TY - JOUR A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Hodjat Shamami, Parya A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - High-purity corundum as support for affinity extractions from complex samples N2 - Nonporous corundum powder, known as an abrasive material in the industry, was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices. The materials based on corundum were characterized by TEM, ESEM, BET, DLS, EDS, and zeta potential measurements. The strong Al-O-P bonds between the corundum surface and amino phosphonic acids were used to introduce functional groups for further conjugations. The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter was oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). This work shows that oxidized polyglycerol can be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde. With polyglycerol, more of the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be attached to the surface under the same conditions, and lower non-specific binding (NSB) was observed. As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The purity of the product was examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). A binding capacity of 1.8 mg IgG per gram of corundum powder was achieved. The advantages of corundum include the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, convenient handling, and flexible application. KW - Corundum KW - Sapphire KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Antibodies KW - Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) KW - Polyglycerol KW - Dendrimer KW - Nonspecific binding (NSB) KW - Purification KW - Solid-phase extraction (SPE) PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-559342 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9090252 VL - 9 IS - 9 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55934 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, Xuyang A1 - Kumar, Sourabh A1 - Chen, Xinren A1 - Gault, Baptiste A1 - Dehm, Gerhard A1 - Hickel, Tilmann A1 - Raabe, Dierk T1 - Grain Boundary Transformation Induced by Boron Segregation N2 - Boron enhances the hardenability of low-alloyed steel and reduces embrittlement at low temperatures, at parts-per-million concentration levels. Ist effectiveness arises from segregation to grain boundaries (GBs)-planar defects- between crystals-yet atomic-scale evidence remains limited.We addressed this gap by synthesizing GBs with controllable geometry and orientation, enabling reproducible comparison with and without boron segregation. Differential phase-contrast imaging directly reveals boron at iron GBs, and in-situ TEM heating (20 °C to 800 °C) allows us to track the dynamic evolution of GB structures. We found that boron segregation induces local structural changes and triggers GB phase transformations, as corroborated by calculated GB defect phase diagrams spanning broad ranges of carbon and boron content. Our findings not only bridge a gap in understanding the interplay between GB structure and chemistry but also lay the groundwork for targeted design and passivation strategies in steel, potentially transforming its resistance to hydrogen embrittlement, corrosion, and mechanical failure. KW - Steel KW - Defect Phases KW - Grain Boundary PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655812 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62264-1 VL - 16 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Nature Communications AN - OPUS4-65581 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - Error margins in the Determination of Molar Mass and Oligomer Content of Polymers N2 - Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is still the method of choice for determining the molar mass and molar mass distribution of macromolecules. It is a liquid chromatographic technique that separates molecules based on their size, respectively their hydrodynamic volume using a porous stationary phase that allows smaller molecules to pass through the pores while excluding larger molecules. The chromatogram from the size separation can be calibrated using polymers of known molar mass resulting in a relative molar mass distribution curve. From this distribution curve molar mass averages and the oligomer content (percentage of peak area smaller than 1000 g/mol and 500 g/mol) of polymers can be derived. The determination of oligomer content is important, because it is often used in regulatory contexts as a measure of small, mobile and potentially more toxic parts of the polymer. Polymer regulations are of increasing political and social importance. Regulations often set very narrow limits. SEC has rather large error margins of 10-20% for the molar mass determination performed in different laboratories or on different instruments. These variances are well known to all experts and users and have been investigated in several round robin tests in the past. These resulted in DIN and ISO standards which, in our opinion, no longer meet today's requirements. As far as we know, the margins of error in determining oligomer content have not yet been investigated. It is expected that the variation will be rather high. This is because it depends on many factors related to the experimental conditions (column sets used, solvent, temperatures, sample preparation) on the one hand, and the data evaluation mechanisms (choice of baseline and peak limits) on the other. In order to actually measure the error margins and to support this with actual data a round robin test has been performed from June to November 2024 with approx. 40 participating laboratories. Three different solvents were selected, namely THF, DMAc or DMF and water. The samples were selected together with all the experts, taking into account a wide range of practical aspects far from narrowly distributed standards: e.g higher distribution range, reduced solubility, included side components, copolymers and dispersions with gel content. In this contribution we will present the detailed concept of this round robin test and first results. T2 - SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 11.05.2025 KW - Size exclusion chromatography KW - REACH KW - Polymers KW - Round Robin Tests PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63307 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Stolar, Tomislav T1 - Upcycling waste PET bottles to porous UiO-66 by mechanochemistry N2 - Single-use plastics are causing plastic pollution, and less than 10% of plastic waste gets recycled globally. Most of it ends up in landfills or gets incinerated in a highly unsustainable manner. Here, I will present a sustainable mechanochemical protocol for the chemical upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to porous UiO-66 metal-organic framework (MOF). In the first step, PET is ball-milled with sodium hydroxide and undergoes alkaline hydrolysis to disodium terephthalate (Na2TP). Time-resolved in situ monitoring of ball milling reaction by synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction shows the appearance of crystalline Na2TP after 20 min of milling. However, ex-situ analysis at different milling times by gel permeation chromatography reveals that the depolymerisation step needs more milling for completion. After two hours of ball milling, there are only trace amounts of leftover PET. For upcycling to UiO-66, a zirconium acetate cluster is added to Na2TP together with liquid additives and after milling for T2 - International Conference on Resource Chemistry 2024 CY - Alzenau, Germany DA - 13.03.2024 KW - Mechanochemistry KW - Plastic recycling KW - Circular economy PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62105 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - 70 years size exclusion chromatography - An ongoing challenge N2 - The reason for our current activities is that polymers may also be subject to REACh regulations in the future. In this context, the determination of oligomer content is important. SEC is still the method of choice for determining molar mass distribution. The regulations aim for narrow limits and SEC has rather large error margins, which are well known to all experts. Different polymers need different methods. What to do when samples with a wide range of practical aspects, samples with higher distribution range, reduced solubility, including side components, gel content etc. need be analyzed? A concept for round robin tests and first impressions will be presented. T2 - Analytical Solutions 2025 CY - Ede, Netherlands DA - 04.06.2025 KW - Polymers KW - Size exclusion chromatography KW - REACH KW - Round Robin Tests PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63310 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Musl, O. T1 - Mapping the Hydrophobic Composition of Lignosulfonates with 2D HIC-SEC aq. Liquid Chromatography N2 - 2D-LC provides in-depth information on the complex composition of lignosulfonates – information hitherto inaccessible by state-of-the-art lignin analytics. Analysis of 12 industrial lignosulfonates revealed considerable differences in their composition and functional dispersity - properties that are crucial for lignosulfonate usage T2 - Sustainable Materials Research Summit 2022, S.M.A.R.T CY - Vancouver, Canada DA - 07.08.2022 KW - Lignosulfonate KW - Lignin KW - Amphiphilicity KW - Hydrophobic interaction KW - Chromatography (HIC) KW - Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) KW - Functionality type distribution KW - Two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) KW - Molar mass distribution PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55510 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ruehle, Bastian T1 - A Self-Driving Lab for Nano and Advanced Materials Synthesis in a Self-Driving Lab N2 - In this contribution, we present our Self-Driving Lab (SDL) for Nano and Advanced Materials, that integrates robotics for batched autonomous synthesis – from molecular precursors to fully purified nanomaterials – with automated characterization and data analysis, for a complete and reliable nanomaterial synthesis workflow. By fully automating the processing steps for seven different materials from five representative, completely different classes of nano- and advanced materials (metal, metal oxide, silica, metal organic framework, and core–shell particles) that follow different reaction mechanisms, we demonstrate the great versatility and flexibility of the platform. The system also exhibits high modularity and adaptability in terms of reaction scales and incorporates in-line characterization measurement of hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential, and optical properties (absorbance, fluorescence). We discuss the excellent reproducibility of the various materials synthesized on the platform in terms of particle size and size distribution, and the adaptability and modularity that allows access to a diverse set of nanomaterial classes. We also present several key aspects of the central backend that orchestrates the (parallelized) syntheses workflows. One key feature is the resource management or “traffic control” for scheduling and executing parallel reactions in a multi-threaded environment. Another is the interface with data analysis algorithms from in-line, at-line, and off-line measurements. Here, we will give examples of how automatic image segmentation of electron microscopy images with the help of AI can be used for reducing the “data analysis bottleneck” from an off-line measurement. We will also discuss various machine learning (ML) algorithms that are currently implemented in the backend and can be used for ML-guided, closed-loop material optimization in our SDL. Lastly, we will show our recent efforts in making the workflow generation on SDLs more user-friendly by using large language models to generate executable workflows automatically from synthesis procedures given in natural language and user-friendly graphical user interfaces based on node editors that also allow for knowledge graph extraction from the workflows. In this context, we are currently also working on a common description or ontology for representing the process steps and parameters of the workflows, which will greatly facilitate the semantic description and interoperability of workflows between different SDL hardware and software platforms. T2 - Series on Digitalisation-Meet the Experts | Special Topic: Automation CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 27.02.2026 KW - Self-Driving Labs KW - Materials Acceleration Platforms KW - Advanced Materials KW - Nanomaterials KW - Automation KW - Digitalization PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65604 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chatti, Saber T1 - Chemical modification of lignin by functional polymers: towards specific green phases for the adsorption of organic pollutants in water N2 - Lignin is a highly aromatic low value biomass residue, which can be utilized for chemicals, fuels and materials production. In recent years, significant attention has focused on adsorber materials based on lignin. However, only 5% of the available lignin is exploited worldwide, thus significant opportunities for materials development still exist. Lignin has been vastly utilized as a feedstock for the synthesis of adsorbers for the removal of dyes and toxic organic molecules . To improve adsorption capacity, lignin can be chemically modified with oxygen-, nitrogen-, or sulfur-containing functional groups. Most frequently the phenolic groups of lignin were modified. In order to extend the application of lignin as adsorbers, we are especially interested in the chemical modification of this natural resource with a bio-based linear difluoro oligomers LOx (di- or monofunctional) or a heterocyclic monomer (Figure). T2 - 12. Journees maghreb-europe. Matériaux et Applications aux Dispositifs et Capteurs CY - Monastir, Tunisia DA - 08.11.2022 KW - Lignin KW - Biobased polymers KW - Modification PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56238 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Völzke, Jule L. T1 - Corundum as a novel affinity platform for the isolation of human IgG from plasma N2 - Nonporous corundum powder was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices.The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter was oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The advantages of corundum include the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, convenient handling, and flexible application. T2 - Adlershofer Forschungsforum 2022 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 11.11.2022 KW - Affinity support KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Affinity extraction KW - Phosphonic acids KW - Polyglycerol KW - Reductive amination KW - Amino acid analysis KW - Tyrosine KW - Protein quantification KW - SDS-PAGE KW - Antibodies KW - Antibody purification KW - Downstream processing KW - Bovine serum albumin KW - BSA KW - Protein a KW - TEM KW - ESEM KW - Aluminum oxide KW - Sapphire KW - Human plasma KW - Protein immobilization KW - Protein hydrolysis KW - Glutaraldehyde KW - Aromatic amino acid analysis AAAA PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56154 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gugin, Nikita T1 - ZIF-8-Based Biocomposites via Reactive Extrusion: Towards Industrial-Scale Manufacturing N2 - Mechanochemistry offers a solvent-free, sustainable alternative to conventional synthesis of metal-organic framework (MOF) biocomposites, which hold great promise for applications in drug delivery, biocatalysis, and biosensing,[1] yet the field remains limited to batch-type, gram-scale processes that restrict industrial application. To overcome these limitations, we present a scalable solid-state method for producing MOF-based biocomposites via continuous reactive extrusion. The process begins with rapid model reactions using hand-mixing[2] to encapsulate a variety of biomolecules into zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), including proteins, carbohydrates, and enzymes, thereby enabling rapid screening and optimization of reaction conditions. The mild synthesis conditions preserve the catalytic activity of glucose oxidase, confirming the suitability of the method to sensitive biomaterials. Building on this, we translated the batch protocol to twin-screw extrusion,[3] enabling continuous and scalable synthesis of biocomposites such as bovine serum albumin (BSA)@ZIF-8 with tunable protein content. The extrusion process yielded highly crystalline, porous materials with protein loadings of up to 26 wt% and encapsulation efficiencies as high as 96%. The production rate reached 1.2 kg d⁻¹, significantly exceeding previously reported continuous methods.[4] To demonstrate the industrial viability of the method, we extended the approach to produce shaped ZIF-8 monoliths loaded with hyaluronic acid (HA) in a single-step extrusion. These monoliths retained their structural integrity during washing and released HA without measurable degradation, as confirmed by size-exclusion chromatography. Our study opens new avenues for the industrial implementation of MOF biocomposites and establishes reactive extrusion as a robust platform for their scalable synthesis and shaping, expanding the toolkit for drug delivery and biocatalytical applications. T2 - Tag der Chemie 2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 03.07.2025 KW - Mechanochemistry PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63802 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -