (as opposed to the local investigations performed by most researches). Additional structural information of the two systems was extracted by BDS and SHS, such as qualitative and quantitative estimation of polymer segments physically adsorbed and/or chemically bonded onto the nanoparticles. Due to the immobilized character of this interphase with respect to the cooperative segmental motions, it is denoted as a rigid amorphous fraction (RAF). For instance, on the contrary to EP/BNP, for EP/T-LDH a dielectrically active process was found, related to the localized fluctuations within RAF. Moreover, the amount of RAF in EP/T-LDH was reaching up to 40 wt % of the system, whereas in EP/BNP it ranged between 1-7 wt %. In the latter case the presence of NPs was found to simultaneously increase and decrease the number of mobile segments, due to the interphase formation and changes in crosslinking density. The difference between the two systems was ascribed to the presence of additional amine functionalities in the T-LDH nanofiller. Second, employing BDS and SHS, a systematic study on the effect of NPs on the segmental dynamics was performed. For example, depending on the nanofiller, the α-processes related to regions with higher crosslinking density was found to shift to higher and lower temperatures with increasing T-LDH and BNPs concentration, respectively. The observed difference is due to the different synergism of the polymer matrix with the nanofiller. Third, a detailed investigation of the vitrification kinetics was performed with DSC and FSC. The concentration dependence of the glass transition temperature was found, similar to the behavior of the α-processes. It was shown that, in parallel to the detected main glass transition, epoxy-based materials can exhibit an additional low temperature vitrification mechanism. As expected from the two distinct α-processes, this behavior was however not discussed in prior studies for an unfilled network former. This finding was correlated to the structural heterogeneity evidenced by other techniques. This thesis, dealing with an in-depth research on the epoxy-based materials that are already successfully employed in numerous applications underlines the necessity of more fundamental research in this field. It shines light on the complexity of these systems and contributes to defining how the structure-property relationships can be determined by combining multiple experimental techniques and analytical methodology. T2 - PhD defense CY - Online meeting DA - 18.12.2020 KW - Interfaces KW - Nanocomposites KW - Rigid amorphous fraction KW - TMDSC KW - BDS PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-52035 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pu, Y. A1 - Lawrence, M. J. A1 - Celorrio, V. A1 - Wang, Q. A1 - Gu, M. A1 - Sun, Z. A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Russell, A. E. A1 - Huang, L. A1 - Rodriguez, P. T1 - Nickel confined in 2D earth-abundant oxide layers for highly efficient and durable oxygen evolution catalysts N2 - Low cost, high-efficiency catalysts towards water splitting are urgently required to fulfil the increasing demand for energy. In this work, low-loading (<20 wt%) Ni-confined in layered metal oxide anode catalysts (birnessite and lepidocrocite titanate) have been synthesized by facile ion exchange methodology and subjected to systematic electrochemical studies. It was found that Ni-intercalated on K-rich birnessite (Ni-KMO) presents an onset overpotential (ηonset) as low as 100 mV and overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 (η10) of 206 mV in pH = 14 electrolyte. By combining electrochemical methods and X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies (XAS and XES), we demonstrate Ni sites are the active sites for OER catalysis and that the Mn3+ sites facilitate Ni intercalation during the ion-exchange process, but display no observable contribution towards OER activity. The effect of the pH and the nature of the supporting electrolyte on the electrochemical performance was also evaluated. KW - Confined catalyst KW - Low-loading KW - Layered manganese oxide KW - Oxygen evolution reaction KW - Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-515027 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TA04031B SN - 2050-7496 SN - 2050-7488 VL - 8 IS - 26 SP - 13340 EP - 13350 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-51502 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -