TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Update – Milling and weathering of granules N2 - The talk aims to describe the production of microplastic particles as test material and the additional weathering for aged particles. T2 - PlasticsFate meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 12.11.2021 KW - Microplastic KW - Cryo milling KW - Aged particles PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53737 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mezera, Marek T1 - Influence of the pulse repetition rate on the chemical and morphological properties of laser generated surface structures N2 - Inter-pulse accumulation of heat could affect the chemical and morphological properties of the laser processed material surface. Hence, the laser pulse repetition rate may restrict the processing parameters for specific laser-induced surface structures. In this study, the evolution of various types of laser-induced micro- and nanostructures at various laser fluence levels, effective number of pulses and at different pulse repetition rates (1 – 400 kHz) are studied for common metals/alloys (e.g. steel or titanium alloy) irradiated by near-infrared ultrashort laser pulses (925 fs, 1030 nm) in air environment. The processed surfaces were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy (OM, SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) as well as time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). The results show that not only the surface morphology could change at different laser pulse repetition rates and comparable laser fluence levels and effective number of pulses, but also the surface chemistry is altered. Consequences for medical applications are outlined. T2 - European Materials Research Society Spring 2021 Meeting CY - Online meeting DA - 31.05.2021 KW - Laser-induced pariodic surface structures KW - LIPSS PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52778 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - INPR A1 - Devi, Sarita A1 - Riedel, Soraya A1 - Döring, Sarah A1 - Hiller, Lukas A1 - Flemig, Sabine A1 - Singh, Chandan A1 - Konthur, Zoltán A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Schneider, Rudolf T1 - Antibodies Functionalized Magnetic Fe-Metal-Organic Framework Based Biosensor for Electrochemical Detection of Tetanus NeuroToxin N2 - This work presents a MOF-integrated microfluidic flow-cell based immunodetection of the tetanus toxoid (TT) using electrochemical technique for the first time. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are coordination polymers, and composed of a metal center and organic linkers. Several synthesis methods have been reported to achieve the desired properties in MOFs. In this work, we report the hydrothermal synthesis of a magnetic and conductive iron-based MOF (Fe-MOF) which was utilized to develop a biosensor in conjugation with the human monoclonal antibody SA13 against TT (anti-TT mAb) for the detection of the tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT). The one-pot synthesis of this magnetic and conductive Fe-MOF was performed in a hydrothermal reactor (108℃) using the Fe3+/Fe2+ precursors as 1.2/1 mmol and dual ligands, i.e., tetrahydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-aminobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid. The Fe-MOF was characterized using XRD, DLS, FTIR, and electron microscopy. The Fe-MOF was further conjugated with L-phenylalanine (pH 8.6) to increase the electric conductivity of the Fe-MOF (Fe-MOF/Phe) on the screen-printed gold electrode as studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The anti-TT mAb was conjugated on the Fe-MOF/Phe surface with the help of ethylenediamine (Fe-MOF/Phe/EDA/anti-TT mAb) delivered good binding affinity for the TT antigen revealing the applicability of this biosensor for TT detection by CV. The limit of detection of the Fe-MOF/Phe/EDA/anti-TT mAb-based biosensor for TT was 9.4 ng/ml in spiked buffer. There is negligible cross-reactivity in the presence of bovine serum albumin. This study shows the applicability of magnetic MOFs in the detection of various other microbial toxins or other biomolecules. KW - Magnetic Metal-Organic Framework KW - Tetanus toxoid KW - L-phenylalanine KW - Antibody KW - Label-free detection KW - Electrochemical immunosensor PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4935745 SP - 1 EP - 48 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-62196 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Overview of CUSP and PlasticTrace N2 - The presentation summarises the work of CUSP and PlasticTrace EU joint research projects of the last year. T2 - Microplastics Scientific Workshop of PlasticsEurope CY - Amsterdam, The Netherlands DA - 08.05.2023 KW - Microplastics KW - Microplastics standardisation KW - Reference materials KW - Polymer 3R PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57460 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Bacterial adhesion on ultrashort pulse laser processed surfaces ― more than size matters! N2 - Bacterial biofilms are aggregates of bacterial cells, often attached to a surface and enclosed by a self-produced extracellular matrix which confers increased stress tolerance and resistance to cleaning. Biofilm formation leads to biofouling which gives rise to high costs in numerous technical settings due to biocorrosion and biodegradation. However, biofilms can also be attractive for industrial settings such as wastewater treatment systems or for soil bioremediation processes. Hence, the control of bacterial adhesion to a surface is of major concern. Surface topography strongly influences bacterial adhesion. Therefore, one promising way to achieve bacteria-guiding surfaces lies in the contactless and aseptic large-area laser processing of technical surfaces. We used short and ultrashort pulsed laser systems to generate different surface textures, mainly high-spatial-frequency and low-spatial-frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures, LIPSS (HFSL and LFSL), on Ti, Ti-alloy, steel, and polymers (PET and PE). Pristine (polished) and laser processed samples were subjected to bacterial adhesion experiments with two different Escherichia coli strains and Staphylococcus aureus as test organisms. The bacterial strains differed in their cell wall structure (grampositive vs. gramnegative strains), in size, shape, the occurrence of cell appendages, and in their biofilm forming capabilities. Adhesion patterns were analyzed microscopically and compared regarding the respective test strain and surface topography. Our results revealed that adhesion behavior strongly depends not only on the material’s topography and chemistry, but also on the specific bacterial strain, the presence of cell appendages, and ambient growth conditions. T2 - 13th International Conference on Photoexcited Processes and Applications, ICPEPA-13 CY - Lecce, Italy DA - 14.09.2025 KW - Biofilm KW - Bacterial adhesion KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Ultrashort laser pulses PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64166 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Challenges in microplastics standardisation N2 - This talk addresses the challanges in microplastic analytics. It shows the need of standards, analytics and reference materials for accurate and reliable measurements. It explains the state of the art for referenence materials in this field and their problems. A solution is presented with PET tablets. The urgent need of harmonisation it also emphasised. T2 - MARII Summit CY - Madrid, Spain DA - 15.10.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64488 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Stawski, Tomasz T1 - Solution-driven processing of calcium sulfate: the mechanism of the reversible transformation of gypsum to bassanite in brines N2 - Calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CaSO4ᐧ0.5H2O), also known as bassanite, has been used as a precursor to produce gypsum (dihydrate, CaSO4ᐧ2H2O) for various construction and decorative purposes since prehistoric times. The main route to obtain hemihydrate is a thermal treatment of gypsum at temperatures typically between 150 °C and 200 °C to remove some of the structural water. In this contribution, we introduce (Fig. 1) a more efficient and sustainable method (T < 100 °C) that enables the direct, rapid, and reversibly conversion of gypsum to bassanite using reusable high salinity aqueous solutions (brines with c[NaCl] > 4 M). The optimum conditions for the efficientproduction of bassanite in a short time (< 5 min) involve the use of brines with c(NaCl) > 4 M and maintaining a temperature, T > 80 °C. When the solution containing bassanite crystals is cooled down to around room temperature, eventually gypsum is formed. When the temperature is raised again to T > 80 °C, bassanite is rapidly re-precipitated. This contrasts with the typical behaviour of the bassanite phase in low salt environments. Traditionally, hemihydrate is obtained through a solid state thermal treatment because bassanite is considered to be metastable with respect to gypsum and anhydrite in aqueous solutions, and therefore gypsum-to-bassanite conversion should not occur in water. Its very occurrence actually contradicts numerical thermodynamic predictions regarding solubility of calcium sulfate phases. By following the evolution of crystalline phases with in situ and time-resolved X-ray diffraction/scattering and Raman spectroscopy, we demonstrated that the phase stability in brines at elevated temperatures is inaccurately represented in the thermodynamic databases. Most notably for c(NaCl) > 4 M, and T > 80 °C gypsum becomes readily more soluble than bassanite, which induces the direct precipitation of the latter from gypsum. The fact that these transformations are controlled by the solution provides extensive opportunities for precise manipulation of crystal formation. Our experiments confirmed that bassanite remained the sole crystalline structure for many hours before reverting into gypsum. This property is extremely advantageous for practical processing and efficient crystal extraction in industrial scenarios. T2 - Granada Münster Discussion Meeting GMDM 10 CY - Münster, Germany DA - 29.11.2023 KW - Gypsum KW - Bassanite KW - Calcium sulfate KW - Recycling KW - Scattering PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59162 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schusterbauer, Robert A1 - Schünemann, Pia A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Er, Jasmin A1 - Kämmer, Victoria A1 - Junge, Florian A1 - Fazzani, Salim A1 - Mrkwitschka, Paul A1 - Meermann, Björn A1 - Haag, Rainer A1 - Donskyi, Ievgen T1 - Bifunctional Reduced Graphene Oxide Derivatives for PFOA Adsorption N2 - Innovative materials are crucial for removing persistent pollutants per‐ and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from water. Here, a novel bifunctional reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) adsorbent is developed and characterized by advanced surface sensitive methods. Compared to pristine TRGO, the functionalized TRGO shows markedly improved PFAS removal efficiency and demonstrates strong potential for water purification applications. KW - Adsorber KW - PFAS KW - HR-CS-GFMAS PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-651238 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ceur.202500240 SN - 2751-4765 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-65123 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana A1 - Beskers, Timo. F. A1 - Myxa, Anett A1 - Pursch, Matthias T1 - Round-robin test for size exclusion chromatography – Data summary N2 - Size exclusion chromatography (SEC or GPC) is one critical component of polymer analysis to meet the increasing requirements in regulatory context – namely, determination of Mn, as well as oligomers of less than 500 g mol-1 and 1000 g mol-1. The underlying test methods (OECD 118/119 and DIN EN ISO 13885 1 to 3) provide a framework for SEC measurements; however, they lack sufficient specificity to obtain accurate results. Previous SEC round robin tests were mostly performed on homopolymers and did not collect data on oligomer contents. A new round robin test was initiated and conceptualized within the Task force “Method Evaluation for Polymer REACh (MeEP)”, an initiative of “Industrieforum Analytik” within the German Chemical Society (GDCh). Samples for this study were selected to represent both easy benchmark polymers as well as real-life, industry-relevant polymer materials. Data collection focused on the regulatory requirements. Distribution of samples, gathering of individual results and evaluation were carried out by BAM. A data summary as initial result is reported here. Further evaluation and interpretation are a part of ongoing research. KW - Size exclusion chromatography KW - Polymers KW - Oligomer content KW - Round-robin test PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.26272/opus4-65587 SP - 1 EP - 84 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-65587 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Goedecke, Caroline A1 - Bannick, C.-G. A1 - Abusafia, A. A1 - Scheid, C. A1 - Steinmetz, H. A1 - Paul, Andrea A1 - Beleites, C. A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Identification of microplastic pathways within a typical European urban wastewater system N2 - In recent years, thermoextraction/desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TED-GC/MS) has been developed as a rapid detection method for the determination of microplastics (MP) mass contents in numerous environmentally relevant matrices and, in particular, for the measurement of polymers in water samples without time-consuming sample preparation. The TED-GC/MS method was applied to investigate a typical European municipal wastewater system for possible MP masses. Such investigations are important in view of the recent revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Four different representative sampling sites were selected: greywater (domestic wastewater without toilet), combined sewer, and influent and effluent of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). All samples were collected by fractional filtration. Filtration was carried out over mesh sizes of 500, 100, 50, and in some cases, 5 µm. Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) were detected in all samples, with the PE fraction dominating in all cases. Styrene-butadiene rubber which serves as an indication of tire abrasion, was only found in the influent of the WWTP. The highest MP mass contents were found in the combined sewer, so MP can become a source of pollution during heavy rain events when the capacity limits of the effluent are reached, and the polluted effluent is released uncontrolled into the environment. Based on the studies, MP retention from the WWTP could be estimated to be approximately 96%. Few trends in polymer type or mass contents were detected within the different fractions of the samples or when comparing samples to each other. KW - Microplastics KW - Microplastic analysis KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Microplastic pathways KW - Mass contents PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-568289 DO - https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1002/appl.202200078 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-56828 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Braun, U. T1 - Monitoring von Mikroplastik N2 - Der Vortrag gibt einen Überblick was bei der Analyse von Mikroplastik zu beachten ist und beschreibt die Vor- und Nachteile der TED-GC/MS. T2 - Abschlusstreffen MikroPlaTas CY - Online meeting DA - 23.06.2021 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Mikroplastik-Analytik PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52916 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fink, Friedrich A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - From bench to mini – Classification of technical lignins with NIR N2 - Lignin, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry, is the second most abundant biopolymer but remains underutilized due to its complex structure and variability in biomass origin. Classification based on biomass source is crucial for quality assurance and application predictability. This study employs near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to classify technical lignins from softwoods, hardwoods, straw, and grasses. Machine learning models (ML), including Support Vector Machines (SVM), Gaussian Process Classification (GPC), Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB), and Decision Tree Classification (DTC), were developed using spectral preprocessing and principle component analysis (PCA). The models were compared with spectra from handheld and compact spectrometers. Results highlight the potential of NIR spectroscopy and machine learning to enable rapid, reliable lignin classification, paving the way for improved industrial utilization of this abundant resource. T2 - 11th International Symposium on the Separation and Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Macromolecules CY - Amsterdam, The Netherlands DA - 21.01.2025 KW - Lignin KW - Classification KW - Near infrared spectroscopy PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62531 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Falkenhagen, Jana T1 - Challenges of SEC and the necessity of round robin tests 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 societal importance. Regulations often strive for narrow limits. But 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. Gaps have been identified that require further harmonization. Different polymer types or classes require different methods. On the other hand, 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 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 impressions. T2 - 11th International Symposium on the Separation and Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Macromolecules CY - Amsterdam, Netherlands DA - 21.01.2025 KW - Size exclusion chromatography KW - Round robin tests PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62533 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kittner, Maria T1 - Assessment of Microplastic Emissions from Artificial Turf Sports Pitches N2 - Following the recommendation of the European Chemicals Agency, on 25 September 2023 the European Commission passed a comprehensive new regulation to reduce emissions of microplastics (MP) into the environment, which includes the sale and use of intentionally added MP.1,2 This also applies to the application of synthetic rubber granulate infill in artificial turf systems and will ultimately have an impact on recreational sports. In Germany, rubber granulate made of ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer rubber (EPDM) is currently predominantly used. So far, there is no sufficient database for estimating MP emissions from artificial turf pitches into the environment and thus their relevance as a source of MP pollution.3 This topic is controversially discussed due to the complexity of sampling and analytics. To close this research gap, this project has the goal to determine mass balances for the emissions of MP from artificial turf pitches to allow an estimation of the amount of MP released per artificial turf pitch and year. Within this study, MP emissions of three artificial turf scenarios at different time states (unaged, artificially aged and real-time aged) are compared: the past (old turf: fossil based, synthetic infill), present (most commonly installed in Europe: fossil based, EPDM infill), and the future (turf with recycled gras fibres, no synthetic infill). To simulate the outdoor weathering during the lifespan of an artificial turf of approx. 15 years, brand-new artificial turf and EPDM rubber granulate were accelerated aged by means of UV weathering and mechanical stress. Potential MP emissions into surface and groundwater are simulated by lysimeter and shake experiments. MP mass contents are subsequently determined by Thermal Extraction Desorption Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. Using special microfilter crucibles allows the estimation of the particle sizes of the emitted MP, which is a fundamental requirement for an assessment of potential health hazards for humans. T2 - SETAC 2024 CY - Seville, Spain DA - 05.05.2024 KW - Mikroplastik KW - TED-GC/MS KW - Lysimeter KW - PAK KW - Schwermetalle PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60014 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Wessen Problem ist Mikroplastik eigentlich? N2 - In den letzten 20 Jahren ist die Aufmerksamkeit vieler Forschender sowie der Politik und der Bürger selbst auf ein wachsendes Kunststoffproblem unserer Zeit stark gestiegen. Mangelnde Wertstoffkonzepte, Sammelstellen und unbedachtes Einbringen von Kunststoffprodukten in die Umwelt führen dort zu einer Anreicherung. Durch äußere Witterungseinflüsse können diese Produkte degradieren und fraktionieren, so dass heute in allen Teilen der Welt Mikroplastik (1-1000 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020) unterschiedlicher Polymermaterialien nachgewiesen werden kann. Bei Mikroplastik gilt das Vorsorgeprinzip. Die Partikel können weiter zerfallen in Nanoplastik (< 1 µm, ISO/TR 21960:2020). Ob eine toxikologische Gefährdung von Mikro- oder Nanoplastik ausgeht, wird vielfältig untersucht. Bisher stehen valide Ergebnisse aus. Untersuchungen zur Häufigkeit, dem Transport und möglicher Senken und Eintragspfade muss aber Rechenschafft getragen werden, so dass ein Monitoring von Mikroplastik bereits in der Revision der Trinkwasserrahmen-Richtlinie und der Abwasserrahmen-Richtlinie gefordert wird. Bedenklich ist auch die Verordnung über Mindestanforderungen an die Wasserwiederverwendung (2020/741), in welcher nicht verbindlich gesagt wird, Wasser welcher Reinigungsstufe eines Klärwerks auf die Felder zur Wiederverwendung aufgebracht werden darf. Einer Regulierung über die EU-Plastikstrategie hinaus mit z.B. Verboten für Einwegplastik-Produkte und Rezyklingquoten kann nur entgegengewirkt werden, wenn valide Messmethoden, Referenzmaterialien und Standards existieren, die das tatsächliche Ausmaß von Mikroplastik-Konzentrationen in Luft, Wasser, Boden und Biota zuverlässig und genau aufzeigen. T2 - Technomer CY - Chemnitz, Germany DA - 06.11.2025 KW - Mikroplastik KW - Referenzmaterial KW - TED-GC/MS PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64618 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Dailey, L. A. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Ćirković Veličković, Tanja T1 - Exposition und Detektionstechniken: Der Weg zur Harmonisierung N2 - Der Vortrag gibt einen Überblick über Erkenntnisse der WG 1 und WG 3 des CUSP Clusters der Horizon Europe Projekte von Mikroplastik (2020-2025). Die Frage ist wie hoch ist die Exposition und ist das dann eine gesundheitliche Gefahr. Diskutiert werden Mechanismen, die helfen richtig und genau zu messen, z.B. Prozesskontrollen oder Referenzmaterialien. Es wird ein Weg zu mehr Harmonisierung im Bereich der Mikroplastik-Analytik aufgezeigt. T2 - Mikroplastik – Was wissen wir heute? BfR-Forum Verbraucherschutz CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 02.12.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Harmonisation PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65330 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Textile Fibers as Reference Materials for Microplastic Release N2 - Fibers of textile origin are named as high contributor for microplastic pollution in the environment next to e.g. plastics from packaging, tire wear and paints. Small fibers and fragments (microplastics: 1-1000 µm) can be released from textiles by mechanical abrasion during application (e.g. wearing) or washing. To date, the occurrence, transport pathways, and impacts of such small fibers on the environment and human health remain unclear. The European Commission revised the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/3019) and made monitoring of microplastics mandatory in the next years. Additionally, standards for microplastic detection are developed in the ISO standardization body ISO/TC 147/SC 2 with the documents ISO/DIS 16094-2 and ISO/DIS 16094-3. Detection mainly occurs by thermoanalytical methods for mass or vibrational methods with microscopes for numbers. Such standards and regulatory efforts need validated methods, which themselves need reference materials for validation. Reference materials are well characterized materials that are produced for a specific purpose and are homogeneous and stable within one property of interest. The shape and the composition of the reference particles/fibers will affect the detection, hence it is important to validate the instruments with fibers, if this is the task for monitoring campaigns. This work describes the production of realistic fibers as reference material for microplastic analysis. The individual samples contain of a small number (< 1000) and mass (< 20 µm) of fibres. Homogeneity and stability control occurred by thermogravimetric analysis and µ-Raman. Further characteristics were determined for type, shape and size distribution. T2 - TEXTEH CY - Bucharest, Romania DA - 23.10.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Microfibers KW - Microfiber release PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64620 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Altmann, Korinna T1 - Production of reference materials using a quality by design approach N2 - Accurate analysis of microplastics is based on validated methods and the use of standardized protocols. Therefore, reference materials are essential to determine recovery rates and optimise the existing workflows. The reference materials should mimic the reality in terms of particle properties and concentration and are intended for a special use. The Quality-by-Design approach helps to select the users need and defines a target product profile with mandatory and desired particle properties. We will address different reference material top-down production processes with their limits and challenges for production of materials varying in size ranges of micro- and nanoplastics. T2 - OECD Workshop on Nanoplastics CY - Paris, France DA - 12.11.2025 KW - Microplastics KW - Reference materials KW - Nanoplastics KW - Quality-by-Design PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64717 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kalbe, Ute T1 - Assessment of Microplastic and Contaminant Emissions from Artificial Turf Sports Pitches N2 - Due to their advantages over natural gras, artificial turf sports pitches are well established in popular sports and their number is increasing every year. This raises questions about potential pollutant emissions and possible risks to the environment due to its transfer to soil and groundwater. The main sources of emissions are the rubber infill granules and the abrasion of grass fibers. While estimates on the transfer of pollutants to the soil are already available, there is still insufficient data on the discharge of microplastics from artificial turf systems and thus on the assessment of its relevance for the soil. To close this gap, the pollutant emissions of three artificial turf scenarios - past (fossil-based, rubber infill), present (most frequently installed in Germany, rubber infill) and future (turf with recycled grass fibers, no rubber infill) - were compared in different ageing states (unaged, accelerated, and real time aged). Accelerated ageing consisting of UV weathering and mechanical stress was applied to simulate the outdoor weathering of turf systems during their service life span of approx. 15 years. Emissions of microplastics and environmentally relevant pollutants were sampled simultaneously using newly developed, innovative lysimeters. The microplastics contents were determined using Thermal Extraction-Desorption Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (TED-GC/MS). In addition, the concentrations of PAH and heavy metals were determined. T2 - Jahrestag der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft CY - Tübingen, Germany DA - 14.09.2025 KW - Artificial Turf KW - Microplastics KW - Contaminants PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65022 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dudziak, Mateusz A1 - Riechers, Birte A1 - Maaß, Robert A1 - Michalchuk, Adam A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina T1 - Beyond conventional calorimetry: Unlocking thermal characterization with fast scanning techniques N2 - Fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) has emerged as a transformative technique in thermal analysis, enabling the investigation of rapid and kinetically driven thermal transitions that are inaccessible to conventional differential scanning calorimetry. This review highlights the capabilities enabled by FSC for studying a wide range of materials under extreme thermal conditions, including polymers, pharmaceuticals, metallic glasses, nanocomposites, and hydrogels. By employing ultrafast heating and cooling rates, FSC allows for the suppression of crystallization, resolution of weak transitions, and analysis of thermally labile or size-limited samples. The technique is particularly valuable for probing glass transitions, relaxation phenomena, and phase behavior in systems with complex morphologies or confined geometries. Case studies demonstrate the use of FSC in characterizing vitrification, physical aging, and interfacial dynamics, as well as its application in emerging fields such as additive manufacturing, supramolecular systems, and neuromorphic materials. Together, these examples underscore the role that FSC plays in advancing the understanding of structure-property relationships across diverse material classes. KW - Flash DSC KW - Calorimetry KW - Glass transition PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647405 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2025.180177 VL - 754 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-64740 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -