TY - JOUR
A1 - Maisuls, I.
A1 - Wang, Cui
A1 - Gutierrez Suburu, M. E.
A1 - Wilde, S.
A1 - Daniliuc, C.-G.
A1 - Brunink, D.
A1 - Doltsinis, N. L.
A1 - Ostendorp, S.
A1 - Kösters, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Strassert, C. A.
T1 - Ligand-controlled and nanoconfinement-boosted luminescence employing Pt(II) and Pd(II) complexes: from color-tunable aggregation-enhanced dual emitters towards self-referenced oxygen reporters
N2 - In this work, we describe the synthesis, structural and photophysical characterization of four novel Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes bearing tetradentate luminophoric ligands with high photoluminescence quantum yields (FL) and long excited state lifetimes (s) at room temperature, where the results were interpreted by means of DFT calculations. Incorporation of fluorine atoms into the tetradentate ligand favors aggregation and thereby, a shortened average distance between the metal centers, which provides accessibility to metal–metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (3MMLCT) excimers acting as red-shifted Energy traps if compared with the monomeric entities. This supramolecular approach provides an elegant way to enable room-temperature phosphorescence from Pd(II) complexes, which are otherwise quenched by a thermal population of dissociative states due to a lower ligand field splitting. Encapsulation of These complexes in 100 nm-sized aminated polystyrene nanoparticles enables concentration-controlled aggregation-enhanced dual emission. This phenomenon facilitates the tunability of the absorption and emission colors while providing a rigidified environment supporting an enhanced FL up to about 80% and extended s exceeding 100 ms. Additionally, these nanoarrays constitute rare examples for selfreferenced oxygen reporters, since the phosphorescence of the aggregates is insensitive to external influences, whereas the monomeric species drop in luminescence lifetime and intensity with increasing triplet molecular dioxygen concentrations (diffusion-controlled quenching).
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Multiplexing
KW - Lifetime
KW - Bead
KW - Particle
KW - Dye
KW - Barcoding
KW - Encoding
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Label
KW - Reporter
KW - Pd(II)
KW - Pt(II)
KW - Complex
KW - NMR
KW - X-ray
KW - Sythesis
KW - Aggregation
KW - Monomer
KW - Color
PY - 2021
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-525288
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sc06126c
VL - 12
IS - 9
SP - 3270
EP - 3281
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry
AN - OPUS4-52528
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Pauli, Jutta
A1 - Weigert, Florian
T1 - Quantitative optical-spectroscopic characterization of luminescent nanomaterials - Photoluminescence Quantum Yields
N2 - Accurate and quantitative photoluminescence measurements are mandatory for the comparison of different emitter classes and the rational design of the next generation of molecular and nanoscale reporters as well as for most applications relying on their luminescence features in the life and material sciences and nanobiophotonics. In the following, procedures for the determination of the spectroscopic key parameter photoluminescence quantum yield, i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons, in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR are presented including pitfalls and achievable uncertainties and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes are addressed. Special emphasis is dedicated to luminescent nanocrystals.
T2 - International Workshop on "Emerging Nanomaterials for Displays and SSL"
CY - Dresden, Germany
DA - 11.11.2021
KW - Nano
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Nanocrystal
KW - Semiconductor quantum dot
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Brightness
KW - NIR
KW - SWIR
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Rreference material
PY - 2021
AN - OPUS4-53783
LA - deu
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Design, characterization, and application of fluorescent sensor particles
N2 - pH and oxygen are amongst the most important and frequently measured analytes in the life and material sciences, indicating, e.g., diseases and corrosion processes. This includes the optical monitoring of pH in living cells for studying cellular internalization pathways, such as phagocytosis, endocytosis, and receptor ligand internalization with the aid of molecular and nanoscale fluorescent sensors. Nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors, that are labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes, have several advantages as compare to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, i.e., amplified signals, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, this can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments. Versatile templates and carriers for the fabrication of nanosensors by the staining and/or labelling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules or surface functionalized NP like silica (SiO2-NP) and polystyrene (PS-NP) particles provide. Here we present the design of a versatile platform of color emissive nanosensors and stimuli-responsive microparticles for the measurement of pH, oxygen, and other targets utilizing both types of matrices and sets of spectrally distinguishable sensor and reference dyes and their characterization and demonstrate the applicability of representative sensor particle for cellular studies.
T2 - Vortrag bei dem Projekttreffen MicraGen
CY - Copenhagen, Denmark
DA - 18.08.2022
KW - Dye
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Photophysics
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Standard
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Sensor
KW - pH
KW - Oxygen
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Cancer
KW - Cell
KW - Life sciences
PY - 2022
AN - OPUS4-57049
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wang, P.
A1 - Morales-Marquez, R.
A1 - Cervas, G.
A1 - Hernandez Medel, A.
A1 - Ogayar, M. P.
A1 - Jimenez de Aberasturi, D.
A1 - de Isidro-Gomez, A. I.
A1 - Torres-Padro, A.
A1 - Palomares, F. J.
A1 - Garcia-Orrit, S.
A1 - Sousa, C. T.
A1 - Espinosa, A.
A1 - Telle, H. H.
A1 - Ortgies, D. H.
A1 - Vega-Mayoral, V.
A1 - Cabanillas-Gonzalez, J.
A1 - Rodriguez, E. M.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Juarez, B. H.
T1 - The role of temperature in the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of Ag2S-based nanocrystals
N2 - Highly emissive Ag2S nanocrystals (NCs) passivated with a gradated shell incorporating Se and Zn were synthesized in air, and the temperature dependence of their photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) was quantified in both organic and aqueous media at B1200 nm. The relevance of this parameter, measured at physiological temperatures, is highlighted for applications that rely on the near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence of NCs, such as deep NIR imaging or luminescence nanothermometry. Hyperspectral NIR imaging shows that Ag2S-based NCs with a PLQY in organic media of about 10% are inefficient for
imaging at 40 8C through 20 mm thick tissue with low laser irradiation
power densities. In contrast, water-transferred Ag2S-based NCs with an
initial PLQY of 2% in water exhibit improved robustness against temperature changes, enabling improved imaging performance.
KW - Quantum dots
KW - Ag2S
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nanomaterial design
KW - Advanced nanomaterials
KW - Shortwave infrared (SWIR)
KW - Temperature sensing
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-613877
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D4MH01016G
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
AN - OPUS4-61387
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Amorphous, fluorescent silica particles for bioimaging applications
N2 - Nowadays amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NP) are one of the most abundant engineered nanomaterials, with an annual production of hundreds of thousands of tons, that are used in a broad field of industrial products and processes. Since SiO2 NP are highly stable and easily produced on a large scale at low cost, they are widely employed as fillers for rubbers and composites, absorbents, catalysts, advanced coating additives as well as plant growth agents in agriculture, anti-caking agents in food products, or as carrier material in cosmetic industry. Moreover, they are promising candidates for colloidal scaffolds in biomedical applications like bioimaging, sensing or controlled drug delivery. SiO2 NP modified with luminescent chromophores have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, ease of designing ratiometric systems, and increased photostability. Here we present our work on multicolored SiO2 NP for imaging and sensing applications.
T2 - FUNGLASS Workshop
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 06.03.2024
KW - Sensors
KW - Nano
KW - Particles
KW - Silica
KW - Luminescence
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Method
KW - Synthesis
KW - Dye
KW - pH
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62167
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Schlögl, Johanna
A1 - Krappe, Alexander R.
A1 - Fürstenwerth, Paul C.
A1 - Brosius, Amelie L.
A1 - Fasting, Carlo
A1 - Hoffmann, Kurt F.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Eigler, Siegfried
A1 - Steinhauer, Simon
A1 - Riedel, Sebastian
T1 - Luminescent Perhalofluoro Trityl Radicals
N2 - In this proof-of-concept study, we show that polyfluorinated trityl radicals with the, to this date, highest fluorination grade can be accessed in quantitative yields in a straightforward manner starting from the perfluorinated trityl cation. The trityl skeleton is functionalized with trimethylsilyl halides to yield perhalofluoro trityl cations, which are subsequently reduced using commercial zinc powder. In this way, we prepare three perhalofluoro trityl radicals and analyze the impact of the fluorine ligands on their electro-optical properties, revealing some interesting trends. In comparison to literature-known polychlorinated trityl radicals, the new polyfluorinated derivatives exhibit substantially higher fluorescence quantum yields, longer luminescence lifetimes, and an expanded emission range that extends into the yellow spectral region. They further display enhanced photostability under light irradiation. In radical-stained polystyrene nanoparticles, an additional broad emission band in the red−NIR wavelength region is observed, which is attributed to excimer formation. Finally, the stability of the new radicals is investigated under ambient conditions, showing the slow conversion with atmospheric oxygen yielding the respective peroxides, which are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All in all, our study extends the present scope of luminescent trityl radicals, as the functionalization of the perfluorinated cationic precursor unlocks the path toward a vast variety of polyfluorinated trityl radicals.
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Radical
KW - Synthesis
KW - Mechanism
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Characterization
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Polarity
KW - Polymer
KW - Solvatchromism
KW - Excimer
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647973
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c16418
SN - 0002-7863
VL - 147
IS - 46
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
AN - OPUS4-64797
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Meng, M.
A1 - Zhang, R.
A1 - Zhenlong, F.
A1 - Yang, J.
A1 - Ansari, A.
A1 - Ou, Jun
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Retracted article: Effect of Ca2+ doping on the upconversion luminescence properties of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ nanoparticles and study of its temperature measurement performance
N2 - A solvothermal method was used to prepare a series of Yb3+/Tm3+/Ca2+ co-doped NaYF4 nanoparticles with different Ca2+ contents. Strong upconversion blue fluorescence could be observed under 980 nm laser excitation of the samples. The effect of different Ca2+ contents on the luminescence intensity was investigated, and it was found that the UV-vis upconversion luminescence increased and then decreased with an increasing Ca2+ concentration during the increase of the Ca2+ content from 0 mol% to 25 mol%, reaching the strongest fluorescence at 15 mol%, which was up to about 28 times stronger than that without Ca2+ doping. Furthermore, the mechanism was investigated, and it was found that the doping of Ca2+ disrupted the symmetry of the crystal field, resulting in a significant enhancement of the overall fluorescence. Applied to fluorescence intensity ratio thermometry, the absolute and relative sensitivities are as high as 0.0418 K−1 and 2.31% K−1, respectively, with a minimum temperature resolution of 0.0129 K.
KW - Sensor
KW - Temperature
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Luminescence
KW - Nanoparticles
KW - Upconversion
KW - Advanced materials
PY - 2022
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CE00562J
SN - 1466-8033
VL - 24
IS - 27
SP - 4887
EP - 4898
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-56952
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bertorelle, F.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Berkulic, M. P.
A1 - Fakhouri, H.
A1 - Comby-Zerbino, C.
A1 - Sagar, A.
A1 - Bernadó, P.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Bonacic-Koutecký, V.
A1 - Le Guével, X.
A1 - Antoine, R.
T1 - Tailoring the NIR-II Photoluminescence of Single Thiolated Au25 Nanoclusters by Selective Binding to Proteins
N2 - Atomically precise gold nanoclusters are a fascinating class of nanomaterials that exhibit molecule-like properties and have outstanding photoluminescence (PL). Their ultrasmall size, molecular chemistry, and biocompatibility make them extremely appealing for selective biomolecule labeling in investigations of biological mechanisms at the cellular and anatomical levels. In this work, we report a simple route to incorporate a preformed Au25 nanocluster into a model bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. A new approach combining small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling provides a clear localization of a single Au25 within the protein to a cysteine residue on the gold nanocluster surface.
Attaching Au25 to BSA strikingly modifies the PL properties with enhancement and a redshift in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. This study paves the way to conrol the design of selective sensitive probes in biomolecules through a ligand-based strategy to enable the optical detection of biomolecules in a cellular environment by live imaging.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Aggregation
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Cluster
KW - Nano
KW - Metal
KW - NIRII
KW - SWIR
KW - Sensor
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Photophysics
KW - Synthesis
KW - Protein
KW - Imaging
KW - Bioimaging
KW - Ligand
KW - Gold
PY - 2022
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202200570
SN - 1521-3765
VL - 28
IS - 39
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - Wiley-VCH
CY - Weinheim
AN - OPUS4-55077
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Cheng, Z.
A1 - Meng, M.
A1 - Qiao, X.
A1 - Liu, Y.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Ou, J.
T1 - The synthesis of Er3+/Yb3+/K+ triple-doped NaYF4 phosphors and its high sensitivity optical thermometers at low power
N2 - Optical Thermometry is popular among researchers because of its non-contact, high sensitivity, and fast measurement properties. In the present experiment, Er3+/Yb3+/K+ co-doped NaYF4 nanoparticles with different K+ concentrations were synthesized by solvothermal method, and the samples showed bright upconversion green emission under the excitation of a 980 nm laser. The powder X-ray diffractometer and transmission electron microscope were used to characterize the crystal structure and its surface morphology, respectively. The spectral characteristics of nanoparticles with K+ doping concentration from 10% to 30% (Molar ratio) were investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy, and it was observed that the fluorescence intensity reached the maximum at the K+ concentration of 20%, after which the intensity weakened when the K+ content continued to increase. According to the dependence between the luminescence intensity of the sample and the laser power density and fluorescence lifetime, the intrinsic mechanism was carefully investigated. Temperature-dependent spectra of the samples were recorded in the temperature range of 315–495 K, and the maximum values of absolute sensitivity (Sa) and relative sensitivity (Sr) were measured at 0.0041 K−1 (455 K) and 0.9220%K−1 (315 K). The experimental results show that K+/Er3+/Yb3+ triple-doped NaYF4 green fluorescent nanoparticles (GFNs) have good prospects for applications in display devices, temperature sensing, and other fields.
KW - K+ doped
KW - Upconversion luminescence
KW - Optical temperature sensing
KW - Thermal coupling energy level
PY - 2023
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.168299
VL - 937
SP - 1
EP - 9
PB - Elsevier B.V.
AN - OPUS4-57106
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Geißler, Daniel
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Fischer, C.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Exploring Simple Particle-Based Signal Amplification Strategies in a Heterogeneous Sandwich Immunoassay with Optical Detection
N2 - Heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays are widely used for biomarker detection in bioanalysis and medical diagnostics. The high analyte sensitivity of the current “gold standard” enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) originates from the signal-generating enzymatic amplification step, yielding a high number of optically detectable reporter molecules. For future point-of-care testing (POCT) and point-of-need applications, there is an increasing interest in more simple detection strategies that circumvent time-consuming and temperature-dependent enzymatic reactions. A common concept to aim for detection limits comparable to those of enzymatic amplification reactions is the usage of polymer nanoparticles (NP) stained with a large number of chromophores. We explored different simple NP-based signal amplification strategies for heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays
that rely on an extraction-triggered release step of different types of optically detectable reporters. Therefore, streptavidinfunctionalized polystyrene particles (PSP) are utilized as carriers for (i) the fluorescent dye coumarin 153 (C153) and (ii) hemin (hem) molecules catalyzing the luminol reaction enabling chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Additionally, (iii) NP labeling with hemin-based microperoxidase MP11 was assessed. For each amplification approach, the PSP was first systematically optimized regarding size, loading concentration, and surface chemistry. Then, for an immunoassay for the inflammation marker C- eactive protein (CRP), the analyte sensitivity achievable with optimized PSP
ystems was compared with the established ELISA concept for photometric and CL detection. Careful optimization led to a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 ng/mL for MP11-labeled PSP and CL detection, performing similarly well to a photometric ELISA (0.13 ng/mL), which demonstrates the huge potential of our novel assay concept.
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Immunoassay
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Antibody
KW - Polymer
KW - Dye
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - CRP
KW - Biosensing
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597853
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c03691
SN - 1520-6882
VL - 96
IS - 13
SP - 5078
EP - 5085
PB - American Chemical Society
CY - Columbus, Ohio
AN - OPUS4-59785
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - GEN
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Zou, Shan
A1 - Johnston, Linda
T1 - Behind the Paper: Nanoscale Reference and Test Materials for the Validation of Characterization Methods for Engineered Nanomaterials – Current State, Limitations and Needs
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) of different material composition, morphology, and surface chemistry are widely used in material and life sciences. For NM quality control and risk assessment, NM key properties must be characterized with validated methods, requiring reference materials (RMs).
KW - Engineered Nanomaterials
KW - Nanoscale reference materials
KW - Interlaboratory comparisons
KW - Traceability
KW - Standardization and Regulation
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Surface chemistry
PY - 2025
UR - https://communities.springernature.com/posts/nanoscale-reference-and-test-materials-for-the-validation-of-characterization-methods-for-engineered-nanomaterials-current-state-limitations-and-needs
SP - 1
EP - 3
PB - Springer Nature
CY - Online
AN - OPUS4-62572
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Haroun, A. A. A.
A1 - Derbala, H. A.
A1 - Bassioni, G.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Shafik, E. S.
A1 - Hassan, A. M. A.
T1 - N-aminophthalimide as a novel UV-stabilizer to promote physico-mechanical properties of highdensity polyethylene (HDPE)
N2 - This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Naminophthalimide (NAP) as a novel UV-stabilizer for highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) in improving its physicomechanical properties under UV exposure. NAP was synthesized by interaction between phthalimide and hydrazine hydrate. It was incorporated into HDPE with different weight ratios (1, 1.5, 2, and 3%), and its performancewas compared with Hostavin as a traditional UV stabilizer. The HDPE composites were exposed to UV irradiation for different periods (7 and 14 days) to evaluate their photodegradation behavior. Tensile strength, elongation at break were assessed before and after UV exposure. Also, oxidation induction time (OIT), melt flow rate (MFR), Vicat softening temperature were evaluated. Hostavin incorporation reduced tensile strength from 22.36 to 20.62MPa at higher concentrations. It has been found that 3% Hostavin, significantly improved elongation at break, increasing from 423% to 1,170%, suggesting enhanced flexibility. In contrast, NAP increased tensile strength to 22.9MPa and moderately enhanced elongation but slightly declined at 3%due to potential over-stabilization. Under UV exposure, retained tensile strength and elongation was improved with stabilizer content, which increasing tensile strength retention. The HDPE that containing NAP showed enhanced UV resistance and superior retention of mechanical properties compared to Hostavin.
KW - Polymer
KW - Advanced materials
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Stabilizer
KW - Synthesis
KW - Physico-mechanical properties
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1515/polyeng-2024-0262
SN - 2191-0340
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - De Gruyter
CY - Berlin
AN - OPUS4-63534
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Reliable Photoluminescence Quantum Yields – New Reference Materials and Interlaboratory Comparisons
N2 - The rational design and choice of molecular and nanoscale reporters, the comparison of different emitter classes, and photophysical and mechanistic studies require quantitative photoluminescence measurements and the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons. This is of special importance for all photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR. To improve the reliability and comparability of photoluminescence and QY measurements across laboratories, pitfalls, achievable uncertainties, and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes must be explored. Also, suitable protocols and reference materials are needed which have been validated in interlaboratory comparisons for different wavelength regions and transparent and scattering luminophores.[1]
Based on absolute and relative photoluminescence measurements of functional dyes and luminescent nanomaterials, reliable methods for determining QY of transparent and scattering luminophores, nonlinear emitters, and solid luminescent nanomaterials have been developed.[1-4] Thereby, material- and method-related uncertainties of relative and absolute QY measurements and achievable uncertainties could be quantified for linear and nonlinear UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emitters and lately for also luminescent and scattering materials and solid phoshors.
In this context, we present the development and certification of a first set of UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards with a complete uncertainty budget,[5] which present simple tools for a better comparability of QY measurements. In addition, a first interlaboratory comparison of absolute QY measurements of solid and scattering LED converter materials with integrating sphere spectroscopy has been performed.[5] The outcome of this study is presented, thereby addressing common pitfalls and measurement uncertainties and providing recommendations for the performance of reliable QY measurements of linear and non-linear emitters in transparent, scattering, and solid samples.
T2 - Anakon 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Method
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Absolute
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Dye
KW - Film
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Scattering
KW - Uncertainty
KW - LED converter
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62792
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Schweizer, S.
T1 - Interlaboratory comparison on absolute PL quantum yield measurements of scattering luminescent materials
N2 - Optical measurements of scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders play an important role in fundamental research and industry. Typical examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different composition in different matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter for the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence quantum yield QY, i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. QY of transparent luminophore solutions can be determined relatively to a fluorescence quantum yield standard of known QY. Such standards are meanwhile available as certified reference materials.[1] The determination of QY of scattering liquid and solid samples like dispersions of luminescent nanoparticles, solid phosphors, and optoceramics requires, however, absolute measurements with an integrating sphere setup. Although the importance of reliable absolute QY measurements has been recognized, no interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) on measurement uncertainties and the identification of typical sources of uncertainty have been yet reported. Also, no scattering reference materials with known QY are available.
We present here the results of a first ILC of 3 laboratories from academia and industry performed to identify and quantify sources of uncertainty of absolute QY measurements of scattering samples. Thereby, two types of commercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring QY of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors. As representative and industrially relevant solid and scattering samples, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness were chosen, applied, e.g., as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank, utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While matching QY values could be obtained for transparent dye solutions and scattering dispersions, here using a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample, QY measurements of optoceramic samples with different blanks revealed substantial differences, with the blank's optical properties accounting for measurement uncertainties of more than 20 %. Based upon the ILC results, we recommend non-absorbing blank materials with a high reflectivity (>95 %) such as a 2 mm-thick PTFE target placed on the sample holder which reveals a near-Lambertian light scattering behavior, yielding a homogeneous light distribution within the integrating sphere.
T2 - 8th IWASOM
CY - Gdánsk, Poland
DA - 07.07.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Method
KW - Sensor
KW - Film
KW - Absolute quantum yield
KW - Scattering
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconverter
KW - LED
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62100
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Osiopova, Viktoriia
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Ge, L.
A1 - Kitzmann, W. R.
A1 - Heinze, K.
A1 - Reithofer, M. R.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Complete protection of NIR-luminescent molecular rubies from oxygen quenching in air by L-arginine-mediated silica nanoparticles
N2 - The application of emerging luminophores such as near-infrared (NIR) emissive complexes based on earth-abundant chromium as central ion and triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) systems in air as optical reporters for bioimaging or photonic materials for energy conversion requires simple and efficient strategies for their complete protection from uminescence quenching by oxygen. Therefore, we explored the influence of sol–gel synthesis routes on the oxygen protection efficiency of the resulting core and core/shell silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs), utilizing the molecular ruby-type luminophores CrPF6 ([Cr(ddpd)2](PF6)3; ddpd = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-dipyridin-2-ylpyridin-2,6-diamine) and CrBF4 ([Cr(ddpd)2](BF4)3) with their oxygendependent, but polarity-, proticity-, viscosity-, and concentration-independent luminescence as optical probes for oxygen permeability. The sol–gel chemistry routes we assessed include the classical Stöber method and the underexplored Larginine approach, which relies on the controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a biphasic cyclohexane/water system with the catalyst L-arginine. As demonstrated by luminescence measurements of air- and argon-saturated dispersions of CrPF6- and CrBF4-stained SiO2 NPs of different size and particle architecture, utilizing the luminescence decay kinetics of argon-saturated solutions of CrPF6 and CrBF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) as benchmarks, only SiO2 NPs or shells synthesized by the L-arginine approach provided complete oxygen protection of the CrIII complexes under ambient conditions. We ascribe the different oxygen shielding efficiencies of the silica networks explored to differences in density and surface chemistry of the resulting nanomaterials and coatings, leading to different oxygen permeabilities. Our Larginine based silica encapsulation strategy can open the door for the efficient usage of oxygen-sensitive luminophores and TTA-UC systems as optical reporters and spectral shifters in air in the future.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced materials
KW - Nano
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Synthesis
KW - Oxygen sensing
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
KW - Cr(III) complex
KW - Shielding
KW - Sensing
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638271
DO - https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907241
SN - 1998-0000
VL - 18
IS - 3
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - SciOpen
AN - OPUS4-63827
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Yu, Z.
A1 - Musnier, B.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Henry, M.
A1 - Chovelon, B.
A1 - Desroches-Castan, A.
A1 - Fertin, A.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Bailly, S.
A1 - Coll, J.-L.
A1 - Usson, Y,
A1 - Josserand, V.
A1 - Le Gúevel, X.
T1 - High-Resolution Shortwave Infrared Imaging of Vascular Disorders Using Gold Nanoclusters
N2 - We synthesized a generation of water-soluble, atomically precise gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) with anisotropic Surface containing a short dithiol pegylated chain (AuMHA/TDT). The AuMHA/TDT exhibit a high brightness (QY ∼ 6%) in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrum with a detection above 1250 nm.
Furthermore, they show an extended half-life in blood (t1/2ß = 19.54 ± 0.05 h) and a very weak accumulation in organs. We also developed a non-invasive, whole-body vascular imaging system in the SWIR window with high-resolution, benefiting from a series of Monte Carlo image processing. The imaging process enabled to improve contrast by 1 order of magnitude and enhance the spatial Resolution by 59%. After systemic administration of these nanoprobes in mice, we can quantify vessel complexity in depth (>4 mm), allowing to detect very subtle vascular disorders non-invasively in bone morphogenetic protein 9 (Bmp9)-deficient mice. The combination of these anisotropic surface charged Au NCs plus an improved SWIR imaging device allows a precise mapping at high-resolution and an in depth understanding of the organization of the vascular network in live animals.
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nanosensor
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Metal cluster
KW - NIR
KW - SWIR
KW - Photophysics
KW - Ligand
KW - Size
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Mechanism
KW - Lifetime
KW - Decay kinetics
PY - 2020
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.0c01174
VL - 14
IS - 4
SP - 4973
EP - 4981
PB - ACS Publication
AN - OPUS4-50671
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Reliable measurements of the photoluminescence quantum yield of transparent and scattering luminophores
N2 - Optical measurements of transparent solutions of organic dyes and semiconductor quantum dots and scattering materials such as luminescent nanocomposites and microparticles and phosphors dispersed in liquid and solid matrices play an important role in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. A key performance parameter is the photoluminescence quantum yield QY, i.e., the number of emitted per number of absorbed photons. QY of transparent luminophore solutions can be obtained relative to a fluorescence QY standard of known QY.[1] Meanwhile, a first set of certified fluorescence QY standards is available.[2] Such relative QY measurements require a calibrated spectrofluorometer.[1,3] For determining QY of scattering liquid and solid samples, absolute measurements of QY with a calibrated integrating sphere setup are mandatory.[1,4,5] However, scattering QY standards are not available and uncertainties of such measurements have not yet been assessed in interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs).
To determine typical sources of uncertainty of absolute QY measurements, we assessed the influence of the measurement geometry and the optical properties of the blank for determining the number of incident photons absorbed by the sample in an ILC using commercial integrating sphere setups and a custom-designed integrating sphere setup. Samples examined included transparent and scattering dye solutions, solid phosphors such as YAG:Ce optoceramics used as LED converter material, and polymer films stained with different amounts of phosphor microparticles. Matching QY values could be obtained for transparent dye solutions and scattering dispersions with a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample, while QY measurements of optoceramic samples with different blanks revealed substantial differences of more than 20 %. Based on our data, we recommend non-absorbing blank materials with a high reflectivity (>95 %) such as a 2 mm-thick PTFE target placed on the sample holder as blanks.
T2 - eMRS 2025 Fall Meeting
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Advanced material
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Fluorescence quantum yield
KW - Phosphor
KW - Absolute
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Dye
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64184
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wang, Z.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Stiegler, L. M. S.
A1 - Zhou, X.
A1 - Rezvani, A.
A1 - Odungat, A. S.
A1 - Zubiri, B. A.
A1 - Wu, M.
A1 - Spiecker, E.
A1 - Walter, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Segets, D.
T1 - Optimizing the Shelling Process of InP/ZnS Quantum Dots Using a Single-Source Shell Precursor: Implications for Lighting and Display Applications
N2 - InP/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs), recognized as highly promising heavy-metal-free emitters, are increasingly being utilized in lighting and display applications. Their synthesis in a tubular flow reactor enables production in a highly efficient, scalable, and reproducible manner, particularly when combined with a single-source shell precursor, such as zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (Zn(S2CNEt2)2). However, the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of QDs synthesized with this route remains significantly lower compared with those synthesized in batch reactors involving multiple steps for the shell growth. Our study identifies the formation of absorbing, yet nonemissive ZnS nanoparticles during the ZnS shell formation process as a main contributing factor to this discrepancy. By varying the shelling conditions, especially the shelling reaction temperature and InP core concentration, we investigated the formation of pure ZnS nanoparticles and their impact on the optical properties, particularly PLQY, of the resultant InP/ZnS QDs through ultraviolet−visible (UV−vis) absorption, steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) measurements. Our results suggest that process conditions, such as lower shelling temperatures or reduced InP core concentrations (resulting in a lower external surface area), encourage homogeneous nucleation of ZnS. This reduces the availability of shell precursors necessary for effective passivation of the InP core surfaces, ultimately resulting in lower PLQYs. These findings explain the origin of persistently underperforming PLQY of InP/ZnS QDs synthesized from this synthesis route and suggest further optimization strategies to improve their emission for lighting and display applications.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - InP
KW - Shell
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - ZnS
KW - Semiconductor
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Flow reactor
KW - Method
KW - AUC
KW - Size
KW - Automation
KW - Sensor
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.4c05265
SN - 2574-0970
VL - 7
IS - 20
SP - 24262
EP - 24273
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-61518
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Soyka, J. P.
A1 - Witte, J. F.
A1 - Wiesner, A.
A1 - Krappe, A. R.
A1 - Wehner, D.
A1 - Alnicola, N.
A1 - Paulus, B.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Eigler, S.
T1 - [3]Radialene Fluorophores with pH-Switchable Emission and Stable Absorption Maxima
N2 - The first push–pull quino [3]radialene fluorescent dye is reported. Herein, the novel bis(dicyanomethylene)-[3]radialene electron acceptor is connected to a benzimidazole donor. With protonation, a substantial redshift of fluorescence wavelength is observed, while the absorption maximum remains stable. This process is accompanied with an increased fluorescence quantum yield to about 70%. Further, the findings are explained by a combined experimental and theoretical approach, and it is found that vibronic coupling plays a crucial role. This study highlights the yet unexplored potential of [3]radialene-based motifs for the design of environment-responsive fluorophores.
KW - DADQ
KW - Nanographene
KW - fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysic
KW - pH
KW - Probe
KW - Sensor
KW - Lifetime
KW - Polarity
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642147
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.202500669
SN - 1099-0690
SP - 1
EP - 6
PB - Wiley-VCH
CY - Weinheim
AN - OPUS4-64214
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Amouroux, B.
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Roux, C.
A1 - Eftekhari, A.
A1 - Sliwa, M.
A1 - Bouchet, A.
A1 - Micheau, J.-C.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Coudret, C.
T1 - Time-Resolved Rate Equation Analysis Disclose Kinetics Controlling Luminescence of Nanometer Tm-Upconverting Nanoparticles
N2 - Upconversion luminescence of lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) is a nonlinear step-wise process in which the consecutive absorption of multiple, low-energy photons results in the subsequent emission of a high-energy photon. The primary upconversion mechanism is energy transfer upconversion (ETU) from a sensitizer (Yb3+) to an activator (Tm3+). It requires the absorption of several excitation lowenergy photons by Yb3+, followed by the sequential energy transfer to Tm3+ions. Excited states relax to their ground states either radiatively by emitting a high-energy photon or non-radiatively by multiphonon relaxation through the crystalline host matrix. The time-resolved rise and decay luminescence curves of a set of five ultrasmall have been recorded under varying power near-infrared μs pulses. Six wavelengths have been used to monitor the evolution of the main Yb and Tm excited states. We use an average rate equations model to decipher the relationships between the compositional constraints and size of these ultrasmall UCNPs and the luminescence kinetic parameters. Several rate constants of ETU and other depopulation processes involving the multiple states of the Tm3+ energy scaffold have been retrieved from the simultaneous fit of the recorded curves. Their values have been interpreted by considering bulk and surface quenching, radiative and multi-phonon relaxations, and ion-to-ion hopping. Energy transfer between Yb3+ and Tm3+ is mainly occurring within neighbor atoms. The importance of mismatches on multiphonon relaxations, ETUs, and back-transfers has also been highlighted. For these numerical modeling, it appears that changing the composition and synthesis conditions with the aim to improve a single-specific parameter could remain a major challenge as this modification would automatically impact other properties with immediate consequences on UCNP dynamics.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Shell
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Lifetime
KW - Decay kinetics
KW - Method
KW - Modelling
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Upconversation
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c04969
VL - 128
IS - 44
SP - 18836
EP - 18848
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-61645
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Meng, M.
A1 - Zhang, T.
A1 - Wang, J.
A1 - Cheng, Z.
A1 - Liu, Y.
A1 - Qiao, X.
A1 - Wen, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Long, W.
A1 - Ou, J.
T1 - NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4:Yb3+ Upconversion Nanoparticles for Optical Temperature Monitoring and Self-Heating in Photothermal Therapy
N2 - The core−shell NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4:Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a solvothermal method, and a layer of mesoporous silica (mSiO2) was successfully coated on the periphery of the core−shell nanoparticles to transform their surface from lipophilic to hydrophilic, further expanding their applications in biological tissues. The physical phase, morphology, structure, and fluorescence properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ζ potential analysis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. It was found that the material has a hexagonal structure with good hydrophilicity and emits intense fluorescence under 980 nm pump laser excitation. The non-contact temperature sensing performance of nanoparticles was evaluated by analyzing the upconversion fluorescence of Tm3+ (1G4 → 3F4 and 3F3 → 3H6) in the temperature range of 284−344 K. The absolute and relative sensitivities were found to be 0.0067 K−1 and 1.08 % K−1, respectively, with high-temperature measurement reliability and good temperature cycling performance. More importantly, its temperature measurement in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution is accurate. In addition, the temperature of the cells can be increased by adjusting the laser power density and laser irradiation time. Therefore, an optical temperature sensing platform was built to realize the application of real-time monitoring of cancer cell temperature and the dual function of photothermal therapy.
KW - Sensor
KW - Temperature
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Tag
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nanoparticles
KW - Synthesis
KW - Environment
KW - Monitoring
KW - Sensing
KW - Nano
KW - Life sciences
KW - Upconversion
PY - 2023
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c05110
VL - 6
IS - 1
SP - 759
EP - 771
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-57081
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Meng, M.
A1 - Zhang, T.
A1 - Wang, J.
A1 - Cheng, Z.
A1 - Li, Z.
A1 - Qiao, X.
A1 - Wen, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Long, W.
A1 - Ou, Jun
T1 - Preparation of NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles and application of their fluorescence temperature sensing properties
N2 - The NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles were successfully prepared by the solvothermal method, and the samples were pure hexagonal phase with good crystallinity and homogeneous size, asevidenced by XRD and TEM analysis. The FT-IR analysis shows that β-CD is successfully encapsulated on the surface of NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4 nanoparticles. The fluorescence intensity 3and lifetime were significantly increased after coating the inert layer on the surface of core nanoparticles. After further surface modification of β-CD, the fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetime were reduced, but the overall fluorescence was stronger. Temperature measurements using the fluorescence intensity ratio technique were found to have relatively low reliability and absolute sensitivity for temperature measurements using thermally coupled energy levels. However, the reliability of temperature measurements using non-thermally coupled energy levels is significantly higher and the absolute sensitivity is much higher than for measurements at thermally coupled levels. Since the maximum absolute sensitivity, maximum relative sensitivity and minimum temperature resolution are determined to be 0.1179 K-1, 2.19 %K 1 and 0.00019 K, respectively, NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles are expected to be widely used in the biomedical field due to their feasibility, reliability, non-toxicity and harmlessness.
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface modification
KW - Fluorescence intensity ratio
KW - Thermally coupled levels
KW - Non-thermally coupled levels
PY - 2023
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2022.113389
SN - 0925-3467
VL - 136
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Elsevier B.V.
AN - OPUS4-57105
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantifying the number of total and accessible functional groups on nanomaterials
N2 - Inorganic and organic functional nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry are relevant for many key technologies of the 21st century. Decisive for most applications of NM are their specific surface properties, which are largely controlled by the chemical nature and number of ligands and functional groups (FG on the NM surface. The surface chemistry can strongly affect the physicochemical properties of NM, their charge, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, reactivity, stability, and processability and thereby their impact on the environment and biological species as well as their possible risk for human health. Thus, reliable, validated, and eventually standardized analytical methods for the characterization of NM surface chemistry, i.e., the chemical identification, quantification, and accessibility of FG and surface ligands 1,2] flanked by interlaboratory comparisons, control samples, and reference materials, 2 ,3 are of considerable importance for process and quality control of NM production and function. This is also important for the safe use of NM the design of novel NM, and sustainable concepts for NM fabrication. Here, we provide an overview of analytical methods for FG analysis and quantification and highlight method and material related challenges for selected NM. Analytical techniques address ed include electrochemical titration methods, optical assays, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vibrational (IR) spectroscopy, and X ray based and thermal analysis methods. Criteria for method classification and evaluation include the need for a signal generating label, provision of either the total or derivatizable number of FG, and suitability for process and production control.
T2 - AUC - Analytical Ultracentrifugation
CY - Nuremberg, Germany
DA - 22.07.2024
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Particle
KW - Microparticle
KW - Silica
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Polymer
KW - Surface group
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Surface modification
KW - ILC
KW - Optical assay
KW - Functional group
KW - Ligand
KW - qNMR
KW - Conductometry
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference product
KW - Reference material
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60749
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Auxillos, J.
A1 - Crouigneau, R.
A1 - Li, Y.-F.
A1 - Dai, Y.
A1 - Stigliani, A.
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Sandelin, A.
A1 - Marie, R.
A1 - Pedersen, S. F.
T1 - Spatially resolved analysis of microenvironmental gradient impact on cancer cell phenotypes
N2 - Despite the physiological and pathophysiological significance of microenvironmental gradients, e.g., for diseases such as cancer, tools for generating such gradients and analyzing their impact are lacking. Here, we present an integrated microfluidic-based workflow that mimics extracellular pH gradients characteristic of solid tumors while enabling high-resolution live imaging of, e.g., cell motility and chemotaxis, and preserving the capacity to capture the spatial transcriptome. Our microfluidic device generates a pH gradient that can be rapidly controlled to mimic spatiotemporal microenvironmental changes over cancer cells embedded in a 3D matrix. The device can be reopened allowing immunofluorescence analysis of selected phenotypes, as well as the transfer of cells and matrix to a Visium slide for spatially resolved analysis of transcriptional changes across the pH gradient. This workflow is easily adaptable to other gradients and multiple cell types and can therefore prove invaluable for integrated analysis of roles of microenvironmental gradients in biology.
KW - Bioimaging
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Cell
KW - Cancer
KW - Method
KW - Microfluids
KW - Model
KW - Calibration
KW - Sensor
KW - Ph
KW - Probe
KW - Workflow
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-604631
DO - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn3448
VL - 19
IS - 18
SP - 1
EP - 17
AN - OPUS4-60463
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Oskoei, P.
A1 - Nogueira, J.
A1 - Keller, Lisa-Marie
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Maturi, F. E.
A1 - Rühle, Bastian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Daniel-da-Silva, A. L.
A1 - Carlos, L. D.
A1 - Oliviera, H.
T1 - Effects of doxorubicin-loaded UCNP@MSN core-shell particles with a thermoresponsive nanovalve in melanoma cells
N2 - Melanoma, one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, has an increasingly higher incidence. When detected in advanced stages, tumour eradication is often incomplete, contributing to poor prognosis with conventional treatments. Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) haveunique optical properties that allow their effective use in several biomedical applications. This includes the excitability under near-infrared (NIR) excitation light, which has a relatively high penetration depth in tissue, a multitude of characteristic emission bands in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), NIR, and short-wave infrared (SWIR), along with long luminescence lifetimes, and high photostability. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with nanovalves or derived coatings have widely been used for triggered and targeted drug delivery in the past. Anticancer drugs can be loaded into the pores of MSN, enabling spatiotemporally controlled drug release.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Upconversation
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Triggered release
KW - Temperature
KW - Cell studies
KW - Drug
KW - Toxicity studies
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2024.07.237
SN - 0378-4274
VL - 399
IS - Supplement 2
SP - S89
EP - S90
PB - Elsevier B.V.
AN - OPUS4-62571
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Amouroux, B.
A1 - Eftekhari, A.
A1 - Roux, C.
A1 - Micheau, J.
A1 - Roblin, P.
A1 - Pasturel, M.
A1 - Gauffre, F.
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Sliwa, M.
A1 - Bouchet, A.
A1 - Coudret, C.
T1 - Synthesis and Emission Dynamics of Sub-3 nm Upconversion Nanoparticles
N2 - Reducing the size of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) down to a few nm yields luminescent materials containing a very small number of emitters.
Considering the bottom limit of one activator per particle ultrasmall UCNPs offer an unprecedented platform to study the contributions of the energy transfers at play in upconversion luminescence. Maintaining detectable emission despite the limited number of emitting ions and the high surface-to-volume ratio requires suitable particle architectures.
Na(Gd-Yb)F4:Tm3+ emissive sub-3 nm diameter 𝜷-phase UCNPs are prepared using a gadolinium-rich composition in situ mixing of the precursors and a microwave high-temperature cycling sequence allowing precise control of the particle size and dispersity. These cores are coated with a NaGdF4 inert shell to minimize the deleterious influence of surface quenching (SQ).
Time-resolved luminescence measurements combining standard NIR excitation of the Yb3+ sensitizer and direct UV excitation of the Tm3+ activator are performed to quantify cross relaxation and surface quenching processes.
The fine tuning of the number of activators per particle via an optimized synthesis pathway along with the use of an appropriate excitation scheme enabled to provide an accurate analysis of the different mechanisms at play in these model nanoparticles and to characterize the structure of the core-shell architecture.
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Surface modification
KW - Photophysics
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-606877
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202303283
SN - 2195-1071
SP - 1
EP - 13
AN - OPUS4-60687
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Stroyuk, O.
A1 - Raievska, O.
A1 - Barabash, A.
A1 - Batentschuk, M.
A1 - Osvet, A.
A1 - Fiedler, Saskia
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Hauch, J.
A1 - Brabec, C. J.
T1 - "Green" synthesis of highly luminescent lead-free Cs2AgxNa1-xBiyIn1-yCl6 perovskites
N2 - A new “green” and mild synthesis of highly stable microcrystalline Cs2AgxNa1-xBiyIn1-yCl6 (CANBIC) perovskites under ambient conditions was developed that is scalable to the multi-gram production. Under UV illumination, the CANBIC perovskites emit intense broadband photoluminescence (PL) with a quantum yield (QY) of 92% observed for x = 0.35 and y = 0.01-0.02. The combination of strong UV absorbance and broadband visible emission, high PL QY, and long PL lifetimes of up to 1.4 μs, along with an outstanding stability makes these CANBICs a promising material class for many optical applications.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Perovskites
KW - Solar cell
KW - Automated synthesis
KW - Green synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Absolute fluorescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Application
KW - Semiconductor
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Renewable energy
PY - 2022
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2tc02055f
SN - 2050-7526
VL - 10
IS - 27
SP - 9938
EP - 9944
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry
AN - OPUS4-55453
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wang, Cui
A1 - Kitzmann, W.R.
A1 - Weigert, Florian
A1 - Förster, Ch.
A1 - Wang, X.
A1 - Heintze, K.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Matrix Effects on Photoluminescence and Oxygen Sensitivity of a Molecular Ruby
N2 - The molecular ruby analogue [Cr(ddpd)2]3+ (ddpd=N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-dipyridine-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine) exhibits near infrared (NIR) emission with a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield ΦPL of 11 % and a lifetime of 898 μs in deaerated water at room temperature. While ligand-based control of the photophysical properties has received much attention, influences of the counter anions and microenvironment are still underexplored. In this study, the luminescence properties of the molecular ruby were systematically examined for the counter anions Cl−, Br−, [BF4]−, [PF6]−, [BPh4]−, and [BArF24]− in acetonitrile (MeCN) solution, in crystals, and embedded into polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNP). Stern-Volmer analyses of the oxygen quenching studies in the intensity and lifetime domain showed the highest oxygen sensitivity of the complexes with the counter anions of [BF4]− and [BArF24]−, which also revealed the longest luminescence lifetimes. Embedding [Cr(ddpd)2][PF6]3 in PSNPs and shielding with poly(vinyl alcohol) yields a strongly NIR-emissive oxygen-insensitive material with a record ΦPL of 15.2 % under ambient conditions.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Sensor
KW - Oxygen
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Complex
KW - Cr(III)
KW - Lifetime
KW - Ligand
KW - Solid state
KW - X-Ray analysis
KW - Structure-property relationship
KW - Nano
KW - Polymer
KW - Particle
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-546057
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cptc.202100296
SN - 2367-0932
VL - 6
IS - 6
SP - 1
EP - 9
PB - Wiley-VCH
CY - Weinheim
AN - OPUS4-54605
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Sun, C.
A1 - Schäferling, Michael
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Gradzielski, M.
T1 - Solvothermal Synthesis of Lanthanide-doped NaYF4 Upconversion
N2 - Lanthanide-doped NaYF4 upconversion nano- and microcrystals were synthesized via a facile solvothermal approach. Thereby, the influence of volume ratios of ethylene glycol (EG)/H2O, molar ratios of NH4F/RE3+ (RE3+ represents the total amount of Y3+ and rare-earth dopant ions), Gd3+ ion contents, types of activator dopant ions, and different organic co-solvents on the crystal phase, size, and morphology of the resulting particles were studied systematically. A possible formation mechanism for the growth of crystals of different morphology is discussed. Our results show that the transition from the α- to the β-phase mainly depends on the volume ratio of EG/H2O and the molar ratio of NH4F/RE3+, while the morphology and size could be controlled by the type of organic co-solvent and Gd3+ dopant ions. Furthermore, the reaction time has to be long enough to convert α-NaYF4 into β-NaYF4 during the growth process to optimize the upconversion luminescence. The formation of larger β-NaYF4 crystals, which possess a higher upconversion luminescence than smaller particles, proceeds via intermediates of smaller crystals of cubic structure. In summary, our synthetic approach presents a facile route to tailor the size, Crystal phase, morphology, and luminescence features of upconversion
materials.
KW - Nano
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Single particle
KW - Brightness
KW - NIR
KW - Synthesis
PY - 2021
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520307
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cnma.202000564
VL - 7
IS - 2
SP - 174
EP - 183
PB - Wiley
AN - OPUS4-52030
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Bastos, V.
A1 - Oskoei, P.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Saleh, Maysoon I.
A1 - Rühle, Bastian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Oliveira, H.
T1 - Stability, dissolution, and cytotoxicity of NaYF4‑upconversion nanoparticles with different coatings
N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique photophysical properties. Their utilization in biomedical applications depends on the understanding of their transformations under physiological conditions and their potential toxicity. In this study, NaYF4: Yb,Er UCNPs, widely used for luminescence and photophysical studies, were modified with a set of four different coordinatively bound surface ligands, i.e., citrate, alendronate (AA), ethylendiamine tetra(methylene phosphonate) (EDTMP), and poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAO), as well as silica coatings with two different thicknesses. Subsequently, the aging-induced release of fluoride ions in water and cell culture media and their cytotoxic profile to human keratinocytes were assessed in parallel to the cytotoxic evaluation of the ligands, sodium fluoride and the lanthanide ions. The cytotoxicity studies of UCNPs with different surface modifications demonstrated the good biocompatibility of EDTMP-UCNPs and PMAO-UCNPs, which is in line with the low amount of fluoride ions released from these samples. An efficient prevention of UCNP dissolution and release of cytotoxic ions, as well as low cytotoxicity was also observed for UCNPs with a sufficiently thick silica shell. Overall, our results provide new insights into the
understanding of the contribution of surface chemistry to the stability, dissolution behavior, and cytotoxicity of UCNPs. Altogether, the results obtained are highly important for future applications of UCNPs in the life sciences and bioimaging studies.
KW - Nano
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Excitation power density
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Coating
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-544681
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07630-5
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - Springer Nature
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-54468
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Le Guevel, X.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Baulin, V. A.
A1 - Musnier, B.
A1 - Josserand, V.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Koll, J-C
T1 - Tailoring the SWIR emission of gold nanoclusters by surface ligand rigidification and their application in 3D bioimaging
N2 - The influence of solvent polarity and surface ligand rigidification on the SWIR emission profile of gold nanoclusters with an anistropic surface was investigated. A strong enhancement of the SWIR emission band at 1200 nm was observed when measuring in different local environments: in solution, in polymer composites, and in solids. SWIR in vivo imaging of mice assisted by deep learning after intravenous administration of these gold nanoclusters provides high definition pseudo-3D views of vascular blood vessels.
KW - Nano
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Metal cluster
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor
KW - NIR
KW - SWIR
KW - Ligand
KW - Gold
KW - Mechanism
KW - Charge transfer
KW - Enhancement strategy
KW - Imaging
KW - Application
KW - Contrast agent
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543582
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D1CC06737K
VL - 58
IS - 18
SP - 2967
EP - 2970
PB - RSC
AN - OPUS4-54358
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Weinel, Kristina
A1 - Hahn, Marc Benjamin
A1 - Lubk, Axel
A1 - González Martínez, Ignacio Guillermo
A1 - Büchner, Bernd
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
T1 - Nanoparticle Synthesis by Precursor Irradiation with Low-Energy Electrons
N2 - Nanoparticles (NPs) and their fabrication routes are intensely studied for their wide range of application in optics, chemistry, and medicine. Γ-ray and ion irradiation of precursor matter are established methods that facilitate tailored NP synthesis without complicated chemistry. Here, we develop and explore NP synthesis based on irradiating precursor microparticles with low-energy electron beams. We specifically demonstrate the fabrication of plasmonic gold nanoparticles of sizes between 3 and 350 nm on an amorphous SiOx substrate using a 30 kV electron beam. By detailed comparison with electron scattering simulations and thermodynamic modeling, we reveal the dominant role of inelastic electron–matter interaction and subsequent localized heating for the observed vaporization of the precursor gold microparticles. This general principle suggests the suitability of electron-beam irradiation for synthesizing NPs of a wide class of materials.
KW - Gold Nanoparticle
KW - Scanning Electron Microscopy
KW - In situ irradiation
KW - Thermodynamic modelling
KW - Heat Transfer
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-627609
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.4c06033
SN - 2574-0970
VL - 8
IS - 10
SP - 4980
EP - 4988
PB - ACS Publications
CY - Washington, DC
AN - OPUS4-62760
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Sun, Yijuan
A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia
A1 - Valderrey, Virginia
A1 - Bell, Jérémy
A1 - Rurack, Knut
T1 - Polymerizable BODIPY probe crosslinker for the molecularly imprinted polymer-based detection of organic carboxylates via fluorescence
N2 - This contribution reports the development of a polymerizable BODIPY-type fluorescent probe targeting small-molecule carboxylates for incorporation into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The design of the probe crosslinker includes a urea recognition site p-conjugated to the 3-position of the BODIPY core and two methacrylate moieties. Titration experiments with a carboxylate-expressing antibiotic, levofloxacin (LEVO), showed a blue shift of the absorption band as well as a broadening and decrease in emission, attributed to hydrogen bonding between the probe’s urea group and the carboxylate group of the antibiotic. Using this probe crosslinker, core–shell particles with a silica core and a thin MIP shell were prepared for the detection of LEVO. The MIP exhibited highly selective recognition of LEVO, with an imprinting factor of 18.1 compared to the non-imprinted polymer. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the core–shell structure and spectroscopic studies revealed that the receptor’s positioning leads to a unique perturbation of the polymethinic character of the BODIPY chromophore, entailing the favourable responses. These features are fully preserved in the MIP, whereas no such response was observed for competitors such as ampicillin. The sensory particles allowed to detect LEVO down to submicromolar concentrations in dioxane. We have developed here for the first time a BODIPY probe for organic carboxylates and incorporated it into polymers using the imprinting technique, paving the way for BODIPY-type fluorescent MIP sensors.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - BODIPY probe
KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers
KW - Sensor Materials
KW - Dyes
KW - Water analysis
KW - Advanced materials
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-598629
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MA00476G
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
AN - OPUS4-59862
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Verhassel, Alejandra
A1 - Kimani, Martha Wamaitha
A1 - Gidwani, Kamlesh
A1 - Sandholm, Jouko
A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia
A1 - Rurack, Knut
A1 - Härkönen, Pirkko
T1 - Detection of Tn-antigen in breast and prostate cancer models by VVL-labeled red dye-doped nanoparticles
N2 - Aim: Fluorescence detection of breast and prostate cancer cells expressing Tn-antigen, a tumor marker, with Vicia villosa lectin (VVL)-labeled nanoparticles.
Materials & methods: Breast and prostate cancer cells engineered to express high levels of Tn-antigen and non-engineered controls were incubated with VVL-labeled or unlabeled red dye-doped silica-coated polystyrene nanoparticles. The binding to cells was studied with flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy.
Results: Flow cytometry showed that the binding of VVL-labeled nanoparticles was significantly higher to Tn-antigen-expressing cancer cells than controls. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that particles bound to the cell surface. According to the correlative light and electron microscopy the particles bound mostly as aggregates.
Conclusion: VVL-labeled nanoparticles could provide a new tool for the detection of Tn-antigen-expressing breast and prostate cancer cells.
KW - Breast cancer cells
KW - Fluorescence detection
KW - Lectin labeling
KW - Prostate cancer cells
KW - Silica-coated polystyrene nanoparticles
KW - Tn-antigen
KW - VVL
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-613451
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/17435889.2024.2405454
SN - 1743-5889
VL - 19
SP - 2463
EP - 2478
PB - Taylor & Francis
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-61345
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Feng, Wen
A1 - Schulz, Johannes
A1 - Wolf, Daniel
A1 - Pylypenko, Sergii
A1 - Gemming, Thomas
A1 - Weinel, Kristina
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
A1 - Büchner, Bernd
A1 - Lubk, Axel
T1 - Secondary electron emission from gold microparticles in a transmission electron microscope: comparison of Monte Carlo simulations with experimental results
N2 - We measure the electron beam-induced current to analyze the electron-induced secondary electron (SE) emission from micron-sized gold particles illuminated by 80 and 300 keV electrons in a transmission electron microscope. A direct comparison of the experimental and simulated SE emission (SEE) employing Monte Carlo scattering simulations based on the GEANT4 toolkit yields overall good agreement with a noticeable discrepancy arising from the shortcoming of the GEANT4 scattering cross sections in the low-loss regime. Thus, the electron beam-induced current analysis allows to quantify the inelastic scattering including SEE in the transmission electron microscope and provides further insight into the charging mechanisms.
KW - Electron beam-induced current
KW - Transmission electron microscopy
KW - Secondary electron emission
KW - Secondary electron yield
KW - Gold micronoparticle
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-622557
DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/ad9840
VL - 58
IS - 8
SP - 1
EP - 7
PB - IOP Publishing
CY - Bristol, GB
AN - OPUS4-62255
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Weinel, Kristina
A1 - Schultz, Johannes
A1 - Kalady, Mohammed Fayis
A1 - Wolf, Daniel
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
A1 - Lubk, Axel
T1 - Fabrication of 2-dimensional disordered assemblies of gold nanoparticles and investigation of localized surface plasmon resonances
N2 - Interaction of electromagnetic waves, such as electron beams or light, with conductive material can lead to localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) where the incoming energy can be deposited in a collective excitation of electrons of the conduction band, which in turn can result in coherent localized plasmon oscillations. LSPR in metallic nanostructures, such as nanoparticles (NPs), which are sensitive to geometry, material composition and environment, are currently utilized in a wide range of applications, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, plasmonic wave guides, improved solar cells, on-chip particle accelerators and nanoantennas. A host of studies that focus on plasmonic NPs ranging from single NPs with several shapes (cubic, spherical, tetrahedral) over 1D assemblies of NPs such as chains, to ordered 2D assemblies of NPs show an increase of the complexity regarding the hybridization behavior of LSPRs eventually lead to delocalized Surface Plasmons. Furthermore, Anderson predicted in 1977 the absence of diffusion or delocalization of waves in disordered systems, which has been discussed as the underlying mechanism for LSPRs localization in disordered metallic thin films and ultrathin 2D networks. Our aim is to further develop these studies on the surface plasmon localization in disordered structures by (1) developing a novel NPs assembly fabrication method that allows fabricating disordered assemblies of NPs of a wide range of NPs sizes, and (2) probing the LSPR with high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Moreover, the dominant dipolar interaction between the NPs, also facilitates an efficient numerical modeling of these systems, which in comparison with the experiments allows for an in-depth study of the impact of various geometric parameters as well as retardation and life-time damping on the observed localization behavior.
To synthesize 2D disordered assemblies of gold NPs on a TEM transparent silicon oxide substrate, a new synthesis routine was developed. This procedure is based on sublimation and redeposition of a gold microparticle precursor induced by an electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) operated at 30 kV. To characterize the assembly of synthesized NPs in terms of size, shape and spreading over the substrate, TEM measurements were conducted subsequently. To study LSPRs experimentally, EELS in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode was carried out. The numerical modelling of LSPRs was performed using a self-consistent dipole model.
The synthesized 2D disordered gold NPs assemblies exhibit a gradient in the NPs mean size, which ranges from 100 nm close to the precursor location down to 2 nm at a distance of more than 20 µm from the precursor location. Additionally, the interparticle distance between the gold NPs increases with increasing distance to the precursor location.
The experimental investigation as well as the numerical simulation of the LSPRs demonstrate a localization behavior that decreases toward larger energies, which is driven by the disorder of the NPs assembly (mainly the random particle distance). That localization behavior stays in contrast to what was found in ultrathin 2D gold networks showing increasing of localization towards higher LSPRs energies. By varying the geometric parameters of the NPs assembly in the simulation, we could identify the NPs thickness as the parameter, that determines the energy-dependence of the localization. Specifically, a critical thickness of approx. 10 nm separates the two localization regimes, which correlates to the energy of the dipole mode resonance crucially depending on the thickness of the NPs.
2D disordered assemblies of gold NPs of a wide range of NPs sizes and distances can be synthesized directly on thin substrates facilitating structural characterization and EELS measurements in a TEM. It could be shown that such assemblies exhibit LSPRs with a localization behavior that may be tuned by the NPs sizes (including thickness) and interparticle distances. The proposed synthesis of random NPs assemblies opens new avenues for fundamental studies on Anderson localization in disordered plasmonic structures as well as its applications such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy where localization behavior must be tuned to specific wave lengths.
T2 - 17th European Microscopy Congress (EMC 2024)
CY - Copenhagen, Denmark
DA - 26.08.2024
KW - Scanning electron microscopy
KW - Gold nanoparticle synthesis
KW - Disordered assemblies
KW - Localized surface plasmon resonances
KW - Transmission electron microscopy
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-618330
DO - https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/202412932007
VL - 129
SP - 1
EP - 2
PB - EDP Sciences
CY - Les Ulis
AN - OPUS4-61833
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
T1 - In situ electron-beam 'melting' (sublimation) of gold microparticles in the SEM
N2 - Gold micro particles have been modified in the past using the high power density of a localized electron beam of acceleration voltages above 100 kV as an energy source to transform matter at the sub-micron scale in a transmission electron microscope uses. Here, the e-beam-induced transformation of precursor microparticles employing a low-energy e-beam with an acceleration voltage of 30 kV in a scanning electron microscope is implemented. Under these conditions, the technique can be classified between e-beam lithography, where the e-beam is used to mill holes in or grow some different material onto a substrate, and e-beam welding, where matter can be welded together when overcoming the melting phase. Modifying gold microparticles on an amorphous SiOx substrate reveals the dominant role of inelastic electron-matter interaction and subsequent localized heating for the observed melting and vaporization of the precursor microparticles under the electron beam. Monte-Carlo scattering simulations and thermodynamic modeling further support the findings.
T2 - IKZ International Fellowship Award & Summer School 2025 from May 5 to 7, 2025
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 05.05.2025
KW - Gold Nanoparticle
KW - Scanning Electron Microscopy
KW - In situ irradiation
KW - Thermodynamic modelling
KW - Heat Transfer
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63256
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Andresen, Elina
T1 - Towards Development of Reference Test Materials for Metrology in Nanomedicine
N2 - The EPM-project “MetrINo” responds to the immediate metrological needs expressed by industry, regulators and policy makers for the development and validation of traceable measurement methods and reference materials (RMs) candidates for the assessment of CQAs of nanotherapeutics. The conference talk focuses on the preparation, homogeneity and stability studies of iron oxide and multi-element nanoparticles as candidate reference materials for size measurements. The developed materials aim to support the development and harmonization of traceable methodologies for nanoparticle characterization.
T2 - NME 2025
CY - Barcelona, Spain
DA - 27.05.2025
KW - IONPs
KW - Reference materials
KW - Lanthanide-based upconverting nanoparticles
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63905
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Johnston, L. J.
A1 - Zou, S.
T1 - Nanoscale reference and test materials for the validation of characterization methods for engineered nanomaterials — current state, limitations, and needs
N2 - The rational design of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) with improved functionality and their increasing industrial application requires reliable, validated, and ultimately standardized characterization methods for their application-relevant, physicochemical key properties such as size, size distribution, shape, or surface chemistry. This calls for nanoscale (certified)
reference materials (CRMs; RMs) and well-characterized reference test materials (RTMs) termed also quality control (QC) samples, assessed, e.g., in interlaboratory comparisons, for the validation and standardization of commonly used characterization methods. Thereby, increasing concerns regarding potential risks of NMs are also addressed and the road for safe and
sustainable-by-design concepts for the development of new functional NMs and their use as nanomedicines is paved. With this respect, we will provide an overview of relevant international standardization and regulatory activities, definitions, and recommendations on characterization methods and review currently available organic or inorganic nanoscale CRMs, RMs, and RTMs, including their characterization or certification. In addition, we will highlight typical applications to streamline the regulatory approval process and improve manufacturability including the special challenges imposed by the colloidal nature and sometimes limited stability of NMs. Subsequently, we will critically assess the limitations of currently available nanoscale RMs and RTMs and address the gaps to be filled in the future such as the availability of NMs that come with reference data on properties other than commonly addressed particle size, such as surface chemistry or particle number concentration, or
more closely resemble commercially available formulations or address application-relevant matrices.
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Review
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Lipid nanoparticles
KW - Metal nanoparticles
KW - Liposomes
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625746
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05719-6
SN - 1618-2650
SP - 1
EP - 21
PB - Springer
AN - OPUS4-62574
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Labrador-Paez, Lucia, L.
A1 - Kankare, J.
A1 - Hyppanen, I.
A1 - Soukka, T.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Widengren, J
A1 - Liu, H.
T1 - Frequency-Domain Method for Characterization of Upconversion Luminescence Kinetics
N2 - The frequency-domain (FD) method provides an alternative to the commonly used time-domain (TD) approach in characterizing the luminescence kinetics of luminophores, with its own strengths, e.g., the capability to decouple multiple lifetime components with higher reliability and accuracy. While extensively explored for characterizing luminophores with down-shifted emission, this method has not been investigated for studying nonlinear luminescent materials such as lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), featuring more complicated kinetics. In this work, employing a simplified rate-equation model representing a standard two-photon energy-transfer upconversion process, we thoroughly analyzed the response of the luminescence of UCNPs in the FD method. We found that the FD method can potentially obtain from a single experiment the effective decay rates of three critical energy states of the sensitizer/activator ions involved in the upconversion process. The validity of the FD method is demonstrated by experimental data, agreeing reasonably well with the results obtained by TD methods.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Luminescence
KW - Method
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lifetime
KW - Method development
PY - 2023
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597435
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00269
SP - 3436
EP - 3444
AN - OPUS4-59743
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - 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 - Career Options in Public Service
N2 - In the following, an overview of possible career options for chemists is presented covering metrology institutes, departmental research institutes of ministries, Federal and state research institutes and options in areas such as Federal or state institutions in charge of occupational safety, the German armed forces, wastewater treatment plants and labs/institutes controlling water quality, and museums. Thereby also examples and personal insights of the daily work routine are provided for some employers.
T2 - Career-Workshop ChiÖD
CY - Karlsruhe, Germany
DA - 02.04.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference analysis
KW - Standardization
KW - Metrology
KW - Reference products
KW - Reference materials
KW - Mission
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62867
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - From molecular and nanoscale chromophores with UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR luminescence to multi method characterization of surface coatings
N2 - An overview of the research activities of division Biophotonics is presented covering examples for photophysical studies of different types of molecular and nanocrystalline luminophores, luminescent particles, and sensor systems in solution, in dispersion, and in the solid state and multi-method charactreization workflow for the characterization of surface-functionalized engineered nanomaterials. In addition, the importance of reliable optical measurements, particularly standardized workflows for the determination of the key performance parameter luminescence quantum yield of transparent and scattering luminescent samples with fluorescence and integrating sphere spectroscopy, and validated methods for quantifying surface functional groups and ligands on nanomaterials is highlighted. Thereby, also ongoing standardization activities are presented as well as certified reference materials and reference materials from division Biophotonics.
T2 - Chinese-German Chemical Association - Annual Meeting
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 22.08.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor
KW - Oxygen
KW - Ph
KW - Standardization
KW - Fluorescent probe
KW - Reference material
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64181
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Clark, P.C.J
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Sear, M. J.
A1 - Favaro, M.
A1 - Girardi, L.
A1 - van de Krol, R.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Starr, D.E.
T1 - Quantification of the Activator and Sensitizer Ion Distributions in NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+ Upconverting Nanoparticles Via Depth-Profiling with Tender X-Ray Photoemission
N2 - The spatial distribution and concentration of lanthanide activator and sensitizer dopant ions are of key importance for the luminescence color and efficiency of upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). Quantifying dopant ion distributions and intermixing, and correlating them with synthesis methods require suitable analytical techniques. Here, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth-profiling with tender X-rays (2000–6000 eV), providing probe depths ideally matched to UCNP sizes, is used to measure the depth-dependent concentration ratios of Er3+ to Yb3+, [Er3+]/[Yb3+], in three types of UCNPs prepared using different reagents and synthesis methods. This is combined with data simulations and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) measurements of the lanthanide ion concentrations to construct models of the UCNPs’ dopant ion distributions. The UCNP sizes and architectures are chosen to demonstrate the potential of this approach. Core-only UCNPs synthesized with XCl3·6H2O precursors (β-phase) exhibit a homogeneous distribution of lanthanide ions, but a slightly surface-enhanced [Er3+]/[Yb3+] is observed for UCNPs prepared with trifluroacetate precursors (α-phase). Examination of Yb-core@Er-shell UCNPs reveals a co-doped, intermixed region between the single-doped core and shell. The impact of these different dopant ion distributions on the UCNP's optical properties is discussed to highlight their importance for UCNP functionality and the design of efficient UCNPs.
KW - Shell
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Nano
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Excitation power density
KW - Surface
KW - Coating
KW - Core-shell
KW - XPS
KW - Intermixing
KW - HAXPES
KW - Method
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-552075
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202107976
SN - 1613-6813
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - Wiley-VCH-Verlag
CY - Weinheim, Germany
AN - OPUS4-55207
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Kromer, C.
A1 - Schwibbert, Karin
A1 - Gadicherla, A. K.
A1 - Thiele, Dorothea
A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya
A1 - Laux, P.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Luch, A.
A1 - Tschiche, H. R.
T1 - Monitoring and imaging pH in biofilms utilizing a fluorescent polymeric nanosensor
N2 - Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature and in the man-made environment. Given their harmful effects on human health, an in-depth understanding of biofilms and the monitoring of their formation and growth are important. Particularly relevant for many metabolic processes and survival strategies of biofilms is their extracellular pH. However, most conventional techniques are not suited for minimally invasive pH measurements of living biofilms. Here, a fluorescent nanosensor is presented for ratiometric measurements of pH in biofilms in the range of pH 4.5–9.5 using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The nanosensor consists of biocompatible polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with pH-inert dye Nile Red and is surface functionalized with a pH-responsive fluorescein dye. Its performance was validated by fluorometrically monitoring the time-dependent changes in pH in E. coli biofilms after glucose inoculation at 37 °C and 4 °C. This revealed a temperature-dependent decrease in pH over a 4-h period caused by the acidifying glucose metabolism of E. coli. These studies demonstrate the applicability of this nanosensor to characterize the chemical microenvironment in biofilms with fluorescence methods.
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Sensor
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Synthesis
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nano
KW - Polymer
KW - Ph
KW - Biofilm
KW - MIC
KW - Corrosion
KW - Microorganism
KW - Bacteria
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550751
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13518-1
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
IS - 1
SP - 1
EP - 10
PB - Nature Publishing Group
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-55075
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Eckert, J. G.
A1 - Lutowski, Marc
A1 - Geißler, Daniel
A1 - Hertwig, Andreas
A1 - Hidde, Gundula
A1 - Bigall, N. C.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Influence of nanoparticle encapsulation and encoding on the surface chemistry of polymer carrier beads
N2 - Surface-functionalized polymer beads encoded with molecular luminophores and nanocrystalline emitters such as semiconductor nanocrystals, often referred to as quantum dots (QDs), or magnetic nanoparticles are broadly used in the life sciences as reporters and carrier beads. Many of these applications require a profound knowledge of the chemical nature and total number of their surface functional groups (FGs), that control bead charge, colloidal stability, hydrophobicity, and the interaction with the environment and biological systems. For bioanalytical applications, also the number of groups accessible for the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., biomolecules or targeting ligands is relevant. In this study, we explore the influence of QD encoding on the amount of carboxylic acid (COOH) surface FGs of 2 μm polystyrene microparticles (PSMPs). This is done for frequently employed oleic acid and oleylamine stabilized, luminescent core/shell CdSe QDs and two commonly used encoding procedures. This included QD addition during bead formation by a thermally induced polymerization reaction and a post synthetic swelling procedure. The accessible number of COOH groups on the surface of QD-encoded and pristine beads was quantified by two colorimetric assays, utilizing differently sized reporters and electrostatic and covalent interactions. The results were compared to the total number of FGs obtained by a conductometric titration and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, a comparison of the impact of QD and dye encoding on the bead surface chemistry was performed. Our results demonstrate the influence of QD encoding and the QD-encoding strategy on the number of surface FG that is ascribed to an interaction of the QDs with the carboxylic acid groups on the bead surface. These findings are of considerable relevance for applications of nanoparticle-encoded beads and safe-by-design concepts for nanomaterials.
KW - Optical spectroscopy
KW - Particle
KW - Optical assay
KW - IR spectroscopy
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Synthesis
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Quantification
KW - Method
KW - Conductometry
PY - 2023
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-581502
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38518-7
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 13
IS - 1
SP - 1
EP - 15
PB - Springer Nature
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-58150
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Reiber, T.
A1 - Hübner, Oskar
A1 - Dose, C.
A1 - Yushchenko, D. A.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Fluorophore multimerization on a PEG backbone as a concept for signal amplification and lifetime modulation
N2 - Fluorescent labels have strongly contributed to many advancements in bioanalysis, molecular biology, molecular imaging, and medical diagnostics. Despite a large toolbox of molecular and nanoscale fluorophores to choose from, there is still a need for brighter labels, e.g., for flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, that are preferably of molecular nature. This requires versatile concepts for fluorophore multimerization, which involves the shielding of dyes from other chromophores and possible quenchers in their neighborhood. In addition, to increase the number of readout parameters for fluorescence microscopy and eventually also flow cytometry, control and tuning of the labels’ fluorescence lifetimes is desired. Searching for bright multi-chromophoric or multimeric labels, we developed PEGylated dyes bearing functional groups for their bioconjugation and explored their spectroscopic properties and photostability in comparison to those of the respective monomeric dyes for two exemplarily chosen fluorophores excitable at 488 nm. Subsequently, these dyes were conjugated with anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 immunoglobulins to obtain fluorescent conjugates suitable for the labeling of cells and beads. Finally, the suitability of these novel labels for fluorescence lifetime imaging and target discrimination based upon lifetime measurements was assessed. Based upon the results of our spectroscopic studies including measurements of fluorescence quantum yields (QY) and fluorescence decay kinetics we could demonstrate the absence of significant dye-dye interactions and self-quenching in these multimeric labels. Moreover, in a first fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) study, we could show the future potential of this multimerization concept for lifetime discrimination and multiplexing.
KW - Imaging
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Antibody
KW - Conjugate
KW - Cell
KW - FLIM
KW - PEG
KW - Flow cytometry
KW - Lifetime
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Dye
KW - Amplification
KW - Microscopy
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602197
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62548-4
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
IS - 1
SP - 1
EP - 11
AN - OPUS4-60219
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Quantum dots
N2 - The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Aleksey I. Ekimov (prize share 1/3), Louis E. Brus (prize share 1/3), and Moungi G. Bawendi (prize share 1/3) for groundbreaking inventions in the field of nanotechnology, i.e., for the discovery and synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals, also termed quantum dots, that exhibit size-dependent physicochemical properties enabled by quantum size effects. This feature article summarizes the main milestones of the discoveries and developments of quantum dots that paved the road to their versatile applications in solid-state lighting, display technology, energy conversion, medical diagnostics, bioimaging, and image-guided surgery.
KW - Quantum dots
KW - Semiconductor nanocrystals
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Advanced nanomaterials
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Energy transfer
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597843
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05225-9
VL - 2024
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Springer
CY - Cham
AN - OPUS4-59784
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Mohammad, W.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Comby-Zerbino, C.
A1 - Trouillet, V.
A1 - Ogayer, M. P.
A1 - Coll, J.-L.
A1 - Marin, R.
A1 - Jaque Garcia, D.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Antoine, R.
A1 - Le Guevel, X.
T1 - Enhanced brightness of ultra-small gold nanoparticles in the second biological window through thiol ligand shell control
N2 - Gold-based nanoparticles below 2 nm in size are promising as luminescent probes for in vivo bioimaging, owing to their brightness and rapid renal clearance. However, their use as contrast agents in the near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) range remains challenging due to their low photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield. To address this, PL enhancement can be achieved by either rigidifying the ligand-shell structure or increasing the size of the ligand shell. In this study, we synthesized ultra-small gold nanoparticles stabilized by co-ligands, namely monothiol and short dithiol molecules. By precisely controlling the amount of reducing agent used during particle preparation, we successfully modulated the physicochemical properties of the co-ligand shell, including its size, composition, and structure. Consequently, we achieved a remarkable 60-fold increase in the absorption cross-section at 990 nm while maintaining the small size of the 1.5-nm metal core. The analytical and optical characterization of our thiol-capped gold nanoparticles indicates that the ligand shell size is governed by the quantity of the reducing agent, which, in turn, impacts the balance between radiative and non-radiative processes, thereby influencing the PL quantum yield.
KW - Gold nanocluster
KW - NIR-II fluorescence
KW - SWIR
KW - Nanomaterial design
KW - Calibrated fluorescence measurements
PY - 2023
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-588117
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TC03021K
SN - 2050-7526
VL - 11
IS - 42
SP - 14714
EP - 14724
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
AN - OPUS4-58811
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Fiedler, Saskia
A1 - Frenzel, Florian
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Grüne, M.
A1 - Schweizer, S.
A1 - Engel, A.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison on Absolute Photoluminescence Quantum Yield Measurements of Solid Light Converting Phosphors with Three Commercial Integrating Sphere Setups
N2 - Scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders are increasingly relevant for fundamental research and industry. Examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different compositions in various matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter to characterize the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence/fluorescence quantum yield (Φf), i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. To identify and quantify the sources of uncertainty of absolute measurements of Φf of scattering samples, the first interlaboratory comparison (ILC) of three laboratories from academia and industry was performed by following identical measurement protocols. Thereby, two types ofcommercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring the Φf of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors, namely, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness, used as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While the Φf values of the liquid samples matched between instruments, Φf measurements of the optoceramics with different blanks revealed substantial differences. The ILC results underline the importance of the measurement geometry, sample position, and blank for reliable Φf data of scattering the YAG:Ce optoceramics, with the blank’s optical properties accounting for uncertainties exceeding 20%.
KW - Nano
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Reference material
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Phosphor
KW - Converter material
KW - Lifetime
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Method
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600945
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00372
SN - 0003-2700
SP - 6730
EP - 6737
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-60094
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wang, Cui
A1 - Ebel, Kenny
A1 - Heinze, Katja
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Bald, Ilko
T1 - Quantum Yield of DNA Strand Breaks under Photoexcitation of a Molecular Ruby
N2 - Photodynamic therapy (PDT) used for treating cancer relies on the generation of highly reactive oxygen species, for example, singlet oxygen 1O2, by light-induced excitation of a photosensitizer (PS) in the presence of molecular oxygen, inducing DNA damage in close proximity of the PS. Although many precious metal complexes have been explored as PS for PDT and received clinical approval, only recently, the potential of photoactive complexes of nonnoble metals as PS has been discovered. Using the DNA origami technology that can absolutely quantify DNA strand break cross sections, we assessed the potential of the luminescent transition metal complex [Cr(ddpd)2]3+ (ddpd=N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-dipyridine-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine) to damage DNA in an air-saturated aqueous environment upon UV/Vis illumination. The quantum yield for strand breakage, that is, the ratio of DNA strand breaks to the number of absorbed photons, was determined to 1–4%, indicating efficient transformation of photons into DNA strand breaks by [Cr(ddpd)2]3+.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Synthesis
KW - Production
KW - Optical spectroscopy
KW - Ligand
KW - Photophysics
KW - Cr(III)
KW - Mechanism
KW - NIR
KW - PDT
KW - Singlet oxygen
KW - DNA
KW - Origami
KW - Quantum yield
PY - 2023
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-573631
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202203719
SP - 1
EP - 7
AN - OPUS4-57363
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - López-Iglesias, C.
A1 - Markovina, A.
A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, N.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Klinger, D.
T1 - Optically monitoring the microenvironment of a hydrophobic cargo in amphiphilic nanogels: influence of network composition on loading and release
N2 - Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts.
Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation.
These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels.
KW - Particle
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Limit of detection
KW - Polymer
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Nano
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Dye
KW - Probe
KW - Sensor
KW - Nile Red
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601603
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00051j
SN - 2040-3364
IS - 16
SP - 9525
EP - 9535
PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry
AN - OPUS4-60160
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
A1 - Rother, Kai Simon
A1 - Mating, Celina
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Exploring the potential of simple automation concepts for quantifying functional groups on nanomaterials with optical assays
N2 - Until now, automation in nanomaterial research has been largely focused on the automated synthesis of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) including the screening of synthesis parameters and the automation of characterization methods such as electron microscopy. Despite the rapidly increasing number of NP samples analyzed due to increasing requirements on NP quality control, increasing safety concerns, and regulatory requirements, automation has not yet been introduced into workflows of analytical methods utilized for screening, monitoring, and quantifying functional groups (FGs) on NPs. To address this gap, we studied the potential of simple automation tools for the quantification of amino surface groups on different types of aminated NPs, varying in size, chemical composition, and optical properties, with the exemplarily chosen sensitive optical fluorescamine (Fluram) assay. This broadly applied, but reportedly error-prone assay, which utilizes a chromogenic reporter, involves multiple pipetting and dilution steps and photometric or fluorometric detection. In this study, we compared the influence of automated and manual pipetting on the results of this assay, which was automatically read out with a microplate reader. Special emphasis was dedicated to parameters like accuracy, consistency, achievable uncertainties, and speed of analysis and to possible interferences from the NPs. Our results highlight the advantages of automated surface FG quantification and the huge potential of automation for nanotechnology. In the future, this will facilitate process and quality control of NP fabrication, surface modification, and stability monitoring and help to produce large data sets for nanomaterial grouping approaches for sustainable and safe-by-design, performance, and risk assessment studies.
KW - Automation
KW - Quantification of amino groups
KW - Fluorescamine assay
KW - Amorphous silica nanoparticles
KW - Iron oxide nanoparticles
KW - Upconversion nanoparticles
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6970-1
VL - 17
IS - 11
SP - 10119
EP - 10126
PB - Springer
AN - OPUS4-61459
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Sander, P. C.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Schedler, U.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Expanding the Toolbox of Simple, Cost-Efficient, and Automatable Methods for Quantifying Surface Functional Groups on Nanoparticles� Potentiometric Titration
N2 - Measuring surface functional groups (FGs) on nanomaterials (NMs) is essential for designing dispersible and stable NMs with tailored and predictable functionality. FG screening and quantification also plays a critical role for subsequent processing steps, NM long-term stability, quality control of NM production, and risk assessment studies and enables the implementation of sustainable and safe(r)-by-design concepts. This calls for simple and cost-efficient methods for broadly utilized FGs that can be ideally automated to speed up FG screening, monitoring, and quantification. To expand our NM surface analysis toolbox, focusing on simple methods and broadly available, cost-efficient instrumentation, we explored a NM-adapted pH titration method with potentiometric and optical readout for measuring the total number of (de)protonable FGs on representatively chosen commercial and custom-made aminated silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs). The accuracy and robustness of our stepwise optimized workflows was assessed by several operators in two laboratories and method validation was done by cross-comparison with two analytical methods relying on different signal generation principles. This included traceable, chemo-selective quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), providing the amounts of amino silanes released by particle dissolution and the total mass of the surface coatings. A comparison of the potentiometric titration results with the reporter-specific amounts of surface amino FGs determined with the previously automated fluorescamine (Fluram) assay highlights the importance of determining both quantities for surface-functionalized NMs. In the future, combined NM surface analysis with optical assays and pH titration will simplify quality control of NM production processes and stability studies and can yield large data sets for NM grouping that facilitates further developments in regulation and standardization.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Automation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Method
KW - Validation
KW - Optical assay
KW - Fluram
KW - Fluorescamine
KW - qNMR
KW - Comparison
KW - ILC
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642371
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00062
SN - 2694-250X
SP - 1
EP - 13
PB - American Chemical Society
CY - Washington, DC
AN - OPUS4-64237
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Stiegler, L. M. S.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Weigert, Florian
A1 - Peukert, W.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Walter, J.
T1 - Analysis of Giant-Shell CdSe/CdS Quantum Dots via Analytical Ultracentrifugation Combined with Spectrally Resolved Photoluminescence
N2 - Knowledge of the structure–property relationships of functional nanomaterials, including, for example, their size- and composition-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and particle-to-particle variations, is crucial for their design and reproducibility. Herein, the Angstrom-resolution capability of an analytical ultracentrifuge combined with an in-line multiwavelength emission detection system (MWE-AUC) for measuring the sedimentation coefficient-resolved spectrally corrected PL spectra of dispersed nanoparticles is demonstrated. The capabilities of this technique are shown for giant-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots (g-QDs) with a PL quantum yield (PL QY) close to unity capped with oleic acid and oleylamine ligands. The MWE-AUC PL measurements are calibrated and validated with certified fluorescence standards. The spectrally corrected and size-dependent PL spectra of the g-QDs derived from a single MWE-AUC experiment are then analyzed and compared with the results of single-particle spectroscopic studies, yielding the PL spectra, decay kinetics, and blinking behavior of individual g-QDs. This study underlines the vast potential of MWE-AUC with in-line optical detection for the characterization of advanced nanomaterials with a complex structure.
KW - Quantum dots
KW - Analytical ultracentrifugation
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Advanced nanomaterial characterization
KW - Calibrated fluorescence measurements
KW - Reference materials
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-624357
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202401700
SN - 2366-9608
SP - 1
EP - 7
PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag
AN - OPUS4-62435
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Richter, Maria
A1 - Güttler, Arne
A1 - Pauli, Jutta
A1 - Vogel, K.
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Extending certified spectral fluorescence standards for the calibration and performance validation of fluorescence instruments to the NIR—closing the gap from 750 to 940 nm with two novel NIR dyes
N2 - Fluorescence techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy, microfluorometry, and fluorescence microscopy, providing spectral, intensity, polarization, and lifetime information, are amongst the most broadly utilized analytical methods in the life and materials sciences. However, the measured fluorescence data contain sample- and instrument-specific contributions, which hamper their comparability across instruments and laboratories. Comparable, instrument-independent fluorescence data require the determination of the fluorescence instrument’s wavelength-dependent spectral responsivity, also termed emission correction curve, for the same instrument settings as those used for the fluorescence measurements as a prerequisite for the subsequent correction of the measured instrument-specific data. Such a spectral correction is essential for the performance comparison of different fluorescent labels and reporters, quantitative fluorescence measurements, the determination of the fluorescence quantum yield, and the spectroscopic measure for the fluorescence efficiency of a fluorophore. Simple-to-use tools for obtaining emission correction curves are chromophore-based reference materials (RMs), referred to as fluorescence standards, with precisely known, preferably certified instrument-independent fluorescence spectra. However, for the increasingly used near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region >700 nm, at present, no spectral fluorescence standards are available. To close this gap, we developed two novel spectral fluorescence standards, BAM F007 and BAM-F009, with broad emission bands from about 580 to 940 nm in ethanolic solution. These liquid fluorescence standards currently under certification, which will be released in 2025, will expand the wavelength range of the already available certified Calibration Kit BAM F001b-F005b from about 300–730 to 940 nm. In this research article, we will detail the criteria utilized for dye and matrix selection and the homogeneity and stability tests accompanying dye certification as well as the calculation of the wavelength-dependent uncertainty budgets of the emission spectra BAM F007 and BAM-F009, determined with the traceably calibrated BAM reference spectrofluorometer. These fluorescence standards can provide the basis for comparable fluorescence measurements in the ultraviolet, visible, and NIR for the fluorescence community.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Dye
KW - Traceability
KW - Metrology
KW - Calibration
KW - Reference data
KW - Reference product
KW - Digital certificate
KW - NIR
KW - Instrument performance validation
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626317
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05723-w
SN - 1618-2650
SP - 1
EP - 15
PB - Springer
AN - OPUS4-62631
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Deumer, J.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Gollwitzer, C.
A1 - Schürmann, R.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Adding More Shape to Nanoscale Reference Materials-LiYF4:Yb,Tm Bipyramids as Standards for Sizing Methods and Particle Number Concentration
N2 - The increasing industrial use of nanomaterials calls for the reliable characterization of their physicochemical key properties like size, size distribution, shape, and surface chemistry, and test and reference materials (RMs) with sizes and shapes, closely matching real-world nonspheric nano-objects. An efficient strategy to minimize efforts in producing nanoscale RMs (nanoRMs) for establishing, validating, and standardizing methods for characterizing nanomaterials are multimethod nanoRMs.
Ideal candidates are lanthanide-based, multicolor luminescent, and chemically inert nanoparticles (NPs) like upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which can be prepared in different sizes, shapes, and chemical composition with various surface coatings. This makes UCNPs interesting candidates as standards not only for sizing methods, but also for element-analytical methods like laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), quantitative bioimaging methods like X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT), and luminescence methods and correlative measurements.
Here, we explore the potential of two monodisperse LiYF4:Yb,Tm bipyramids with peak-to-peak distances of (43 ± 2) nm and (29 ± 2) nm as size standards for small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and tools for establishing and validating the sophisticated simulations required for the analysis of SAXS data derived from dispersions of nonspheric nano-objects. These SAXS studies are supplemented by two-dimensional (2D)-transmission electron microscopy measurements of the UCNP bipyramids. Additionally, the particle number concentration of cyclohexane dispersions of these UCNP bipyramids is determined by absolute SAXS measurements, complemented by gravimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). This approach enables traceable particle number concentration measurements of ligand-capped nonspheric particles with unknown chemical composition.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Upconversion nanoparticles
KW - SAXS
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Reference material
KW - Traceability
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Spectroscopy
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantification
KW - NanoRM
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Bipyramid
KW - Reference data
KW - Simulation
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-617940
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c03641
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-61794
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Ahiboz, D.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Manley, P.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Becker, C.
T1 - Metasurface-Enhanced Photon Upconversion upon 1550 nm Excitation
N2 - Photon upconversion upon 1550 nm excitation is of high relevance for applications in the third biological excitation window, for photovoltaics beyond current limitations, and enables appealing options in the field of glass Fiber telecommunications. Trivalent doped erbium ions (Er3+) are the material of choice for 1550 nm excited upconversion, however, they suffer from a low absorption cross-section and a low brightness. Therefore, the ability of Silicon metasurfaces to provide greatly enhanced electrical near-fields is employed to enable efficient photon upconversion even at low external Illumination conditions. Hexagonally shaped β-NaYF4:Er3+ nanoparticles are placed on large-area silicon metasurfaces designed to convert near-infrared (1550 nm) to visible light. More than 2400-fold enhanced photon upconversion luminescence is achieved by using this metasurface instead of a planar substrate.
With the aid of optical simulations based on the finite-element method, this result is attributed to the coupling of the excitation source with metasurface resonances at appropriate incident angles. Analysis of the excitation power density dependence of upconversion luminescence and red-to-green-emission ratios enables the estimation of nanoscale near-field enhancement on the metasurface. The findings permit the significant reduction of required external excitation intensities for photon upconversion of 1550 nm light, opening perspectives in biophotonics, telecommunication, and photovoltaics.
KW - Nano
KW - Nanomaterial
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysics
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor
KW - Excitation power density
KW - Single particle
KW - Brightness
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Single enhancement
KW - SWIR
KW - Method
PY - 2021
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-537193
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202101285.
SN - 2195-1071
VL - 9
IS - 24
SP - 2101285
PB - Wiley-VCH-GmbH
AN - OPUS4-53719
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 - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Molecular and nanoscale emitters photophysics , photoluminescence quantum yields, and surface chemistry
N2 - Inorganic nanocrystals such as spectrally shifting lanthanide-based nanoparticles (LnNCs) like NaYF4: Yb, Er and semiconductor quantum dots, organic and inorganic particles stained with sensor molecules, and organic dyes showing aggregation-induced emission are meanwhile broadly applied in the life and material sciences. The identification of optimum particle architectures and molecular structures for photonic applications requires quantitative spectroscopic studies and methods to control and analyse particle surface chemistry. In the following, photoluminescence studies of different emitter classes are presented, thereby addressing the measurement of particle brightness and photoluminescence quantum yields in different spectral windows parameters required for an in-depth mechanistic understanding. In addition, examples for the quantification of surface functional groups on nanomaterials with optical spectroscopy are given.
T2 - GdCH Kolloquium
CY - Düsseldorf, Germany
DA - 11.11.2025
KW - Dye
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Sensor materials
KW - Temperature
KW - Cr(III) complex
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Polymer
KW - Metrology
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Size
KW - Shape
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - Method
KW - Optical assay
KW - qNMR
KW - Validation
KW - Potentiometry
KW - XPS
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64728
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Scholtz, Lena
A1 - Eckert, J. G.
A1 - Graf, Rebecca T.
A1 - Kunst, A.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Bigall, N. C.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Correlating semiconductor nanoparticle architecture and applicability for the controlled encoding of luminescent polymer microparticles
N2 - Luminophore stained micro- and nanobeads made from organic polymers like polystyrene (PS) are broadly used in the life and material sciences as luminescent reporters, for bead-based assays, sensor arrays, printable barcodes, security inks, and the calibration of fluorescence microscopes and flow cytometers. Initially mostly prepared with organic dyes, meanwhile luminescent core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) like spherical semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are increasingly employed for bead encoding. This is related to their narrower emission spectra, tuneability of emission color, broad wavelength excitability, and better photostability. However, correlations between particle architecture, morphology, and photoluminescence (PL) of the luminescent nanocrystals used for encoding and the optical properties of the NP-stained beads have been rarely explored. This encouraged us to perform a screening study on the incorporation of different types of luminescent core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals into polymer microparticles (PMPs) by a radical-induced polymerization reaction. Nanocrystals explored include CdSe/CdS QDs of varying CdS shell thickness, a CdSe/ZnS core/shell QD, CdSe/CdS quantum rods (QRs), and CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets (NPLs).
Thereby, we focused on the applicability of these NPs for the polymerization synthesis approach used and quantified the preservation of the initial NP luminescence. The spectroscopic characterization of the resulting PMPs revealed the successful staining of the PMPs with luminescent CdSe/CdS QDs and CdSe/CdS NPLs. In contrast, usage of CdSe/CdS QRs and CdSe QDs with a ZnS shell did not yield luminescent PMPs. The results of this study provide new insights into structure–property relationships between NP stained PMPs and the initial luminescent NPs applied for staining and underline the importance of such studies for the performance optimization of NP-stained beads.
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Synthesis
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Semiconductor quantum dot
KW - Luminescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Polymer particle
KW - Quantum rod
KW - Nanoplatelet
PY - 2024
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602206
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62591-1
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
SP - 1
EP - 16
AN - OPUS4-60220
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Sander, P.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
A1 - Schedler, U.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Potentiometric and Optical Titration for Cost- Efficient Quantification of Surface Functional Groups on Silica Nanoparticles
N2 - Surface chemistry of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) plays a critical role not only in determining their interactions with the environment but also in their stability, safety, and functionality across diverse applications ranging from catalysis to biomedicine. Accurate quantification of surface functional groups (FGs) is therefore essential for quality control, risk assessment, and performance optimization.[1] However, many existing analytical techniques are either cost-intensive, require specialized instrumentation, or lack scalability for routine use.
In this study, we present a comparative evaluation of potentiometric and optical titration as two simple, cost-efficient, and automatable methods for quantifying surface functional groups on a variety of surface-modified silica nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs). These NPs were chosen as they are among the most frequently utilized engineered NMs in the life and material sciences.
Potentiometric titration, based on pH monitoring during acid-base neutralization, offers a direct and label-free approach to determine the total amount of FGs. Optical titration provides a complementary method with potential for high-throughput screening. To examine the accuracy and robustness of our stepwise-optimized workflows and the achievable relative standard deviations (RSDs), measurements were performed by multiple operators in two laboratories. Method validation was conducted through cross-comparison with traceable, chemo-selective quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (qNMR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). A comparison with optical assays highlights the importance of measuring both quantities for comprehensive characterization of surface-modified NMs.[2]
A combined NM surface analysis using optical assays and pH titration will simplify quality control of NM production processes and stability studies, and can yield large datasets for NM grouping in sustainable and safe(r)-by-design studies.
T2 - eMRS Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Advanced material
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Silica
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Validation
KW - qNMR
KW - Fluram assay
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Potentiometry
KW - Amino groups
KW - Fluorescamine
KW - Calibration
KW - Method comparison
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64205
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Luminescent Nanoparticles – Photophysics, Mechanistic Studies, and Applications
N2 - Inorganic nanocrystals with linear and nonlinear luminescence in the ultraviolet, visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared like semiconductor quantum dots and spectrally shifting lanthanide-based nanophosphors have meanwhile found many applications in the life and material sciences. This includes optical reporters for bioimaging and sensing, security and authentication barcodes, solid state lighting, converter materials, and photovoltaics. The identification of optimum particle structures requires quantitative spectroscopic studies under application-relevant conditions, focusing on the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield, ideally flanked by single particle studies to assess spectroscopic inhomogeneities on a particle-to-particle level for typical preparation methods. In this context, methods to quantify the photoluminescence of these different nanoscale emitters are shown and utilized as a basis for a profound mechanistic understanding of the nonradiative deactivation pathways in semiconductor and upconversion nanocrystals of different size and particle architecture in different environments. Exemplary for the application potential of such nanomaterials, in addition, the design of optical sensors from different nanomaterials and functional organic dyes is briefly summarized.
T2 - CRC 1411 Symposium
CY - Nürnberg, Germany
DA - 20.03.2023
KW - Semiconductor quantum dot
KW - Upconversion nanocrystal
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quantitative spectroscopy
KW - Photophysics
PY - 2023
AN - OPUS4-57364
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying functional groups and coatings on nanoobjects
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry are increasingly used for many key technologies of the 21st century and consumer products. This includes polymer and silica or silica-coated nanoparticles (NP) with covalently bound surface groups, semiconductor quantum dots (QD), metal and metal oxide NP, and lanthanide NP with coordinatively or electrostatically bound ligands, as well as surface-coated nanostructures like micellar encapsulated NP. Decisive for most applications of NMs are their specific surface properties, which are largely determined by the chemical nature and amounts of ligands and functional groups (FGs) on the NM surface. The surface chemistry can strongly affect the physicochemical properties of NM, their charge, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, reactivity, function, stability, and processability and thereby their impact on human health and environment. Knowledge of NM surface chemistry plays an important role for NM functionality and performance in (bio)applications and the fate, exposure, dissolution, transformation, and accumulation of NM, and thus, the potential risks for human health and the environment. This highlights the importance of reliable, validated, and eventually standardized analytical methods for analyzing and quantifying NM surface chemistry for process and quality control of NM production, safe use of NMs, design of novel NM, and sustainable concepts for NM fabrication.[1-3] In this context, interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) are needed to assess method reliability and reference materials with known surface chemistries for establishing surface analytical methods and their performance validation.[2,4] Also, to respond to the increasing number of samples to be analyzed, cost-efficient automation concepts for surface analysis are needed that can be realized with affordable and preferably commercial instrumentation.[5] Here, we provide an overview of analytical methods for FG analysis and quantification used by us for quantifying broadly utilized FGs and ligands on different types of NMs with electrochemical titration methods, optical assays, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vibrational (IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray based and thermal analysis methods.[1,2] Thereby, method- and material-related challenges are addressed, and the importance of multi-method characterization approaches easing method validation by method cross-validation. Special emphasis is dedicated to simple, versatile, and cost-efficient methods such as optical assays and electrochemical titration methods.
T2 - eMRS Fall Meeting 2025
CY - Warsaw, Poland
DA - 15.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64183
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Godard, A.
A1 - Kalot, G.
A1 - Pliquett, J.
A1 - Busser, B.
A1 - Le Guével, X.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Russelin, Y.
A1 - Coll, J.-L.
A1 - Denat, F.
A1 - Bodio, E.
A1 - Goze, C.
A1 - Sancey, L.
T1 - Water-Soluble Aza-BODIPYs: Biocompatible Organic Dyes for High Contrast In Vivo NIR-II Imaging
N2 - A simple NIR-II emitting water-soluble system has been developed and
applied in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, the fluorophore quickly accumulated in 2D and 3D cell cultures and rapidly reached the tumor in rodents, showing high NIR-II contrast for up to 1 week. This very efficient probe possesses all the qualities necessary for translation to the clinic as well as for the development of NIR-II emitting materials.
KW - Aza-BODIPY
KW - NIR-II Imaging
KW - In vivo imaging
KW - organic dyes
KW - SWIR
KW - Cancer
KW - Fluorescence
PY - 2020
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00175
VL - 31
IS - 4
SP - 1088
EP - 1092
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-50695
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Assessing different types of silica networks for the complete protection of nir luminescent molecular rubies from oxygen quenching in air
N2 - The application of emerging luminophores such as near-infrared (NIR) emissive earth-abundant chromium(III) (CrIII) complexes and triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) systems in air as optical reporters for bioimaging or photonic materials for energy conversion requires simple and efficient strategies for their complete protection from luminescence quenching by oxygen. Therefore, we explored the influence of sol-gel synthesis routes on the oxygen protection efficiency of the resulting core and core/shell silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs), utilizing the molecular ruby-type luminophores CrPF6 ([Cr(ddpd)2](PF6)3; ddpd = N,N’-dimethyl- N,N’-dipyridin-2-ylpyridin-2,6-diamine) and CrBF4 ([Cr(ddpd)2](BF4)3) with their oxygen-dependent, but polarity-, proticity-, viscosity-, and concentration-independent luminescence as optical probes for oxygen permeability. The sol-gel chemistry routes we assessed include the classical Stöber method and the underexplored larginine approach, which relies on the controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a biphasic cyclohexane/water system with the catalyst l-arginine. As demonstrated by luminescence measurements of air- and argon-saturated dispersions of CrPF6- and CrBF4-stained SiO2 NPs of different size and particle architecture, utilizing the luminescence decay kinetics of argon-saturated solutions of CrPF6 and CrBF4 in acetonitrile (ACN) as benchmarks, only SiO2 NPs or shells synthesized by the l-arginine approach provided complete oxygen protection of the CrIII complexes under ambient conditions. We ascribe the different oxygen shielding efficiencies of the silica networks explored to differences in density and surface chemistry of the resulting nanomaterials and coatings, leading to different oxygen permeabilities. Our l-arginine based silica encapsulation strategy can open the door for the efficient usage of oxygen-sensitive luminophores and TTA-UC systems as optical reporters and spectral shifters in air in the future.
T2 - eMRS Strasbourg
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 26.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Silica
KW - Oxygen sensing
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
KW - Cr(III) complex
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63300
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Getting it right with photoluminescence quantum yields of molecular and nanoscale luminophores and luminescent particles
N2 - Photophysical and mechanistic studies, the comparison of different emitter classes, and the rational design of the next generation of molecular and nanoscale reporters require quantitative photoluminescence measurements and the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), i.e., the number of emitted per absorbed photons. This is of special importance for all photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR. To improve the reliability and comparability of photoluminescence and QY measurements across laboratories, pitfalls, achievable uncertainties, and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes must be explored. Also, suitable protocols and reference materials are needed which have been validated in interlaboratory comparisons for different wavelength regions and transparent and scattering luminophores.[1] Based on absolute and relative photoluminescence measurements of functional dyes and nanomaterials like semiconductor quantum dots and rods, spectrally shifting lanthanide upconversion nanocrystals, perovskites, and YAG:Cer converter materials, reliable methods for determining QY of transparent and scattering luminophores, nonlinear emitters, and solid luminescent nanomaterials have been developed.[2,3] Thereby, material- and method-related uncertainties of relative and absolute QY measurements and achievable uncertainties could be quantified for linear and nonlinear UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emitters and lately for also luminescent and scattering materials and solid phoshors, here in an interlaboratory comparison of three labs utilizing integrating sphere spectroscopy.[4,5] In addition, to provide simple tools for a better comparability of QY measurements, recently, a first set of UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards has been developed and certified with complete uncertainty budgets.[6] In the following, the outcome of these studies will be presented, thereby addressing common pitfalls and providing recommendations on the performance of reliable QY measurements of linear and non-linear emitters in transparent, scattering, and solid samples.
T2 - 29th Lecture Conference on Photochemistry (LCP 2024) GDCh
CY - Mainz, Germany
DA - 16.09.2024
KW - Nanoparticle
KW - Nano
KW - Luminescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Synthesis
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Reference data
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - ILC
KW - Converter material
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - Optoceramic
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-61075
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Frenzel, F.
A1 - Fiedler, S.
A1 - Bardan, A.
A1 - Güttler, Arne
A1 - Würth, Christian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Influence of Measurement Geometry and Blank on Absolute Measurements of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering Luminescent Films
N2 - For a series of 500 μm-thick polyurethane films containing different concentrations of luminescent and scattering YAG:Ce microparticles, we systematically explored and quantified pitfalls of absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yields (Φf) for often employed integrating sphere (IS) geometries, where the sample is placed either on a sample holder at the bottom of the IS surface or mounted in the IS center. Thereby, the influence of detection and illumination geometry and sample position was examined using blanks with various scattering properties for measuring the number of photons absorbed by the sample. Our results reveal that (i) setup configurations where the scattering sample is mounted in the IS center and (ii) transparent blanks can introduce systematic errors in absolute Φf measurements.
For strongly scattering, luminescent samples, this can result in either an under- or overestimation of the absorbed photon flux and hence an under- or overestimation of Φf. The size of these uncertainties depends on the scattering properties of the sample and instrument parameters, such as sample position, IS size, wavelength-dependent reflectivity of the IS surface coating, and port configuration. For accurate and reliable absolute Φf measurements, we recommend (i) a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample to realize similar distributions of the diffusely scattered excitation photons within the IS, and (ii) a sufficiently high sample absorption at the excitation wavelength. For IS setups with center-mounted samples, measurement geometries should be utilized that prevent the loss of excitation photons by reflections from the sample out of the IS.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Characterization
KW - Silica
KW - Scattering
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Film
KW - Pphosphor
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - LED
KW - Converter material
KW - Solid material
KW - Polymer
KW - Composite material
KW - Advanced material
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638304
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c06726
SN - 1520-6882
SP - 1
EP - 8
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-63830
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Güttler, Arne
T1 - Certified Reference Materials for the Quantification and Standardization of Fluorescence-based Measurements
N2 - The size and shape of photoluminescence signals is affected by wavelength-, polarization-, and time-dependent instrumentspecific contributions and the compound- and environment-specific photoluminescence quantum yield. The former hamper the comparability of fluorescence measurements performed on different measuring devices. The commonly relatively done determination of the performance parameter requires suitable quantum yield standards with well-known. The performance of such measurements is, e.g., described in the written standard IEC 62607 currently revised.
T2 - Colloquium für Optische Spektrometrie 2025
CY - Jena, Germany
DA - 24.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Advanced material
KW - Calibration
KW - Characterization
KW - Fluorescence quantum yield
KW - Phosphor
KW - Absolute
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Dye
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64213
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Citrate Ligands on the Surface of Nanoparticles
N2 - In this study, different methods for determining nanoparticle surface ligands including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are explored to quantify citrate as one of the most popular hydrophilic ligands on the surface of nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The purpose of work is to understand which analytical methods are best suited for surface chemistry analysis of citrate stabilized IONPs and to validate these methods.
T2 - SALSA Make and Measure 2024: Interfaces
CY - Berlin, Germany
DA - 11.09.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Functional group
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62310
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Meng, M.
A1 - Zhang, T.
A1 - Wang, J.
A1 - Cheng, Z.
A1 - Yang, J.
A1 - Qiao, X.
A1 - Wen, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Ou, J.
T1 - Fluorescence temperature sensing of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaGdF4:Nd3+/Yb3+ nanoparticles at low and high temperatures
N2 - NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaGdF4:Nd3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) were prepared using a solvothermal method, and the effects of key factors such as the content of sensitiser Nd 3+ and Yb3+ on their luminescence properties were investigated. The nanoparticles are homogeneous in size and well dispersed. Under 808 nm excitation, it can produce strong upconversion fluorescence. At the same time, the nanoparticles have good temperature-sensing properties at the thermally coupled energy levels of 700 nm and 646 nm for Tm3+. Using its fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR), accurate temperature measurements can be performed, and it has been found that it exhibits different temperature sensing properties in low and high-temperature regions. The maximum relative sensitivity was found to be 0.88% K-1 and 1.89% K-1 for the lowtemperature region of 285 K-345 K and the high-temperature region of 345 K-495 K. The nanoparticles were applied to the internal temperature measurement of lithium batteries and the actual high-temperature environment, respectively, and were found to have good temperature measurementt performance.
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Sensor
KW - Temperature
KW - Ratiometric
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Absolute fluorescence
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Application
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
PY - 2022
DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ac84e4
SN - 1361-6528
VL - 33
IS - 34
SP - 1
EP - 15
PB - IOP Publishing
CY - Bristol
AN - OPUS4-55454
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Parastu
T1 - Thermoresponsive UCNP@MSN Nanoparticles for Doxorubicin Delivery in Melanoma Cells
N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) possess unique photophysical characteristics, such as excita bility by near infrared (NIR) light, which facilitates deep tissue penetration, multi color emission , long luminescence lifetimes, and an excellent photostability. These features have made UCNPs promising tools for biomedical applications . M esoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) functionalized with stimuli responsive nanovalves or specific coatings enable the encapsulation and controlled release of therapeutic agen ts, thereby offering spatiotemporal precision in drug delivery 1 3 ]]. Among drug delivery strategies, photoresponsive systems have attracted growing attention due to their potential for clinical applications . This is especially relevant for melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer with increasing global incidence, for which conventional therapeutic modalities remain largely insufficient in advanced stage 4 In this work, core shell UCNP@MSN nanoparticles were synthetised by coating UCNPs with a mesoporous silica layer, which was subsequently functionalized with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves [ and loaded with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). Controlled drug release was effectively achieved under 980 nm NIR i llumination . Treatment with functionalized nanoparticles significantly reduced the viability of melanoma cell lines, with an enhanced cytotoxicity being observed upon combined nanoparticle exposure and NIR illumination . Mechanistic analyses revealed that neither UCNPs nor NIR i llumination alone could induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS); however, their combination induced a marked increase in ROS levels in two of the three tested cell lines. Furthermore, this dual treatment promoted substantial apoptotic and/or necrotic responses across all cell models. These findings underscore the potential of UCNP@MSN nanoplatforms, equipped with thermoresponsive ga tes , as efficient photoactivated drug delivery systems for melanoma therapy.
T2 - Conference Jornadas CICECO
CY - Aveiro, Portugal
DA - 09.10.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64371
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Quantifying the total and accessible amount of surface functionalities and ligands on nanomaterials
N2 - Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) of various chemical composition and surface functionalization are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage. NM dispersibility, stability, processability, and function as well as the interaction with biological species and environmental fate are largely determined by NM surface functionalities, i.e., functional groups (FGs) and ligands. Therefore, reliable, reproducible, and eventually standardized surface characterization methods are vital for quality control of NMs, and mandatory to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety.
Suitable methods for determining surface functionalities on ligand-stabilized core and core/shell NPs include advanced techniques such as traceable quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) as well as X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and simpler optical and electrochemical methods.[1] The latter less costly and fast methods, which can be automated, are often used by NM producers for process and quality control.[1,2] To validate methods, establish measurement uncertain-ties, test reference materials, and produce reference data, multi-method characterization studies are needed.[3,4] as well as interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) on determining NM surface chemistry and well characterized test and reference NMs providing benchmark values.[5,6] Here, we present examples for quantifying common surface FGs such as amino and carboxyl groups on functional NMs of different chemical composition such as silica, polymer, iron oxide, and lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles with optical assays, electrochemical titration methods, qNMR, and chromatographic separation techniques. In addition, ongoing interlaboratory comparisons will be presented.
T2 - Yucomat 2025
CY - Herec Novi, Montenegro
DA - 01.09.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Characterization
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface
KW - Standardization
KW - Reference material
KW - Functional group
KW - Quantification
KW - Coating
KW - Interlaboratory comparison
KW - Uncertainty
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64182
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Measurements of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering LED Converter Materials
N2 - How to Get it Right with the Absolute Measurement of Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Scattering LED Converter Materials Saskia Fiedler+,a, Florian Frenzel+,a, Christian Würth a, Isabella Tavernaro a, Michelle Grüne c, Stefan Schweizer c,d, Axel Engel e, and Ute Resch-Genger a* a Division Biophotonics, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstaetter-Strasse 11, D-12489 Berlin, Germany; email: ute.resch@bam.de b Present address: Photonic Materials, NWO-Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands c Faculty of Electrical Engineering, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Lübecker Ring 2, 59494, Soest, Germany d Fraunhofer Application Center for Inorganic Phosphors, Branch Lab of Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, Lübecker Ring 2, 59494, Soest, Germany e Schott AG Technical Services, Hattenbergstrasse 10, D-55122 Mainz, Germany Optical measurements of scattering materials such as luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors dispersed in liquid and solid matrices play an important role in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. A key performance parameter is the photoluminescence quantum yield QY, i.e., the number of emitted per number of absorbed photons. QY of transparent luminophore solutions can be obtained relative to a fluorescence QY standard of known QY, meanwhile available as certified reference materials.[1] The determination of QY of scattering liquid and solid samples like nanoparticle dispersions, phosphors, and optoceramics requires, however, absolute measurements with an integrating sphere setup. Despite the need for reliable absolute QY measurements, no interlaboratory comparison (ILCs) on measurement uncertainties has been performed and scattering standards with known QY are not available. We present the results of an ILC of 3 labs from academia and industry on measurements of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors and converter materials like YAG:Ce optoceramics with commercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups of different illumination and detection geometries. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of measurement geometry, optical properties of the blank for determining the number of incident photons absorbed by the sample, and sample-specific surface roughness. Matching QY values could be obtained for transparent dye solutions and scattering dispersions with a blank with scattering properties closely matching those of the sample, QY measurements of optoceramic samples with different blanks revealed substantial differences of more than 20 %. Based on our data, we recommend non-absorbing blank materials with a high reflectivity (>95 %) such as a 2 mm-thick PTFE target placed on the sample holder as blanks.
T2 - eMRS
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 26.05.2025
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Characterization
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Film
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Calibration
KW - Lifetime
KW - Advanced materials
KW - LED converter
KW - YAG:Ce
KW - ILC
KW - Measurement uncertainty
KW - Absolute quantum yield
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-63327
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - Development of multimodal methods to quantify the total and accessible number of functional groups and ligands on nanomaterials
N2 - Engineered and tailored nanomaterials (NM) are of great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used, e.g., as drug carriers, barcodes, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. Their performance and safety depend not only on their particle size, size distribution, and morphology, but also on their surface chemistry, i.e., the total number of surface functional groups (FG) and the number of FG accessible for subsequent functionalization with ligands or biomolecules, which in turn determines surface charge, colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and toxicity. It also underlines the importance of validated analytical methods that provide accurate information on these application-relevant physicochemical properties with a known uncertainty. In the case of FG quantification, this calls for robust, fast, inexpensive, and reliable methods which allow for the characterization of a broad variety of NM differing in size, chemical composition, and optical properties.
Methods
Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of bioanalytically relevant FG such as amine, carboxy, thiol, and aldehyde functionalities, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification. This includes electrochemical titration methods, dye-based optical assays, and other instrumental analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), and thermal analysis methods.
Results
Here, we will present examples for different types of NMs and FGs including results from a currently running interlaboratory comparison (ILC) with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to pave the road for method standardization.
Innovative aspects
• Surface analysis
• Performance and safety of nanomaterials
• Standardization
T2 - ANAKON 2023
CY - Vienna, Austria
DA - 11.04.2023
KW - Engineered Nanomaterials
KW - Surface group analysis
KW - Optical spectroscopy
KW - Quantitative NMR
KW - Ligands
KW - Dye
KW - Particle synthesis
KW - Optical Assays
KW - Titration
KW - Safe-by-Design
KW - Nano
KW - Nanosafety
KW - Silica- and Polystyrene Particles
PY - 2023
AN - OPUS4-59127
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Rezvani, A.
A1 - Wang, Z.
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Soltanmoradi, H.
A1 - Kichigin, A.
A1 - Zhou, X.
A1 - Gantenberg, T.
A1 - Schram, J.
A1 - Zubiri, B. A.
A1 - Spiecker, E.
A1 - Walter, J.
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Segets, D.
T1 - Separation of Indium Phosphide/Zinc Sulfide Core−Shell Quantum Dots from Shelling Byproducts through Multistep Agglomeration
N2 - Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) possess unique electronic and optical properties, making them promising candidates for applications in lightemitting diodes, solar cells, bioimaging, and photocatalysis. Precise control over their size, shape, and chemical and electronic structure is crucial to ensure the desired functional properties and optimize device performance. However, challenges in QD synthesis and post-synthesis modification persist, especially in large-scale production. This study addresses the classification of QDs synthesized in a tubular flow reactor consisting of a mixture of the desired InP/ZnS core−shell QDs and QDs made from the shell material, i.e., here ZnS QDs formed as a byproduct during the formation step of the ZnS shell. The homogeneous nucleation of ZnS nanoparticles from the shelling material introduces a heterogeneity in size and composition and affects the optical properties of the resulting QDs. To address this issue, we developed a size-selective agglomeration (SSA) technique by incrementally introducing ethanol as a poor solvent and classified the synthesized QDs into 13 distinct fractions. These 13 fractions are sorted into three distinct groups: (i) larger InP/ZnS QDs, (ii) a combination of smaller InP/ZnS QDs and larger ZnS QDs, and (iii) predominant ZnS QDs with some very tiny InP/ZnS QDs. The comprehensive characterization of the fractions was conducted using UV−visible absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, total reflection X-ray fluorescence, and analytical ultracentrifugation. We could demonstrate that our method effectively separated unwanted ZnS QDs from the target InP/ZnS QDs. In addition, the fractions enriched in smaller InP/ZnS QDs exhibited a higher photoluminescence quantum yield compared to the fractions with larger QDs. This demonstrates the efficacy of SSA in finetuning the composition of QD mixtures produced on a larger scale to improve their functional properties. This approach provides fundamental understanding toward the development of a scalable two-dimensional classification process for such ultrasmall nanoparticles by particle size and composition.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantum dot
KW - Synthesis
KW - Flow reactor
KW - InP
KW - Shell
KW - ZnS
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Method
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - TEM
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c18530
SN - 1936-086X
VL - 19
IS - 20
SP - 19080
EP - 19094
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-63215
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Párástu
T1 - Cell mechanisms induced by doxorubicin-loaded UCNP@MSN nanoparticles with a thermosresponsive nanovalve in melanoma cells
N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) exhibit several remarkable optical properties, including excitation by near infrared (NIR) light, which enables deep tissue penetration, multiple distinct emission bands across a wide range of wavelengths, long luminescen ce lifetimes, and high photostability. These features make them particularly attractive for various biomedical applications. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), functionalized with nanovalves or specific coatings, have been explored for controlled and targeted drug delivery, where therapeutic agents are encapsulated within the nanopores, allowing spatiotemporal release 1 3 ]]. Among the promising approaches, photoactivated drug delivery systems have drawn considerable interest due to their versatility and potential. One relevant application is in the treatment of melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer with a rising global incidence. In advanced stages, conventional therapies often fail to achieve complete tumour eradication, resulting in poor prognose s 4 In this study, UCNPs were coated with a mesoporous silica shell to form core shell UCNP@MSN nanoparticles, which were further functionalized with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves and loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), a chemotherapeutic drug used in melanoma treatment. Upon exposure to 980 nm NIR light, DOX release was successfully triggered in the culture medium. Exposure to functionalized UCNPs decreased the viability of the tested melanoma cell lines, with further reductions observed when the ex posure to the nanoparticles was combined with irradiation. Subsequently, t he toxicity mechanisms were evaluated and showed that w hile individual treatments with either the functionalized UCNPs or NIR irradiation alone had no effect on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, their combination significantly increased ROS levels in two of the three tested cell lines. This combined treatment also led to notable increases in apoptotic , necrotic or both type of cells’ percentages on all cell lines. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of these nanoparticles with thermoresponsive gating mechanisms as effective platforms for targeted drug delivery in melanoma therapy.
T2 - EUROTOX 2025
CY - Athens, Greece
DA - 14.09.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64372
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
T1 - Forschung in einer Bundesoberbehörde wie der BAM
N2 - Die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) ist eine forschende Bundesoberbehörde und Einrichtung der Ressortforschung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Unter ihrer Leitlinie „Sicherheit in Technik und Chemie“ ist sie zuständig für die öffentliche technische Sicherheit und für metrologische Aufgaben in der Chemie. Das Aufgabenspektrum der BAM, das sich an aktuellen Fragestellungen aus Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft, Politik und Normung orientiert, bietet sehr viele interessante Tätigkeitsfelder für Naturwissenschaftler*Innen und Ingenieur*Innen.
T2 - WIFO Leipzig 2023
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 05.09.2023
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Optical spectroscopy
KW - Certification
KW - Reference product
KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Reference material
KW - Reference data
KW - Traceability
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Analytical chemistry
KW - Sensor
KW - Safety
PY - 2023
AN - OPUS4-58397
LA - mul
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
T1 - pH- and O2-Responsive Nanoparticles – The MiGraGen Project
N2 - In recent years, the demand for reliable, versatile, fluorescent pH and oxygen sensors has increased rapidly in many biomedical applications since these analytes are important indicators of cell function or certain diseases. Therefore, sensor particles are needed that are small enough to penetrate cells, non-toxic, and allow for close-up optical monitoring. When developing such sensor systems, one must consider the pH and oxygen range detectable by the sensor dye and the matrix material of the used carrier particles. Here, we present the development of pH- and oxygen-responsive polymeric beads functionalized with fluorescent dyad molecules that consist of an analyte-responsive fluorophore and an analyte-inert dye.
T2 - MiGraGen Project Meeting 09.08.2023
CY - Online Meeting
DA - 09.08.2023
KW - Nano- and microsensors
KW - Functionalized silica and polymeric particles
KW - pH sensing
KW - Oxygen sensing
KW - Fluorescence
PY - 2023
AN - OPUS4-58071
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Biesen, L.
A1 - Krenzer, J.
A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Müller, Th. J. J.
T1 - Asymmetrically bridged aroyl-S,N-ketene acetalbased multichromophores with aggregationinduced tunable emission
N2 - Asymmetrically bridged aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal multichromophores can be readily synthesized in consecutive three-, four-, or five-component syntheses in good to excellent yields by several successive Suzuki-couplings of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and bis(boronic)acid esters. Different aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals as well as linker molecules yield a library of 23 multichromophores with substitution and linker pattern-tunable emission properties. This allows control of different communication pathways between the chromophores and of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and energy transfer (ET) properties, providing elaborate aggregation-based fluorescence switches.
KW - Dye
KW - Aggregation
KW - Aggregation induced emission
KW - Signal enhancement
KW - Energy transfer
KW - Switch
KW - Sensor
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Lifetime
KW - Photophysics
KW - Sythesis
KW - Nanaoparticle
PY - 2022
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550719
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2sc00415a
VL - 13
SP - 5374
EP - 5381
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry
AN - OPUS4-55071
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - GEN
A1 - Deumer, J.
A1 - Andresen, Elina
T1 - SAXS data of bipyramidal LiYF4 nanoparticles
N2 - SAXS data of bipyramidal LiYF4 nanoparticles synthesized by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and measured by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) at the synchrotron facility Bessy II, Berlin, Germany.
KW - Reference data set
KW - Simulation
KW - Reference material
KW - Upconversion nanoparticles
KW - Particle number concentration
KW - SAXS
PY - 2024
DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13691409
PB - Zenodo
CY - Geneva
AN - OPUS4-62134
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Hydrophilic Surface Ligands on Nanoparticles
N2 - The rapid development of nanotechnology is driven by a wide range of possible applications of nanoparticles (NPs) depending on their functions and composition, for example, in biomedicine, energy harvesting, and optoelectronics. Due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of nanoparticles, their properties and function are often highly dependent on surface chemistry, which also determines their stability and interaction with the environment. To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials in biomedical applications as well as in material sciences, it is hence crucial to develop reliable methods to control and quantify ligand molecules and functional groups on the NP surface for different NP processing steps including ligand exchange and the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., antifouling agents and recognition moieties. These methods must then be validated and eventually standardized. This also calls for suitable reference materials with known surface chemistries or functionalities.
Methods for determining and quantifying surface functional groups and NP capping ligands include quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) techniques, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mass spectrometric (MS) methods, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and optical assays with photometric and/or fluorometric readout.[1] In the focus of this study on ligand exchange and quantification are differently sized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), already used in biomedicine with applications as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents or for magnetic hyperthermia. IONPs can be prepared by a high temperature synthesis in nonpolar solvents, resulting in a superior monodispersity and crystallinity compared to particles prepared by aqueous synthesis methods. Such IONPs bear, however, hydrophobic surface ligands, that need to be exchanged for hydrophilic molecules to ensure water dispersibility required for biomedical applications. For these applications, a complete removal of potentially toxic surface ligands remaining from IONP synthesis is crucial. Here, we will present the synthesis of differently sized spherical IONPs capped with hydrophobic oleic acid molecules and an in-depth study of the ligand exchange to hydrophilic molecules such as citrate. We assessed the size, size distribution, and colloidal stability of the IONPs utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta potential measurements before and after ligand exchange. In addition, several approaches to ligand quantification have been explored involving a variety of analytical tools. Our ultimate goal is here to identify the optimal methods for ligand analysis and to develop schemes for method validation, via the comparison of analytical techniques relying on different principles of signal generation (method cross-validation).
T2 - E-MRS 2024 SPRING MEETING
CY - Strasbourg, France
DA - 27.05.2024
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Quantification
KW - Advanced material
KW - Surface analysis
KW - Functional group
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-62296
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Zou, Q.
A1 - Marcelot, C.
A1 - Ratel-Ramond, N.
A1 - Yi, X.
A1 - Roblin, P.
A1 - Frenzel, Florian
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Eftekhari, A.
A1 - Bouchet, A.
A1 - Coudret, C.
A1 - Verelst, M.
A1 - Chen, X.
A1 - Mauricot, R.
A1 - Roux, C.
T1 - Heterogeneous Oxysulfide@Fluoride Core/ Shell Nanocrystals for Upconversion-Based Nanothermometry
N2 - Lanthanide (Ln3+)-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) often suffer from weak luminescence, especially when their sizes are ultrasmall (less than 10 nm). Enhancing the upconversion luminescence (UCL) efficiency of ultrasmall UCNPs has remained a challenge that must be undertaken if any practical applications are to be envisaged. Herein, we present a Ln3+-doped oxysulfide@fluoride core/shell heterostructure which shows efficient UCL properties under 980nm excitation and good stability in solution. Through epitaxial heterogeneous growth, a ∼4 nm optically inert β-NaYF4 shell was coated onto ∼5 nm ultrasmall Gd2O2S:20%Yb,1%Tm. These Gd2O2S:20%Yb,1%Tm@NaYF4 core/shell UCNPs exhibit a more than 800-fold increase in UCL intensity compared to the unprotected core, a 180-fold increase in luminescence decay time of the 3H4 → 3H6 Tm3+ transition from 5 to 900 μs, and an upconversion quantum yield (UCQY) of 0.76% at an excitation power density of 155 W/cm2. Likewise, Gd2O2S:20%Yb,2%Er@NaYF4 core/shell UCNPs show a nearly 5000-fold
increase of their UCL intensity compared to the Gd2O2S:20%Yb,2%Er core and a maximum UCQY of 0.61%. In the Yb/Er core−shell UCNP system, the observed variation of luminescence intensity ratio seems to originate from a change in lattice strain as the temperature is elevated. For nanothermometry applications, the thermal sensitivities based on thermally coupled levels are estimated for both Yb/Tm and Yb/Er doped Gd2O2S@NaYF4 core/shell UCNPs.
KW - Upconversion nanoparticle
KW - Nanosensor
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Surface coating
KW - Quantum yield
KW - Photophysic
PY - 2022
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c02423
SN - 1936-0851
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - ACS Publications
AN - OPUS4-55440
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella
A1 - Simon, Fabian
A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart
A1 - Tobias, Charlie
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Meermann, Björn
T1 - Quantification of the amount of surface groups of aminated silica nano- and microparticles utilizing a fluorine tag and HR-CS-GFMAS
N2 - The performance, bioavailability, and safe use of engineered nanomaterials (NMs) depends not only on properties such as size, shape, and surface area, but largely on surface chemistry. While many sizing methods have been established, there is still a lack of validated screening methods for determining NM surface functional groups (FGs). In this context, we present a fast and simple method for FG quantification using high resolution-continuum source-graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) and assess its applicability for the surface analysis of representatively chosen aminated silica nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) in conjunction with amino FG labeling with a fluorine tag. For this proof-of-concept study, first surface amino FG screening of the silica NPs and MPs was done with a potentiometric back titration method, providing the total amount of protonatable surface FGs, and two optical assays relying on reporter dyes with sizes and spatial requirements, i.e., surface binding areas smaller or larger than that of the fluorine tag to estimate the maximum and reporter-accessible number of amino FGs. Subsequently, the surface amino FGs were labeled with the fluorine tag 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic acid (TFMB) and the amount of fluorine originating from the bound TFMB molecules was quantified by HR-CS-GFMAS in two common organic solvents, i.e., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or ethanol (EtOH) to assess possible interferences from organic matrices. Our study revealed limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for fluorine of 1.0 µg/L and 3.5 µg/L in EtOH and 1.5 µg/L and 5.0 µg/L in DMSO, respectively. Overall, a quick and simple method for analyzing surface FGs on NPs and MPs was presented utilizing broadly available fluorine tags and HR-CS-GFMAS for fluorine quantification, which can be applied, e.g., for homogeneity, stability, and aging studies of surface-modified particles. This could contribute to ease the understanding of property-safety relationships for surface-functionalized NMs.
KW - Fluorine Analysis
KW - Nano- and microparticles
KW - Surface group quantification
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-641965
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-025-06107-4
SN - 1618-2642
SP - 1
EP - 11
PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC
CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg
AN - OPUS4-64196
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Oskoei, Párástu
T1 - Effects of upconversion nanoparticles with a thermo-responsive nanovalve loaded with doxorubicin in melanoma cells
N2 - Melanoma skin cancer has an increasingly higher incidence , and w hen detected in advanced stages, tumour eradication is often incomplete, contributing to poor prognosis with conventional treatments. Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have unique properties, such as excitability under near infrared (NIR) excitation light, which confers a relatively high penetration depth in tissue that allow their effective use in several biomedical applications Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with nanovalves or derived coatings have widely been used for triggered and targeted drug delivery in the past. Anticancer drugs can be loaded into the pores of MSN, enabling controlled drug release. In this work, UCNPs were coated with a mesoporous silica shell yielding UCNP@MSN core shell nanoparticles which were equipped with thermoresponsive retro Diels Alder nanovalves and then loaded with DOX , a chemotherapeutic agent for melanoma treatmen t (UCNP@MSN DOX) Subsequent DOX release from this drug delivery system was triggered by 980 nm NIR light. Melanoma cells exposed to UCNP@MSN DOX or the NIR laser exhibited no change in ROS production , while the combination of both induced an increase in ROS production. This combination of conditions also induced changes on apoptosis and necrosis levels. These findings underscore the potential use of UCNP @MSN drug delivery systems with thermoresponsive caps as effective drug delivery platforms for melanoma therapy.
T2 - VII iBiMED Symposium
CY - Aveiro, Portugal
DA - 23.05.2025
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Lanthanide
KW - Upconversion
KW - Surface chemistry
KW - Mesoporous silica
KW - Doxorubicin
KW - Nanomedicine
KW - Triggered release
KW - pH
KW - Cellular uptake
KW - Toxicity
KW - Folate
KW - Ligand
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64373
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - GEN
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Richter, Maria
A1 - Güttler, Arne
A1 - Pauli, Jutta
A1 - Vogel, K.
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Würth, Christian
T1 - Extending Certified Spectral Fluorescence Standards for the Calibration and Performance Validation of Fluorescence Instruments to the NIR – Closing the Gap from 750 nm to 940 nm with Two Novel NIR Dyes
N2 - Fluorescence methods provide spectral, intensity, polarization, and lifetime information, which contain sample- and instrument-specific contributions. Fluorescence data, comparable across instruments and laboratories, require validated calibration procedures and certified fluorescence standards.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Reference material
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Dye
KW - Traceability
KW - Metrology
KW - Calibration
KW - Reference data
KW - Reference product
KW - Digital certificate
KW - NIR
KW - Instrument performance validation
PY - 2025
SP - 1
EP - 4
PB - Springer Nature
CY - London
AN - OPUS4-62739
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Wegner, Karl David
A1 - Walter, J.
T1 - Size-resolved emission properties of core/shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots via multiwavelength emission analytical ultracentrifugation
N2 - Colloids provide manifold opportunities for targeted product design due to their tunable properties with respect to size, shape, composition, surface, and spectral characteristics. However, the determination of structure-property relationships is quite challenging as most particulate samples exhibit polydispersity of their disperse properties. Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) is a fractionating technique and highly accurate method for the multidimensional analysis of nanoparticles as it permits the differentiation of spectral information linked to hydro- and thermodynamic properties of the particles.
So far, characterization capabilities for fluorescent nanoparticles by AUC were limited, as the formerly commercially available fluorescence detector could not provide any spectral information. Using a multiwavelength emission detector developed in our group, it is possible to extract spectra of fluorescent particles and biomolecules alongside their sedimentation and diffusion coefficients within a single centrifugation experiment.
In our contribution, we will highlight that even narrowly distributed core/shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots still show size- and structure-dependent shifts of their fluorescence spectra, which can be resolved with our AUC system in an ensemble measurement. Thereby, we can link spectral changes of only a few nanometers to particle sizes retrieved with Angstrom size resolution. Single-particle measurements not only supported the results obtained with the AUC system but also provided deeper insights into the photophysical processes of individual QDs, clearly demonstrating the complementary nature of the techniques used. With our novel multiwavelength emission detector and the established extinction-based detector for AUC, a comprehensive platform for the holistic characterization of fluorescent colloids is now available.
T2 - 26th International Analytical Ultracentrifugation Symposium
CY - Bad Staffelstein, Germany
DA - 24.07.2024
KW - Quantum dots
KW - Analytical ultracentrifugation
KW - Reference materials
KW - Calibrated fluorescence measurements
KW - Size-resolved emission
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60814
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Andreato, E.
A1 - Panov, N.
A1 - Artiga, A.
A1 - Osipova, Viktoriia
A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute
A1 - Ximendes, E.
A1 - Molina, P.
A1 - Canton, P.
A1 - Marin, R.
T1 - Indium-Based Fluoride Nanoparticles Doped with Chromium for Near-Infrared Luminescence
N2 - Transition metal (TM) and rare earth (RE) ion-doped nanoparticles (NPs) are photoluminescent materials of technological relevance in bioimaging, sensing, and light conversion. Fluoride NPs are particularly attractive in this context, since they combine low-energy phonons, high chemical stability, optical transparency, size, and architecture tunability. Yet, nearly all reported colloidal fluoride NPs (e.g., NaYF4 and LiYF4) can only be efficiently doped with RE3+ and not with luminescent TM ions. Herein, we contribute to filling this gap in materials science by reporting Na3InF6 NPs doped with Cr3+ as a model luminescent TM ion. We unveil the heat-driven NP formation mechanism, which involves a cubic-to-monoclinic phase conversion, similarly to the cubic-tohexagonal phase conversion in NaYF4. Reaction temperatures above 225 °C and reaction time have a limited impact on the NP morphology, while the amount of fluoride precursor and oleylamine grants control over the NP size. After verifying that Na3InF6 NPs show negligible cytotoxicity toward U-87 cell line, we study the optical properties of these NPs upon Cr3+ doping.
Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements indicate that Cr3+ ions experience a weak crystal field in the Na3InF6 host lattice, while their photoluminescence lifetime varies linearly in the 20−50 °C range. These results set the ground for further studies of photoluminescent TM-doped fluoride NPs, toward their applications in bioimaging, sensing, and light-converting devices.
KW - Quality assurance
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Traceability
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Synthesis
KW - Quantum yield
KW - NIR
KW - Mechanism
KW - Characterization
KW - XRD
KW - Phase transition
KW - Ligand
KW - Surface
KW - Doping
KW - Lifetime
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c03335
SN - 1520-5002
SP - 1
EP - 14
PB - American Chemical Society
AN - OPUS4-63073
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Matiushkina, Anna
T1 - Quantification of Citrate Ligands on Nanoparticle Surfaces
N2 - To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials (NM) in applications and their safe use, it is crucial to develop reliable methods to control and quantify ligands and functional groups (FG) on the nanoparticle (NP) surface as surface chemistry largely determines the interactions of NPs with their surroundings. Many analytical methods can be used for this purpose. However, their applicability strongly depends on the type of NM and ligand(s) and most of them require challenging protocols for sample preparation, i.e., the removal of the NPs or their dissolution, which can influence the accuracy of the measurements. While some methods allow the precise quantification of specific ligands such as quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR), others provide only semi-quantitative results like Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) or target more general analyte groups like thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) detecting mass losses (total organic content) or conductometry (e.g., (de)protonable FGs such as carboxyl or amine groups). [1] The calculation of the coverage of the NP surface with ligands, additionally requires knowledge of their total surface area, which can be obtained, e.g., from a precise characterization of NP size and concentration.
Citrate is one of the most frequently utilized surface ligand for stabilizing metal, metal oxide, and lanthanide-based upconversion NPs in hydrophilic environments. However, its quantification on NP surfaces has rarely been addressed although it is a frequent analyte in medical or food analysis. In this study we compare several methods for quantifying citrate as capping ligands of iron oxide NPs (IONPs), exemplarily chosen because of their broad applications in the life science. [2] The size of the IONPs was characterized by electron microscopy (EM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), while their concentration was determined by quantifying iron ions after acidic particle dissolution using a colorimetric assay and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The simplest approach for citrate quantification, direct photometric UV-detection after acidic digestion of the IONPs, yielded only reasonable results when combined with reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These results were cross validated with qNMR that required the development of a reliable sample preparation protocol addressing not only particle dissolution in deuterated solvents but also the removal of the paramagnetic iron ions interfering with NMR measurements. Comparison with results from TGA gives insight into the sensitivity and specificity of these methods and their potential for quantifying surface ligands on NPs.
T2 - Anakon 2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Advanced material
KW - Functional group
KW - Iron oxide
KW - Ligand
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - Quantification
KW - Surface analysis
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-64861
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
T1 - Navigating the Nanoworld: Understanding Materials Properties with the Transmission Electron Microscope
N2 - The field of materials science is defined as “the study of the properties of solid materials and how those properties are determined by a material’s composition and structure.”. Many –if not most– of the materials that are produced nowadays owe their properties to structures engineered down to the nanoscopic level. This need has been partly realized thanks to the understanding of materials’ building blocks via characterization techniques that reach this level of resolution. Transmission electron microscopy, since its first implementation in the early 1930s (in Berlin), has been implemented to achieve imaging –and spectral– analysis at lateral resolutions down to the atomic level.
In this contribution, a series of practical examples will be presented, where applied materials are characterized by a range of transmission electron microscopy techniques to understand structural and functional properties of a wide range of materials. Among these materials examples will be presented on structural conventionally and additively manufactured metallic alloys, high entropy alloys, dissimilar aluminum-to-steel welds, magnetic nanoparticles, ceramic coatings, high temperature oxidation products. Addressed will be either the effect of processing route or that of the exposure to experimental conditions similar to those found in the respective intended applications.
T2 - UA/UAB/UAH MSE Graduate Seminar
CY - Online meeting
DA - 19.01.2022
KW - Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
KW - Characterization
KW - Microstructure
KW - 3D
PY - 2022
AN - OPUS4-54238
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Strommer, Bettina
T1 - Anisotropy in natural rubber / graphene nanocomposites
N2 - The incorporation of nanoscale particles into elastomers enable a boost in performance and/or a distinct reduction of conventional filler loadings due to their high surface to volume ratio. 2D layered nanoparticles like graphene and graphene-related materials provide a great potential as effective fillers in rubber, especially by enhancing mechanical and barrier properties. The type and properties of the nanoparticles, their interface and the elastomeric matrix materials influence the technical behavior, and therefore the potential application fields of such rubber nanocomposites. Especially crucial for the efficiency of the nanofiller, however, is its best possible incorporation into the elastomer. The dispersing of nanoparticles without agglomerates usually constitutes a challenge when using conventional two-roll milling or internal mixing. Academic approaches for highly dispersed nanocomposites solve this problem but are often energy and time consuming with no feasible scale up possibility. Therefore, an ultrasonic assisted NR latex premixing process was established to produce highly filled masterbatches, enabling the main processing with conventional rubber processing techniques.
Two carbon-based nanoparticles with similar specific surface areas were investigated and incorporated in natural rubber as nanocomposites: A commercially available multilayer graphene (MLG) and a nanoscale carbon black (nCB). The mentioned premixed masterbatches were further processed to nanocomposites by the addition of matrix NR, two-roll milling, and hot pressing (vulcanization). By this procedure an increase in Young’s modulus of 157% (MLG) and 71% (nCB) could be obtained at a concentration level of 3 phr. As anisotropic material behavior was observable for the nanocomposites containing MLG, different measurement methods were investigated to quantify the orientation of the nanoparticles in the nanocomposites: Sorption measurements (swelling in 2 dimensions), hardness and dynamical mechanical analysis (in-plane vs. cross-plane), X-Ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscopy.
T2 - DKT IRC 21
CY - Nuremberg, Germany
DA - 27.06.2022
KW - Processing
KW - Elastomers
KW - Nanocomposites
KW - Graphene
KW - Orientation
KW - Anisotropy
PY - 2022
AN - OPUS4-55205
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia
T1 - Using Dual Fluorescent Molecularly Imprinted Particles Coupled with a Miniaturized Opto-Microfluidic Platform for On-Site Detection of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids
N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemicals widely used in the production of various materials, including firefighting foams, adhesives, and coatings that resist stains and oil. In recent years, PFAS have gained attention as emerging environmental contaminants, with particular emphasis on perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), the most common type of PFAS. PFCAs are defined by a fully fluorinated carbon chain and a charged carboxylic acid group. They have been classified as Substances of Very High Concern and included in the REACH Candidate List due to their persistence, resistance to biodegradation, and toxicological impacts.
Traditional methods for analyzing PFCAs, like GC-MS, HRMS, and HPLC-based techniques, are time-consuming, non-portable, expensive, and require specialized expertise. On the other hand, fluorescence assays offer a user-friendly, portable, and cost-effective alternative with high sensitivity and quick results, particularly when the binding of the analyte causes a specific increase in the probe’s fluorescence. Combining these probes with a carrier platform and a miniaturized optofluidic device presents a promising approach for PFCA monitoring.
In this study, a new guanidine BODIPY fluorescent indicator monomer was synthesized, characterized, and incorporated into a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) designed for the specific detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The MIP layer was formed on silica core nanoparticles doped with tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride, serving as an optical internal reference for calibration-free assays. In combination with an extraction step prior to sample analysis, this system enables selective and reliable detection of PFCAs in surface water samples, minimizing interference from competing substances, matrix effects, and other factors. When integrated into an opto-microfluidic setup, the assay provided a compact, user-friendly detection system capable of detecting micromolar levels of PFOA in under 15 minutes from surface water samples.
T2 - ANAKON2025
CY - Leipzig, Germany
DA - 10.03.2025
KW - Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
KW - On-site detection
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers
PY - 2025
AN - OPUS4-62712
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - López-Puertollano, Daniel
T1 - Superparamagnetic core-shell particles application: from cytometry assay to simplified fluidic system
N2 - Superparamagnetic hybrid polystyrene-core silica-shell beads have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional in flow cytometry-based competitive antibody assays [1]. These materials consist of a polystyrene core and a silica shell, in which magnetic nanoparticles are embedded, facilitating the handling and retention in tests. The outer silica surface allows for easy modification through silane chemistry, allowing the attachment of antibodies, or other molecules of interest. Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin that can be found in grain products, coffee, cacao, or grapes, was chosen as the main target analyte to detect [2]. In this study, previously in house produced anti-OTA antibodies [3] were attached to the surface of the particles and the whole system was used as detection entity. In a first approach, the system was used for the development of a competitive cytometry assay using an OTA-fluorescein (OTA-F) adduct as competitor and marker. In this assay the fluorescence emitted by the OTA-F competitor on the surface of the particle was detected at a wavelength of 518 nm using a 533/30.H filter and was correlated to the forward scatter (FSC) to distinguish it from the excess of competitor still in solution. Under optimised conditions, the final assay showed a limit of detection of 0.03 nM. In a second approach, a simplified ready-to-inject fluidic system was built based on a laser (488 nm) and a photomultiplier detector to measure the signal of competitor still in solution. The competition step was carried out in a vial and the whole mixture was injected into the fluidic system. To avoid signal scattering, the particles were separated in-line using a magnet and only the OTA-F competitor still in solution was detected, reaching a limit of detection of 1.2 nM. With the aim to reduce user manipulation, the final assay is still under development for in-line incubation during the competitive step.
T2 - 15th Rapid Methods Europe Conference
CY - Amsterdam, Netherlands
DA - 06.11.2023
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Flow cytometry
KW - Bead-based assays
KW - Magnetic beads
KW - Core-shell particles
KW - Immunoassays
PY - 2023
AN - OPUS4-58817
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Weinel, Kristina
T1 - Fabrication of 2D assemblies of disordered gold nanoparticles and investigation of localized surface plasmon resonances
N2 - Interaction of electromagnetic waves, such as electron beams or light, with conductive material can lead to localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) where the incoming energy can be deposited in a collective excitation of electrons of the conduction band, which in turn can result in coherent localized plasmon oscillations. LSPR in metallic nanostructures, such as nanoparticles (NPs), which are sensitive to geometry, material composition and environment, are currently utilized in a wide range of applications, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, plasmonic wave guides, improved solar cells, on-chip particle accelerators and nanoantennas. A host of studies that focus on plasmonic NPs ranging from single NPs with several shapes (cubic, spherical, tetrahedral) over 1D assemblies of NPs such as chains, to ordered 2D assemblies of NPs show an increase of the complexity regarding the hybridization behavior of LSPRs eventually lead to delocalized Surface Plasmons. Furthermore, Anderson predicted in 1977 the absence of diffusion or delocalization of waves in disordered systems, which has been discussed as the underlying mechanism for LSPRs localization in disordered metallic thin films and ultrathin 2D networks. Our aim is to further develop these studies on the surface plasmon localization in disordered structures by (1) developing a novel NPs assembly fabrication method that allows fabricating disordered assemblies of NPs of a wide range of NPs sizes, and (2) probing the LSPR with high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Moreover, the dominant dipolar interaction between the NPs, also facilitates an efficient numerical modeling of these systems, which in comparison with the experiments allows for an in-depth study of the impact of various geometric parameters as well as retardation and life-time damping on the observed localization behavior.
To synthesize 2D disordered assemblies of gold NPs on a TEM transparent silicon oxide substrate, a new synthesis routine was developed. This procedure is based on sublimation and redeposition of a gold microparticle precursor induced by an electron beam in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) operated at 30 kV. To characterize the assembly of synthesized NPs in terms of size, shape and spreading over the substrate, TEM measurements were conducted subsequently. To study LSPRs experimentally, EELS in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode was carried out. The numerical modelling of LSPRs was performed using a self-consistent dipole model.
The synthesized 2D disordered gold NPs assemblies exhibit a gradient in the NPs mean size, which ranges from 100 nm close to the precursor location down to 2 nm at a distance of more than 20 µm from the precursor location. Additionally, the interparticle distance between the gold NPs increases with increasing distance to the precursor location.
The experimental investigation as well as the numerical simulation of the LSPRs demonstrate a localization behavior that decreases toward larger energies, which is driven by the disorder of the NPs assembly (mainly the random particle distance). That localization behavior stays in contrast to what was found in ultrathin 2D gold networks showing increasing of localization towards higher LSPRs energies. By varying the geometric parameters of the NPs assembly in the simulation, we could identify the NPs thickness as the parameter, that determines the energy-dependence of the localization. Specifically, a critical thickness of approx. 10 nm separates the two localization regimes, which correlates to the energy of the dipole mode resonance crucially depending on the thickness of the NPs.
2D disordered assemblies of gold NPs of a wide range of NPs sizes and distances can be synthesized directly on thin substrates facilitating structural characterization and EELS measurements in a TEM. It could be shown that such assemblies exhibit LSPRs with a localization behavior that may be tuned by the NPs sizes (including thickness) and interparticle distances. The proposed synthesis of random NPs assemblies opens new avenues for fundamental studies on Anderson localization in disordered plasmonic structures as well as its applications such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy where localization behavior must be tuned to specific wave lengths.
T2 - 17th European Microscopy Congress (EMC 2024)
CY - Copenhagen, Denmark
DA - 26.08.2024
KW - Transmission electron microscopy
KW - Scanning electron microscopy
KW - Localized surface plasmon resonances
KW - Gold nanoparticle synthesis
KW - Disordered assemblies
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60947
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia
T1 - On-Site Detection of PFAAs with Dual Fluorescent MIPs Coupled to a Miniaturized Microfluidics Platform
N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent a class of synthetic organofluorine chemicals extensively utilized in the manufacturing of various materials such as firefighting foams, adhesives, and stain- and oil-resistant coatings. In recent years, PFAS have been considered as emerging environmental contaminants, with particular focus on perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), the most prevalent type among PFAS. PFCAs are characterized by a fully fluorinated carbon backbone and a charged carboxylic acid headgroup. Notably, they have been designated as Substances of Very High Concern and added to the REACH Candidate List due to their persistence in the environment, non-biodegradability and toxicological effects.
Conventional techniques for the analysis of PFCA, such as GC-MS, HRMS and HPLC-based methods, are laborious, not portable, costly and require skilled personnel. In contrast, fluorescence assays can be designed as easy-to-operate, portable and cost-effective methods with high sensitivity and fast response, especially when analyte binding leads to a specific increase of a probe’s emission. Integration of such probes with a carrier platform and a miniaturized optofluidic device affords a promising alternative for PFCA monitoring.
Here, a novel guanidine BODIPY fluorescent indicator monomer has been synthesized, characterized, and incorporated into a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the specific detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The MIP layer was formed on tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride doped silica core particles for optical internal reference and calibration-free assays. Such system allows selective and reliable detection of PFCA from surface water samples, with minimum interference by competitors, matrix effects and other factors. Integration of the assay into an opto-microfluidic setup resulted in a miniaturized and easy-to-operate detection system allowing for micromolar detection of PFOA in less than 15 minutes from surface water sample.
T2 - MIP2024: The 12th International Conference on Molecular Imprinting
CY - Verona, Italy
DA - 18.06.2024
KW - Sensor
KW - PFAS
KW - Molecularly imprinted polymers
KW - Guanidine receptor
KW - BODIPY
PY - 2024
AN - OPUS4-60438
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Homann, Christian
A1 - Peeters, Régis
A1 - Mirmajidi, Hana
A1 - Berg, Jessica
A1 - Fay, Michael
A1 - Rodrigues, Lucas Carvalho Veloso
A1 - Radicchi, Eros
A1 - Jain, Akhil
A1 - Speghini, Adolfo
A1 - Hemmer, Eva
T1 - Rapid microwave-assisted synthesis of morphology-controlled luminescent lanthanide-doped Gd2O2S nanostructures
N2 - Gadolinium oxysulfide (Gd2O2S) is an attractive material of demonstrated suitability for a variety of imaging applications, leveraging its magnetic, scintillating, and luminescent properties, particularly when doped with optically active lanthanide ions (Ln3+). For many of these applications, control over size and morphology at the nanoscale is crucial. This study demonstrates the rapid microwave-assisted Synthesis of colloidal Ln2O2S (Ln = Gd and dopants Yb, Er, Tb) nanostructures in as little as 20 min. Structural characterization using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, as well as Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), including elemental mapping via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), unveiled the key role of elemental sulphur (S8) in the reaction mixtures for materials growth. By systematically varying the Ln-to-S ratio from 1 : 0.5 to 1 : 15, controlled morphologies ranging from triangular nanoplatelets to berry- and flower-like shapes were achieved. Doping with Er3+/Yb3+ endowed the nano-triangles with upconverting and near-infrared emitting properties. Tb3+-doped Gd2O2S exhibited the characteristic green Tb3+ emission under UV excitation, while also showing X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL), rendering the material interesting as a potential nano-scintillator.
KW - Upconversion
KW - Microwave-assisted synthesis
KW - Synthesis
KW - Fluorescence
KW - Nano
KW - Particle
KW - NIR
KW - XRD
KW - X-ray fluoressence
KW - Morphology control
KW - Raman
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647907
DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TC01646K
SN - 2050-7526
VL - 13
IS - 35
SP - 18492
EP - 18507
PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
AN - OPUS4-64790
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Adamski, Paweł
A1 - Zgrzebnicki, Michał
A1 - Albrecht, Aleksander
A1 - Jurkowski, Artur
A1 - Wojciechowska, Agnieszka
A1 - Ekiert, Ewa
A1 - Sielicki, Krzysztof
A1 - Mijowska, Ewa
A1 - Smales, Glen J.
A1 - Maximenko, Alexey
A1 - Moszyński, Dariusz
T1 - Ammonia synthesis over γ-Al2O3 supported Co-Mo catalysts
N2 - Novel ammonia synthesis catalysts are sought due to energetic transformation and increasing environmental consciousness. Materials containing cobalt and molybdenum are showing state-of-art activities in ammonia synthesis. The application of γ-alumina support was proposed to enhance the properties of Co-Mo nanoparticles. The wet impregnation of the support was conducted under reduced pressure. The active catalysts were obtained by ammonolysis of precursors. The chemical and phase composition, as well as morphology, porosity, and surface composition of precursors and catalysts, were characterized. The Co-Mo nanoparticles phase composition as well as their size and dispersion were determined using X-ray absorption spectroscopy utilizing synchrotron radiation, electron microscopy, and X-ray scattering. The catalytic activity was tested in the ammonia synthesis process under atmospheric pressure. The activity and stability of the supported catalysts were compared with unsupported cobalt molybdenum nitride Co3Mo3N, revealing the superiority of the present approach.
KW - Ammonia synthesis
KW - Supported catalyst
KW - Cobalt molybdenum nitrides
KW - Scattering
KW - X-ray scattering
KW - Gamma-alumina
KW - Stability
PY - 2025
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2025.114907
SN - 2468-8231
VL - 575
SP - 1
EP - 9
PB - Elsevier B.V.
AN - OPUS4-64827
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Cornelsen Sampaio Kling, I.
A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard
A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo
A1 - Archanjo, B. S.
A1 - Simão, R. A.
T1 - Development and characterization of starch film and the incorporation of silver nanoparticles
N2 - Starch is one of the biopolymers being used for bioplastic synthesis. For production, starch can be combined with different plasticizers, starches from different plant sources and even with nanomaterials to improve or to add film properties. The challenge of adding these, e.g. in the form of silver nanoparticles (AgNp) is to determine the concentration so as to avoid impairing the properties of the film, agglomeration or altering the visual characteristics of the film. In this study, a starch film synthesis route and the incorporation of silver nanoparticles has been proposed in order not to alter the properties of the film while maintaining the transparency and a clear colour of the starch film. The results showed that the proposed synthesis route is promising, efficient, reproducible, fast and the film has good mechanical properties.
T2 - Semana MetalMat & Painal PEMM 2020
CY - Online meeting
DA - 23.11.2020
KW - Biofilm
KW - Silver nanoparticle
KW - Starch
KW - Starch nanoparticle
PY - 2020
SP - 1
EP - 2
AN - OPUS4-51940
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - CONF
A1 - Kling, I. C. S.
T1 - Development and characterization of starch film and the incorporation of silver nanoparticles
N2 - Starch is one of the biopolymers being used for bioplastic synthesis. For production, starch can be combined with different plasticizers, starches from different plant sources and even with nanomaterials to improve or to add film properties. The challenge of adding these, e.g. in the form of silver nanoparticles (AgNp) is to determine the concentration so as to avoid impairing the properties of the film, agglomeration or altering the visual characteristics of the film. In this study, a starch film synthesis route and the incorporation of silver nanoparticles has been proposed in order not to alter the properties of the film while maintaining the transparency and a clear colour of the starch film. The results showed that the proposed synthesis route is promising, efficient, reproducible, fast and the film has good mechanical properties.
T2 - Semana MetalMat & Painal PEMM 2020
CY - Online meeting
DA - 23.11.2020
KW - Biofilm
KW - Starch
KW - Starch nanoparticle
KW - Silver nanoparticle
PY - 2020
AN - OPUS4-51828
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Voss, Heike
A1 - Zahedi-Azad, Setareh
A1 - Ernst, Owen C.
A1 - Lucaßen, Jan
A1 - Mann, Guido
A1 - Bonse, Jörn
A1 - Boeck, Torsten
A1 - Martin, Jens
A1 - Schmid, Martina
A1 - Krüger, Jörg
T1 - Chemical vapor deposition of indium precursors for solar microabsorbers using continuous laser radiation
BT - A, Materials science & processing
N2 - Localized deposition of indium on an amorphous glass surface covered with a thin molybdenum layer is demonstrated utilizing laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition. A continuous-wave laser causes a temperature rise on the molybdenum layer resulting in the selective aggregation of liquid and ultimately crystalline structures of indium. The formation sites of the indium are determined by the decomposition of gaseous trimethylindium. The deposited indium islands can serve as precursors and could be further processed into compound semiconductors like CuInSe2 for micro-concentrator solar cells. The experimental investigations were supported by theoretical simulations of the laser heating process to calculate the local temperature distribution on the surface of the molybdenum-covered glass substrate.
KW - Laser-assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition
KW - CW Laser
KW - Indium Islands
KW - Micro-concentrator Solar Cell
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-641069
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-025-08895-z
SN - 0947-8396
VL - 131
SP - 1
EP - 10
PB - Springer
CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg [u.a.]
AN - OPUS4-64106
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Xu, Alan
A1 - Moschetti, Michael
A1 - Miskovic, David
A1 - Wei, Tao
A1 - Ionescu, Mihail
A1 - Wang, Zhiyang
A1 - Palmer, Tim
A1 - Bhattacharyya, Dhriti
A1 - He, Peidong
A1 - Li, Xiaopeng
A1 - Gludovatz, Bernd
A1 - Ferry, Michael
T1 - Improved irradiation resistance of a low activation refractory medium entropy alloy, VCrFeW0.2, for fusion applications demonstrated by micro-tensile testing
N2 - An, as cast, VCrFeW0.2 refractory medium entropy alloy (RMEA) was designed for fusion reactor divertor applications, focusing on reduced cost, low activation and compositional stability (low transmutation rates). The as-cast alloy was irradiated to a fluence of 5.6 × 10^17 ions/cm^2 at room temperature with 5 MeV helium ions whose energy have been uniformly attenuated to 0.4 MeV and 5 MeV via energy degradation device prior to sample irradiation. Pre and post irradiation, its mechanical properties were evaluated micro-tensile testing. Prior to irradiation, the VCrFeW0.2 alloy demonstrated good strength and ductility, with a yield strength of 1464 MPa and strain to UTS (\sigma_UTS) of 4.6 %, maintaining comparable strength to pure tungsten (1403 MPa) but with greater strain to UTS (1.3 %). Post irradiation, the VCrFeW0.2 alloy exhibited remarkable damage resistance; its strength increased by only ∼160 MPa, and it retained strain to UTS with a \sigma_UTS of 2.9 %. It performed better than pure tungsten tested under identical irradiation conditions where there was ∼1800 MPa increase in yield strength and a complete loss of plasticity. The micro-tensile results were supported by nanoindentation tests and Vickers hardness testing was also undertaken to show the yield strength values are representative of macro scale, bulk behavior. TEM and comparison with existing literature on RMEA/RHEA are presented here to understand the reason for difference in performance between VCrFeW0.2 alloy and pure tungsten.
KW - Refractory medium entropy alloys
KW - Fusion reactor materials
KW - Irradiation resistance
KW - Micro-tensile testing
KW - Helium ion damage
PY - 2025
UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-645322
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2025.107481
SN - 0263-4368
VL - 134
SP - 1
EP - 16
PB - Elsevier Ltd.
CY - Netherlands
AN - OPUS4-64532
LA - eng
AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany
ER -