TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Organic Surface Modification and Analysis of Titania Nanoparticles for Self-Assembly in Multiple Layers N2 - The characteristics of TiO2 coatings can greatly influence their final performance in large-scale applications. In the present study self-assembly of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in multiple layers was selected as a deposition procedure on various substrates. For this, the main prerequisite constitutes the surface modification of both NPs and substrate with e.g. silane coupling agents. A set of functionalized TiO2 NPs has been produced by reaction with either (3- aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) or (3-aminopropyl)phosphonic acid (APPA) to functionalize the NP surface with free amino-groups. Then, the complementary functionalized NP set can be obtained from an aliquot of the first one, through the conversion of free surface amino-groups to aldehydes by reaction with glutaraldehyde (GA). Several types of TiO2 NPs differing in size, shape and specific surface area have been functionalized. FTIR, TGA, SEM/EDS, XPS, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and ToF-SIMS analyses have been carried out to evaluate the degree of functionalization, all the analytical methods employed demonstrating successful functionalization of TiO2 NP surface with APTES or APPA and GA. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - TiO2 KW - Layer-by-layer deposition KW - Surface functionalization KW - P25 KW - Surface characterization PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49279 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Size and shape distribution of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles by TEM - An inter-laboratory comparison N2 - Extraction of true, 3D shape (and size) of non-spherical nanoparticles (NPs) is associated with errors by conventional 2D electron microscopy using projection images. Significant efforts within the ISO technical committee TC 229 ‘Nanotechnologies’ are aimed at establishing accurate TEM and SEM measurement of NP size and shape as robust, standard procedures. Study groups have been organizing inter-laboratory comparisons on well-selected NP systems according to the market needs, such as aggregated titania nano-powder for which size and shape distribution of primary crystallites of irregular shape must be measured accurately. To be noticed is e. g. the fact that the measurement procedure allows only manual selection of the particles clearly distinguishable for analysis as well as manual definition of the contour of the imaged NPs. An inter-laboratory exercise on titania NPs (pure anatase, grown by hydrothermal synthesis) of well-defined non-spherical shape, i.e. bipyramidal has been recently started within ISO/TC 229 under similar conditions as for the irregular shaped titania. Overlapped particles were allowed to be considered, as long as they are clearly distinguishable. One decisive NP selection criterion was to analyze only those NPs with a roundness value below 0.7, i.e. the NPs laying on the support foil and, hence, with projection areas clearly deviating from perfect circles (R=1). The overall evaluation (for 15 labs) of the size descriptors (area, Feret, minFeret, perimeter) and shape descriptors (aspect ratio, roundness, compactness, extent) by analysis of variance is just to be finished and included in ISO/WD 21363 Nanotechnologies -- Protocol for particle size distribution by transmission electron microscopy. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 CY - Baltimore, MD, USA DA - 05.08.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - ISO KW - Nanotechnology PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45750 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - High-Quality Data in Microbeam Analysis – Possible Joint Exercises N2 - Microbeam analysis data are of continuously improving quality, this owing mainly to developments in instrumentation (hardware and software) and computer performance. The knowledge and skills of the operators must be also kept correspondingly updated. To be deemed as technically competent, the laboratories must be accredited according to an accreditation scheme, mostly following ISO/IEC 17025. International standards are able to provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics of methods, instruments or samples with the final goal that these can be used consistently in accredited laboratories. In the field of electron microscopy and microbeam Analysis standardisation and metrology are terms that are encountered rather seldom at major conferences and scientific publications. Several ISO standards already published and used successfully by a large part of the electron microscopy and microbeam analysis community. For example, file formats such as EMSA/MSA for spectral-data exchange or tagged image file format (TIFF) for SEM images; procedures for the specification of X-ray spectrometers, the specification of certified reference materials (CRMs), and for measurement of average grain size by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD); and guidelines for calibrating image magnification in SEM or TEM. A main task of ISO technical committee TC 202 ‘Microbeam Analysis’ is to identify feasible projects/proposals needed to be developed into new international standards, particularly in respect to recent technology, such the silicon drift detector (SDD). As far as the metrological aspects are regarded, The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) through the Consultative Committee for the Amount of Substance (CCQM) is concerned with the metrological aspect in Chemistry and Biology. In particular, the Surface Analysis Working Group (SAWG) assists in identifying and establishing inter-laboratory work to test the consistency as well as to improve the traceability of spatially resolved chemical surface analysis at the micro and nanoscale. Examples of recent projects on quantitative microbeam analysis at low energies, such as the quantification of light elements such as carbon and nitrogen will be presented. The significant sources of measurement uncertainty will be emphasized. These are: quality of the unknown and the reference materials used, the quantification model, instrumental parameters like take-off-angle, spectrometer efficiency, and particularly the beam current. The crucial importance of working with uniform and well-defined measurement and data evaluation protocols will be discussed in compliance with the ISO document “Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM)”. Another international platform where pre-standardisation work can be organised is VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards). International collaborative Projects aim at providing the technical basis for harmonised measurements, testing, specifications, and standards to be further developed at ISO level. One key point of VAMAS activities is constituted by inter-laboratory comparisons for high-quality data. In the field of microbeam analysis, the technical working area (TWA) 37 Quantitative Microstructural Analysis deals with corresponding projects. Good ideas, e.g., on analysis at low energies, are particularly encouraged by directly contacting the author. Support and guidance will be supplied. T2 - EMAS 2019 - 16th European Workshop on MODERN DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS CY - Trondheim, Norway DA - 19.05.2019 KW - Data KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) KW - EBSD KW - VAMAS KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48108 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. T1 - Measurement of Elemental Composition of FeNi and SiGe Alloy Thin Films by EMPA and µ-XRF N2 - It was demonstrated in the past that the electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) can be applied to determine accurately both elemental composition and thickness of thin films by using the dedicated software package for thin film analysis Stratagem. A relatively small number of film materials such as pure metallic films of platinum and nickel, binary alloys of Fe-Ni, and Pt-Ni-Co ternary alloy films has been reported in literature as working successfully. Further, the software can be applied ‘inversely’, i.e., by feeding it with the thickness of the film and using the determined mass coating, one can easily calculate the film density, which for porous layers leads us to the true film porosity. The present study repeats measurements on an already tested system of Fe-Ni thin films on silicon and reports for the first-time results of analysis on Si-Ge thin films deposited on a non-conductive aluminium oxide substrate. Standard-based and standardless EPMA (with EDS) results were used in combination with Stratagem for the quantification. Further, X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) can be used for the determination of elemental composition and thickness of such films as well. In this case, XRF with a μ-focus X-ray source (μ-XRF) attached to a SEM was applied. For quantification, a fundamental parameter (FP) approach has been used to calculate standard-based and standardless results. Compared to EPMA, XRF has a larger information depth and a higher elemental sensitivity because of a generally lower background. Both thin film systems have been chosen as samples of an international round robin test (RRT) organised in the frame of standardisation technical committee ISO/TC 201 ‘Surface chemical analysis’, under the lead of KRISS. The main objective of the RRT is to compare the results of atomic fractions of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex alloy films obtained by different surface Analysis techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) applied in the depth-profiling operation mode. Five samples of different atomic fractions of each thin film system, i.e., Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex, have been grown by ion beam sputter deposition on silicon and Al2O3 wafers, respectively. Reference FeNi and SiGe films with well-known elemental composition and thickness have been also supplied for standard-based analysis. The atomic fractions of all the samples including the references have been certified by RBS (Rutherford backscattering spectrometry) and ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy). T2 - EMAS 2019 - 16th European Workshop on MODERN DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS CY - Trondheim, Norway DA - 19.05.2019 KW - Thin film analysis KW - SEM/EDS KW - EPMA KW - Fe-Ni KW - Si-Ge PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48104 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of elemental composition and porosity of mesoporous IrOx-TiOx thin films by SEM/EDS N2 - Porous materials play an important role in several fields of technology, especially for energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. The activity of porous films is affected by properties like porosity, film thickness, chemical composition of the material, as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The complex morphology of such porous films constitutes a challenge even for modern analytical techniques and requires new approaches employing the combination/complementation of data of different analytical methods. In this contribution, we characterise thin mesoporous iridium-titanium mixed oxide film properties by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at an SEM. Mesoporous iridium oxide - titanium oxide (IrOx-TiOx) films were prepared via dip-coating of a solution containing a triblock-copolymer as structure-directing agent, an iridium precursor as well as a titanium precursor in ethanol. IrOx-TiOx films were synthesized with different amounts of iridium and calcined in air. The SEM micrographs reveal for all films the achievement of a well-ordered mesoporous structure and homogeneous films with thicknesses between 67 nm and 152 nm. For the determination of film elemental composition and porosity, EPMA can be used as part of a combined SEM/EDS/STRATAGem analysis. Elemental compositions and mass depositions (in μg cm-2) of IrOx-TiOx films were calculated with the thin film analysis Software STRATAGem via k-values measured with SEM/EDS. Pure bulk Ir, TiO2 and Si were measured as references. The average density of the films was obtained from the mass Deposition and the film thickness as measured by cross-section SEM. The porosity was then extracted from the measured average film density divided by a theoretical bulk density. The latter is calculated from the weight fractions of IrOx and TiOx as determined with STRATAGem and the bulk mass densities of IrO2 and TiO2 (rutil) from literature. The fitting results of the k-values from the STRATAGem software, which are in fair agreement with the measured k-values. The application of the SEM/EDS/STRATAGem approach for accurate porosity determination on pure mesoporous TiOx films and pure porous IrOx films has been recently demonstrated. The porosities of pure IrOx, TiOx and mixed IrOx-TiOx films in this study have been determined. The contribution will assess in detail the advantages and limitations of the combined SEM/EDS/STRATAGem analysis for the morphology and porosity of thin metal oxide films. Moreover, the comparison with other measurement techniques and the combination of datasets from multiple measurements will be discussed. T2 - EMAS 2019 - 16th European Workshop on MODERN DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS CY - Trondheim, Norway DA - 19.05.2019 KW - Thin films KW - Porous layers KW - Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) KW - Porosity PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48107 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Check of the energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS) performance with the BAM test material EDS-TM001/2 and BAM software EDS spectrometer test N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDX spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy dispersive spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS attached to the SEM. Particularly for test laboratories operating under accreditation schemes like ISO/IEC 17025, a periodical control of the critical instrumental parameters in end-user laboratories is required. With EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 (second generation) test material, this periodical check is reduced to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDX spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the performance of the EDS in terms of energy resolution and calibration as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr in a well-defined composition, deposited on a steel (in case of EDS-TM001) or silicon (in case of EDS-TM002) substrate. Meanwhile, more than one hundred laboratories (most of them located in Germany) use the EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 test material for the periodical check of their EDS. A detailed description of the test material and software together with examples of application was published recently. New results and gained experiences will be presented as well. T2 - BERM-15: International Symposium on Biological and Environmental Reference Materials CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 24.09.2018 KW - EDS KW - SEM/EDX KW - Test material KW - EDS-TM001 KW - EDS-TM002 KW - EDS Spectrometer Test KW - X-rays PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of Mesoporous Iridium Oxide Thin Films by the Combined Methodical Approach SEM/EDS/STRATAGem N2 - For the determination of porosity of Ir oxide thin films, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) can be used as part of a combined SEM/EDS/STRATAGem analysis. The mass deposition (in μg cm-2) of films was calculated with the analysis software STRATAGem via k-values measured with EDS. The average density of coated films was obtained from the mass deposition and the film thickness as measured by the cross-section SEM. The porosity was calculated by dividing the average film density by the bulk (theoretical) density of the film material. Film porosities were counterchecked by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) using the Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA). The results obtained by both analytical approaches/methods used, SEM/EDS/STRATAGem and SE were in good agreement. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 CY - Baltimore, MD, USA DA - 05.08.2018 KW - Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) KW - Iridium oxide KW - Porous thin films KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46509 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Inter-laboratory comparison on shape of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles by TEM N2 - The TiO2 material selected for the present inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) was the bipyramidal anatase UT001 batch synthesized hydrothermally by University of Turin in the frame of the EU/FP7 Project SETNanoMetro and carefully prepared on TEM grids by BAM to be distributed to the ILC participants. A clear measurement protocol including data analysis and reporting (including an xls reporting template) has been also prepared by BAM. 14 of 18 participants have measured and reported results which have been already checked by BAM as being conform to the agreed protocol. After receiving the last results (of 4 participants) the ILC data evaluation will be carried out by BAM in line with agreed ISO/TC229 procedures as for the other case sudies. T2 - Annual Meeting of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies CY - Singapore, Republic of Singapore DA - 07.11.2016 KW - TiO2 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Shape KW - TEM KW - Particle size distribution PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38868 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Measurement and calculation of multimodal material VSSA N2 - In order to ground the debate on the metrics that apply for VSSA determined by adsorption isotherms and to illustrate the consequences of real bimodality for VSSA screening, a bimodal mixture has been selected for systematic investigations. A sample of BaSO4 fine was spiked with 10% g/g of BaSO4 ultrafine. The ultrafine grade is a clear nanomaterial (NM) according to the size criterion with a median Feretmin of 27 nm and the fine grade is clearly a non-NM with a median Feretmin of 249 nm. Because of the number ratio of 300:1, the mixture has to be a NM according to the size criterion. Three independent BET measurements were performed on the mixture by two different labs and resulted in a mean VSSA of 23 m2/cm3 with a standard deviation of 3.3 m2/cm3, which leads to a dminVSSA of 258 nm, and, therefore, would falsely classify the material as a non-NM. This effect was predicted earlier by calculated examples (Roebben et al. 2014) and demonstrates that mixtures of nano- and non-nano multimodal materials very likely lead to false negative classifications. Moreover, the measured VSSA values for the mixture of 23 m²/cm³ are in excellent accord with the value of 24.6 m²/cm³ predicted from the TEM size distributions of the individual materials according to the model described by JRC (Roebben et al. 2014), but are significantly different from the prediction of 309 m²/cm³ obtained from the same TEM size distribution by a particle number weighted approach (Lecloux 2015). The same is true for a 50% g/g mixture. We conclude that the mass-based VSSA approach (Roebben et al. 2014) is equal to the VSSA that is measurable by adsorption isotherms, such as from standardized BET. T2 - NANoREG Technical Meeting on VSSA discussion CY - Schiphol, The Netherlands DA - 26.09.2016 KW - VSSA KW - Nanomaterial KW - Electron microscopy KW - Particle size distribution PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38914 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Inter-laboratory Comparison on Shape of Bipramidal TiO2 Nanoparticles by Transmission Electron Microscopy - First Results N2 - First results of an inter-laboratory comparsion launched in the frame of ISO/TC 229 'Nanotechnologies' / JWG 2 'Measurement and Characterization' are presented and the further data treatment discussed. Feret min, Feret and Aspect Ratio of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles as determined according to the measurememnt protocol distributed by BAM are compared for all 17 participants for the first time. The inclusion of the case study into the ongoing ISO/TC 229/JWG 2 project on Measurement of size and shape distribution of nanoparticles by TEM is discussed. T2 - Meeting of ISO/TC 229 'Nanotechnologies' CY - Tokyo, Japan DA - 29.05.2017 KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - Particle size and shape distribution KW - Bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles KW - ISO/TC 229 KW - TEM PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-40476 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Available particle-sizing techniques at work for the classification as a nanomaterial - How reliable it really is? N2 - The capability of currently available particle sizing techniques for reliable classification of materials that potentially fall under the EU Definition of a nanomaterial is discussed. A systematic quantitative evaluation of the sizing techniques is presented together with representative case studies of analysis of industrially relevant materials. Recommendations on the most appropriate and efficient use of techniques for different types of material are given. T2 - Frontiers of Nanomaterial Characterization CY - Tokyo, Japan DA - 28.05.2017 KW - Nanomaterial classification KW - Nanoparticles KW - Number-weighted median size KW - Particle size analysis KW - Characterization techniques PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-40474 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Evaluation of particle sizing techniques for implementation of the EC Definition of a nanomaterial N2 - Many techniques are available for measuring particle size distribution. For ideal materials (spherical particles, well dispersed) it is possible to evaluate the Performance of these methods. The performance of the analytical instrumentation for the purpose of classifying materials according to EC Definition is unknown. In this work the performance of commercially available particle sizing techniques on representative NanoDefine set of real-world testing materials (RTM) and quality control materials (QCM) for the implementation of the Definition is evaluated. T2 - Final NanoDefine Outreach Event Classification of nanomaterials according to the EU definition CY - Brüssel, Belgium DA - 19.09.2017 KW - Nanomaterial classification KW - Particle sizing techniques KW - Nanoparticles KW - EC definition of a nanomaterial PY - 2017 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/index.php/nanodefine-meetings/125-final-outreach-event-2017 AN - OPUS4-42507 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Volume specific surface area (VSSA) by BET: concept and demonstration on industrial materials N2 - Volume specific surface area (VSSA) as measured by BET constituites a simple and reliable solution to (most) powders. Porous, coated, polydisperse/multimodal materials are to be treated with care, i.e. doubled by analysis with electron microscopy or more advanced BET analysis (e.g. t-plot)for each material in part. T2 - Final NanoDefine Outreach Event: Classification of nanomaterials according to the EU definition CY - Brüssel, Belgium DA - 19.09.2017 KW - VSSA KW - BET KW - Nanoparticles KW - Powder KW - Nanomaterial classfication PY - 2017 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/index.php/nanodefine-meetings/125-final-outreach-event-2017 AN - OPUS4-42509 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Measurement of nanoparticle size and shape distribution – Current situation and outlook N2 - The EC Recommendation on the definition of nanomaterial, based solely on size of the constituent particles, foresees development of harmonised measurement methods ensuring ‘consistent results across materials and over time’. The EU/FP7 research project NanoDefine has been exclusively dedicated to support the implementation of this EC Recommendation for the European Union’s legislation. For the first time, measurement techniques able to determine the size of nanoparticles have been evaluated systematically on a well-defined set of quality control materials (spherical, monodisperse) as well as industrial materials of complex shapes and considerable polydispersity. Particularly based on the analytical performance of the measurement techniques as tested on the challenging real-world particulate materials, it was possible to formulate recommendations for use of a new tiered approach consisting of screening and confirmatory techniques. Thus, a consistent framework of guidance for nanomaterial identification according to the EC Definition has been issued in form of the NanoDefiner e-tool, with a transparent decision flow scheme and an extensive user manual. Selected examples of analysis and classification as nano-/non-nanomaterials will be given, highlighting the limits of applicability of the available measurement techniques in dependence on sample properties. On some recent relevant developments in sample preparation – as a crucial part for an accurate analysis - will be also reported. Further, ISO/TC 229 ‘Nanotechnologies’ activities aiming at establishing accurate TEM and SEM measurement of NP size and shape as robust, traceable, standard procedures are highlighted. With participation of BAM, study groups have been organizing inter-laboratory comparisons on well-selected NP systems according to the market needs, such as aggregated or shape-controlled titania nano-powder for which size and shape distribution of primary particles must be measured accurately. T2 - Symposium Preparation, Characterization and Processing of Nano and Submicron Powders CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.06.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanomaterial KW - EC definition KW - Nanoparticle size distribution PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45191 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Shape controlled TiO2 nanoparticles as candidates for nano-CRM’s – an ISO case study N2 - Extraction of true, 3D shape (and size) of non-spherical nanoparticles (NPs) is associated with errors by conventional 2D electron microscopy using projection images. Significant efforts within the ISO technical committee TC 229 ‘Nanotechnologies’ are aimed at establishing accurate TEM and SEM measurement of NP size and shape as robust, standard procedures. Study groups have been organizing inter-laboratory comparisons on well-selected NP systems according to the market needs, such as aggregated titania nano-powder for which size and shape distribution of primary crystallites of irregular shape must be measured accurately. To be noticed is e. g. the fact that the measurement procedure allows only manual selection of the particles clearly distinguishable for analysis as well as manual definition of the contour of the imaged NPs. An inter-laboratory exercise on titania NPs (pure anatase, grown by hydrothermal synthesis) of well-defined non-spherical shape, i.e. bipyramidal has been recently started within ISO/TC 229 under similar conditions as for the irregular shaped titania. Overlapped particles were allowed to be considered, as long as they are clearly distinguishable. One decisive NP selection criterion was to analyze only those NPs with a roundness value below 0.7, i.e. the NPs laying on the support foil and, hence, with projection areas clearly deviating from perfect circles (R=1). The overall evaluation (for 15 labs) of the size descriptors (area, Feret, minFeret, perimeter) and shape descriptors (aspect ratio, roundness, compactness, extent) by analysis of variance is just to be finished and included in ISO/WD 21363 Nanotechnologies -- Protocol for particle size distribution by transmission electron microscopy. T2 - NanoWorkshop 2018 (Workshop on reference nanomaterials, current situation and needs: development, measurement, standardization) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.05.2018 KW - Titanium oxide KW - Nanoparticles KW - Shape-controlled KW - Electron microscopy KW - Reference material PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44996 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Aktivitäten der BAM im EU-Projekt NanoDefine N2 - Die Präsentation gibt einen Überblick über die Aktivitäten der BAM im EU-Projekt 'NanoDefine'. Verknüpfungen zur Entwicklung von nano-Referenzmaterialien, ISO- und VAMAS-Aktivitäten und anderen nano-Projekten werden vorausschauend diskutiert. T2 - Expertenaustausch zum Thema ‘Nanosicherheit’ zwischen BMU, BMWi und BAM CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 01.06.2018 KW - Nanomaterial KW - ISO KW - NanoDefine KW - EU-Definition KW - Nanopartikel PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45078 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Controlled deposition of nanoparticles by electrospray for improved analysis by imaging techniques N2 - Of many experimental techniques for measuring particle sizes and size distributions, electron microscopy (EM) is still considered as the gold standard, especially in the nano range (1–100 nm). Furthermore, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in conjunction with EM can be applied to individual NPs. Preparation of an EM sample for generic particulate materials is a difficult task. Usually the particles in a suspension are deposited on a support. However, this procedure includes the drying of larger solvent amounts on the substrate itself, and this can affect the spatial distribution of the deposited particles. One possibility to overcome this is the use of an electrospray system, where the suspension of particles is sprayed onto the substrate in charged droplets that are so small that they either dry off on the substrate immediately without affecting the position of particles, or even already during their flight time to the substrate. Additionally, the charging of particles minimizes agglomeration and aggregation, maximizing the collection of the EM grids. The prototype of an electrospray deposition system from RAMEM under its trademark IONER (www.ioner.eu) was tested. Electrospray is theoretically described since a long time, but no dedicated commercial instruments are available for the preparation of TEM grids yet, apart from electrostatic deposition of aerosols.2 Several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were evaluated. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimized. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles (suited to automatic analysis). T2 - RSC-NPL Symposium: Nanoparticle concentration – critical needs and state-of-the-art measurement CY - London, UK DA - 24.04.2018 KW - Electrospray deposition KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44802 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Volume specific surface area (VSSA) by BET as a reliable metric for (nano)particle size analysis for powders N2 - We discuss the role of the volume specific surface area (VSSA) as determined from the specific surface area measured by the (extended) Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique, in the identification process of powdered nano- and non-nanomaterials in line with the EU definition of nanomaterial. Results obtained in the NanoDefine project demonstrate that under appropriate conditions, VSSA can be used as proxy to the number-based particle size distribution. The extent of agreement between nano/non-nano classification by electron microscopy (EM) and classification by VSSA is investigated systematically on a large set of diverse particulate substances, representing most of the cases expected in regulatory practice. Thus, parameters such as particle shape, size polydispersity/multi-modality, and particle (inner or coating) porosity are evaluated. Based on these results, we derive a tiered screening strategy for powders, involving the use of VSSA for the purpose of implementing the definition of nanomaterial, and recommend it for inclusion in a technical guidance for the implementation of the definition. T2 - RSC-NPL Symposium: Nanoparticle concentration – critical needs and state-of-the-art measurement CY - London, UK DA - 24.04.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanomaterial KW - Particle size distribution KW - BET KW - VSSA PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44801 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements N2 - The overall objective of project Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements is to improve the traceability chain for nanoparticle size measurements. The main impact will be achieved by manifold contributions to standard documents for CEN/TC 352 “Nanotechnologies”, which directly addresses the research needs of CEN, CENELEC and ETSI mandated by EC to develop standards for methods and reference materials to accurately measure the size and size distribution of nanoparticles. This will take place in collaboration with ISO/TC229 ‘Nanotechnologies’, ISO/TC24/SC4 ‘Particle characterization’ and ISO/TC201 ‘Surface analysis’/ SC9 ‘Scanning probe microscopy’. T2 - EMPIR 2017 Review Conference CY - Monaco DA - 9.11.2017 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Traceability KW - Electron micrsocopy KW - Size KW - Shape PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-43019 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Elert, Anna Maria A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Short- and long-range mechanical and chemical interphases caused by interaction of Boehmite (γ-AlOOH) with anhydride-cured epoxy resins N2 - Understanding the interaction between boehmite and epoxy and the formation of their interphases with different mechanical and chemical structures is crucial to predict and optimize the properties of epoxy-boehmite nanocomposites. Probing the interfacial properties with atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based methods, especially particle-matrix long-range interactions, is challenging. This is due to size limitations of various analytical methods in resolving nanoparticles and their interphases, the overlap of interphases, and the effect of buried particles that prevent the accurate interphase property measurement. Here, we develop a layered model system in which the epoxy is cured in contact with a thin layer of hydrothermally synthesized boehmite. Different microscopy methods are employed to evaluate the interfacial properties. With intermodulation atomic force microscopy (ImAFM) and amplitude dependence force spectroscopy (ADFS), which contain information about stiffness, electrostatic, and van der Waals forces, a soft interphase was detected between the epoxy and boehmite. Surface potential maps obtained by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) revealed another interphase about one order of magnitude larger than the mechanical interphase. The AFM-infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) technique reveals that the soft interphase consists of unreacted curing agent. The long-range electrical interphase is attributed to the chemical alteration of the bulk epoxy and the formation of new absorption bands. KW - Nanocomposites KW - Interphase KW - Intermodulation AFM KW - Electron microscopy KW - Infrared nano AFM PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-483672 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/6/853/htm DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9060853 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 9 IS - 6 SP - 853, 1 EP - 20 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-48367 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - The effect of boehmite nanoparticles (gamma‐AlOOH) on nanomechanical and thermomechanical properties correlated to crosslinking density of epoxy N2 - We show that complex physical and chemical interactions between boehmite nanoparticles and epoxy drastically affect matrix properties, which in the future will provide tuning of material properties for further optimization in applications from automotive to aerospace. We utilize intermodulation atomic force microscopy (ImAFM) for probing local stiffness of both particles and polymer matrix. Stiff particles are expected to increase total stiffness of nanocomposites and the stiffness of polymer should remain unchanged. However, ImAFM revealed that stiffness of matrix in epoxy/boehmite nanocomposite is significantly higher than unfilled epoxy. The stiffening effect of the boehmite on epoxy also depends on the particle concentration. To understand the mechanism behind property alteration induced by boehmite nanoparticles, network architecture is investigated using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). It was revealed that although with 15 wt% boehmite nanoparticles the modulus at glassy state increases, crosslinking density of epoxy for this composition is drastically low. KW - Crosslinking density KW - Epoxy KW - Intermodulation KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Nanomechanical properties KW - Boehmite nanoparticles PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-476050 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2018.12.054 SN - 0032-3861 SN - 1873-2291 VL - 164 SP - 174 EP - 182 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-47605 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wurzler, Nina A1 - Schütter, Jan David A1 - Wagner, R. A1 - Dimper, Matthias A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Lützenkirchen-Hecht, D. A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem T1 - Preconditioning of AISI 304 stainless steel surfaces in the presence of flavins—Part II: Effect on biofilm formation and microbially influenced corrosion processes N2 - Biofilm formation and microbially influenced corrosion of the iron-reducing microorganism Shewanella putrefaciens were investigated on stainless steel surfaces preconditioned in the absence and presence of flavin molecules by means of XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) analysis and electrochemical methods. The results indicate that biofilm formation was promoted on samples preconditioned in electrolytes containing minute amounts of flavins. On the basis of the XANES results, the corrosion processes are controlled by the iron-rich outer layer of the passive film. Biofilm formation resulted in a cathodic shift of the open circuit potential and a protective effect in terms of pitting corrosion. The samples preconditioned in the absence of flavins have shown delayed pitting and the samples preconditioned in the presence of flavins did not show any pitting in a window of −0.3- to +0.0-V overpotential in the bacterial medium. The results indicate that changes in the passive film chemistry induced by the presence of minute amounts of flavins during a mild anodic polarization can change the susceptibility of stainless steel surfaces to microbially influenced corrosion. KW - Biofilms KW - XANES KW - Microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-528130 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/maco.202012192 VL - 72 IS - 6 SP - 983 EP - 994 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-52813 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chemello, Giovanni A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Reed, B.P. A1 - Pollard, A.J. A1 - Clifford, C.A. A1 - Howe, T. A1 - Vyas, N. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Radnik, Jörg T1 - Influence of the Morphology on the Functionalization of Graphene Nanoplatelets Analyzed by Comparative Photoelectron Spectroscopy with Soft and Hard X-Rays N2 - Since its isolation, graphene has received growing attention from academia and industry due to its unique properties. However, the “what is my material” barrier hinders further commercialization. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is considered as a method of choice for the determination of the elemental and chemical composition. In this work the influence of the morphology of graphene particles on the XPS results is studied and investigated as a function of X-ray energy, using conventional XPS with Al K𝜶 radiation and hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES) using Cr K𝜶 radiation. Thereby, the information depth is varied between 10 and 30 nm. For this purpose, two commercial powders containing graphene nanoplatelets with lateral dimensions of either ≈100 nm or in the micrometer range are compared. These larger ones exist as stack of graphene layers which is inspected with scanning electron microscopy. Both kinds of particles are then functionalized with either oxygen or fluorine. The size of the graphene particles is found to influence the degree of functionalization. Only the combination of XPS and HAXPES allows to detect the functionalization at the outermost surface of the particles or even of the stacks and to provide new insights into the functionalization process. KW - Functionalized graphene KW - Hard-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-578860 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202300116 SN - 2196-7350 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley VCH AN - OPUS4-57886 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Dohányosová, P. A1 - Lopez, S. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Electrospray deposition of nanoparticles on TEM grids N2 - The authors have tested the prototype of an electrospray deposition system developed by the company RAMEM under its trademark IONER. To test the prototype and assess its performance, several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were compared to more traditional sample preparation strategies like the “drop on grid” method. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimized. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles, which are much better suited to an automatic image evaluation procedure than the agglomerated particles observed otherwise. The applicability of the technique to a broad range of materials is demonstrated by various examples, but also the influence of the substrate, the choice of the particular TEM grid, on the obtained spatial particle distribution is assessed. KW - Electrspray deposition KW - Electron microscopy KW - Nanoparticles KW - Sample preparation PY - 2016 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/electrospray-deposition-of-nanoparticles-on-tem-grids/459E634B7F74D474A19E15E69DA82E5D DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616010072 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 22 IS - Suppl 3 SP - 1846 EP - 1847 PB - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-38436 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Characterization of Porous, TiO2 Nanoparticle Films Using On-Axis TKD in SEM – a New Nano-Analysis Tool for a Large-Scale Application N2 - A combined methodical approach is tested with respect to the characterization of the inner structure of porous TiO2 layers as typically used in modern dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Their performance is directly linked to the surface area of the pore network. The micrometer thick layer employed was manufactured by screen-printing of a starting TiO2 powder constituted of shape-controlled, bipyramidal anatase nanoparticles on FTO/glass substrates. The analytical methods exploited in our study are Focused Ion Beam (FIB) slicing followed by 3D reconstruction as well as the new approach transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) technology in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Size and shape distribution of the TiO2 NPs within the layer can be extracted. SEM in transmission mode and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to verify the dimensional data obtained by the new combined methodical approach. Its analytical benefits but also the challenges and limitations are highlighted. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017 Meeting CY - St. Louis, MO, USA DA - 06.08.2017 KW - Porous layers KW - TiO2 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size and shape distribution KW - TKD KW - SEM PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41660 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR nPSize - Improved Traceability Chain of Nanoparticle Size Measurement; What nPSize can offer to CEN/TC 352? N2 - The main outcomes of the EMPIR project nPSize are presented and the suitability of the new capabilities (e.g. reference materials, measurement procedures, inter-laboratory comparisons) as pertinent contributions to normative projects within CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies are discussed. E.g. the first technical report of nPSize on full algorithm sequences for nanoparticle detection and size measurement as developed on both a physical basis (SEM, TSEM, AFM and SAXS) and by machine learning is put at disposal. T2 - 29th Meeting of CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies CY - Online meeting DA - 25.03.2021 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies KW - Particle size distribution KW - Modelling KW - Machine learning PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52464 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - NanoDefine – a brief overview N2 - The large European nanometrology Project NanoDefine is presented briefly with respect to the challenges of measurement of particle size distribution for complex nanoparticulate materials. The methods chosen for a tiered approach for the classification of a nanomaterial are discussed with regard to their peformance. Representative resuls on real life, complex shaped nanoparticulate materials are shown. The recently initiated VAMAS inter-laboratory comparisons to determine the reproducibility necessary for international standardisation have been also presented. T2 - Metrology Study Group of ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies /JWG2 'Measurement and Characterization' CY - Tokyo, Japan DA - 31.05.2017 KW - EU definition of a nanomaterial KW - Nanomaterial classification KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanoparticle size distribution KW - VAMAS inter-laboratory comparison KW - Particle sizing techniques PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-40475 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hansen, B. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of a certified copper alloy with Micro-XRF on SEM N2 - Copper alloys have found widespread application in various fields. The elemental composition determines the properties of the alloys and consequently their application. Therefore, knowing the composition of a copper alloy is very important. Metrological institutes like the BAM (German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing) offer reference materials that can be used to prove the accuracy of the applied analysis method. The aim of this application note is to demonstrate how Micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (Micro-XRF) expediently supplements the analysis of copper alloys by using Bruker’s micro-focus X-ray source XTrace attached to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and operating with an energy dispersive spectrometer. KW - XRF KW - µ-XRF KW - SEM/EDX KW - Copper alloy PY - 2018 UR - https://www.bruker.com/fileadmin/user_upload/8-PDF-Docs/X-rayDiffraction_ElementalAnalysis/Microanalysis_EBSD/LabReports/App_mxrf_sem_03_analysis_Cu_alloy_lores.pdf SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - Bruker Nano GmbH CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-44677 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of the elemental composition and thickness of a Fe-Ni film on Si using Bruker ESPRIT and SAMx STRATAGem N2 - Quantitative analysis of a bulk sample requires that the composition of the sample is homogeneous over the analyzed volume. For inhomogenous samples the calculation of the matrix effects is not correct and this can lead to wrong results in the element concentrations. For samples containing a layer structure a different quantitative evaluation has to be applied. This can be provided with the standard-based analysis in ESPRIT in combination with the STRATAGem software. KW - Thin film analysis KW - SEM/EDX KW - EPMA KW - k-values PY - 2018 UR - https://www.bruker.com/products/x-ray-diffraction-and-elemental-analysis/eds-wds-ebsd-sem-micro-xrf-and-sem-micro-ct/quantax-eds-for-sem/applications/layer-analysis.html SP - 1 EP - 4 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-44594 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Controlled electrospray deposition of nanoparticles for improved analysis by electron microscopy N2 - Of many experimental techniques for measuring particle sizes and size distributions, electron microscopy (EM) is considered as the gold standard, especially in the nano range (1–100 nm). Furthermore, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in conjunction with EM can be applied to individual NPs. Preparation of an EM sample for generic particulate materials is a difficult task. Usually, the particles in a suspension are deposited on a support. However, this procedure includes the drying of larger solvent amounts on the substrate itself, and this can affect the spatial distribution of the deposited particles. One possibility to overcome this is the use of an electrospray system, where the suspension of particles is sprayed onto the substrate in charged droplets that are so small that they either dry off on the substrate immediately without affecting the position of particles, or even already during their flight time to the substrate. Additionally, the charging of particles minimizes agglomeration and aggregation, maximizing the collection of the EM grids. The prototype of an electrospray deposition system from RAMEM under its trademark IONER (www.ioner.eu) was tested. Electrospray is theoretically described since a long time, but no dedicated commercial instruments are available for the preparation of TEM grids yet, apart from electrostatic deposition of aerosols. Several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were evaluated. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimized. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles (suited to automatic analysis). The project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 604347. T2 - NanoWorkshop 2018 (Workshop on reference nanomaterials, current situation and needs: development, measurement, standardization) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.05.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electrospray KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44994 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Thin film analysis by SEM/EDX (EPMA) N2 - A short overview of thin film analysis by SEM/EDX is presented. Relevant steps such as optimization of instrumnetal parameters, extraction of net peak areas, use of standards, calculation of k-values and quantification with the dedicated thin film analysis software (Stratagem) are explained. Examples of different layered aystems are given together with validation of the results. T2 - Seminar Max-Planck-Institut fur Mikrostrukturphysik, Department Nano-Systems from ions, spins and electrons CY - Halle (an der Saale), Germany DA - 23.02.2017 KW - Thin film analysis KW - SEM/EDX KW - EPMA KW - k-values PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-39235 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Overview on the most advanced and suitable NanoDefine measurement methods N2 - The EC Recommendation on the definition of nanomaterial, based solely on size of the constituent particles, foresees development of harmonised measurement methods ensuring ‘consistent results across materials and over time’. The EU/FP7 research project NanoDefine has been exclusively dedicated to support the implementation of this EC Recommendation for the European Union’s legislation. For the first time, measurement techniques able to determine the size of nanoparticles have been evaluated systematically on a well-defined set of quality control materials (spherical, monodisperse) as well as industrial materials of complex shapes and considerable polydispersity. Particularly based on the analytical performance of the measurement techniques as tested on the challenging real-world particulate materials, it was possible to formulate recommendations for use of a new tiered approach consisting of screening and confirmatory techniques. Thus, a consistent framework of guidance for nanomaterial identification according to the EC Definition has been issued in form of the NanoDefiner e-tool, with a transparent decision flow scheme and an extensive user manual. Selected examples of analysis and classification as nano-/non-nanomaterials will be given, highlighting the limits of applicability of the available measurement techniques in dependence on sample properties. On some recent relevant developments in sample preparation – as a crucial part for an accurate analysis - will be also reported. T2 - VCI-NanoDefine Follow-up Meeting CY - VCI, Frankfurt am Main, Germany DA - 25.09.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanomaterial KW - EC definition of nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticle size distribution PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46251 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR nPSize - Improved Traceability Chain of Nanoparticle Size Measurement; nPSize offer after 2 Ys N2 - The main outcomes of the EMPIR project nPSize are presented and the suitability of the new capabilities (e.g. reference materials, measurement procedures, VAMAS inter-laboratory comparisons) to be standardized and implemented in accredited analytical laboratories is discussed. T2 - EMPIR nPSize Training Course "Metrology for Measurement of Nanoparticle Size by Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy" CY - Online meeting DA - 27.10.2020 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size KW - Shape KW - Traceability KW - EMPIR KW - Reference materials KW - VAMAS PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51477 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Morpho-Chemical Characterisation of Me-TiO2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photocatalytical Activity N2 - The conversion of solar energy into electricity and solar fuels is of crucial importance for a green and sustainable future. Water splitting using semiconductor photo-catalysts is considered a sustainable method to produce clean hydrogen (H2) fuel. Nevertheless, H2 photo-production efficiency remains still low, although extensive research works to understand better the mechanisms of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) are being carried out. In this respect, TiO2 is a key photoactive material, usually employed with a co-catalyst deposited onto the surface to enhance charge carriers’ separation and catalyze surface charge transfer reactions. The deposition of a co-catalyst on the TiO2 nanoparticle surface represents one successful way to enhance the activity of the photocatalyst through a modification of its surface and redox properties. In this context, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy coupled with elemental analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is fundamental for studying and understanding the effect of the nanoparticle morphology on the functional properties of shape-controlled TiO2 crystals (bipyramides, platelets, and elongated particles). Different types of metal-semiconductor combinations, TiO2 shapes and dopant metals (Ag, Pt, etc) and metal concentrations will be discussed. T2 - ECASIA 2022 CY - Limerick, Ireland DA - 29.05.2022 KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - Photocatalysis KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54977 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Procop, Mathias T1 - Check of the performance of EDS systems attached to the SEM with the test material EDS-TM001/2 and evaluation software package EDS spectrometer test - Application, experiences and updates N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDX spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy dispersive spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS attached to the SEM. Particularly for test laboratories operating under accreditation schemes like ISO/IEC 17025, a periodical control of the critical instrumental parameters in end-user laboratories is required. With EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 (second generation) test material, this periodical check is simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDX spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the performance of the EDS in terms of energy resolution and calibration as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr in a well-defined composition, deposited on a steel (in case of EDS-TM001) or silicon (in case of EDS-TM002) substrate. Meanwhile, more than one hundred laboratories use the EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 test material for the periodical check of their EDS. A detailed description of the test material and software together with examples of application was published recently. New results and gained experiences will be presented as well. When the FWHM of lines appearing in the EDS-TM spectrum are determined, the spectrum background must be subtracted accurately. The applied physical background subtraction procedure is robust and takes into account the transmission of the detector window. While the previous version considers only Moxtek AP windows, the new version includes selection of silicon nitride window and the case of windowless detector. Moreover, the new version allows importing of spectra in Bruker spx format and EMSA/MSA files from EDAX TEAM software. KW - EDS KW - Performance check KW - SEM KW - Test material KW - X-ray spectrometer PY - 2018 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/check-of-the-performance-of-eds-systems-attached-to-the-sem-with-the-test-material-edstm0012-and-evaluation-software-package-eds-spectrometer-test-application-experiences-and-updates/3D01FDC765C3ECD734CB8DEC7081DAE2 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927618004142 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 24 IS - S1 (August) SP - 730 EP - 731 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY, U.S.A. AN - OPUS4-46006 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Procop, Mathias A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Berger, D. T1 - Determination of the Effective Detector Area of an Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer at the Scanning Electron Microscope Using Experimental and Theoretical X-Ray Emission Yields N2 - A method is proposed to determine the effective detector area for energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS). Nowadays, detectors are available for a wide range of nominal areas ranging from 10 up to 150mm2. However, it remains in most cases unknown whether this nominal area coincides with the “net active sensor area” that should be given according to the related standard ISO 15632, or with any other area of the detector device. Moreover, the specific geometry of EDS installation may further reduce a given detector area. The proposed method can be applied to most scanning electron microscope/EDS configurations. The basic idea consists in a comparison of the measured count rate with the count rate resulting from known X-ray yields of copper, titanium, or silicon. The method was successfully tested on three detectors with known effective area and applied further to seven spectrometers from different manufacturers. In most cases the method gave an effective area smaller than the area given in the detector description. KW - Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) KW - EDX KW - Effective area KW - X-ray emission yield KW - Geometrical collection efficiency PY - 2016 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/div-classtitledetermination-of-the-effective-detector-area-of-an-energy-dispersive-x-ray-spectrometer-at-the-scanning-electron-microscope-using-experimental-and-theoretical-x-ray-emission-yieldsdiv/E15B2E67C349201CF323E778EB9C6D94 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616011788 VL - 22 IS - 6 SP - 1360 EP - 1368 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-38858 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Challenges in Traceable Size Measurement of Non-Spherical, Non-Monodisperse Nanoparticles - nPSize N2 - Size measurement of nanoparticles (NP) becomes a challenging analytical problem when non-spherical shapes must be traceably measured. However, most industrial NPs have irregular shapes and broad size distribution making it often more complex to follow European regulatory to identify a material as a nanomaterial according to which accurate measurement of the smallest dimension and its size Distribution is necessary. The European research project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements aims to fill this gap by developing potential non-spherical reference nanoparticles, measurement procedures and physical modelling to improve the traceability chain, comparability and compatibility for NP size measurements between different methods. Therefore, new model NP with well-controlled shape has been synthesized and are supposed to be systematically characterized using the traceable methods scanning/transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Following NP candidates are under investigation with respect to their homogeneity and stability: (i) titania nanoplatelets (10-15 nm thickness x 50-100 nm lateral), (ii) titania bipyramides (~60 nm length x 40 nm width), (iii) titania acicular particles (100 nm length x 15-20 nm width; aspect ratio 5.5/6), (iv) gold nanorods (~10 nm width x 30 nm length), and (v) gold nanocubes (~55 nm x 55 nm x 55 nm). In addition, sample preparation procedures as well as measurement analysis procedures with evaluation of appropriate measurands and descriptors for each material class and method are being developed to support standardization. To underpin the traceability of the size measurement of nonspherical NP, physical modelling of the signals in e.g. electron microscopy techniques will be used and in combination, the implementation of machine learning is aimed to facilitate measurement Analysis procedures, especially regarding the accurate thresholding/segmentation of the NPs.zeige mehr T2 - Nanoparticle Reference Materials - Production and Cerification Training Course CY - London, UK DA - 10.12.2019 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Traceability KW - Particle size distribution KW - Electron microscopy KW - Reference materials KW - Non-spherical shape PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50040 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Performance of SEM/EDS systems with the Test Material EDS-TM001/002 and Evaluation Software EDS Spectrometer Test – Application and Updates N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDS spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS with a SEM. With EDS-TM001/002 test material, this periodical check is simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDS spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the EDS performance in terms of energy resolution and calibration, as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a 6 μm thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr deposited on a steel (EDS-TM001) or silicon (EDS-TM002) substrate. The chemical composition of EDS-TM was chosen such as to give nearly equal intensities of the low energy lines in a 10 kV spectrum, thus, making it very sensitive against spectrometer efficiency changes. New results and gained experiences will be presented. When the FWHM of the X-ray lines in the EDS-TM spectrum are determined, the spectrum Background must be subtracted accurately. The applied physical background subtraction procedure is robust and considers the transmission of the detector window. While the previous version considers only Moxtek AP windows, the new software version includes selection of silicon nitride window and the case of windowless detector. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Test material KW - EDS X-ray spectrometer KW - EPMA KW - Performance check PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49233 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - New reference material candidates for traceable size measurement of nonspherical nanoparticles N2 - Size measurement of nanoparticles (NP) becomes a challenging analytical problem when non-spherical shapes must be traceably measured. However, most industrial NPs have irregular shapes and broad size distribution making it often more complex to follow European regulatory to identify a material as a nanomaterial according to which accurate measurement of the smallest dimension and its size Distribution is necessary. The European research project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements aims to fill this gap by developing potential non-spherical reference nanoparticles, measurement procedures and physical modelling to improve the traceability chain, comparability and compatibility for NP size measurements between different methods. Therefore, new model NP with well-controlled shape has been synthesized and are supposed to be systematically characterized using the traceable methods scanning/transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Following NP candidates are under investigation with respect to their homogeneity and stability: (i) titania nanoplatelets (10-15 nm thickness x 50-100 nm lateral), (ii) titania bipyramides (~60 nm length x 40 nm width), (iii) titania acicular particles (100 nm length x 15-20 nm width; aspect ratio 5.5/6), (iv) gold nanorods (~10 nm width x 30 nm length), and (v) gold nanocubes (~55 nm x 55 nm x 55 nm). In addition, sample preparation procedures as well as measurement analysis procedures with evaluation of appropriate measurands and descriptors for each material class and method are being developed to support standardization. To underpin the traceability of the size measurement of nonspherical NP, physical modelling of the signals in e.g. electron microscopy techniques will be used and in combination, the implementation of machine learning is aimed to facilitate measurement Analysis procedures, especially regarding the accurate thresholding/segmentation of the NPs. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2019 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 15.09.2019 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size distribution KW - Electron microscopy KW - Certified reference materials KW - Traceability PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49227 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Can today’s methods afford to easily and reliably classify nanomaterials? N2 - In the contribution the NanoDefine sizing techniques are discussed after their systematic evaluation on NanoDefine materials. The results of the comparative study BET versus electron microscopy are also discussed. Furthermore, recommendations for application of the gained knowledge are given. T2 - NanoDefine Workshop Analytical Challenges and Industry Needs CY - Frankfurt, Germany DA - 08.02.2016 KW - Nanomaterial PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-35924 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Method evaluation and selection N2 - In this contribution the particle sizing techniques evaluated in NanoDefine are presented together with recommendations for their application/implementation on real-world materials. The experimental evaluation is discussed based on examples on NanoDefine materials. A systematic study on volume specific surface area as derived from BET measurements versus electron microscopy on powdered materials is also presented. T2 - NanoDefine NSC Synergy workshop CY - Brussels, Belgium DA - 02.02.2016 KW - nanomaterial PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-35923 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - From k-values to elemental composition by EMPA (EDX & WDX) N2 - k-values (k-ratio, K-value) is defined as ratio of the X-ray photon intensity I measured for a particular characteristic peak from the unknown sample to the value measured for the same X-ray peak from a reference material of known composition under identical conditions of beam energy, spectrometer efficiency and electron dose. T2 - CCQM - Surface and Micro/Nano Analysis Working Group (SAWG) Meeting for 2016 CY - Paris, France DA - 19.04.2016 KW - k-values KW - EPMA KW - EDX KW - WDX PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-35794 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Time dependent Analysis of Morphology, Elemental and Chemical Composition of CH3NH3PbI3/TiO2 Solar Cell Layered System N2 - The motivation of this work is to produce thin films perovskite solar cells with constant high light conversion efficiency over time. Loss of efficiency may be caused by structural and/or chemical alterations of the complex layered system. As these changes might take place either in the bulk and/or on the surface of the stratified material, analytical tools addressing both key issues are selected and combined. SEM/EDS combined with XPS were chosen as appropriate methodical approach to characterise perovskite laboratory cells in depth and complementary on top, before and after light exposure. The layered perovskite system investigated here is based on glass covered with fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), followed by three porous thin films of TiO2, ZrO2 and a thick monolithic carbon. The TiO2 film is subdivided into a dense layer covered by a porous one constituted of nanoparticles with a truncated bipyramidal shape. This layered system serves as the matrix for the perovskite. After infiltration of perovskite solution and annealing, EDS spectral maps on cross-sections of the specimen have been measured. The distribution of relevant elements – Si, Sn, Ti, Zr and C – correlates conclusively with layers visible in the acquired SEM images. Lead and iodine are distributed throughout the porous layers C, ZrO2 and TiO2. Specimens were exposed to ambient daylight for 7 weeks. In a SEM micrograph taken of the cross-section of a sample after illumination, the glass substrate and all layers FTO, TiO2, ZrO2 as well as C are clearly identified. EDS data have been acquired under the same measurement conditions as before the illumination. It was found that several weeks of ambient daylight did not change significantly the qualitative elemental composition of lead and iodine throughout the solar cell system. It was confirmed with EDS that nanoparticles identified in high-resolution SEM micrographs contain mainly Pb and I, indicating these to be the perovskite crystals. However, a time-dependent compositional and chemical altering was observed with XPS for the near-surface region of the outermost ~10 nm after 2 months of illumination. T2 - EMAS 2017 - 15th European Workshop on MODERN DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS and IUMAS-7 Meeting CY - Konstanz, Germany DA - 07.05.2017 KW - Perovskite KW - Layer analytics KW - SEM/EDX KW - XPS KW - Solar cells PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-40253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Lessons on measurement of nanoparticle size and shape learnt from NanoDefine N2 - The EC Recommendation on the definition of nanomaterial1, based solely on size of the constituent particles, foresees development of harmonised measurement methods ensuring ‘consistent results across materials and over time’. The EU/FP7 large research project NanoDefine (http://www.nanodefine.eu) has been exclusively dedicated to support the implementation of this EC Recommendation for the European Union’s legislation. For the first time, measurement techniques able to determine the size of nanoparticles have been evaluated systematically on a well-defined set of quality control materials (spherical, monodisperse) as well as industrial materials of complex shapes and considerable polydispersity. Particularly based on the analytical performance of the measurement techniques as tested on the challenging real-world particulate materials, it was possible to formulate recommendations for use of a new tiered approach consisting of screening and confirmatory techniques. Thus, a consistent framework of guidance for nanomaterial identification according to the EC Definition has been issued in form of the NanoDefiner e-tool (https://labs.inf.fh-dortmund.de/NanoDefiner), with a transparent decision flow scheme and an extensive user manual. Selected examples of analysis and classification as nano-/non-nanomaterials will be given, highlighting the limits of applicability of the available measurement techniques in dependence on sample properties. On some recent relevant developments in sample preparation – as a crucial part for an accurate analysis - will be also reported. T2 - RSC-NPL Symposium: Nanoparticle concentration – critical needs and state-of-the-art measurement CY - London, UK DA - 24.04.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanomaterial KW - Particle size distribution KW - EU definition of nanomaterial PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44804 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nadejde, C. A1 - Neamtu, M. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Paul, Andrea A1 - Ababei, G. A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Tannic acid- and natural organic matter-coated magnetite as green Fenton-like catalysts for the removal of water pollutants N2 - The use of magnetic materials as heterogeneous catalysts has attracted increasing attention in the last years since they proved to be promising candidates for water treatment. In the present study, two types of surface-modified magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, coated with non-hazardous naturally occurring agents—either tannic acid (TA) or dissolved natural organic matter—were evaluated as magnetic heterogeneous catalysts. Chemical synthesis (co-precipitation) was chosen to yield the nanocatalysts due to its well-established simplicity and efficiency. Subsequently, the properties of the final products were fully assessed by various characterization techniques. The catalytic activity in heterogeneous oxidation of aqueous solutions containing a model pollutant, Bisphenol A (BPA), was comparatively studied. The effect of operational parameters (catalyst loading, H2O2 dosage, and UV light irradiation) on the Degradation performance of the oxidation process was investigated. The optimum experimental parameters were found to be 1.0 g/L of catalysts and 10 mM H2O2, under UV irradiation. The highest mineralization rates were observed for Fe3O4-TA catalyst. More than 80 % of BPA was removed after 30 min of reaction time under the specified experimental conditions. The obtained results showed that the two catalysts studied here are suitable candidates for the removal of pollutants in wastewaters by means of heterogeneous reaction using a green sustainable treatment method. KW - Nanocatalysts KW - Photo-Fenton oxidation KW - Wastewater KW - Bisphenol A degradation KW - Environment KW - Mitigation PY - 2015 UR - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11051-015-3290-0 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3290-0 VL - 17 IS - 12 SP - 476 (1) EP - 476 (10) PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-38758 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Marcoulaki, E. A1 - van Duuren, B T1 - Testing and benchmarking nanosafety services N2 - One of the objectives of the EU Project EC4SafeNano (European Centre for Risk Management and Safe Innovation in Nanomaterials & Nanotechnologies) was to test and benchmark the services in order to check their relevance to address identified stakeholder needs, but also to evaluate the governance of the structure delivering the proposed services. The aim is to demonstrate the technical relevance of the services and the overall open structure organisation, including governance rules and operating procedures, by answering relevant identified questions (case studies) selected by a panel of stakeholders. Therefore, a significant part of the project will be devoted to this demonstration of the operational and functional basis of the organized network. T2 - Review Meeting EC4SafeNano CY - Brussels, Belgium DA - 16.01.2020 KW - Nanosafety KW - EC4SafeNano KW - Nanosafety services KW - EU KW - Case studies PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-50273 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Kim, K. J. T1 - Measurement of Elemental Composition of FeNi and SiGe Thin Films by Electron Probe Microanalysis with Stratagem Software N2 - The present study repeats electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) measurements with the thin film analysis software Stratagem on an Fe-Ni thin films on silicon and reports - for the first-time – results of analysis on Si-Ge thin films deposited on a non-conductive aluminium oxide substrate. If the very good EPMA/Stratagem results for the FeNi system were expected due to previous studies [2], the data obtained for the SiGe films are particularly valuable, because of the challenging insulator substrate of Al2O3. The conductivity of the Si1-xGex surface necessary for charging-free analysis was ensured by applying conductive copper tape onto film surface down to sample stage. Four accelerating voltages, 15, 20, 25 and 30 kV, have been applied, so that the Ge Kα X-ray line at 9.87 keV could be excited. KW - thin film analysis KW - X-ray spectroscopy KW - Fe-Ni KW - Si-Ge KW - Stratagem KW - Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) PY - 2018 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/measurement-of-elemental-composition-of-feni-and-sige-thin-films-by-electron-probe-microanalysis-with-stratagem-software/D4CF5D45B11FCF0DEC8155A89EDACF25 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927618004282 VL - 24 IS - S1 (August) SP - 758 EP - 759 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY, U.S.A. AN - OPUS4-45950 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Proposal of an inter-laboratory comparison on shape of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles by TEM N2 - A proposal of an inter-laboratory study (ILC) on determination of size and shape distribution of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) by transmission electron microscopy is presented. The anatase NPs synthesized in a controllable fashion within the EU/FP7 project SETNanoMetro can be considered as shape-defined (bipyramidal) and are offered to complete the list of case studies already in progress within ISO/TC229/JWG2. The main points of the measurement procedure are presented as well as a proposed procedure to evaluate the size and shape according to the standard operation procedure already developed within SETNanoMetro is discussed. Potential ILC participants and a plan with next step to be carried out are proposed. T2 - Joint Meeting IEC TC 113 'Nanotechnology for electrotechnical products and systems' and ISO/TC229/JWG2 'Nanotechnologies'/'Measurement and characterization' CY - Lowell, MA, USA DA - 09.05.2016 KW - Nanoparticles KW - TiO2 KW - TEM KW - Shape KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - ISO PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38900 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Uusimäki, T. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - Verleysen, E. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Evaluation of electron microscopy techniques for the purpose of classification of nanomaterials N2 - Electron microscopy techniques such as TEM, STEM, SEM or TSEM (transmission in SEM) are capable of assessing the size of individual nanoparticles accurately. Nevertheless, the challenging aspect is sample preparation from powder or liquid form on the substrate, so that a homogeneous distribution of well-separated (deagglomerated) particles is attained. The systematic study in this work shows examples where the extraction of the critical, smallest particle dimension - as the decisive particle parameter for the classification as a NM - is possible by analysing the sample after ist simple, dry preparation. The consequences of additional typical issues like loss of information due to screening of smaller particles by larger ones or the (in)ability to access the constituent particles in aggregates are discussed. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Electron microscopy KW - Particle size distribution KW - Classification PY - 2016 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/evaluation-of-electron-microscopy-techniques-for-the-purpose-of-classification-of-nanomaterials/0B66A25EA7F7A5A3622C02A359C8304F DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616005523 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 22 IS - Suppl. 3 SP - 936 EP - 937 PB - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-38445 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Bianchin, A. A1 - Lecloux, A. A1 - Roebben, G. A1 - Rauscher, H. A1 - Gibson, N. T1 - Development of an integrated approach based on validated and standardized methods to support the implementation of the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial N2 - The VSSA approach has the important advantage over classifying, imaging and counting techniques that it does not involve dispersion protocols. Further, the BET technique as the basis for VSSA determination it is in widespread use, generates low costs and is specified for many commercial materials. Finally, the same equipment allows for a deeper analysis by full isotherm evaluation. The present deliverable assesses all NanoDefine powders, supplemented by further real-world materials (in total 26 powders), and quantitatively compares the relationship between the median size (by Electron Microscopy – considered as benchmark for the EC nanomaterial definition) vs. the size derived from VSSA. The VSSA method mitigates the challenges of EM to assess the thickness of platelets, but worked as well on fibbers and particles of irregular shapes. A screening strategy is proposed. If applied to the further data from real-world materials as validation set, this screening does achieve a correct classification, leaving only borderline materials for tier 2 assessment. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Classification KW - Regulation KW - VSSA KW - Size measurement KW - Particle size PY - 2017 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-398938 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-017-3741-x SP - 1 EP - 26 PB - The NanoDefine Consortium CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-39893 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nadejde, C. A1 - Neamtu, M. A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Ababei, G. A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Catalytical degradation of relevant pollutants from waters using magnetic nanocatalysts N2 - The catalytic efficiency of two magnetically responsive nanocatalysts was evaluated for the Degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and Reactive Yellow 84 (RY84) azo dyes using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant undervery mild conditions (atmospheric pressure, room temperature). In order to obtain the nanocatalysts, thesurface of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, prepared by a co-precipitation method, was further modified with ferrous oxalate, a highly sensitive non-hazardous reducing agent. The sensitized nanomaterials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry, and used in the catalytic wet hydrogen peroxideoxidation (CWHPO) of RB5 and RY84, in laboratory-scale experiments. The effect of important variables such as catalyst dosage, H2O2 concentration, and contact time was studied in the dye Degradation kinetics. The results showed that it was possible to remove up to 99.7% dye in the presence of 20 mM H2O2 after 240 min of oxidation for a catalyst concentration of 10 g L−1at 25◦C and initial pH value of 9.0.CWHPO of reactive dyes using sensitized magnetic nanocatalysts can be a suitable pre-treatment methodfor complete decolorization of effluents from textile dyeing and finishing processes, once the Optimum operating conditions are established. T2 - 10th International Conference On Physics Of Advanced Materials (ICPAM-10) CY - Iasi, Romania DA - 22.09.2014 KW - Sensitized magnetic nanocatalysts KW - Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation KW - Reactive azo dye degradation PY - 2015 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433215000483 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.01.036 SN - 0169-4332 VL - 352 SP - 42 EP - 48 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-38760 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Oswald, F. A1 - Narbey, S. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analytical approach for characterization of morphology and chemistry of a CH3NH3PbI3/TiO2 solar cell layered system N2 - Manufacturing of new perovskite layered solar cells with constant high light conversion Efficiency over time may be hampered by the loss of efficiency caused by structural and/or chemical alterations of the complex layered system. SEM/EDX combined with XPS were chosen as an appropriate methodical approach to characterize perovskite laboratory cells in depth and at surface, before and after light exposure. The layered perovskite system investigated here is based on glass covered with fluorine doped tin oxide, followed by thin films of TiO2, ZrO2, and a thick monolithic carbon. TiO2 film is subdivided into a dense layer covered by porous one constituted of nanoparticles of truncated bipyramidal shape. This layered system serves as the matrix for the perovskite. EDX spectral maps on cross sections of specimen have shown that Pb and I are distributed homogeneously throughout the porous layers C, ZrO2, and TiO2. SEM/EDX data show that 20 weeks of ambient daylight did not change significantly the in‐depth distribution of the elemental composition of Pb and I throughout the entire solar cell system. It was confirmed with EDX that nanoparticles identified in high‐resolution SEM micrographs contain mainly Pb and I, indicating these to be the perovskite crystals. However, a compositional and chemical altering began in the near‐surface region of the outermost ~10 nm after 2 months of illumination which was observed with XPS. T2 - ECASIA 2017 CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2017 KW - Solar Cell KW - SEM KW - EDX KW - XPS KW - layered system PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6410 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 50 IS - 11 SP - 1234 EP - 1238 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. AN - OPUS4-46394 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gojani, Ardian A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Toward determination of the surface roughness of particles from a SEM image N2 - In this communication, we address the issue of roughness measurement by investigating if the grayscale values from SEM images can be used for surface roughness determination of spherical particles. KW - MamaLoCA KW - Core-shell particles KW - Electron microscopy KW - Image processing KW - Particle characterisation KW - Roughness PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927621011375 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 27 IS - Suplement S1 SP - 3302 EP - 3305 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-53283 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Mielke, Johannes T1 - Techniques evaluation report for selection of characterisation methods N2 - This report is the result of a comprehensive study on the available CMs which come potentially in question for the reliable analysis of the number based size distribution of a nanomaterial according to the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial. Based on the performance criteria already established in NanoDefine the potential CMs are evaluated according to studies available in the literature as well as following the expertise of the NanoDefine consortium partners. The specific advantages and disadvantages of each method with respect to its applicability to the scope of NanoDefine are particularly highlighted. An CM evaluation table is produced so that the mostly suited CMs with respect to the EC definition can be grouped and recommended to the corresponding NanoDefine work packages for further specific development (improvement and adaption), or for direct validation and standardisation, respectively. The actual evaluation report including the recommended CMs will be revised and, if necessary, eventually updated at the mid time of the project. The update will be jointly discussed in the NanoDefine consortium on the basis of the results of testing the methods on the NanoDefine real world materials. KW - Nanomaterial KW - Characterization method KW - EC definition PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-389473 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/publications/reports/NanoDefine_TechnicalReport_D3.1.pdf SP - D3.1, 1 EP - 57 CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-38947 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neamtu, Mariana A1 - Nadejde, C. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Verestiuc, L. A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization, catalytic application and assessment of toxicity N2 - Cost-effective water cleaning approaches using improved Treatment technologies, for instance based on catalytic processes with high activity catalysts, are urgently needed. The aim of our study was to synthesize efficient Fenton-like photo-catalysts for rapid degradation of persistent organic micropollutants in aqueous medium. Iron-based nanomaterials were chemically synthesized through simple procedures by immobilization of either iron(II) oxalate (FeO) or iron(III) citrate (FeC) on magnetite (M) nanoparticles stabilized with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Various investigation techniques were performed in order to characterize the freshly prepared catalysts. By applying advanced oxidation processes, the effect of catalyst dosage, hydrogen peroxide concentration and UV-A light exposure were examined for Bisphenol A (BPA) conversion, at laboratory scale, in mild conditions. The obtained results revealed that BPA degradation was rapidly enhanced in the presence of low-concentration H2O2, as well as under UV-A light, and is highly dependent on the surface characteristics of the catalyst. Complete photo-degradation of BPA was achieved over the M/PEG/FeO catalyst in less than 15 minutes. Based on the catalytic performance, a hierarchy of the tested catalysts was established: M/PEG/FeO > M/PEG/FeC > M/PEG. The results of cytotoxicity assay using MCF-7 cells indicated that the aqueous samples after treatment are less cytotoxic. KW - Bisphenol A KW - Magnetic nanocatalyst KW - Endocrine disruptor KW - Nanoparticle KW - Photodegradation KW - Fenton PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-448297 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24721-4 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 8 SP - Article 6278, 1 EP - 11 PB - Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-44829 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Standardized workflow for checking the performance of an EDS X-ray spectrometer at a Scanning Electron Microscope N2 - For test laboratories operating under accreditation schemes like ISO/IEC 17025 (ISO/IEC 17025), as the international reference for testing and calibration laboratories wanting to demonstrate their capacity to deliver reliable results, a periodical control of the critical instrumental parameters of an Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDS) is required. This periodical check of an EDS is specified with exact procedures and materials in the ISO 15632:2021 ”Microbeam Analysis – Selected instrumental performance parameters for the specification and checking of energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers for use in electron probe microanalysis” (ISO 15632). The EDS check can be simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum from a dedicated test material, EDS-TM002, which is made available by BAM since 2009 (https://webshop.bam.de/webshop_en/). The optional BAM software “EDX spectrometer check” is destined to automatically evaluate this spectrum and determine the performance of the EDS in terms of energy resolution and calibration, as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Nearly 200 laboratories have the EDS-TM and associated software package in use. Practical examples based on various types of artifacts occurred in the EDS spectra and a long-term (>10 years) meticulous observation of the own spectrometers will be discussed. Different types of EDS spectrometers are considered, e.g. Si(Li) and SDD, of various window types (AP, the recent one Si3N4 or even windowless), and with different front contact layers (Au and Ni) (Hodoroaba and Procop, 2014). Evaluation of other parameters or effects such as the deadtime at different count rates or pileup effects is also explained with examples. T2 - Workshop "Automated Mineralogy" @ GEOANALYSIS 2022 CY - Freiberg, Germany DA - 06.08.2022 KW - EDS KW - X-ray spectrometer KW - Performance check KW - Test material KW - Standardized check KW - EDS-TM002 PY - 2022 UR - https://geoanalysis2021.de/en/workshops/automated-mineralogy AN - OPUS4-55460 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Gold nanocubes with monodispersed size distribution (SEM SE) N2 - Gold nanocubes with a monodispersed size distribution (edge = 55 nm) deposited on a silicon wafer. These tiny uniform cubes were produced as reference nanoparticles in the frame of the European project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements. SEM Image acquired at 10 kV with an in-lens secondary electron detector. Image colored in ImageJ using LUT “Orange hot.” Published in Microscopy and Microanalysis 25(S2) (2019) 2328. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanocubes KW - Electron microscopy KW - Reference materials PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1551929520001157 VL - 28 IS - 4 SP - 12 EP - 12 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51352 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Kersting, R. A1 - Hagenhoff, B. A1 - Bennet, Francesca A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Nymark, P. A1 - Grafström, R. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Reliable Surface Analysis Data of Nanomaterials in Support of Risk Assessment Based on Minimum Information Requirements N2 - The minimum information requirements needed to guarantee high-quality surface Analysis data of nanomaterials are described with the aim to provide reliable and traceable Information about size, shape, elemental composition and surface chemistry for risk assessment approaches. The widespread surface analysis methods electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were considered. The complete analysis sequence from sample preparation, over measurements, to data analysis and data format for reporting and archiving is outlined. All selected methods are used in surface analysis since many years so that many aspects of the analysis (including (meta)data formats) are already standardized. As a practical analysis use case, two coated TiO2 reference nanoparticulate samples, which are available on the Joint Research Centre (JRC) repository, were selected. The added value of the complementary analysis is highlighted based on the minimum information requirements, which are well-defined for the analysis methods selected. The present paper is supposed to serve primarily as a source of understanding of the high standardization level already available for the high-quality data in surface analysis of nanomaterials as reliable input for the nanosafety community. KW - Electron microscopy KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Secondary ion mass spectrometry KW - Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy KW - Standardization PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-522683 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11030639 VL - 11 IS - 3 SP - 639 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-52268 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brüngel, R. A1 - Rückert, J. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Gaillard, C. A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Rauscher, H. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Weigel, S. A1 - Friedrich, C. M. T1 - NanoDefiner e-Tool: An Implemented Decision Support Framework for Nanomaterial Identification N2 - The European Commission’s recommendation on the definition of nanomaterial (2011/696/EU) established an applicable standard for material categorization. However, manufacturers face regulatory challenges during registration of their products. Reliable categorization is difficult and requires considerable expertise in existing measurement techniques (MTs). Additionally, organizational complexity is increased as different authorities’ registration processes require distinct reporting. The NanoDefine project tackled these obstacles by providing the NanoDefiner e-tool: A decision support expert system for nanomaterial identification in a regulatory context. It providesMT recommendations for categorization of specific materials using a tiered approach (screening/confirmatory), and was constructed with experts from academia and industry to be extensible, interoperable, and adaptable for forthcoming revisions of the nanomaterial definition. An implemented MT-driven material categorization scheme allows detailed description. Its guided workflow is suitable for a variety of user groups. Direct feedback and explanation enable transparent decisions. Expert knowledge is Held in a knowledge base for representation of MT performance criteria and physicochemical particle type properties. Continuous revision ensured data quality and validity. Recommendations were validated by independent case studies on industry-relevant particulate materials. Besides supporting material identification and registration, the free and open-source e-tool may serve as template for other expert systems within the nanoscience domain. KW - EC nanomaterial definition KW - Decision support KW - Expert system KW - Nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-492449 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12193247 VL - 12 IS - 19 SP - 3247 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, CH AN - OPUS4-49244 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Chemello, Giovanni A1 - Knigge, Xenia A1 - Al-Sabbgh, Dominik A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - XPS, HAXPES, XRD and SEM datasets of functionalized graphene nanoplateletes N2 - The datasets from (Hard Energy) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microsopy are related to the publication G. Chemello, X. Knigge, D. Ciornii, B.P. Reed, A.J. Pollard, C.A. Clifford, T. Howe, N. Vyas, V.-D. Hodoroaba, J. Radnik "Influence of the morphology on the functionalization of graphene nanoplatelets analyzed by comparative photoelectron spectroscopy with soft and hard X-rays" Advanced Materials Interfaces (2023), DOI: 10.1002/admi.202300116. KW - Graphene related 2D materials KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Hard-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - Powder X-ray diffraction PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7956497 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-57898 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Boehm, S. T1 - Analysis of elemental composition of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex alloy thin films by EPMA and µ-XRF N2 - The present study reports on measurements on thin Fe-Ni films on silicon and first-time results of analysis on Si-Ge thin films deposited on a non-conductive aluminium oxide Substrate by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Standard-based and standardless EPMA (with EDS) results were used in combination with the thin film analysis software Stratagem for the quantification. Further, X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) can be used for the determination of elemental composition and thickness of such films as well. In this case, XRF with a μ-focus X-ray source (μ-XRF) attached to a SEM was applied. For quantification, a fundamental parameter (FP) approach has been used to calculate standard-based and standardless results. Both thin film systems have been chosen as samples of an international round robin test (RRT) organised in the frame of standardisation technical committee ISO/TC 201 ‘Surface chemical analysis’, under the lead of KRISS. The main objective of the RRT is to compare the results of atomic fractions of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex alloy films obtained by different surface Analysis techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) applied in the depth-profiling operation mode. Five samples of different atomic fractions of each thin film system, i.e., Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex, have been grown by ion beam sputter deposition on silicon and Al2O3 wafers, respectively. Reference FeNi and SiGe films with well-known elemental composition and thickness have been also supplied for standard-based analysis. An excellent agreement has been obtained between the atomic fractions determined by EPMA and µ-XRF with the KRISS certified values. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2019 CY - Portland, OR, USA DA - 03.08.2019 KW - Thin films KW - EPMA KW - µ-XRF KW - Elemental composition KW - Atomic fraction KW - Fe-Ni KW - Si-Ge PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48709 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis of Titanium Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid N2 - A femto-second pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) procedure for the generation of titanium oxide nanoparticles (NP) is reported with the purpose of understanding morphology and structure of the newly generated NPs. Ablation duration was varied for optimization of NP generation processes between 10 and 90 min. Surface morphology of NPs as well as their size and shape (distribution) were analysed by various complementary electron microscopy techniques, i.e. SEM, TSEM and TEM. The crystalline structure of titanium oxide particles was investigated by XRD and HR-TEM. Concentration of generated titanium oxide NPs in liquid was analysed by ICP-MS. A mix of crystalline (mainly anatase), partly crystalline and amorphous spherical titanium oxide NPs can be reported having a mean size between 10 and 20 nm, which is rather independent of the laser ablation (LA) duration. A second component consisting of irregularly shaped, but crystalline titanium oxide nanostructures is co-generated in the LA water, with more pronounced occurrence at longer LA times. The provenance of this component is assigned to those spherical particles generated in suspension and passing through the converging laser beam, being hence subject to secondary irradiation effects, e. g. fragmentation. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 CY - Baltimore, MD, USA DA - 05.08.2018 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Titanium oxide KW - Laser ablation in liquid KW - Electron microscopy KW - XRD PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46502 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Holzweber, Markus A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Martra, G. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of fluorine traces in TiO2 nanoplatelets by SEM/EDX, AES and TOF-SIMS N2 - Hydrothermal synthesis of anatase TiO2 nanosheets with a high fraction of exposed {001} facets and related high photocatalytic activity - as an alternative to bipyramidal anatase TiO2 nanoparticles mainly exposing the {101} facets. The scope of the material preparation work is the thermal reduction of residual fluorides from HF (capping agent) induced during the synthesis of TiO2 nanosheets by calcination at 873K. The analytical task consists of detection and localization of fluorine present at the surface and/or in the bulk of TiO2 nanosheets before and after calcination by SEM/EDX, Auger electron spectroscopy and ToF-SIMS. KW - Fluorine KW - SEM/EDX KW - TiO2 nanoplatelets KW - Auger electron spectroscopy KW - TOF-SIMS PY - 2017 UR - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/analysis-of-fluorine-traces-in-tio2-nanoplatelets-by-semedx-aes-and-tofsims/91EA2C0666B7927FCA57D2AD114910F6 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927617010200 SN - 1435-8115 SN - 1431-9276 VL - 23 IS - S1 (July) SP - 1908 EP - 1909 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY, U.S.A. AN - OPUS4-42455 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - 2020 Microscopy Today Micrograph Awards N2 - Gold nanocubes with a monodispersed size distribution (edge = 55 nm) deposited on a silicon wafer. These tiny uniform cubes were produced as reference nanoparticles within the EMPIR project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements. SEM image acquired at 10 kV with an in-lens secondary electron detector. Image colored in ImageJ using LUT “Orange hot.” Published in Microscopy and Microanalysis 25(S2) (2019) 2328. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Au-nanocubes KW - Reference materials KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1551929520001339 VL - 28 IS - 5 SP - 14 EP - 15 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51357 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Feltin, N. T1 - Hybrid metrology for microscopy of nanoparticles N2 - This presentation is structured in two parts: i) Hybrid metrology by combining SEM with AFM (N. Feltin) and ii) hybridization and corelative microscopy by SEM, STEM-in-SEM, TEM, EDS, Auger Electron Microscopy, TKD and more (D. Hodoroaba). The first part is focused on the metrological part of the hybrid measurement SEM-AFM, the second part offers some further possibilities of correlative microscopy of nanoparticles based on practical examples. T2 - EMPIR nPSize Training Course "Metrology for Measurement of Nanoparticle Size by Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy" CY - Online meeting DA - 27.10.2020 KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM KW - AFM KW - Metrology KW - Particle size distribution KW - Correlative imaging KW - STEM-in-SEM (TSEM) PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51476 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Quantitative Microstructural Analaysis under VAMAS/TWA 37 N2 - The progress in activities on Microbeam Analysis under VAMAS/TWA 37 is reviewed. Particularly the liaison with the new projects within the ISO technical committee TC 202 is presented and discussed with respect to the possibility of identifying and launching related VAMAS projects. Need of more promotion for the engagement of more participants from industry and academia at national, European and international level is highlighted. Also, the competition with the other technical working areas (on 'nano' or materials-related) is critically discussed. T2 - Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) 45th Steering Committee Meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 30.09.2020 KW - VAMAS KW - Microbeam analysis KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - EBSD KW - FIB PY - 2020 UR - http://www.vamas.org/ AN - OPUS4-51360 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR nPSize - Improved Traceability Chain of Nanoparticle Size Measurement; What nPSize can offer after 2Ys? N2 - The main outcomes of the EMPIR project nPSize are presented and the suitability of the new capabilities (e.g. reference materials, measurement procedures, inter-laboratory comparisons) as pertinent contributions to normative projects within CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies are discussed. T2 - 28th Meeting of CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies CY - Online meeting DA - 16.10.2020 KW - Nanoparticles KW - CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies KW - Particle size distribution KW - Traceability PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51437 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Radnik, Jörg T1 - Minimale Anforderungen an Referenzdaten anhand von Beispielen aus der Elektronenmikroskopie und Oberflächenanalytik N2 - In dem Vortrag werden, anhand ausgewählten Beispielen aus der Elektronenmikroskopie und Oberflächenanalytik (EDX und XPS), die minimalen Anforderungen an Referenzdaten für zuverlässige und reproduzierbare Ergebnisse (z.B. Partikelgrößenverteilung, Elementzusammensetzung) vorgestellt und diskutiert. T2 - Workshop "Referenzdaten" CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 13.03.2020 KW - Referenzdaten KW - Nanopartikel KW - Elektronenmikroskopie KW - Oberflächenanalytik KW - Standardarbeitsanweisung KW - SOP KW - Standardisierung PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-50571 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Deposition of nanoparticles by electrospray for improved analysis by SEM/TEM and EDX N2 - Of many experimental techniques for measuring particle sizes and size distributions, electron microscopy (EM) is still considered as the gold standard, especially in the nano range (1–100 nm). Furthermore, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in conjunction with EM can be applied to individul NPs. Preparation of an EM sample for generic particulate materials is a difficult task. Usually, the particles in a suspension are deposited on a support. However, this procedure includes the drying of larger solvent amounts on the substrate itself, and this can affect the spatial distribution of the deposited particles. One possibility to overcome this is the use of an electrospray system, where the suspension of particles is sprayed onto the substrate in charged droplets that are so small that they either dry off on the substrate immediately without affecting the position of particles, or even already during their flight time to the substrate. Additionally, the charging of particles minimizes agglomeration and aggregation, maximizing the collection of the EM grids. The prototype of an electrospray deposition System was tested. Electrospray is theoretically described since a long time, but no dedicated commercial instruments are available for the preparation of TEM grids yet, apart from electrostatic deposition of aerosols. Several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were evaluated. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimized. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles (suited to automatic analysis). T2 - 17th European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis (ECASIA 2017) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2017 KW - Electrospray deposition KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM KW - TEM KW - TEM grid PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42393 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - High-Quality Experimental Data in Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis – What Can, and Should We Jointly Do? N2 - There are different ways how to prove the quality of the analytical results obtained in a laboratory, e.g. use of validated standard operation procedures, participation in proficiency testing exercises, use of certified reference materials, etc. International standards provide requirements, specifications, Guidelines or characteristics of methods, instruments or samples with the final goal that these can be used consistently in accredited laboratories. In the field of electron microscopy and microbeam analysis standardization and metrology are terms which are encountered rather seldom at major conferences and scientific publications. Nevertheless, spectra formats like EMSA/MSA for spectral-data exchange or tagged image file format (TIFF) for SEM, guidelines for performing quality assurance procedures or for the specification of X-ray spectrometers as well as of certified reference materials (CRMs) in EPMA, or measurement of average grain size by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), or guidelines for calibrating image magnification in SEM or TEM are ISO standards already published and used successfully by a large part of the electron microscopy and microbeam analysis community. A main and continuous task of ISO/TC 202 and its subcommittees is to identify and evaluate feasible projects/proposals to be developed into new international standards, particularly with respect to recent but established technology, such the silicon drift detector (SDD) EDS. An international platform in the frame of which pre-standardization work can be organized is VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards). International collaborative projects involving aim at providing the technical basis for harmonized measurements, testing, specifications, and standards to be further developed at ISO level. One key point of VAMAS activities is constituted by inter-laboratory comparisons for high-quality data. In the field of microbeam analysis, the technical working area (TWA) 37 Quantitative Microstructural Analysis deals with corresponding projects. Good ideas, e.g. on analysis of low-Z materials/elements and at low energies are particularly encouraged by directly contacting the author. Support and already available guidance will be supplied. KW - Data KW - Electron probe microanalysis KW - Electron microscopy KW - VAMAS KW - Iinter-laboratory comparison PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619009541 VL - 25 SP - 1762 EP - 1763 PB - Cambridge University Press AN - OPUS4-49246 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abram, Sarah-Luise A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Bresch, Harald A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Iron Oxide Nanocubes as a New Certified Reference Material for Nanoparticle Size Measurements N2 - The rational design and increasing industrial use of nanomaterials require a reliable characterization of their physicochemical key properties like size, size distribution, shape, and surface chemistry. This calls for nanoscale reference materials (nanoRMs) for the validation and standardization of commonly used characterization methods closely matching real-world nonspherical nano-objects. This encouraged us to develop a nonspherical nanoRM of very small size consisting of 8 nm iron oxide nanocubes (BAM-N012) to complement spherical gold, silica, and polymer nanoRMs. In the following, the development and production of this nanoRM are highlighted including the characterization by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) as complementary methods for size and shape parameters, homogeneity and stability studies, and calculation of a complete uncertainty budget of the size features. The determination of the nanocubes’ edge length by TEM and SAXS allows a method comparison. In addition, SAXS measurements can also provide the mean particle number density and the mass concentration. The certified size parameters, area equivalent circular diameter and square edge length, determined by TEM with a relative expanded uncertainty below 9%, are metrologically traceable to a natural constant for length, the very precisely known (111) lattice spacing of silicon. Cubic BAM-N012 qualifies as a certified nanoRM for estimating the precision and trueness, validation, and quality assurance of particle size and shape measurements with electron microscopy and SAXS as well as other sizing methods suitable for nanomaterials. The production of this new iron oxide nanocube RM presents an important achievement for the nanomaterial community, nanomaterial manufacturers, and regulators. KW - Certification KW - SAXS KW - Homogeneity KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Iron oxide KW - Quality assurance KW - Reference material KW - Size KW - Electron microscopy KW - Stability KW - Shape PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00749 SN - 0003-2700 VL - 95 IS - 33 SP - 12223 EP - 12231 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-58176 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Dohányosová, P. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - López-Vidal, S. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Evaluation of electrospray as a sample preparation tool for electron microscopic investigations: Toward quantitative evaluation of nanoparticles N2 - The potential of electrospray deposition, for the controlled preparation of particles for imaging in electron microscopes, is evaluated on various materials: from mono-modal suspensions of spherical particles to multimodal suspensions and to real-world industrial materials. It is shown that agglomeration is reduced substantially on the sample carrier, compared with conventional sample preparation techniques. For the first time, it is possible to assess the number concentration of a tri-modal polystyrene suspension by electron microscopy, due to the high Deposition efficiency of the electrospray. We discovered that some suspension stabilizing surfactants form artifact particles during electrospraying. These can be avoided by optimizing the sprayed suspension. KW - Electrospary KW - Nanoparticles KW - Sample preparation KW - TEM grid KW - SEM PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616012587 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 23 IS - 1 SP - 163 EP - 172 PB - Cambridge University Press AN - OPUS4-39244 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Salge, T. A1 - Wäsche, Rolf A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Advanced light element and low energy X-ray analysis of a TiB2 – TiC – SiC ceramic material using EDS spectrum imaging N2 - The accurate EDS microanalysis of light elements such as boron and carbon by spectrum imaging will be demonstrated using a sintered hard ceramic material composed of the three major phases titanium boride (TiB2), titanium carbide (TiC), silicon carbide (SiC) and minor phases, sub-μm in size. The combination of these three materials leads to improved mechanical and tribological properties. Silicon carbide is a material used for mechanical seals. It has the disadvantage of reduced failsafe running functions, causing increased wear when running dry. The added titanium components (TiC and TiB2) improve the failsafe running functions. This technology has already been transferred to industrial applications. KW - EDS KW - Spectrum imaging KW - Ceramic KW - Phase analysis KW - Light elements PY - 2018 UR - https://www.bruker.com/fileadmin/user_upload/8-PDF-Docs/X-rayDiffraction_ElementalAnalysis/Microanalysis_EBSD/LabReports/App_eds_10_LE_keramik_Rev1_1_lores.pdf SP - 1 EP - 5 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-44622 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Automatic Image Segmentation and Analysis using Neural Networks N2 - We present a workflow for obtaining fully trained artificial neural networks that can perform automatic particle segmentations of agglomerated, non-spherical nanoparticles from electron microscopy images “from scratch”, without the need for large training data sets of manually annotated images. This is achieved by using unsupervised learning for most of the training dataset generation, making heavy use of generative adversarial networks and especially unpaired image-to-image translation via cycle-consistent adversarial networks. The whole process only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on time by a user and can typically be finished within less than 12 hours when training on a single graphics card (GPU). After training, SEM image analysis can be carried out by the artificial neural network within seconds, and the segmented images can be used for automatically extracting and calculating various other particle size and shape descriptors. T2 - Machine Learning Workshop CY - Online Meeting DA - 18.03.2021 KW - Electron Microscopy KW - Neural Networks KW - Artificial Intelligence KW - Image Segmentation KW - Automated Image Analysis PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52304 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kim, K. J. A1 - Kim, A. S. A1 - Jang, J. S. A1 - Suh, J. K. A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Araujo, J. R. A1 - Archanjo, B. S. A1 - Galhardo, C. E. A1 - Damasceno, J. A1 - Achete, C. A. A1 - Wang, H. A1 - Wang, M. A1 - Bennett, J. A1 - Simons, D. A1 - Kurokawa, A. A1 - Terauchi, S. A1 - Fujimoto, T. A1 - Streeck, C. A1 - Beckhoff, B. A1 - Spencer, S. A1 - Shard, A. T1 - Measurement of mole fractions of Cu, In, Ga and Se in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 films N2 - CCQM key comparison K-129 for the quantitative analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) films has been performed by the Surface Analysis Working Group (SAWG) of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM). The objective of this key comparison is to compare the equivalency of the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) for the measurement of mole fractions of Cu, In, Ga and Se in a thin CIGS film. The measurand of this key comparison is the average mole fractions of Cu, In, Ga and Se of a test CIGS alloy film in the unit of mole fraction (mol/mol). Mole fraction with the metrological unit of mol/mol can be practically converted to atomic fraction with the unit of at%. In this key comparison, a CIGS film with certified mole fractions was supplied as a reference specimen to determine the relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) of Cu, In, Ga and Se. The mole fractions of the reference specimen were certified by isotope dilution - inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ID-ICP/MS) and are traceable to the SI. A total number counting (TNC) method was recommended as a method to determine the signal intensities of the constituent elements acquired in the depth profiles by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). Seven NMIs and one DI participated in this key comparison. The mole fractions of the CIGS films were measured by depth profiling based-SIMS, AES and XPS. The mole fractions were also measured by non-destructive X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analysis and Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDX). In this key comparison, the average degrees of equivalence uncertainties for Cu, In, Ga and Se are 0.0093 mol/mol, 0.0123 mol/mol, 0.0047 mol/mol and 0.0228 mol/mol, respectively. These values are much smaller than that of Fe in a Fe-Ni alloy film in CCQM K-67 (0.0330 mol/mol). This means that the quantification of multi-element alloy films is possible by depth profiling analysis using the TNC method. KW - CIGS KW - Key comparison KW - CCQM KW - SIMS KW - XPS KW - AES KW - XRF KW - EPMA PY - 2016 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0026-1394/53/1A/08011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/0026-1394/53/1A/08011 SN - 0026-1394 SN - 1681-7575 VL - 53, Technical Supplement SP - Article 08011, 1 EP - 19 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-38110 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nadejde, C. A1 - Neamtu, M. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Schneider, Rudolf A1 - Ababei, G. A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Hybrid iron-based core-shell magnetic catalysts for fast degradation of bisphenol A in aqueous systems N2 - Three types of hybrid modified magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles, functionalized with either chitosan, chitosan/iron (II) oxalate or chitosan/iron (III) citrate, were synthesized by chemical precipitation method. The obtained nanomaterials were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, scanning and Transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. The prepared composites were further tested as magnetic catalysts for the removal of bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous media. The kinetic Degradation experiments were performed at laboratory scale, while the best operational parameters for all three materials were established: 1.00 g L⁻¹ of catalyst, 10 mmol L⁻¹ H₂O₂, under simulated solar light irradiation. After 15 min of UVA irradiation under the experimental conditions mentioned above, it was possible to decompose up to 99% of the micropollutant over all catalysts. Fe₃O₄/chitosan/iron oxalate catalyst showed the highest and fastest catalytic activity in BPA removal. Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of non-biodegradable micropollutants on such iron-based hybrid nanoparticles can be a suitable pre-treatment method for wastewater decontamination, as an environment-friendly simplified Approach for water clean-up. KW - Katalysator KW - Bisphenol A KW - Nano KW - Fenton KW - Magnetische Nanopartikel PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2016.05.090 SN - 1385-8947 VL - 302 SP - 587 EP - 594 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-37126 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Cios, G. A1 - Tokarski, T. A1 - Mansfeld, Ulrich A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Maurino, V. T1 - Towards 3D Understanding of Non-spherical Nanoparticles by Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) for Improved Particle Size Distribution by Electron Microscopy N2 - In this paper one refined approach is applied to determine the exact orientation of bipyramidal TiO2 nanoparticles prepared with good dispersion as almost isolated particles on a carbon TEM grid. The advantages of the recently developed high-throughput Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) are used to identify quickly and reliably the geometrical orientation of the crystalline TiO2 nanoparticle bipyramids (anatase) on a statistically relevant number of particles. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) KW - Electron microscopy KW - TiO2 KW - 3D PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620013999 VL - 26 IS - S2 SP - 260 EP - 261 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-51772 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miropoltsev, M. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Influence of Hydrophilic Thiol Ligands of Varying Denticity on the Luminescence Properties and Colloidal Stability of Quaternary Semiconductor Nanocrystals N2 - Binary photoluminescent semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots, QDs) are one of the best studied fluorescent nanomaterials, and their unique optoelectronic properties paved the road to many applications in (bio)nanophotonics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics. However, concerns related to their toxic constituents like cadmium or lead and the emerging interest in greener chemistry synthesis approaches hamper their future applicability. Interesting alternatives for some applications like biosensing or bioimaging are heavy-metal-free ternary QDs like AgInS2 (AIS), CuInS2 (CIS), and quaternary QDs such as AIS-ZnS (ZAIS). In this context, we explored the effect of ligand denticity on the organic-to-aqueous phase transfer of oleylamine-stabilized ZAIS QDs with the hydrophilic ligands mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), and 3-mercapto-2,2-bis(mercaptomethyl)propanoic acid (3MPA), bearing mono-, bi-, and trialkyl thiol groups. Spectroscopic studies of the resulting water-dispersible ZAIS QDs revealed a considerable influence of ligand denticity and ligand-to-QD ratio on the spectral position and width (FWHM; full width at half-maximum) of the photoluminescence (PL) bands, the PL quantum yields (PL QY), and the PL decay kinetics. Thiol capping and phase transfer resulted in a loss in PL by at least a factor of 2. The ligand-induced PL quenching observed particularly for ligands bearing two or three thiol groups was attributed to the facilitated formation of surface-bound disulfides. The best colloidal stability under high dilution conditions was observed for 3MPA. KW - Quantum dots KW - Ligand exchange KW - Lifetime analysis KW - Thiols PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c05342 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 126 IS - 47 SP - 20101 EP - 20113 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-56707 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - You Ask – ACEnano Replies N2 - The workshop starts with introductory information about the workshop and the H2020 project ACEnano, followed by two expert round tables, focussing on how the project could address regulator and industry needs, respectively. This is be followed by parallel sessions on tools (based on preferences expressed by those registered to attend, see “Questions”) and finally a question-and-answer session with the attendees. The experts invited in Round Table 1 have been prepared to answer to questions related to obstacles and advantages for stakeholders such as SMEs to use the ACEnano approaches/tools. Standardisation needs are discussed. T2 - nanoSafety Cluster Training (NSC) Day @ NanoSAFE 2020: ACEnano users’ workshop “You Ask – ACEnano Replies” CY - Online meeting DA - 23.11.2020 KW - ACEnano KW - Standardisation KW - Nanomaterials KW - Nano-characterisation PY - 2020 UR - https://www.nanosafetycluster.eu/ SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-51693 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mino, L. A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Spotto, G. A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Martra, G. T1 - Beyond shape engineering of TiO2 nanoparticles: Post-synthesis treatment dependence of surface hydration, hydroxylation, Lewis acidity and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 anatase nanoparticles with dominant {001} or {101} facets N2 - TiO2 anatase nanoparticles are among the relevant players in the field of light-responsive semiconductor nanomaterials used to face environmental and energy issues. In particular, shape-engineered TiO2 anatase nanosheets with dominant {001} basal facets gained momentum because of the possibility to exploit different and/or improved functional behaviors with respect to usual bipyramidal TiO2 anatase nanoparticles, mainly exposing {101} facets. Nevertheless, such behavior depends in a significant extent on the physicochemical features of surfaces exposed by nanosheets. They can vary in dependence on the presence or removal degree of capping agents, namely, fluorides, used for shape-engineering, and experimental investigations in this respect are still a few. Here we report on the evolution of interfacial/ surface features of TiO2 anatase nanosheets with dominant {001} facets from pristine nanoparticles fluorinated both in the bulk and at their surface to nanoparticles with F− free surfaces by treatment in a basic solution and to totally F− free nanoparticles by calcination at 873 K. The nanoparticles fluorine content and its subsequent evolution is determined by complementary techniques (ion chromatography, TOF-SIMS, XPS, AES, SEM-EDX), probing different depths. In parallel, the evolution of the electronic properties and the Ti valence state is monitored by UV−vis spectroscopy and XPS. The calcination treatment results in {001} facets poorly hydroxylated, hydrated, and hydrophilic, which appear as surface features consequent to the expected (1 × 4) reconstruction. Moreover, IR spectroscopy of CO adsorbed as probe molecule indicates that the Lewis acidity of Ti4+ sites exposed on (1 × 4) reconstructed {001} facets of calcined TiO2 nanosheets is weaker than that of cationic centers on {101} facets of bipyramidal TiO2 anatase nanoparticles. The samples have also been tested in phenol photodegradation highlighting that differences in surface hydration, hydroxylation, and Lewis acidity between TiO2 nanoparticles with nanosheet (freed by F− by calcination at 873 K) and bipyramidal shape have a strong impact on the photocatalytic activity that is found to be quite limited for the nanoparticles mainly exposing (1 × 4) reconstructed {001} facets. KW - Nanoparticles KW - TiO2 KW - F- doping KW - Shape-controlled nanoparticles KW - Nanosheets PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.8b01477 SN - 2574-0970 VL - 1 IS - 9 SP - 5355 EP - 5365 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC, U.S.A. AN - OPUS4-46157 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sarma, Dominik A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Beck, Uwe A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - TSEM-based contour analysis as a tool for the quantification of the profile roughness of silica shells on polystyrene core particles N2 - Core-shell (CS) particles with a polymeric core and a silica shell play an important role in the materials and (bio)analytical sciences. Besides the establishment of reliable synthesis procedures, comprehensive particle characterization is essential for batch-to-batch reproducibility and objective performance assessment across architectures, protocols, and laboratories. Particle characterization with respect to size, size distribution, shell thickness and texture, surface area and roughness or materials composition is commonly conducted with different analytical methods, often on different samples. Our approach uses a dual-mode TSEM/SEM set-up with an EDX detector to obtain a complementary data set with sufficient statistical confidence of one and the same sample on a single instrument. Our protocol reveals information about size, size distribution and shell thickness of the various particles employed from overview images, while an increased field of view (FOV) and high-resolution EDX analysis yields detailed information on shell texture and elemental composition. An image analysis tool was developed to derive and quantify the profile roughness of CS particles from individual beads. Comparison with surface roughness data from AFM showed a similar trend in roughness across the series of particles. Reliable classification into smooth and rough is proposed and roughness changes within different particle batches were tracked systematically. KW - Core-shell particles KW - Electron microscopy KW - Transmission mode KW - Roughness KW - Image analysis PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.07.099 SN - 0169-4332 SN - 1873-5584 VL - 426 IS - 1 SP - 446 EP - 455 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-42256 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Elemental Composition and Thickness Determination of Thin Films by Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) N2 - microscopy (AFM), or X-ray reflectometry. For the additional determination of thin film composition, techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) or mass spectrometry-based techniques can be used. An alternative non-destructive technique is electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). This method assumes a sample of homogenous (bulk) chemical composition, so that it cannot be usually applied to thin film samples. However, in combination with the thin film software StrataGEM, the thickness as well as the composition of such films on a substrate can be determined. This has been demonstrated for FeNi on Si and SiGe on Al2O3 film systems. For both systems five samples with different elemental composition and a reference were produced and characterised by Korean research institute KRISS using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These samples were used for an international round robin test. In 2021, a new and open-source thin film evaluation programme called BadgerFilm has been released. It can also be used to determine thin film composition and thickness from intensity ratios of the unknown sample and standards (k-ratios). In this contribution, we re-evaluated the data acquired for the FeNi and SiGe systems using the BadgerFilm software package and compared the resulting composition and thickness with the results of the established StrataGEM software and other reference methods. With the current evaluation, the BadgerFilm software shows good agreement with the composition and thickness calculated by StrataGEM and as the reference values provided by the KRISS. T2 - ECASIA 2022 CY - Limerick, Ireland DA - 29.05.2022 KW - Thin films KW - Electron Probe Microanalysis KW - Interlaboratory Comparisons PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-54963 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Terborg, R. A1 - Boehm, S. A1 - Kim, K. J. T1 - Analysis of Elemental Composition of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex Alloy Thin Films by EPMA and μ-XRF N2 - The present study reports on measurements on thin Fe-Ni films on silicon and first-time results of analysis on Si-Ge thin films deposited on a non-conductive aluminium oxide Substrate by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Standard-based and standardless EPMA (with EDS) results were used in combination with the thin film analysis software Stratagem for the quantification. Further, X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) can be used for the determination of elemental composition and thickness of such films as well. In this case, XRF with a μ-focus X-ray source (μ-XRF) attached to a SEM was applied. For quantification, a fundamental parameter (FP) approach has been used to calculate standard-based and standardless results. Both thin film systems have been chosen as samples of an international round robin test (RRT) organised in the frame of standardisation technical committee ISO/TC 201 ‘Surface chemical analysis’, under the lead of KRISS. The main objective of the RRT is to compare the results of atomic fractions of Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex alloy films obtained by different surface Analysis techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) applied in the depth-profiling operation mode. Five samples of different atomic fractions of each thin film system, i.e., Fe1-xNix and Si1-xGex, have been grown by ion beam sputter deposition on silicon and Al2O3 wafers, respectively. Reference FeNi and SiGe films with well-known elemental composition and thickness have been also supplied for standard-based analysis. An excellent agreement has been obtained between the atomic fractions determined by EPMA and µ-XRF with the KRISS certified values.zeige mehr KW - Thin film analysis KW - EPMA KW - XRF KW - Fe-Ni KW - Si-Ge PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619009668 VL - 25 SP - 1786 EP - 1787 PB - Cambridge University Press AN - OPUS4-49245 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Electrospray as a sample preparation tool for electron microscopic investigations: Toward quantitative evaluation of nanoparticles N2 - The potential of electrospray deposition, for the controlled preparation of particles for imaging in electron microscopes, is evaluated on various materials: from mono-modal suspensions of spherical particles to multimodal suspensions and to real-world industrial materials. It is shown that agglomeration is reduced substantially on the sample carrier, compared with conventional sample preparation techniques. For the first time, it is possible to assess the number concentration of a tri-modal polystyrene suspension by electron microscopy, due to the high Deposition efficiency of the electrospray. We discovered that some suspension stabilizing surfactants form artifact particles during electrospraying. These can be avoided by optimizing the sprayed suspension. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017 Meeting CY - St. Louis, MO, USA DA - 06.08.2017 KW - Electrospray deposition KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - Sample preparation KW - TEM KW - SEM PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41578 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Check of the performance of EDS systems attached to the SEM with the test material EDS-TM001/2 and evaluation software package EDS spectrometer test -application, experiences and updates N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDX spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy dispersive spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS attached to the SEM. Particularly for test laboratories operating under accreditation schemes like ISO/IEC 17025, a periodical control of the critical instrumental parameters in end-user laboratories is required. With EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 (second generation) test material, this periodical check is simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDX spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the performance of the EDS in terms of energy resolution and calibration as well as possible alteration of low-energy efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr in a well-defined composition, deposited on a steel (in case of EDS-TM001) or silicon (in case of EDS-TM002) substrate. Meanwhile, more than one hundred laboratories use the EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 test material for the periodical check of their EDS. A detailed description of the test material and software together with examples of application was published recently. New results and gained experiences will be presented as well. When the FWHM of lines appearing in the EDS-TM spectrum are determined, the spectrum background must be subtracted accurately. The applied physical background subtraction procedure is robust and takes into account the transmission of the detector window. While the previous version considers only Moxtek AP windows, the new version includes selection of silicon nitride window and the case of windowless detector. Moreover, the new version allows importing of spectra in Bruker spx format and EMSA/MSA files from EDAX TEAM software. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 CY - Baltimore, MD, USA DA - 05.08.2018 KW - X-ray spectrometer KW - EDS KW - SEM KW - Performance check KW - Test material PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45751 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Krumrey, Julian Frederic A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Dataset accompanying the publication "Workflow towards automated segmentation of agglomerated, non-spherical particles from electron microscopy images using artificial neural networks" N2 - This dataset accompanies the following publication, first published in Scientific Reports (www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84287-6): B. Ruehle, J. Krumrey, V.-D. Hodoroaba, Scientific Reports, Workflow towards Automated Segmentation of Agglomerated, Non-Spherical Particles from Electron Microscopy Images using Artificial Neural Networks, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84287-6 It contains electron microscopy micrographs of TiO2 particles, the corresponding segmentation masks, and their classifications into different categories depending on their visibility/occlusion. Please refer to the publication and its supporting information for more details on the acquisition and contents of the dataset, as well as the GitHub repository at https://github.com/BAMresearch/automatic-sem-image-segmentation KW - Electron microscopy KW - Neural networks KW - Image segmentation KW - Automated image analysis PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4563942 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-52246 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Avishai, N. A1 - Avishai, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - What is the effective geometrical collection efficiency of your XEDS detector? Routine procedure applied in a SEM laboratory N2 - In this contribution, two large-area EDS detectors were tested according to the procedure proposed by Procop et al. (2015). In a first step, the optimal working distance (WD) in the two different SEM chambers was determined by moving the sample stage in the Z direction and monitoring the count rates at a magnification of 10,000 and a field of view of 25.6 µm. The WD at which the highest intensity was measured was selected as the optimal position, corresponding to the crossover between the EDS detector optical axis and electron beam optical axis. Next the Cu Kα peak was measured at different relative EDS positions while it was partially removed from the fully inserted position. The spectrum at each location was collected for 10 sec using the highest pulse rate and intermediate current to minimize pile up effects. The ‘inverse squared normalized intensities vs. relative EDS position’ used to extract the true detector – specimen distance shows a non-linear relationship even at the minimal relative positions, which indicates shadowing due to obstruction or use of an unsuitable and/or off-centered collimator. The normalized count rates measured as a function of the EDS distances, results in a too low GCE (too low true solid angles) for both tested detectors. The source of losses of signal was shadowing caused by collimators. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2016 Meeting CY - Columbus, Ohio, USA DA - 24.07.2016 KW - EDS KW - Solid angle KW - Net effective sensor area KW - X-ray yields PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-36982 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Synthesis of Shape controlled TiO2 N2 - Titanium dioxide is one of the most studied metal oxides due to its chemical, surface, electronic and (photo)catalytic properties, providing this material of multisectorial applications ranging from healthcare, photocatalysis, smart materials with self cleaning and self sterilizing properties and solar energy harvesting. However it is difficult to correlate the functional properties of TiO2 nanomaterials to the properties at single nanoparticle level due to the high polydispersity in shape, size and surface features of the currently available TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). Although intensive experimental and theoretical studies have been conducted on the reactivity of different surfaces of metal oxides such as TiO2 much less attention is paid on the dependence of functional properties, like photocatalytic activity, dye adsorption, open circuit potential and fill factor in dye sensitized solar cells, on crystal facets in different orientations. One of the goal of SETNanoMetro project was the development of design rules to tune crystal facets of TiO2 NPs in order to optimize and control functional properties. In the present work we have developed a series of design rules in order to obtain sets of anatase TiO2 NPs with low polydispersity and to tune their shape and size by hydrothermal processing of Ti(IV)-Triethanolamine complex in presence of different shape controllers. Through a careful experimental design, a predictive soft model was developed. The model is able to predict the synthesis outcome allowing to tune the shape factor from 5 (prisms) to 1.5 (bipyramids) to 0.2 (platelets). This allows to control the main crystal facets exposed ranging from (100) to (001). Due to the dependence of functional properties of nanomaterials on shape distribution and not only size, the availability of NPs sets with uniform and well defined and tunable shapes can be of paramount relevance in order to produce reference nanomaterials for shape measurement. T2 - NanoWorkshop 2018 (Workshop on reference nanomaterials, current situation and needs: development, measurement, standardization) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.05.2018 KW - Anatase KW - Shape control KW - Hydrothermal synthesis KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45634 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Quantitative microstructural analysis - VAMAS/TWA 37 N2 - The 44th Meeting of the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) Steering Committee has just taken place at NIST in Boulder (CO, USA). BAM participates with significant contributions in Technical Working Areas on nanoparticle and surface chemistry characterization, but also has positioned itself to new global material challenges and trends in the developement of advanced materials and their characterization, such as thermal properties, self-healing materials, and micro- and nanoplastic. T2 - Annual Meeting of the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) Steering Committee CY - Boulder, CO, USA DA - 22.05.2019 KW - VAMAS KW - Nanoparticles KW - Microbeam analysis KW - Advanced materials PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48184 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Towards accurate analysis of particle size distribution for non-spherically shaped nanoparticles as quality control materials N2 - Measurement of nanoparticle size (distribution) becomes a challenging analytical problem when non-spherical nanoparticles must be accurately measured. Most industrial nanoparticles have not only non-spherical shapes but also possess polydisperse size distributions, and due to their agglomeration/aggregation state are difficult (or even impossible) to be addressed individually. Moreover, driven by regulatory purposes related to the identification of a material as a nanomaterial, the accurate measurement of the smallest dimension of a (nano)particulate material makes the analysis even more complex. In the first phase of the EU Project nPSize - Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements (https://www.bam.de/Content/DE/Projekte/laufend/nPSize/npsize.html), the efforts are focused on synthesis of nanoparticles of well-defined, non-spherical shape. Following candidates of reference materials (CRM) with certifiable particle size (distribution) are under characterization with respect to their homogeneity and stability: (i) titania nanoplatelets (10-15 nm thickness x 50-60 nm lateral), (ii) titania bipyramides (~60 nm length x 40 nm width), (iii) titania acicular particles (100 nm length x 15-20 nm width; aspect ratio 5.5/6), (iv) gold nanorods (~10 nm width x 30 nm length), and (v) gold nanocubes (~55 nm x 55 nm x 55 nm). T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2019 CY - Portland, OR, USA DA - 03.08.2019 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Reference materials KW - Traceability KW - Non-spherical shape KW - Titanium dioxide PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48671 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Nanoparticles and films characterization: Electron microscopy and related techniques N2 - Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) represents the mostly widespread method available in analytical laboratories dedicated to the characterization of physical properties such as morphology of various solid materials from ‘micro-’ down to the nanometre scale. The use of secondary electrons excited by a sharply, nm-focussed primary electron beam enables at any modern SEM to image objects with high in-depth and lateral sensitivity, i.e. with high spatial resolution. Hence, e. g. nanoparticles (NPs) are able to be easily characterized with respect to their individual size and shape, but also to the morphology of their surface. By preparing the nano-objects on thin membranes as electron transparent samples it is possible to perform electron microscopy in the transmission mode (TEM and TSEM). The corresponding transmission (i.e. mass-thickness) contrast reveals in-depth information, but is also well suited for dimensional measurements in the 2D projection image. Both the surface sensitive mode and the transmission one are meanwhile available at any modern SEM. If an X-ray spectrometer is attached to an electron microscope, it is possible to analyse the characteristic X-rays induced by electron bombardment. Most electron microscopes have attached an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) so that EDX elemental maps can be carried out. Recent technological developments of high throughput EDS detectors and their advantages regarding high-resolution X-ray analysis down to the nm range are reviewed. High-resolution micrographs (SEM, TSEM, TEM) and corresponding X-ray elemental maps on various representative nanoparticles, but also layered samples prepared in cross-section, will be presented and discussed. The importance of selecting the best suited analysis conditions will be highlighted. Also other, often challenging, topics such as sample preparation and image data processing will be critically addressed by practical examples. Further analytical techniques able to be employed at an electron microscope, like cathodoluminescence (CL) or micro-X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) will be briefly surveyed. T2 - Nanoscience Meets Metrology - Synthesis, Characterization, Testing and Applications of Validated Nanoparticles - International Summer School CY - Turin, Italy DA - 04.09.2016 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Electron microscopy KW - High-resolution KW - Thin films KW - X-ray spectroscopy PY - 2016 UR - http://www.setnanometro.eu/events/ AN - OPUS4-37325 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - High-Quality Experimental Data in Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis – What can, and should we jointly do? N2 - There are different ways how to prove the quality of the results obtained by electron microscopy and related microanalysis techniques, e.g. use of validated standard operation procedures, participation in proficiency testing exercises, use of certified reference materials, etc. International standards are able to provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics of methods, instruments or samples with the final goal that these can be used consistently in accredited laboratories. In the field of electron microscopy and microbeam analysis standardization and metrology are terms which are encountered rather seldom at major conferences and scientific publications. Nevertheless, spectra formats like EMSA/MSA for spectral-data exchange or tagged image file format (TIFF) for SEM, guidelines for performing quality assurance procedures or for the specification of X-ray spectrometers as well as of certified reference materials (CRMs) in EPMA, or measurement of average grain size by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), or guidelines for calibrating image magnification in SEM or TEM are ISO standards already published and used successfully by a large part of the electron microscopy and microbeam analysis community. A main and continuous task of ISO/TC 202 and its subcommittees is to identify and evaluate feasible projects/proposals needed to be developed into new international standards, particularly in respect to recent but established technology, such the silicon drift detector (SDD) EDS one. Another international platform in the frame of which pre-standardization work can be organized is VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards). International collaborative projects involving aim at providing the technical basis for harmonized measurements, testing, specifications, and standards to be further developed at ISO level. One key point of VAMAS activities is constituted by inter-laboratory comparisons for high-quality data. In the field of microbeam analysis, the technical working area (TWA) 37 Quantitative Microstructural Analysis deals with corresponding projects. Good ideas, e.g. on analysis of low-Z materials/elements and at low energies are particularly encouraged by directly contacting the author. Support and already available guidance will be supplied. T2 - Microscopy & Microanalysis 2019 CY - Portland, OR, USA DA - 03.08.2019 KW - Pre-standardisation KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - VAMAS KW - ISO KW - Electron microscopy KW - Microanalysis PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48672 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Advanced methods for nanomaterial characterization N2 - At the Final Outreach Event of the European FP7 NanoDefine project the results achieved during 4 years of intensive research and development work (2013-2017) with relevant stakeholders and wider community, and their practical implications and impact are presented and discussed. The newly developed particle-size related measurement tools and their practical suitability and applicability to classify materials, formulations and products according to the EC recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial (2011/696/EU) are demonstrated. T2 - Final Outreach Event “Classification of nanomaterials according to the EU definition” CY - Brüssel, Belgium DA - 19.09.2017 KW - Nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticles KW - Particle sizing techniques KW - Nanomaterial classification PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42390 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Functionalization of TiO2 Nanoparticles and supports for Assembly of Multiple Porous Layers N2 - Self-assembly of TiO2 nanoparticles in multiple layers by layer-by-layer deposition has been selected of different deposition procedures usually applied for fabrication of TiO2 thin films with defined and homogeneous thickness on supports of interest for the large-scale applications. The substrates tested were: conductive (FTO) glass, silica glass and titanium alloy. The selected film fabrication technique consists of the deposition of alternating layers of oppositely charged, i.e. functionalized, TiO2 nanoparticle layers with wash steps in between. The controlled assembly of TiO2 nanoparticles on the supports surface requires both a proper functionalization of the supports to promote the adhesion of the TiO2 film to the substrates and proper functionalization of TiO2 nanoparticles to allow attachment to substrate and subsequent reaction between different NP layers. The current study focusses on the analytical control of the functionalization of the substrates with 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) and glutaraldehyde (GA) by means of surface sensitive methods, XPS, Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) and ToF-SIMS. Chemical composition of surface of functionalized substrates shows differences in the degree and type of modification in dependence on substrate. T2 - European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA 2017 CY - Montpellier, France DA - 24.09.2017 KW - Functionalization KW - Substrates KW - Titania KW - Nanoparticles KW - SEM/EDX KW - XPS KW - Auger Electron Spectroscopy KW - ToF-SIMS PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42658 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Steinhoff, U. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - EMPIR Erläuterung der Fördermaßnahme und Beispiele aus der Nanotechnologie N2 - Das EMPIR-Förderprogramm wird kurz erläutert und laufende Projekte aus der Nanotechnologie werden vorgestellt. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf Standardisierungsprojekten, die gemeinsam mit ISO/TC 229 'Nanotechnologies' und CEN/TC 352 'Nanotechnologies' zu neuen Normen führen sollten. Als Beispiel für laufende Nanotechnologie-Projekte mit Koordination aus Deutschland werden MagNaStand (PTB) und nPSize (BAM) gegeben. T2 - Treffen des Normungsausschusses NA 062-08-17 AA Nanotechnologien CY - KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany DA - 07.03.2019 KW - EMPIR KW - Nanoparticles KW - Reference materials KW - Particle size distribution KW - Traceability KW - Standardisation PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-47859 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Procop, Mathias T1 - Check of Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectrometers (EDS) Performance with the BAM Test Material EDSTM001/2 and BAM Software EDS Spectrometer Test N2 - The test material EDS-TM001 together with an accompanying software package, “EDX spectrometer check”, have been made available in 2009 by BAM to be employed by EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer) users to check the performance of an EDS attached to the SEM. Particularly for test laboratories operating under accreditation schemes like ISO/IEC 17025, a periodical control of the critical instrumental parameters in end-user laboratories is required. With EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 (second generation) test material, this periodical check is simplified to the acquisition of only one 10 kV spectrum. The software “EDX spectrometer check” is destined to evaluate automatically this spectrum and determine the performance of the EDS in terms of energy resolution and calibration, as well as possible alteration of low-energy Efficiency due to detector contamination. Energy resolution can be compared with the specified values according to the international ISO standard ISO 15632:2012. EDS-TM is a synthetic material consisting of a 6 μm thick layer of C, Al, Mn, Cu and Zr deposited on a steel (in case of EDS-TM001) or silicon (in case of EDS-TM002) substrate. The chemical composition of EDS-TM was chosen such as to give nearly equal intensities of the low energy lines in a 10 kV spectrum, thus, making it very sensitive against spectrometer efficiency changes. Meanwhile, about 150 laboratories use the EDS-TM001 or EDS-TM002 test material for the periodical check of their EDS. A detailed description of the test material and software together with examples of application was published recently. New results and gained experiences will be presented as well. When the FWHM of the X-ray lines in the EDS-TM spectrum are determined, the spectrum background must be subtracted accurately. The applied physical background subtraction procedure is robust and takes into account the transmission of the detector window. While the previous version considers only Moxtek AP windows, the new version includes selection of silicon Nitride window and the case of windowless detector. Moreover, the new version allows importing of spectra in Bruker spx-format and EMSA/MSA files from EDAX TEAM software. Windowless detectors have been also tested demonstrating long-term stability after repeated heating and cooling cycles. In this case, the appropriate Background subtraction is decisive for accurate detector characterization. Detailed results will be presented. T2 - EMAS 2019 - 16th European Workshop on MODERN DEVELOPMENTS AND APPLICATIONS IN MICROBEAM ANALYSIS CY - Trondheim, Norway DA - 19.05.2019 KW - EDS KW - Test material KW - Software KW - Spectrometer check KW - X-ray spectroscopy PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48103 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Salge, T. A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Schmidt, R. T1 - Characterisation of nanoparticles by means of high-resolution SEM/EDS in transmission mode N2 - Advances in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) enable the high-resolution imaging of single nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes well below 10 nm. The SEM analysis in transmission mode (T-SEM) of NPs on thin film supports has many benefits when compared to the analysis of NPs on bulk substrates. The enhanced material (mass – thickness) contrast of the T-SEM imaging mode is well suited for in-depth and, particularly valuable, to very accurate, traceable, lateral dimensional measurements of NPs. Compared to samples prepared on bulk substrates, T-SEM with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) achieves a drastically improved spatial resolution of the emitted X-rays. The poor signal-to-noise ratio of the X-ray spectra emitted by a single nanoparticle (NP) can be improved by the use of high-sensitivity (high collection solid angle) silicon drift (SDD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDS). The EDS spectral imaging of a single NP with a spatial resolution below 10 nm has become possible. This is demonstrated by means of various examples of nanostructures. Advanced data processing of T-SEM/EDS results sets the stage for the automated classification of NPs by feature analysis. This method combines the detection of morphological structures of interest by image processing of T-SEM micrographs with the chemical classification by EDS. T2 - European Microbeam Analysis Society’s 14th European Workshop on Modern Developments and Applications in Microbeam Analysis (EMAS 2015) CY - Portorož, Slovenia DA - 03.05.2015 KW - High-resolution KW - SEM KW - T-SEM KW - EDX KW - Nanoparticles PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-355628 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/109/1/012006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/109/1/012006 SN - 1757-899X VL - 109 SP - 012006-1 EP - 012006-12 PB - IOP Publishing Ltd CY - Bristol, UK AN - OPUS4-35562 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Sordello, F. A1 - Mino, L. A1 - Minero, C. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Martra, G. A1 - Maurino, V. T1 - Formic acid photoreforming for hydrogen production on shape-controlled anatase TiO2 nanoparticles: Assessment of the role of fluorides, {101}/{001} surfaces ratio, and platinization N2 - Hydrogen production via formate photoreforming on TiO2 is characterized by marked dependence on the ratio between {101} and {001} surfaces for anatase nanoparticles. We observed higher rates of hydrogen Evolution with the increase of the {101} facets presence, owing to their reductive nature. This helps the Pt photodeposition in the early stages of Irradiation and, then, the hydrogen ion reduction reaction. The selective photodeposition of 2 nm Pt nanoparticles on {101} facets was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs. The results are confirmed also by experiments carried out without the use of Pt as cocatalyst and by photoelectrochemical measurements. The work also explains the marginal effect of the fluorination on the H2 evolution. KW - Titanium dioxide KW - Fluoride KW - Platinum KW - Nanoparticles KW - Controlled-shape KW - Hydrogen photoproduction KW - Surface PY - 2019 UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.9b01861 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b01861 SN - 2155-5435 VL - 9 IS - 8 SP - 6692 EP - 6697 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-48355 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Rauscher, H. A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Gaillard, C. A1 - Stintz, M. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Weigel, St. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Mielke, Johannes T1 - Recommendations on a revision of the EC definition of nanomaterial based on analytical possibilities; updated N2 - In October 2011 the European Commission (EC) published a "Recommendation on the definition of na-nomaterial" (2011/696/EU), to promote consistency in the interpretation of the term "nanomaterial" for legislative and policy purposes in the EU. The EC NM Definition includes a commitment to its review in the light of experience and of scientific and technological developments. This review is ongoing in 2017 and as a contribution to the review the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) has already developed a series of three scientific-technical reports with the title: “Towards a review of the EC Recommendation for a definition of the term nanomaterial” which provides to the EC policy services sci-ence-based options on how the definition could be revised or supported with additional guidance. The overarching nature and wide scope of the EC NM Definition, as it does not exclude a priori any particulate material regardless the state, form and size, creates many analytical challenges in its imple-mentation for all stakeholders, including enterprises and regulators. The NanoDefine project has as core objective to support the implementation of the EC NM Definition. In an earlier report1 key aspects of the EC NM Definition were addressed, with the goal to improve the implementability of the EC NM Definition. Based on further developments and results obtained in NanoDefine project that first report was updated and is presented here. The key aspects are discussed based on the results of four years of research performed within the framework of the project. As a result this report assesses how well the requirements of the EC NM Definition can be fulfilled with currently available analytical possibilities. It presents recommendations and options on a revision of the EC NM Definition to improve the implementability of the definition based on currently available analytical possi-bilities, according to the state of the art in 2017. Of the technical issues considered in this report, the following seem to deserve the most attention in terms of clarification of the definition and/or provision of additional implementation guidance: 'external dimension', ‘number based particle size distribution‘, ‘polydispersity‘ and ‘upper size limit‘, the term ‘particle’, the ‘means to prove that a material is not a nanomaterial‘ and ‘the role of the volume specific sur-face area (VSSA)‘, and "particulate materials'. KW - EU definition of a nanomaterial KW - Nanoparticles KW - Revision KW - Update 2017 PY - 2017 UR - http://www.nanodefine.eu/index.php/nanodefine-publications/nanodefine-technical-reports SP - D7.10, 1 EP - D7.10, 71 PB - The NanoDefine Consortium CY - Wageningen, The Netherlands AN - OPUS4-43540 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rades, Steffi A1 - Borghetti, P. A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Garcia, S. A1 - Gómez, E. A1 - Blanco, M. A1 - Alberto, G. A1 - Martra, G. T1 - Organic surface modification and analysis of titania nanoparticles for self‐assembly in multiple layers N2 - The characteristics of TiO2 coatings can greatly influence their final performance in large‐scale applications. In the present study, self‐assembly of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in multiple layers was selected as a deposition procedure on various substrates. For this, the main prerequisite constitutes the surface modification of both NPs and substrate with, for example, silane coupling agents. A set of functionalized TiO2 NPs has been produced by reaction with either (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) or (3‐aminopropyl)phosphonic acid (APPA) to functionalize the NP surface with free amino‐groups. Then, the complementary functionalized NP set can be obtained from an aliquot of the first one, through the conversion of free surface amino groups to aldehydes by reaction with glutaraldehyde (GA). Several types of TiO2 NPs differing in size, shape, and specific surface area have been functionalized. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), SEM/ energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), XPS, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and Time‐of‐Flight (ToF)‐SIMS analyses have been carried out to evaluate the degree of functionalization, all the analytical methods employed demonstrating successful functionalization of TiO2 NP surface with APTES or APPA and GA. KW - TiO2 KW - Nanoparticles KW - Surface functionalization KW - Layer-by-layer deposition KW - Surface chemical analysis PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-508601 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6842 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 829 EP - 834 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-50860 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -