TY - JOUR A1 - Sachse, René A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Kraehnert, R. A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Multilevel effective material approximation for modeling ellipsometric measurements on complex porous thin films JF - Advanced optical technologies N2 - Catalysts are important components in chemical processes because they lower the activation energy and thus determine the rate, efficiency and selectivity of a chemical reaction. This property plays an important role in many of today’s processes, including the electrochemical splitting of water. Due to the continuous development of catalyst materials, they are becoming more complex, which makes a reliable evaluation of physicochemical properties challenging even for modern analytical measurement techniques and industrial manufacturing. We present a fast, vacuum-free and non-destructive analytical approach using multi-sample spectroscopic ellipsometry to determine relevant material parameters such as film thickness, porosity and composition of mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films. Mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films were deposited on Si wafers by sol–gel synthesis, varying the composition of the mixed oxide films between 0 and 100 wt%Ir. The ellipsometric modeling is based on an anisotropic Bruggeman effective medium approximation (a-BEMA) to determine the film thickness and volume fraction of the material and pores. The volume fraction of the material was again modeled using a Bruggeman EMA to determine the chemical composition of the materials. The ellipsometric fitting results were compared with complementary methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) as well as environmental ellipsometric porosimetry (EEP). KW - Electrochemical catalysts KW - Mixed metal oxide KW - Multi-sample analysis KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry KW - Thin mesoporous films PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551026 DO - https://doi.org/10.1515/aot-2022-0007 SN - 2192-8584 SN - 2192-8576 VL - 11 IS - 3-4 (Topical issue: Ellipsometry) SP - 137 EP - 147 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-55102 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Jungnickel, H. A1 - Tentschert, J. A1 - Luch, A. A1 - Sogne, V. A1 - Maier, F. A1 - Burr, L. A1 - Schmid, D. A1 - Yoon, T.-H. A1 - Petters, R. A1 - Briffa, S.M. A1 - Valsami-Jones, E. T1 - Automation and Standardization—A Coupled Approach Towards Reproducible Sample Preparation Protocols for Nanomaterial Analysis JF - Molecules N2 - Whereas the characterization of nanomaterials using different analytical techniques is often highly automated and standardized, the sample preparation that precedes it causes a bottleneck in nanomaterial analysis as it is performed manually. Usually, this pretreatment depends on the skills and experience of the analysts. Furthermore, adequate reporting of the sample preparation is often missing. In this overview, some solutions for techniques widely used in nano-analytics to overcome this problem are discussed. Two examples of sample preparation optimization by au-tomation are presented, which demonstrate that this approach is leading to increased analytical confidence. Our first example is motivated by the need to exclude human bias and focuses on the development of automation in sample introduction. To this end, a robotic system has been de-veloped, which can prepare stable and homogeneous nanomaterial suspensions amenable to a variety of well-established analytical methods, such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), field-flow fractionation (FFF) or single-particle inductively coupled mass spectrometry (sp-ICP-MS). Our second example addresses biological samples, such as cells exposed to nanomaterials, which are still challenging for reliable analysis. An air–liquid interface has been developed for the exposure of biological samples to nanomaterial-containing aerosols. The system exposes transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids under reproducible conditions, whilst also allowing characterization of aerosol composition with mass spectrometry. Such an approach enables correlative measurements combining biological with physicochemical analysis. These case studies demonstrate that standardization and automation of sample preparation setups, combined with appropriate measurement processes and data reduction are crucial steps towards more reliable and reproducible data. KW - Sample preparation KW - Automation KW - Nanomaterial analysis KW - Standardization PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543988 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27030985 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-54398 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Crouzier, L. A1 - Feltin, N. A1 - Delvallée, A. A1 - Pellegrino, Francesco A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Cios, Grzegorz A1 - Tokarski, T. A1 - Salzmann, Christoph A1 - Deumer, J. A1 - Gollwitzer, C. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Correlative analysis of the dimensional properties of bipyramidal titania nanoparticles by complementing electron microscopy with other methods JF - Nanomaterials N2 - In this paper, the accurate determination of the size and size distribution of bipyramidal anatase nanoparticles (NPs) after deposition as single particles on a silicon substrate by correlative Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis is described as a new measurement procedure for metrological purposes. The knowledge of the exact orientation of the NPs is a crucial step in extracting the real 3D dimensions of the particles. Two approaches are proposed to determine the geometrical orientation of individual nano‐bipyramides: (i) AFM profiling along the long bipyramid axis and (ii) stage tilting followed by SEM imaging. Furthermore, a recently developed method, Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD), which needs preparation of the crystalline NPs on electron‐transparent substrates such as TEM grids, has been tested with respect to its capability of identifying the geometrical orientation of the individual NPs. With the NPs prepared homogeneously on a TEM grid, the transmission mode in a SEM, i.e., STEM‐in‐SEM (or T‐SEM), can be also applied to extract accurate projection dimensions of the nanoparticles from the same sample area as that analysed by SEM, TKD and possibly AFM. Finally, Small Angle X‐ray Scattering (SAXS) can be used as an ensemble technique able to measure the NPs in liquid suspension and, with ab‐initio knowledge of the NP shape from the descriptive imaging techniques, to provide traceable NP size distribution and particle concentration. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Complex-shape KW - Bipyramid KW - Electron microscopy KW - AFM KW - Size measurements KW - TKD KW - STEM-in-SEM KW - SAXS KW - Nanoparticle concentration KW - Correlative analysis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-539888 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11123359 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 11 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53988 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sachse, René A1 - Moor, Maëlle A1 - Kraehnert, Ralph A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Ellipsometry-based approach for the characterization of mesoporous thin films for H2 technologies JF - Advanced Engineering Materials N2 - Porous thin layer materials are gaining importance in different fields of technology and pose a challenge to the accurate determination of materials properties important for their function. In this work, we demonstrate a hybrid measurement technique using ellipsometry together with other independent methods for validation. Ellipsometry provides information about the porosity of different mesoporous films (PtRuNP/OMC = 45%; IrOx = 46%) as well as about the pore size (pore radius of ca. 5 nm for PtRuNP/OMC). In addition, the electronic structure of a material, such as intraband transitions of a mesoporous IrOx film, can be identified, which can be used to better understand the mechanisms of chemical processes. In addition, we show that ellipsometry can be used as a scalable imaging and visualization method for quality assurance in production. These require accurate and traceable measurements, with reference materials playing an important role that include porosity and other related properties. We show that our novel analytical methods are useful for improving analytical work in this entire field. KW - Porous materials KW - Electrolysis KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry KW - Hybrid metrology measurement KW - Electron microscopy PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101320 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-53960 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Climent Terol, Estela A1 - Gojani, Ardian A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Generalized Analysis Approach of the Profile Roughness by Electron Microscopy with the Example of Hierarchically Grown Polystyrene–Iron Oxide–Silica Core–Shell–Shell Particles JF - Advanced Engineering Materials N2 - The roughness as a property of core–shell (CS) microparticles plays a key role in their functionality. Quantitative evaluation of the roughness of CS microparticles is, however, a challenging task with approaches using electron microscopy images being scarce and showing pronounced differences in terms of methodology and results. This work presents a generalized method for the reliable roughness determination of nonplanar specimens such as CS particles from electron microscopic images, the method being robust and reproducible with a high accuracy. It involves a self-written software package (Python) that analyzes the recorded images, extracts corresponding data, and calculates the roughness based on the deviation of the identified contour. Images of single particles are taken by a dual mode scanning electron microscopy (SEM) setup which permits imaging of the same field-of-view of the sample with high resolution and surface sensitive in SE InLens mode as well as in transmission mode (TSEM). Herein, a new type of polystyrene core–iron oxide shell–silica shell particles is developed to serve as a set of lower micrometer-sized study objects with different surface roughness; the analysis of their images by the semiautomatic workflow is demonstrating that the particles’ profile roughness can be quantitatively obtained. KW - Core–shell particles KW - Image analysis KW - Nanoparticles KW - Roughness KW - SEM KW - transmission mode PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-542576 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101344 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-54257 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, Francesco A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Mielke, Johannes A1 - Schmidt, R. A1 - Maurino, V. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Customizing New Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles with Controlled Particle Size and Shape Distribution: A Feasibility Study Toward Reference Materials for Quality Assurance of Nonspherical Nanoparticle Characterization JF - Advanced Engineering Materials N2 - An overview is given on the synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles with well-defined nonspherical shapes (platelet like, bipyramidal, and elongated), with the focus on controlled, reproducible synthesis, as a key requirement for the production of reference materials with homogeneous and stable properties. Particularly with regard to the nanoparticle shapes, there is a high need of certified materials, solely one material of this type being commercially available since a few months (elongated TiO2). Further, measurement approaches with electron microscopy as the golden method to tackle the nanoparticle shape are developed to determine accurately the size and shape distribution for such nonspherical particles. A prerequisite for accurate and easy (i.e., automated) image analysis is the sample preparation, which ideally must ensure a deposition of the nanoparticles from liquid suspension onto a substrate such that the particles do not overlap, are solvent-free, and have a high deposition density. Challenges in the Synthesis of perfectly monodispersed and solvent-free TiO2 nanoparticles of platelet and acicular shapes are highlighted as well as successful measurement approaches on how to extract from 2D projection electron micrographs the most accurate spatial information, that is, true 3D size, for example, of the bipyramidal nanoparticles with different geometrical orientations on a substrate. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Titanium dioxide KW - Reference materials KW - Standardisation KW - Particle size and shape distribution PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-538849 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101347 VL - 24 IS - 6 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-53884 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 JF - nanomaterials 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 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Krumrey, Julian Frederic A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Workflow towards automated segmentation of agglomerated, non‑spherical particles from electron microscopy images using artificial neural networks JF - Scientific reports N2 - We present a workflow for obtaining fully trained artificial neural networks that can perform automatic particle segmentations of agglomerated, non-spherical nanoparticles from scanning electron microscopy images “from scratch”, without the need for large training data sets of manually annotated images. 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. 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. We compare the segmentation masks obtained with our suggested workflow qualitatively and quantitatively to state-of-the-art methods using various metrics. Finally, we used the segmentation masks for automatically extracting particle size distributions from the SEM images of TiO2 particles, which were in excellent agreement with particle size distributions obtained manually but could be obtained in a fraction of the time. KW - Electron microscopy KW - Neural networks KW - Artificial intelligence KW - Image segmentation KW - Automated image analysis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-522454 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84287-6 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - 4942 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-52245 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marcoulaki, E. A1 - M. López de Ipina, J. A1 - Vercauteren, S. A1 - Bouillard, J. A1 - Himly, M. A1 - Lynch, I. A1 - Witters, H. A1 - Shandilya, N. A1 - van Duuren-Stuurman, B. A1 - Kunz, Valentin A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Bard, D. A1 - Evans, G. A1 - Jensen, K. A. A1 - Pilou, M. A1 - Viitanen, A.-K. A1 - Bochon, A. A1 - Duschl, A. A1 - Geppert, M. A1 - Persson, K. A1 - Votgreave, I. A1 - Niga, P. A1 - Gini, M. A1 - Eleftheriadis, K. A1 - Scalbi, S. A1 - Caillard, B. A1 - Arevalillo, A. A1 - Frejafon, E. A1 - Aguerre-Chariol, O. A1 - Dulio, V. T1 - Blueprint for a self-sustained European Centre for service provision in safe and sustainable innovation for nanotechnology JF - Nanoimpact N2 - The coming years are expected to bring rapid changes in the nanotechnology regulatory landscape, with the establishment of a new framework for nano-risk governance, in silico approaches for characterisation and Risk assessment of nanomaterials, and novel procedures for the early identification and management of nanomaterial risks. In this context, Safe(r)-by-Design (SbD) emerges as a powerful preventive approach to support the development of safe and sustainable (SSbD) nanotechnology-based products and processes throughout the life cycle. This paper summarises the work undertaken to develop a blueprint for the deployment and operation of a permanent European Centre of collaborating laboratories and research organisations supporting safe Innovation in nanotechnologies. The proposed entity, referred to as “the Centre”, will establish a ‘one-stop shop’ for nanosafety-related services and a central contact point for addressing stakeholder questions about nanosafety. Its operation will rely on significant business, legal and market knowledge, as well as other tools developed and acquired through the EU-funded EC4SafeNano project and subsequent ongoing activities. The proposed blueprint adopts a demand-driven service update scheme to allow the necessary vigilance and flexibility to identify opportunities and adjust its activities and services in the rapidly evolving regulatory and nano risk governance landscape. The proposed Centre will play a major role as a conduit to transfer scientific knowledge between the Research and commercial laboratories or consultants able to provide high quality nanosafety services, and the end-users of such services (e.g., industry, SMEs, consultancy firms, and regulatory authorities). The Centre will harmonise service provision, and bring novel risk assessment and management approaches, e.g. in silico methodologies, closer to practice, notably through SbD/SSbD, and decisively support safe and sustainable innovation of industrial production in the nanotechnology industry according to the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. KW - Nanotechnology KW - European Centre KW - Nano-safety KW - Nanomaterials KW - analytical service PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2021.100337 VL - 23 SP - 100337 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-52942 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peters, R. A1 - Elbers, I. A1 - Undas, A. A1 - Sijtsma, E. A1 - Briffa, S. A1 - Carnell-Morris, P. A1 - Siupa, A. A1 - Yoon, T.-H. A1 - Burr, L. A1 - Schmid, D. A1 - Tentschert, J. A1 - Hachenberger, Y. A1 - Jungnickel, H. A1 - Luch, A. A1 - Meier, F. A1 - Kocic, J. A1 - Kim, J. A1 - Park, B. C. A1 - Hardy, B. A1 - Johnston, C. A1 - Jurkschat, K. A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Lynch, I. A1 - Valsami-Jones, E. T1 - Benchmarking the ACEnano toolbox for characterisation of nanoparticle size and concentration by interlaboratory comparisons JF - Molecules N2 - ACEnano is an EU-funded project which aims at developing, optimising and validating methods for the detection and characterisation of nanomaterials (NMs) in increasingly complex matrices to improve confidence in the results and support their use in regulation. Within this project, several interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) for the determination of particle size and concentration have been organised to benchmark existing analytical methods. In this paper the results of a number of these ILCs for the characterisation of NMs are presented and discussed. The results of the analyses of pristine well-defined particles such as 60 nm Au NMs in a simple aqueous suspension showed that laboratories are well capable of determining the sizes of these particles. The analysis of particles in complex matrices or formulations such as consumer products resulted in larger variations in particle sizes within technologies and clear differences in capability between techniques. Sunscreen lotion sample analysis by laboratories using spICP-MS and TEM/SEM identified and confirmed the TiO2 particles as being nanoscale and compliant with the EU definition of an NM for regulatory purposes. In a toothpaste sample orthogonal results by PTA, spICP-MS and TEM/SEM agreed and stated the TiO2 particles as not fitting the EU definition of an NM. In general, from the results of these ILCs we conclude that laboratories are well capable of determining particle sizes of NM, even in fairly complex formulations. KW - Nanomaterials KW - Benchmarking KW - Inter-laboratory comparison KW - ACEnano KW - Characterisation KW - Size KW - Concentration PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-531852 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26175315 SN - 1420-3049 VL - 26 IS - 17 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53185 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cano Murillo, Natalia A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Emamverdi, Farnaz A1 - Cacua, K. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Carrier Fibers for the Safe Dosage of Nanoparticles in Nanocomposites: Nanomechanical and Thermomechanical Study on Polycarbonate/Boehmite Electrospun Fibers Embedded in Epoxy Resin JF - Nanomaterials - Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites N2 - The reinforcing effect of boehmite nanoparticles (BNP) in epoxy resins for fiber composite lightweight construction is related to the formation of a soft but bound interphase between filler and polymer. The interphase is able to dissipate crack propagation energy and consequently increases the fracture toughness of the epoxy resin. Usually, the nanoparticles are dispersed in the resin and then mixed with the hardener to form an applicable mixture to impregnate the fibers. If one wishes to locally increase the fracture toughness at particularly stressed positions of the fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPC), this could be done by spraying nanoparticles from a suspension. However, this would entail high costs for removing the nanoparticles from the ambient air. We propose that a fiber fleece containing bound nanoparticles be inserted at exposed locations. For the present proof-of-concept study, an electrospun polycarbonate nonwoven and taurine modified BNP are proposed. After fabrication of suitable PC/EP/BNP composites, the thermomechanical properties were tested by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Comparatively, the local nanomechanical properties such as stiffness and elastic modulus were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). An additional investigation of the distribution of the nanoparticles in the epoxy matrix, which is a prerequisite for an effective nanocomposite, is carried out by scanning electron microscopy in transmission mode (TSEM). From the results it can be concluded that the concept of carrier fibers for nanoparticles is viable. KW - Advanced materials KW - Electrospun nanocomposite fiber KW - Nanomechanical charecteisation KW - Nanosafety KW - Epoxy nanocomposites PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-528265 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11061591 VL - 11 IS - 6 SP - 1591 PB - MDPI CY - CH - 4020 Basel, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-52826 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brüngel, R. A1 - Rückert, J. A1 - Müller, P. A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Friedrich, C. M. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Weigel, S. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Rauscher, H. T1 - NanoDefiner Framework and e-Tool Revisited According to the European Commission’s Nanomaterial Definition 2022/C 229/01 JF - Nanomaterials N2 - The new recommended definition of a nanomaterial, 2022/C 229/01, adopted by the European Commission in 2022, will have a considerable impact on European Union legislation addressing chemicals, and therefore tools to implement this new definition are urgently needed. The updated NanoDefiner framework and its e-tool implementation presented here are such instruments, which help stakeholders to find out in a straightforward way whether a material is a nanomaterial or not. They are two major outcomes of the NanoDefine project, which is explicitly referred to in the new definition. This work revisits the framework and e-tool, and elaborates necessary adjustments to make these outcomes applicable for the updated recommendation. A broad set of case studies on representative materials confirms the validity of these adjustments. To further foster the sustainability and applicability of the framework and e-tool, measures for the FAIRification of expert knowledge within the e-tool’s knowledge base are elaborated as well. The updated framework and e-tool are now ready to be used in line with the updated recommendation. The presented approach may serve as an example for reviewing existing guidance and tools developed for the previous definition 2011/696/EU, particularly those adopting NanoDefine project outcomes. KW - Nanomaterial definition KW - Nanomaterial categorisation KW - Nanomaterial regulation KW - Nanomaterial legislation KW - Decision support KW - FAIRification PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-571618 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13060990 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 13 IS - 6 - Special Issue "Identification and Quantification of Nanomaterials" SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, CH AN - OPUS4-57161 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ortel, Erik A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Narbey, S. A1 - Oswald, F. A1 - Andersen, I. H. A1 - Holzweber, Markus A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - In-depth structural and chemical characterization of engineered TiO2 films JF - Surface and Interface Analysis N2 - Analytical routines for a comprehensive in-depth morphological, structural, and chemical characterization of functionalized TiO2 films by using different state-of-the-art analytical techniques are presented and discussed with the main objective to identify potential reference TiO2 coating parameters able to be certified at a later stage. TiO2 films fabricated by two different synthetic procedures as representative for two main large-scale applications were selected: (i) pulsed d.c. magnetron sputtering for photocatalytic applications and (ii) screen printing from preformed anatase nanoparticles. The screen-printed films were further loaded with a sensitizing dye for application as a dye-sensitized solar cell. Film properties such as microstructure and crystallographic texture of pulsed d.c. magnetron sputtering synthesized films were systematically studied by means of scanning nanobeam electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope and the surface and inner morphology by scanning electron microscopy. The dye distribution over the depth of screen-printed TiO2 layers was analyzed before and after dye-loading by means of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy at scanning electronmicroscope, Auger electron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The long-term goal of the present study is the improvement of quality of the TiO2 film parameters as measured by using different types of reference TiO2 coatings having specific parameters certified. T2 - 16th European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis ECASIA'15 CY - Granada, Spain DA - 28.09.2015 KW - Mapping KW - Line scan KW - Depth profiling KW - TiO2 films KW - Crystallinity KW - Ru dye sensitizer PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.5966 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 48 SP - 664 EP - 669 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. AN - OPUS4-36791 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pellegrino, F. A1 - Sordello, F. A1 - Mino, L. A1 - Prozzi, M. A1 - Mansfeld, Ulrich A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Minero, C. T1 - Polyethylene Glycol as Shape and Size Controller for the Hydrothermal Synthesis of SrTiO3 Cubes and Polyhedra JF - Nanomaterials N2 - Understanding the correlation between the morphological and functional properties of particulate materials is crucial across all fields of physical and natural sciences. This manuscript reports on the investigation of the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) employed as a capping Agent in the synthesis of SrTiO3 crystals. The crucial influence of PEG on both the shape and size of the strontium titanate particles is revealed, highlighting the effect on the photocurrents measured under UV–Vis irradiation. KW - Polyethylene glycol KW - Strontium titanate KW - Controlled morphology KW - Photoelectrochemistry KW - Electron microscopy KW - EDS PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-512892 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10091892 VL - 10 IS - 9 SP - 1892 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, CH AN - OPUS4-51289 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 electron probe microanalysis and micro-focus X-ray fluorescence JF - Surface and Interface Analysis N2 - The present study reports on results of analysis of the elemental composition of thin films by electron probe microanalysis with energy dispersive (ED-EPMA) X-ray spectrometry in conjunction with the dedicated thin-film analysis software package Stratagem and by X-ray fluorescence in its version with a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) source attached to a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Two thin-film systems have been analyzed: Fe1-xNix on silicon wafer and Si1-xGex on Al2O3 substrate, in both cases the layers being grown to a thickness of about 200 nm by ion beam sputter deposition. Samples of five different atomic fractions have been produced and analyzed for each thin-film system. Moreover, reference samples with certified elemental composition and thickness have been also available. This study is part of an interlaboratory comparison organized in the frame of standardization technical committee ISO/TC 201 “Surface chemical analysis.” Two laboratories have been analyzed by ED-EPMA (one laboratory standardless and one laboratory using both standardless and with standards variants) and one laboratory by μ-XRF (standardless and with standards). All the elemental compositions obtained with different methods are in very good agreement for the complete two sets of five samples each. KW - Thin films KW - Elemental composition KW - FeNi KW - SiGe KW - Electron probe microanalysis KW - X-ray Fluorescence PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-509262 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.6834 SN - 0142-2421 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 929 EP - 932 PB - John Wiley & Sons Ltd AN - OPUS4-50926 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mech, A. A1 - Wohlleben, W. A1 - Ghanem, A. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Weigel, S. A1 - Babick, F. A1 - Brüngel, R. A1 - Friedrich, C. M. A1 - Rasmussen, K. A1 - Rauscher, H. T1 - Nano or Not Nano? A Structured Approach for Identifying Nanomaterials According to the European Commission’s Definition JF - Small N2 - Identifying nanomaterials (NMs) according to European Union Legislation is challenging, as there is an enormous variety of materials, with different physico-chemical properties. The NanoDefiner Framework and its Decision Support Flow Scheme (DSFS) allow choosing the optimal method to measure the particle size distribution by matching the material properties and the performance of the particular measurement techniques. The DSFS leads to a reliable and economic decision whether a material is an NM or not based on scientific criteria and respecting regulatory requirements. The DSFS starts beyond regulatory requirements by identifying non-NMs by a proxy Approach based on their volume-specific surface area. In a second step, it identifies NMs. The DSFS is tested on real-world materials and is implemented in an e-tool. The DSFS is compared with a decision flowchart of the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC), which rigorously follows the explicit criteria of the EC NM definition with the focus on identifying NMs, and non-NMs are identified by exclusion. The two approaches build on the same scientific basis and measurement methods, but start from opposite ends: the JRC Flowchart starts by identifying NMs, whereas the NanoDefiner Framework first identifies non-NMs. KW - Classification KW - Definition KW - Identification KW - Nanomaterials KW - Particle size KW - Regulation PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510917 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202002228 SN - 1613-6829 SP - 2002228-1 EP - 2002228-16 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51091 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 JF - Surface and Interface Analysis 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 - 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 JF - IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 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 - Wäsche, Rolf A1 - Hartelt, Manfred A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Analysis of nanoscale wear particles from lubricated steel-steel contacts JF - Tribology letters N2 - A new method for sampling wear particles directly from the lubricant reservoir has been developed and applied successfully for analyzing wear particles by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy in transmission mode having coupled energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The lubricated tribological testing was carried out with fully formulated as well as with non-formulated synthetic base oil. It was possible to analyze individual particles with dimensions as small as about 5–30 nm which are likely the 'primary' wear particles. A majority of the particles, however, are agglomerated and, thus, lead to the formation of larger agglomerates of up to a few micrometers. Chemical analysis led to the conclusion that most of the observed particles generated in formulated oil, especially the larger ones, are composed of the additives of the lubricant oil. In non-formulated base oil, the primary particles are of similar dimensions but contain only iron, chromium and oxygen, but most likely stem from the mating materials. This finding points to the fact that the main wear mechanism under lubricated conditions with fully formulated oil is more like a continuous shearing process rather than a catastrophic failure with the generation of larger primary particles. When the oil is non-formulated, however, several wear mechanisms act simultaneously and the wear rate is increased significantly. Generated larger primary particles are milled down to the nanoscale. When the oil is fully formulated, wear mainly takes places at the additive layer or tribofilm; thus, the steel surface is protected. KW - Particle KW - Wear particle analysis KW - Lubricated contact KW - Bearing steel KW - Nanoscale T-SEM KW - Nanoscale EDX analysis PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-015-0534-1 SN - 1023-8883 SN - 1573-2711 VL - 58 IS - 3 SP - 49-1 - 49-10 PB - Springer Science Business Media B.V. CY - Dordrecht AN - OPUS4-33525 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Shard, A. G. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan ED - Unger, Wolfgang ED - Shard, A. G. T1 - Introduction T2 - Characterization of nanoparticles - Measurement processes for nanoparticles N2 - The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive collection of analytical methods that are commonly used to measure nanoparticles, providing information on one, or more, property of importance. The chapters provide up-to-date information and guidance on the use of these techniques, detailing the manner in which they may be reliably employed. Within this chapter, we detail the rationale and context of the whole book, which is driven by the observation of a low level of reproducibility in nanoparticle research. The aim of the book is to encourage awareness of both the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods used to measure nanoparticles and raise awareness of the range of methods that are available. The editors of the book have, for many years, been engaged in European projects and standardization activities concerned with nanoparticle analysis and have identified authors who are experts in the various methods included within the book. This has produced a book that can be used as a definitive guide to current best practice in nanoparticle measurement. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Size distribution KW - Shape KW - Chemistry KW - Coating KW - Concentration KW - Standards KW - Charge KW - Characterisation PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-12-814182-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814182-3.00001-8 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50166 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -