TY - CONF A1 - Bell, Jérémy T1 - Embedded sensor for the detection of TNT in surface and marine waters N2 - In 1945, the Potsdam Conference led to the decision to destroy a significant amount of ammunition from the warring parties of WWII. Dumping was considered the cheapest, quickest, and safest solution to dispose of unused ammunition. However, thin barrels or containers often leak after 50 years, allowing explosives to escape into the marine environment. As the effects of weapons chemicals on ecosystems are well-documented, it is becoming increasingly important to detect, recover and dispose of old ammunition. Physical techniques such as magnetometry and sonar are used to detect ammunition in the sea, but they do not provide chemical information. Detecting leaking organic contaminants like TNT or other explosives in water or soil requires high-end laboratory equipment like HPLC or GC-MS, making remote water testing virtually impossible. As an alternative, a miniaturized method for the selective and sensitive indication of TNT using fluorescence light-up sensing was developed. The visual identification of TNT with a nucleophile that forms a strongly absorbing charge transfer complex (CTC) is a well-known method. This CTC is formed by the attraction of an electron from the donor molecule by the electron-deficient aromatic ring. In this work, a TNT-based CTC was selectively formed by the addition of tetraoctylammonium acetate in N,N-diethylformamide and, as expected, showed strong absorption. Surprisingly, at room temperature, the CTC can be converted into a fluorescent product with an emission band centred at 577 nm. For the detection of TNT in water, a microfluidic chip made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used for both the extraction and reaction steps. In addition to miniaturising the experimental steps, the optical system (fluorometer) has been integrated into an autonomous smartphone assembly capable of catalysing the photoreaction and analysing the fluorescence response. Taking advantage of the light-up response, TNT was still easily detectable down to 9.4 ng with the CMOS camera. Further evaluation of this analytical tool consisted of analyses of unfiltered and untreated surface water samples spiked directly with increasing concentrations of TNT to reflect different levels of contamination. LODs of 21 and 40 ng were found for samples from the Teltow Canal in Berlin (DEU) and the Baltic Sea near Greifswald (DEU). Such an analytical tool could be used to monitor water quality in the field, as the release of organic pollutants from munitions into surface and marine waters will become increasingly problematic and concentrations will continue to rise over the coming decades. T2 - ANAKON 2025 CY - Leipzig, Germany DA - 10.03.2025 KW - Explosives KW - Microfluidics KW - Smartphone KW - Sprengstoffe KW - Mikrofluidik KW - Sensor PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62767 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Buchholz, Michelle T1 - Dual Fluorescent Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) for Detection of the Prevalent Anti-Inflammatory Drug Diclofenac N2 - Ensuring the purity of air and water is essential for the overall well-being of life on earth and the sustainability of the planet's diverse ecosystems. To achieve the goal of zero pollution, as outlined in the 2020 European Green Deal by the European Commission,[1] significant efforts are in progress. A key aspect of this commitment involves advancing more efficient and economically viable methods for treating wastewater. This includes the systematic monitoring of harmful pollutants such as heavy metals, microplastics, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. One example is the presence of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in water systems, primarily originating from its use as a gel or lotion for joint pain treatment. Diclofenac contamination in surface waters has been detected at approximately 10 μg L-1 (0.03 μM)[2] which is not solely due to widespread usage but also because of the drug's resistance to microbial degradation. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which rely on biodegradation, sludge sorption, ozone oxidation, and powdered activated carbon treatment, struggle to efficiently remove diclofenac from wastewater.[3],[4] For instance, to enable WWTPs to efficiently monitor and optimize their processes, it would be advantageous to develop on-site detection and extraction methods for persistent pharmaceutical residues in aqueous samples. In this work, a sol-gel process was used to prepare Nile blue-doped silica nanoparticles (dSiO2-NPs) with a diameter of ca. 30 nm that were further functionalized to enable reversible-addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. To achieve fluorescence detection, a fluorescent monomer was used as a probe for diclofenac in ethyl acetate, generating stable complexes through hydrogen bond formation. The diclofenac/fluorescent monomer complexes were imprinted into thin molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) shells on the surface of the dSiO2-NPs. Thus, the MIP binding behaviour could be easily evaluated by fluorescence titrations to monitor the spectral changes upon addition of the analyte. Doping the core substrate with Nile blue generates effective dual fluorescent signal transduction. This approach does not solely depend on a single fluorescence emission band in response to analyte recognition. Instead, it enables the fluorescent core to function as an internal reference, minimizing analyte-independent factors such as background fluorescence, instrumental fluctuation, and operational parameters.[5] Rebinding studies showed that the MIP particles have excellent selectivity towards the imprinted template and good discrimination against the competitor ibuprofen, with a discrimination factor of 2.5. Additionally, the limit of detection was determined to be 0.6 μM. Thus, with further optimization of the MIP, there is potential for the development of a MIP-based biphasic extract-&-detect fluorescence assay for simple, sensitive and specific sensing of diclofenac in aqueous samples down to the required concentrations of 0.03 μM. T2 - MIP2024: The 12th International Conference on Molecular Imprinting CY - Verona, Italy DA - 18.06.2024 KW - Sensor KW - Diclofenac KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers KW - Fluorescence KW - Pollutant PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60439 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia T1 - On-Site Detection of PFAAs with Dual Fluorescent MIPs Coupled to a Miniaturized Microfluidics Platform N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent a class of synthetic organofluorine chemicals extensively utilized in the manufacturing of various materials such as firefighting foams, adhesives, and stain- and oil-resistant coatings. In recent years, PFAS have been considered as emerging environmental contaminants, with particular focus on perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), the most prevalent type among PFAS. PFCAs are characterized by a fully fluorinated carbon backbone and a charged carboxylic acid headgroup. Notably, they have been designated as Substances of Very High Concern and added to the REACH Candidate List due to their persistence in the environment, non-biodegradability and toxicological effects. Conventional techniques for the analysis of PFCA, such as GC-MS, HRMS and HPLC-based methods, are laborious, not portable, costly and require skilled personnel. In contrast, fluorescence assays can be designed as easy-to-operate, portable and cost-effective methods with high sensitivity and fast response, especially when analyte binding leads to a specific increase of a probe’s emission. Integration of such probes with a carrier platform and a miniaturized optofluidic device affords a promising alternative for PFCA monitoring. Here, a novel guanidine BODIPY fluorescent indicator monomer has been synthesized, characterized, and incorporated into a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the specific detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The MIP layer was formed on tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride doped silica core particles for optical internal reference and calibration-free assays. Such system allows selective and reliable detection of PFCA from surface water samples, with minimum interference by competitors, matrix effects and other factors. Integration of the assay into an opto-microfluidic setup resulted in a miniaturized and easy-to-operate detection system allowing for micromolar detection of PFOA in less than 15 minutes from surface water sample. T2 - MIP2024: The 12th International Conference on Molecular Imprinting CY - Verona, Italy DA - 18.06.2024 KW - Sensor KW - PFAS KW - Molecularly imprinted polymers KW - Guanidine receptor KW - BODIPY PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60438 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hernández-García, María Amparo A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Bell, Jérémy T1 - Rapid fabrication of optical elements for sensing applications using a standard SLA printer N2 - The demand for compact, high-performance optical components has driven the development of increasingly sophisticated and miniaturized optical elements, often requiring complex and costly fabrication methods. In this study, we propose a cost-effective and accessible methodology for the fabrication of lenses and free-form optics using a commercially available stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer. A systematic characterisation of six transparent photopolymer resins was conducted in terms of their spectroscopic, optical, and morphological properties, i.e., surface and dimensional properties. The evaluation encompassed parameters such as transmittance, autofluorescence, refractive index, and surface roughness. A straightforward yet resilient printing and post-treatment protocol was formulated, facilitating the fabrication of optical components with over 80% transmittance, minimal intrinsic fluorescence, and surface quality that is compatible with exacting optical applications. The fabricated components demonstrated excellent dimensional fidelity to digital designs and high reproducibility. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, aspherical, miniaturized, and freeform lenses were designed and integrated into three fluorogenic sensing systems, including oil (strip-based) and chlorine (microfluidic-based) detection platforms, as well as a smartphone-based SARS-CoV-2 biosensor. The integration of customized 3D-printed optics has been demonstrated to enhance signal collection and readout performance, thereby highlighting the potential of this approach to democratize the rapid prototyping and deployment of miniaturized optical systems. This work represents a significant advancement in the field of additive manufacturing, particularly in relation to the development of functional photonic devices. Furthermore, it opens new prospects for sensor applications in biosensing, microfluidics, imaging, and integrated optics. KW - 3D-printing KW - Free-form KW - Prototyping KW - Optical resin KW - Surface finishing KW - Fluorescence KW - Sensor PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.37188/lam.2026.024 VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Light Publishing Group CY - Changchun AN - OPUS4-65555 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Paulick, C. T1 - Dicplacement Behavior of Ceramic Springs N2 - Due to the promising combination of chemical, thermal and mechanical properties, springs made of advanced ceramics have attracted much attention as a replacement for metal springs in highly demanding applications, operating at high temperatures and in harsh environments when hardened metals can no longer be used. A further application was recently proposed by using ceramic springs with metalized surfaces as capacitive force sensors. Prior to any design of an instrument, application-specific static and/or dynamic loading experiments are necessary to investigate the stability of spring properties under the given conditions. These experiments can also be used to determine seldom measured material properties like the shear modulus of ceramics. Helical Springs with a rectangular cross-section have been machined from straight tubes of alumina (99.99% α-AI203,) and zirconia (Y/Ce-TZP). The sintered density of both materials was above 99% of the theoretical density. The stress/displacement curves turned out to be extremely linear and the spring constants were not altered, even after more than one million cycles of compression loading at various temperatures from -15°C to +60°C. This means that such springs can be a far more reproducible and reliable source of an elastic response to applied forces than handmade springs from molten quartz wires. The behavior found for in-house fabricated springs contrasts to the behavior found for a commercial ceramic spring, which was produced by injection molding and exhibits a less linear response. Furthermore, high-temperature displacement behavior of fabricated alumina and zirconia springs was tested under static loading conditions in different atmospheres (air, N2 and H2) at temperatures up to 1000 °C. T2 - Jahrestagung der Deutschen Keramischen Gesellschaft CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 19.03.2017 KW - High-temperature behavior KW - Ceramic springs KW - Sensor PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41085 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabe, Torsten T1 - Development of ceramic helical springs for sensor applications N2 - At high temperatures and in harsh environments ceramic springs are often superior to metallic ones and allow for innovative solutions. A further application was proposed by using ceramic springs as capacitive force sensor. Lower and upper coil surfaces are coated by electrically conducting layers. Deformation of such spring results in a change of capacity. Sensor application calls for helical springs with rectangular cross-section, a linear stress-strain characteristic over entire deformation range and low manufacturing tolerances relating to inner and outer diameter, coil cross section and spring pitch. Furthermore, complex spring design with integrated connecting elements has to be realized. Alumina, zirconia (Y-TZP) and silicon nitride springs were produced by hard machining starting from sintered hollow cylinders. After external and internal cylindrical grinding the hollow cylinders were filled with hard wax, followed by multi-stage cutting of spring coils with custom-made cutting discs. Finally, hard wax was removed by melting and burnout. Best surface and edge qualities of springs were reached using Y-TZP material and hot isostatic pressed alumina. Y-TZP springs produced with material-specifically selected cutting discs and optimized process parameters show sharp coil edges without spallings and mean roughness values of inner surfaces < 0.2 μm. Manufacturing tolerances of spring diameters, spring pitch, height and width of coil cross section are in the range of ± 10 microns. Good reproducibility of spring geometry by optimized hard machining technology allows for production of Y-TZP springs with spring constants differing less than ± 1 % within a series. According to DIN 2090 spring constant for rectangular coil cross section is proportional to the square of height and width of coil cross section and indirectly proportional to number of active coils and to the cube of the mean spring diameter. Hence, spring constants can be tailored over a range of many orders of magnitude by changing the spring dimensions. Good agreement was reached between calculated target spring constants and measured values on produced springs. Alumina and zirconia springs were characterized relating to deformation behavior under dynamic compression load with various deformation speeds and under static tensile loads over long periods of time. Contrary to alumina springs, a non-linear stress-strain behavior of TZP springs was proved in both test series. It is supposed, that pseudoelasticity caused by stress-induced transformation of tetragonal to monoclinic phase is responsible for this special feature of TZP springs. Therefore, TZP material cannot be used for capacitive spring sensors. T2 - European Ceramic Society Conference (ECerS) CY - Torino, Italy DA - 16.06.2019 KW - Ceramic spring KW - Sensor KW - Spring constant KW - Failure test KW - Microstructure PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48610 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Design, characterization, and application of fluorescent sensor particles N2 - pH and oxygen are amongst the most important and frequently measured analytes in the life and material sciences, indicating, e.g., diseases and corrosion processes. This includes the optical monitoring of pH in living cells for studying cellular internalization pathways, such as phagocytosis, endocytosis, and receptor ligand internalization with the aid of molecular and nanoscale fluorescent sensors. Nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors, that are labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes, have several advantages as compare to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, i.e., amplified signals, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, this can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments. Versatile templates and carriers for the fabrication of nanosensors by the staining and/or labelling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules or surface functionalized NP like silica (SiO2-NP) and polystyrene (PS-NP) particles provide. Here we present the design of a versatile platform of color emissive nanosensors and stimuli-responsive microparticles for the measurement of pH, oxygen, and other targets utilizing both types of matrices and sets of spectrally distinguishable sensor and reference dyes and their characterization and demonstrate the applicability of representative sensor particle for cellular studies. T2 - Vortrag bei dem Projekttreffen MicraGen CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 18.08.2022 KW - Dye KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Photophysics KW - Quality assurance KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Standard KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Sensor KW - pH KW - Oxygen KW - Microfluidics KW - Cancer KW - Cell KW - Life sciences PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-57049 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - From molecular and nanoscale chromophores with UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR luminescence to multi method characterization of surface coatings N2 - An overview of the research activities of division Biophotonics is presented covering examples for photophysical studies of different types of molecular and nanocrystalline luminophores, luminescent particles, and sensor systems in solution, in dispersion, and in the solid state and multi-method charactreization workflow for the characterization of surface-functionalized engineered nanomaterials. In addition, the importance of reliable optical measurements, particularly standardized workflows for the determination of the key performance parameter luminescence quantum yield of transparent and scattering luminescent samples with fluorescence and integrating sphere spectroscopy, and validated methods for quantifying surface functional groups and ligands on nanomaterials is highlighted. Thereby, also ongoing standardization activities are presented as well as certified reference materials and reference materials from division Biophotonics. T2 - Chinese-German Chemical Association - Annual Meeting CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 22.08.2025 KW - Quality assurance KW - Fluorescence KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Synthesis KW - Quantum yield KW - Characterization KW - Advanced material KW - Surface KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - Oxygen KW - Ph KW - Standardization KW - Fluorescent probe KW - Reference material PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64181 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Tumore abbilden, Biomarker nachweisen, Messungen standardisieren N2 - Zu den am häufigsten eingesetzten Analysemethoden in den Lebens- und Materialwissenschaften gehören Lumineszenzmethoden. Sie nutzen die Emission von Licht nach Absorption von Energie, um Signale zu erzeugen, und umfassen spektroskopische und mikroskopische Messungen. KW - Quality assurance KW - Sensor KW - Imaging KW - Reference material KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Excitation KW - Power density KW - Single particle KW - Brightness KW - NIR PY - 2021 SP - 75 EP - 77 PB - GDCH AN - OPUS4-53526 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Photoluminescence at BAM – Photoluminescence at BAM – Photophysical Studies, Quantum Yield Measurements, Multiplexing Strategies, and Standards N2 - Photoluminescence applications in the life and material sciences require bright molecular and nanocrystalline emitters, stimuli-responsive optical probes, signal enhancement, multiplexing, and barcoding strategies and traceable methods to quantify the signal-relevant optical properties of luminescent materials at the ensemble and single molecule/particle level. In this context, current research at Division Biophotonics of BAM is presented ranging from dye and nanocrystal photophysics, absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yields in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR, lifetime multiplexing, and the development of different types of fluorescence standards for validating optical-spectroscopic measurements. T2 - Institutskolloquium IPHT CY - Jena, Germany DA - 22.10.2019 KW - Surface group analysis KW - NIR KW - SWIR KW - Quantum dot KW - Lanthanide KW - Cleavable probe KW - Lifetime KW - Multiplexing KW - Sensor KW - Assay PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49360 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -