TY - JOUR A1 - You, Yi A1 - Xue, Boyang A1 - Riedel, Jens T1 - Enhancement of LIBS plasma in air with organic solvent vapors N2 - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) offers versatile, field-deployable elemental analysis; however, compact, high-repetition-rate nanosecond laser systems typically face constraints in power consumption and size, often compromising emission intensity and thus analytical performance. We demonstrate a significant improvement in LIBS signals through the controlled introduction of common organic solvent vapors into a sheath gas, with a diode-pumped solid-state laser (1064 nm, 2–28 kHz repetition rate, 450–600-μJ pulse energy). Optical and acoustic diagnostics reveal up to ca. 40-fold enhancement of the N II emission line at 567 nm when ambient air serves as the analyte. Maximal enhancement occurs at intermediate repetition rates of ca. 15 kHz, particularly at pulse energies approaching the optical breakdown threshold; this observation suggests a viable strategy for operating LIBS at lower pulse energies and higher repetition rates. Enhancement effects scale jointly with both vapor pressure and ionization energy of the organic species, with acetone and toluene markedly outperforming methanol and isopropanol. These findings provide a rational foundation for significantly improving the analytical performance of portable LIBS instruments without exceeding platform-specific constraints. KW - LIBS PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653758 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2025.107309 SN - 0584-8547 VL - 236 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65375 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Tuma, Dirk T1 - Trace-level ammonia-water interactions in hydrogen: challenges in purity analysis using Optical-Feedback Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) N2 - ISO 14687 defines a threshold of 100 ppb ammonia for hydrogen to be used in fuel cells. This work presents analysis methods using OF-CEAS and discusses moisture-related surface effects on the results. T2 - Gas Analysis 2026 CY - Paris, France DA - 27.01.2026 KW - OF-CEAS KW - Ammonia KW - Moisture effects PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65480 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiesner, Yosri A1 - Eisentraut, Paul A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - One Year Observation of Microplastic Concentrations in the River Rhine N2 - In recent years, the quantification of microplastics (MP) in aquatic environments has gained increasing attention, particularly regarding their environmental distribution and potential exposure levels. Environmentally relevant exposure data are still essential for a realistic risk assessment of the harmful health potential of microplastics in freshwater systems. This study addresses a large data set of MP concentrations analyzed and processed under statistical aspects and provides mass concentrations as well as associated size fractions of the detected MP. Over a 12 month period, samples were collected at three locations and analyzed across three particle size fractions (100−500 μm, 50−100 μm, and 10−50 μm) using thermalextraction desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS). The most prevalent polymers identified were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), styrene−butadiene rubber (SBR), and natural rubber (NR). Statistical analyses, including principal component and cluster analysis, revealed size-dependent patterns,minor seasonal variation and spatial variations. These findings are particularly significant for ecotoxicological research and regulatory development, especially regarding tire abrasion a rarely quantified but potentially harmful MP source. The study contributes aluable data for future environmental monitoring and supports EU directives on wastewater and drinking water quality KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Microplastics KW - Environment KW - Monitoring KW - Reference data PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-654669 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.5c00530 SN - 2690-0637 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-65466 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rodriguez, Santiago A1 - Kumanski, Sylvain A1 - Ayed, Zeineb A1 - Fournet, Aurélie A1 - Bouanchaud, Charlène A1 - Sagar, Amin A1 - Allemand, Frédéric A1 - Baulin, Vladimir A. A1 - Resch‐Genger, Ute A1 - Cortés, Juan A1 - Sibille, Nathalie A1 - Chirot, Fabien A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Antoine, Rodolphe A1 - Le Guével, Xavier A1 - Bernadó, Pau T1 - Programming the Optoelectronic Properties of Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters Using the Conformational Landscape of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins N2 - The rational design of hybrid nanomaterials with precisely controlled properties remains a central challenge in materials science. While atomically precise gold nanoclusters (Au‐NCs) offer molecule‐like control over a metallic core, tuning their optoelectronic behavior via surface engineering is often empirically driven. Here, we establish a design principle by demonstrating that the conformational landscape of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) can be used as a programmable scaffold to rationally modulate the photophysical properties of a covalently bound Au‐NC. We synthesized a series of bioconjugates between Au 25 nanoclusters and bioengineered IDPs containing a variable number of cysteine anchoring points. A combination of mass spectrometry, small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and modeling on the conjugates indicates that increasing the number of covalent anchors systematically restricts the conformational ensemble, inducing a progressively more compact protein shell around nanoclusters. This structural rigidification at the interface directly translates into a 15‐fold enhancement of the Au‐NC near‐infrared photoluminescence and a six‐fold increase in its average lifetime. Our findings demonstrate that the conformational plasticity of IDPs and the capacity to engineer them can be harnessed as a molecular tuning knob, moving to a new regime of programmable soft‐matter control over the properties of quantum‐confined nanomaterials for tailored biotechnological applications. KW - Fluorescence KW - Custer KW - Nano KW - Advanced material KW - Characterization KW - Fluorescence quantum yield KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Thiol ligands KW - Gold KW - Surface chemistry KW - SWIR KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Protein PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655086 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202502991 SN - 0947-6539 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-65508 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Holm, O. A1 - Leube, Peter A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Kennedy, E. A1 - Stockenhuber, M. A1 - Lucas, J. A1 - Truong, T. A1 - Rappé, A. A1 - Lu, W. A1 - Blotevogel, J. T1 - Thermische Zerstörung von PFAS in der Sondermüllverbrennung: Einfluss von Temperatur und PFAS-Konzentration N2 - Aufgrund ihrer einzigartigen molekularen Beschaffenheit werden per- und polyfluorierte Alkylsubstanzen (PFAS) in vielen unterschiedlichen Produkten und Anwendungsgebieten eingesetzt. Da sie generell eine hohe Persistenz aufweisen und je nach individueller Struktur unterschiedlich mobil sind, sind sie mittlerweile in allen Umweltkompartimenten und ubiquitär nachzuweisen. Ihre potenzielle (ökologische) Toxizität birgt dabei erhebliche Umweltrisiken, weshalb PFAS in den letzten Jahren mehr und mehr in den Fokus von Umweltverbänden und -behörden gelangten. Gleichzeitig beschäftigen sich Forschungseinrichtungen mit der möglichst weitreichenden Entfernung aus der Umwelt sowie mit deren (anschließender) Zerstörung. Im Projekt ER24-4073 „Untersuchung des thermischen Abbaus von PFAS in einer kommerziellen Großanlage zur Verbrennung gefährlicher Abfälle“, welches vom U.S. Department of Defense (DoD ) über das Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) gefördert wird, untersuchen deutsche, australische und amerikanische Partner die Behandlung von PFAS-haltigen Abfallströmen in einer großtechnischen Verbrennungsanlage, um die Einsatzbereitschaft, Machbarkeit und Sicherheit dieser Zerstörungsmethode zu demonstrieren. T2 - Berliner Konferenz Abfallwirtschaft und Energie CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 28.01.2026 KW - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Verbrennung KW - Kontaminierter Boden PY - 2026 SN - 978-3-911006-65-1 SP - 66 EP - 77 PB - TK Verlag AN - OPUS4-65513 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dalgic, Mete‐Sungur A1 - Kumar, Sourabh A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - Quantitative Analysis of Polymers by MALDI‐TOF Mass Spectrometry: Correlation Between Signal Intensity and Arm Number N2 - The signal intensities of linear and star‐shaped poly(L‐lactides) (PLA) and poly (ethylene oxides) (PEO) were compared to determine the influence of the number of arms on the ionization in matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometry. In this study, a variety of blends were prepared and investigated, including binary and ternary combinations of linear and star‐shaped polymers with similar molecular masses. The focus was on examining their intensity ratios. In equimolar binary PLA blends, polymer stars were observed to exhibit higher intensities than their linear counterparts. This result was supported by experiments with equimolar ternary PLA blends, which clearly demonstrated an intensity dependence on the number of polymer arms. It was observed that four‐arm PLA exhibited higher intensities than three‐arm PLA. A similar trend was observed in investigations involving acetylated polymer end groups, suggesting that differences in ionization are primarily influenced by polymer architecture rather than end groups. In order to validate this assumption, the binding energies for [polymer‐K] + adduct ions utilizing the most stable geometry obtained from GOAT (Global Optimizer Algorithm) were calculated, revealing that star‐shaped lower mass oligomers have slightly higher binding energies. KW - MALDI-TOF MS KW - Starlike polymers KW - Quantification KW - Topology PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653401 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/jms.70023 SN - 1076-5174 VL - 61 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd. AN - OPUS4-65340 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Blume, Simon T1 - Femtosecond vs. Nanosecond Laser-induced XUV Spectroscopy (LIXS) N2 - In contrast to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), measuring after a delay as long as a few microseconds, laser-induced XUV spectroscopy (LIXS) takes advantage of emissions from the very first instant of the pristine plasma. This process exhibits stable and intense line and recombination emissions in the XUV-range. Therefore, common challenges for precise measurements (e.g. quantification efforts) in LIBS caused by signal intensity fluctuations due to matrix effects and plasma-flicker noise are improved, as shown for ns-pulses. A femtosecond laser (pulse length ~100 fs) interacts fundamentally different with matter than a nanosecond laser. Of the many photons needed for ionization of the sample, less are absorbed via inverse Bremsstrahlung and more in a Franck-Condon multiphoton absorption (MPA) process. In combination with the higher peak power, and therefore higher initial plasma temperature (> 10 eV), atoms are selectively ionized to a higher degree while at the same time thermal dissipation and equilibration is reduced. This specificity in excitation leads to a reduced background and the highly ionized atoms overwhelmingly emit the desired XUV-radiation. Thus, fs-LIXS promises to lead to “cleaner” spectra with sharper separation of the emission lines. The capabilities of a fs-LIXS setup in comparison to ns-LIXS will be discussed. Samples of pure elements (Al, Si, Ni, Fe, Mg), as well as composite samples (CaF, LiF, PTFE, polypropylene) serve as model systems to demonstrate these capabilities. T2 - EMSLIBS 2025 CY - Senlis, France DA - 26.01.2026 KW - Femtosecond KW - LIXS KW - XUV KW - Elemental analysis PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65470 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Völker, Tobias A1 - Blaschke, Jil A1 - Lierenfeld, Matthias A1 - Wilsch, Gerd A1 - Dalichow, Dirk A1 - Truffer, Philipp A1 - Kruschwitz, Sabine T1 - Aktuelle Anwendungsbeispiele der laserinduzierten Plasmaspektroskopie in der Bauwerksdiagnostik N2 - Die Zustandsbewertung und Instandhaltung von Betonbauwerken erfordert zuverlässige und effiziente Analysemethoden, um komplexe Schadensmechanismen frühzeitig erkennen und fundiert bewerten zu können. Klassische chemisch-analytische Verfahren in der Betonanalytik liefern zwar präzise Ergebnisse bezogen auf die Probenmasse, sind jedoch mit erheblichem Laboraufwand verbunden, in ihrer räumlichen Auflösung durch die Probenahme begrenzt und hinsichtlich der Ergebnisinterpretation mit Unsicherheiten behaftet. Die laserinduzierte Plasmaspektroskopie (LIBS) bietet hier ein hohes Potenzial als schnelle, bildgebende und weitgehend zerstörungsarme Alternative. In den vergangenen Jahren hat sich das Verfahren zunehmend in der Bauwerksdiagnostik etabliert und wird heute für ein breites Spektrum an Anwendungen eingesetzt. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand der LIBS-Anwendungen und zeigt anhand ausgewählter Praxisbeispiele die Leistungsfähigkeit, den Mehrwert, die Grenzen und die zukünftigen Entwicklungsperspektiven des Verfahrens auf. KW - LIBS KW - Spektroskopie KW - Chemische Analyse KW - Infrastruktur KW - Bauwerksdiagnostik PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/best.70078 SN - 1437-1006 SP - 1 EP - 13 AN - OPUS4-65445 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weidner, Steffen A1 - Meyer, Andreas A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana A1 - Kricheldorf, Hans R. T1 - Cyclic polyglycolide by means of metal acetylacetonates N2 - Glycolide was polymerized in bulk at 160 °C using various metal acetylacetonates as catalysts. Zirconium acetylacetonate was particularly efficient, enabling rapid polymerization even at 130 °C. The formation of cyclic poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), most likely via a ring-expansion polymerization (REP) mechanism, was proven by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Depending on the polymerization conditions, the formation of even-numbered cycles was favored to varying degrees. Number-average molecular weights (Mn) in the range of 2000–3500 g mol−1 were achieved with dispersities below 2.0. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) powder patterns showed that the crystal lattice was the same as that of known linear PGAs, regardless of the Mn values. These patterns enabled a comparison of crystallinities with values derived from DSC measurements. KW - MALDI-TOF MS KW - Polyglycolide KW - Crystallization KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - Cyclization PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-653731 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ra07961f SN - 2046-2069 VL - 16 IS - 2 SP - 1757 EP - 1764 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-65373 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scholl, Juliane A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Bagheri, Abbas A1 - Meiers, Emelie A1 - Russo, Francesco Friedrich A1 - Haase, Hajo A1 - Koch, Matthias T1 - Unveiling aging mechanisms of electrolytes in commercial end-of-life lithium-ion batteries N2 - In this study, 77 end-of-life (EOL) commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) of various formats were systematically analyzed to investigate electrolyte degradation and the influence of pristine electrolyte compositions on aging behavior. Comprehensive chemical characterization was conducted using targeted and non-targeted mass spectrometry (MS), employing LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, and high-resolution MS (HRMS). This integrated approach enabled the identification of confirmed pristine components and complex degradation products. The results show that rechargeable pouch and cylindrical cells often deviate from conventional model systems, containing mixed lithium salt anions, ionic liquids (ILs), and high concentrations of triflates, triflimides, and bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI). These function as solvents, salts, or safety-enhancing additives. Specific IL degradation products were identified, and hypotheses formulated on previously unreported pathways. Furthermore, a novel series of oligomerization products of propylene carbonate (PC) was detected. In contrast, non-rechargeable coin cells revealed widespread use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their original electrolytes. Based on ex situ analyses, hypothetical PFAS degradation mechanisms are proposed here for the first time. The absence of carbonate oligomers and lithium salt-derived products, alongside the presence of standard carbonates, indicates lithium counterion coordination as a key factor in Lewis acid-catalyzed degradation. This study offers valuable insights into real-world battery aging. KW - Transformation products KW - Lithium-ion batteries KW - Fluorinated Compounds KW - Gas chromatography/ QTOF-MS KW - HILIC-LC-MS/MS KW - PFAS KW - Electrochemistry PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-644991 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.238613 SN - 0378-7753 VL - 661 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-64499 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -