TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Maurino, V. 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 - GEN A1 - Radnik, Jörg T1 - BAM reference data - XPS raw data of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001a and JRCNM62002a) N2 - XPS raw data of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001 and JRCNM62002a) provided by the JRC repository are provided. KW - XPS KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - BAM reference data PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4986068 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-52880 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - BAM reference data - EDS raw data of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001a and JRCNM62002a) N2 - EDS spectra of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001 and JRCNM62002a) provided by the JRC repository are provided. KW - EDS KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - BAM reference data PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4986420 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-52833 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bennet, Francesca A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - BAM reference data - SEM raw data for the particles size distribution of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001a and JRCNM62002a) N2 - SEM raw images of Al-coated titania nanoparticles (JRCNM62001 and JRCNM62002a) provided by the JRC repository are provided together with the particle size distribution of the minimum Feret Diameter extracted from the given images. KW - SEM KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - Particle size distribution KW - BAM reference data PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5007367 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-52836 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Kersting, R. A1 - Hagenhoff, B. A1 - Bennett, Francesca A1 - Ciornii, Dmitri A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Comprehensive characterization of Al-coated titania nanoparticles with electron microscopy and surface chemical analytics N2 - The wide use of nanoforms with at least one dimension below 100 nm in our daily life requires a detailed knowledge of their physicochemical properties which are needed for risk assessment or quality control. Therefore, a comprehensive characterization of these properties was considered as relevant including: chemical composition, crystallinity, particle size, particle shape, surface chemistry, and specific surface area (SSA). We want to discuss, how Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) in the version with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) can contribute to gain comprehensive insights into the nature of the nanoparticles. SEM results provide the particle size and shape (distribution). A quick identification of the main chemical elements present in the sample can be obtained with EDS, whereas XPS allows a more detailed chemical identification of the small nanoparticles below 20 nm or of the near-surface region of larger particles. ToF-SIMS is even much more surface-sensitive and leads to a deeper understanding of the surface chemistry of the nanoparticles. As exemplary samples, two Al-coated TiO2 samples in nanopowder form were chosen from the JRC repository, capped either with a hydrophilic or a hydrophobic organic shell. A focus of our case study was to show, how reliable, reproducible and traceable data can be obtained. Therefore, each step in the workflow of sample investigation must be described in detail. For the most of these steps, well-established standards are available. Usually, the conditions of the particular measurements with each analysis method are saved as meta-data in the common file formats. But other factors like sample preparation and data reduction approaches may influence the result of the investigations in a significant manner and must be described often in a separate file (as a protocol) together with the data file. For sensitive materials like nanoobjects, the preparation of the sample influences the results crucially, e.g. measured as suspension or as powders. Furthermore, data reduction like selection of relevant peaks in spectra or particles in images, background subtraction, peak deconvolution, models for the quantification of the spectra must be considered in the interpretation of the results ideally with associated individual measurement uncertainties. Only a detailed description of all these factors allows to obtain a comprehensive characterization with reliable, reproduceable and traceable data. Examples of standardized procedures of measurement or on data reduction will be highlighted. We thank for the funding from the European Unions’s Horizon 2020 for the project NanoSolveIt (grant agreement No. 814572) and for the project NANORIGO (grant agreement No. 814530). T2 - E-MRS Spring Meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 31.05.2021 KW - Scanning Electron Microscopy KW - Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy KW - Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry KW - X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy KW - Titania nanoparticles PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527486 AN - OPUS4-52748 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bennet, Francesca A1 - Müller, Anja A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hachenberger, Y. A1 - Jungnickel, H. A1 - Laue, P. A1 - Luch, A. A1 - Tentschert, J. T1 - Preparation of Nanoparticles for ToF-SIMS and XPS Analysis JF - Jove-Journal of Visualized Experiments N2 - Nanoparticles have gained increasing attention in recent years due to their potential and application in different fields including medicine, cosmetics, chemistry, and their potential to enable advanced materials. To effectively understand and regulate the physico-chemical properties and potential adverse effects of nanoparticles, validated measurement procedures for the various properties of nanoparticles need to be developed. While procedures for measuring nanoparticle size and size Distribution are already established, standardized methods for analysis of their surface chemistry are not yet in place, although the influence of the surface chemistry on nanoparticle properties is undisputed. In particular, storage and preparation of nanoparticles for surface analysis strongly influences the analytical results from various methods, and in order to obtain consistent results, sample preparation must be both optimized and standardized. In this contribution, we present, in detail, some standard procedures for preparing nanoparticles for surface analytics. In principle, nanoparticles can be deposited on a suitable substrate from suspension or as a powder. Silicon (Si) Wafers are commonly used as substrate, however, their cleaning is critical to the process. For sample preparation from suspension, we will discuss drop-casting and spin-coating, where not only the cleanliness of the substrate and purity of the suspension but also its concentration play important roles for the success of the preparation methodology. For nanoparticles with sensitive ligand shells or coatings, deposition as powders is more suitable, although this method requires particular care in fixing the sample. KW - Titania nanoparticles KW - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Secondary ion mass spectrometry KW - Surface chemisttry PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520103 UR - https://www.jove.com/video/61758 DO - https://doi.org/10.3791/61758 VL - 163 SP - e61758 AN - OPUS4-52010 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -