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Anear-infrared (NIR) light-triggered release method for nitric oxide (NO) was developed utilizing core/shell NaYF4: Tm/Yb/Ca@NaGdF4:Nd/Yb up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) bearing a mesoporous silica (mSiO2) shell loaded with theNOdonor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP). To avoid overheating in biological samples, Nd3+ was chosen as a sensitizer, Yb3+ ions as the bridging sensitizer, andTm3+ ions as UV-emissive activator while co-doping with Ca2+ was done to enhance the luminescence of the activatorTm3+.NOrelease from SNAP was triggered by an NIR-UV up-conversion process, initiated by 808nmlight absorbed by the Nd3+ ions.NOrelease was confirmed by the Griess method. Under 808nmirradiation, the viability of the liver cancer cell line HepG2 significantly decreased with increasing UCNPs@mSiO2-SNAP concentration. For a UCNPs@mSiO2-SNAP concentration of 200 μgml−1, the cell survival probability was 47%. These results demonstrate that UCNPs@mSiO2-SNAP can induce the release of apoptosis-inducingNOby NIR irradiation.
A new “green” and mild synthesis of highly stable microcrystalline Cs2AgxNa1-xBiyIn1-yCl6 (CANBIC) perovskites under ambient conditions was developed that is scalable to the multi-gram production. Under UV illumination, the CANBIC perovskites emit intense broadband photoluminescence (PL) with a quantum yield (QY) of 92% observed for x = 0.35 and y = 0.01-0.02. The combination of strong UV absorbance and broadband visible emission, high PL QY, and long PL lifetimes of up to 1.4 μs, along with an outstanding stability makes these CANBICs a promising material class for many optical applications.
In the late 1980s, a new type of corrosion appeared in drinking water installations where galvanized steel pipes failed forming a deep groove with no corrosion at the other surfaces. The reason was discussed quite fiercely between failure analysts and material suppliers. In the end the discussion lead to the solution: inductive welded pipes of a certain sulphur content were prone to selective corrosion. The history of the arguments is discussed using old communications between Wilhelm Schwenk and Wolfgang Stichel, who later published the results in a paper unfortunately only I german.
Thus the knowledge got lost and new cases based on the same material problems are observed in application of so-called C-Steel piping systems. Failure cases are shown.
In the past few years, it has been discussed with increasing frequency, whether cube slip does occur in gamma' hardened nickel-base superalloys. Occurrence of cube slip has consequences for the modeling of orientation dependence of the CRSS. Until now, there are only few experimental investigations.
In principle, cube slip should be possible in primitive cubic lattices (e.g. L12 ordered gamma' phase) but not in face centered cubic ones (e.g. Ni solid solution). The most favourable specimen orientations are near [111], where the Schmid factors for this type of glide exceed those for octahedral systems.
There are two basic methods to detect cube slip: macroscopic slip trace analysis and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation of the dislocation structure. Few observations of cube slip by macroscopic slip traces are reported in the literature. But it is still uncertain under which test conditions cube slip occurs and what the dislocation mechanisms are. Cube slip was observed during tensile or compression tests of several first generation superalloys, but it seems not to occur during shear creep deformation (e.g. CMSX-4 at 980°C), and it is also lacking under conventional tensile or compression loading, if the gmma' particles are small. No observations were ever reported of dislocations gliding on {001} planes in matrix channels.
Currently research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales on-demand with short down-times between individual cam-paigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The re-sulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via compara-bly straightforward and robust analysis techniques. Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algo-rithm to interpret the ob-tained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16 inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s.
Currently research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales on-demand with short down-times between individual cam-paigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The re-sulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via compara-bly straightforward and robust analysis techniques. Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algo-rithm to interpret the ob-tained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16 inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s.
Currently research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales on-demand with short down-times between individual campaigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market [1]. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques. Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algo-rithm to interpret the obtained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16 inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s.
Currently, research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales on-demand with short down-times between individual campaigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques.
Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algorithm to interpret the obtained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16-inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H NMR spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s. As a proof-of-concept, the thiol-ene coupling between N-boc cysteine methyl ester and allyl alcohol was conducted in non-deuterated solvents while its time-resolved behaviour was characterised with step tracer experiments.
Through the application of spectral modeling the signal area for each reactant can be deconvoluted in the online spectra and thus converted to the respective concentrations or molar ratios. The signals which were suitable for direct integration were used herein for comparison purposes of both methods.
Currently research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales ondemand with short down-times between individual campaigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques. Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algorithm to interpret the obtained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16 inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s. As a proof-of-concept, the thiol-ene coupling between N-boc cysteine methyl ester and allyl alcohol was conducted in non-deuterated solvents while its time-resolved behaviour was characterised with step tracer experiments Through the application of spectral modeling the signal area for each reactant can be deconvoluted in the online spectra and thus converted to the respective concentrations or molar ratios. The signals which were suitable for direct integration were used herein for comparison purposes of both methods.
Currently research in chemical manufacturing moves towards flexible plug-and-play approaches focusing on modular plants, capable of producing small scales on-demand with short down-times between individual campaigns. This approach allows for efficient use of hardware, a faster optimization of the process conditions, and thus, an accelerated introduction of new products to the market. Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so-called “click” chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques. Here we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online high field NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, automated algorithm to interpret the obtained data. All spectra were acquired using a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Varian) with a dual band flow probe having a 1/16 inch polymer tubing working as a flow cell. Single scan 1H spectra were recorded with an acquisition time of 5 s, relaxation delay of 15 s. As a proof-of-concept, the thiol-ene coupling between N-boc cysteine methyl ester and allyl alcohol was conducted in non-deuterated solvents while its time-resolved behaviour was characterised with step tracer experiments
Through the application of spectral modeling the signal area for each reactant can be deconvoluted in the online spectra and thus converted to the respective concentrations or molar ratios. The signals which were suitable for direct integration were used herein for comparison purposes of both methods.
Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so called "click" chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques possessing short set-up times. Here, we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement of 1H spectra with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, fully automated algorithm to interpret the obtained data. As a proof-of-concept, the thiol-ene coupling between N-boc cysteine methyl ester and allyl alcohol was conducted in a variety of non-deuterated solvents while its time-resolved behaviour was characterized with step tracer experiments. Overlapping signals in online spectra during thiol-ene coupling could be deconvoluted with a spectral model using indirect hard modeling and were subsequently converted to either molar ratios (using a calibrationfree approach) or absolute concentrations (using 1-point calibration). For various solvents the kinetic constant k for pseudo-first order reaction was estimated to be 3.9 h-1 at 25 °C. The obtained results were compared with direct integration of non-overlapping signals and showed good agreement with the implemented mass balance.
The aim of the present study is to characterize emeralds from different mines of Brazil by using Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Fluorescence Microanalysis (µ-SRXRF). The advantage of this technique is that we can analyze a homogeneous, inclusion free area of the stone with the microbeam to distinguish the elemental fingerprint according to the provenance of the emerald. A total of 47 samples belonging to 5 different Brazilian mines were studied in this work and 28 elements were identified. By means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) it is possible to build different groups according to the provenance of the stones, which allows to assign samples of unknown origin to the according mine.
In this work, the structural integrity of LBM fabricated IN625 small cylinders (d = 1 mm, h = 6 mm) was investigated regarding the porosity and the surface roughness by means of computed tomography. The measurements were carried out on a GE v|tome|x L 300/180 with a reconstructed voxel size of 2 µm. The pores were analyzed for size, shape and spatial distribution. The correlation between compactness C and spatial distribution showed that elongated pores (C < 0.2) appear exclusively within a distance of 80 µm to the sample surface. The reconstructed surface was digitally meshed and unwrapped to evaluate the mean roughness Ra. Since the gravity correlates linearly with the sine of the build angle, the influence of gravity on porosity and surface roughness was determined.
µCT is used to validate the capability of online monitoring for in-situ detection of defects during the L-PBF build process, which is a focus of the TF project ProMoAM.
Our first experiments show that online monitoring using thermography and optical tomography cameras are able to detect defects in the built part. But further research is needed to understand root cause of the correlation.
The Stolt Rotterdam tanker ship, filled with nitric acid, was unloading at the Krefeld-Uerdingen terminal on the Rhine River in November 2001. Nitric acid ran out of the stainless steel tanks into the ship's hull and damaged the structural steel. The ship then caught fire and sank at the terminal. Large quantities of nitrogen oxides were emitted, which drifted towards a residential area. Additionally, a mixture of acid and water was introduced into the Rhine River. The area became hazardous to people and the natural environment; however, the imminent danger for the residents and the environment was reduced because of the protective measures against pollution and the good teamwork between local authorities, fire brigades and the Bayer AG company. The acid was drained off of the ship using a controlled discharge of the acid into the river. Through the use of this measure, the ship was salvaged, limiting the pollution to the area and removing the health hazards to the people and the environment. After the ship was salvaged, the river police, along with assistance from the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, impounded the ship and selected corroded parts for further examination. Some of these components have been examined in detail by the BAM. These material investigations contributed to the elucidation of the origin of the leak in the floor panel. The cause of damage was deemed to be a result of a construction flaw at the enamelled valve on the load and discharge pipes.
The results from the comparative corrosion testing using the original structural steel and 60% acid revealed that the valves began to leak at least 8 h prior to the incident at the terminal.
This study presents the synthesis and characterization of zwitterionic core–shell hybrid nanoparticles consisting of a core of iron oxide multicore nanoparticles (MCNPs, γ-Fe2O3) and a shell of sultonated poly(2-vinylpyridine-grad-acrylic acid) copolymers. The gradient copolymers are prepared by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of 2-vinylpyridine (2VP), followed by the addition of tert-butyl acrylate and subsequent hydrolysis. Grafting of P(2VP-grad-AA) onto MCNP results in P(2VP-grad-AA)@MCNP, followed by quaternization using 1,3-propanesultone-leading to P(2VPS-grad-AA)@MCNP with a zwitterionic shell. The resulting particles are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and thermogravimetric analysis measurements, showing particle diameters of ≈70–90 nm and an overall content of the copolymer shell of ≈10%. Turbidity measurements indicate increased stability toward secondary aggregation after coating if compared to the pristine MCNP and additional cytotoxicity tests do not reveal any significant influence on cell viability.
Zirconium vanadate (ZrV2O7) is a well-known negative thermal expansion (NTE) material that exhibits significant isotropic contraction over a broad temperature range (~150°C < T < 800°C). Therefore, it can be used to create composites with controllable expansion coefficients and prevent thermal stress, fatigue, cracking, and deformation at interfaces. We implement interdisciplinary research to analyze such material. We study the influence of the synthesis methods and their parameters on the sample's purity, crystallinity, and homogeneity. Moreover, we implement ab initio-based vibrational computations with partially treated anharmonicity in combination with experimental methods to follow temperature-induced structural changes and rationalize the negative thermal expansion in this material, including the influence of the local structure disorder.
In this study, we use and extend a recently developed zonal cooperative inversion approach and apply it to the inversion of three independent geophysical field data sets. We invert crosshole P-wave, S-wave, and georadar data sets acquired in sand and gravel dominated unconsolidated sediments to detect and characterize different sedimentary units relevant for an engineering or hydrological site characterization. The zonal cooperative inversion of the three traveltime data sets results in a single subsurface model, which is a geophysical three-parameter model (P-wave, S-wave, and georadar velocity) outlining the major subsurface zonation while explaining all input data sets. Comparing our zonal model to direct push (DP) logging data (tip resistance, sleeve friction, and dielectric permittivity) shows good agreement; i.e., the zones in our geophysical model largely correspond to major DP parameter changes. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the sparse DP data can be inter- and extrapolated to the entire tomographic plane which allows for further geotechnical and hydrological interpretations. This study illustrates that the zonal cooperative inversion approach is highly flexible and an excellent tool to characterize a variety of environments in terms of multiple physical parameters.
The flame retardant effect of zinc sulphide (ZnS) in plasticised poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC-P) materials was investigated. PVC-P containing different combinations of additives such as 5% ZnS, 5% of antimony oxide (Sb2O3) and 5% of mixtures based on Sb2O3 and ZnS were compared. The thermal degradation and the combustion behaviour were studied using thermogravimetry (TG), coupled with FTIR (TG-FTIR) or with mass spectroscopy (TG-MS), and a cone calorimeter, respectively. A detailed and unambiguous understanding of the decomposition and release of the pyrolysis products was obtained using both TG-MS and TG-FTIR. The influence of ZnS, Sb2O3 and the corresponding mixtures on the thermal decomposition of PVC-P was demonstrated. Synergism was observed for the combination of the two additives. The combustion behaviour (time to ignition, heat release, smoke production, mass loss, CO production) was monitored versus external heat fluxes between 30 and 75 kW m-2 with the cone calorimeter. Adding 5% of ZnS has no significant influence on the fire behaviour of PVC-P materials beyond a dilution effect, whereas Sb2O3 works as an effective fire retardant. Synergism of ZnS and Sb2O3 allows the possibility of replacing half of Sb2O3 by ZnS to reach equivalent fire retardancy.
Zinc oxide is a wide bandgap semiconductor with unique optical, electrical and catalytic properties. Many of its practical applications rely on the materials pore structure, crystallinity and electrical conductivity. We report a synthesis method for ZnO films with ordered mesopore structure and tuneable crystallinity and electrical conductivity. The synthesis relies on dip-coating of solutions containing micelles of an amphiphilic block copolymer and complexes of Zn2+ ions with aliphatic ligands. A subsequent calcination at 400 °C removes the template and induces crystallization of the pore walls. The pore structure is controlled by the template polymer, whereas the aliphatic ligands control the crystallinity of the pore walls. Complexes with a higher thermal stability result in ZnO films with a higher content of residual carbon, smaller ZnO crystals and therefore lower electrical conductivity. The paper discusses the ability of different types of ligands to assist in the synthesis of mesoporous ZnO and relates the structure and thermal stability of the precursor complexes to the crystallinity and electrical conductivity of the zinc oxide.
ZnII and CdII complexes of 2,2'-bipyridyl-3,3'-diol: discrimination with time-resolved fluorometry
(1996)
To arrive to sustainable hydrogen-based energy solutions, the understanding of water-splitting catalysts plays the most crucial role. Herein, state-of-the-art hypotheses are combined on electrocatalytic active metal sites toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to develop a highly efficient catalyst based on Earth-abundant cobalt and zinc oxides.
The precursor catalyst Zn0.35Co0.65O is synthesized via a fast microwaveassisted approach at low temperatures. Subsequently, it transforms in situ from the wurtzite structure to the layered γ-Co(O)OH, while most of its zinc leaches out. This material shows outstanding catalytic Performance and stability toward the OER in 1 m KOH (overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 ηinitial = 306 mV, η98 h = 318 mV). By comparing the electrochemical results and ex situ analyses to today’s literature, clear structureactivity correlations are able to be identified. The findings suggest that coordinately unsaturated cobalt octahedra on the surface are indeed the active centers for the OER.
Zn-K transmission EXAFS measurements were performed on vitrified ashes from municipal waste incinerator facilities, which contain low amounts of Zn (up to 3 wt%) and sulphur (up to 0.5 wt%) in a ZnS phase. From the Fourier transform it can be concluded that the zinc ions are fourfold co-ordinated by oxygen or sulphur ions. The amount of zinc ions of sulphur environment, e.g. the concentration of ZnS, was determined by Fourier filtering and subsequent parameter fitting. A quantitative analysis of low ZnS concentrations up to 1 wt% has been performed for samples with a molar ratio Zn/S < 5.
The slip-rolling resistance of DLC, a-C and ta-C thin film coatings was improved considerably in the last years, but there is still room for improvements in relation to (a) the temperature stability and (b) initial surface roughness after deposition. This paper presents a novel coating-substrate system in comparison to recently developed DLC coatings in a bench-mark test procedure exerting slip-rolling conditions in the presence of liquid lubricants. One of the Zr-based thin film coatings can withstand at least 1 million cycles under initial Hertzian contact pressures of up to P0max = 3500 MPa and oil temperatures of at least 120 °C associated with low coefficients of friction under mixed/boundary conditions or ten million of cycles under P0max = 2940 MPa. In comparison, some of the newly developed DLC coatings are slip-rolling resistant for at least up to 10 million cycles at RT (some of them also at 120 °C oil temperature) under Hertzian contact pressures of Pmax = 2600/2940 MPa. In general, Zr-based thin film coatings do not require special formulated oil formulations and Zr(C,N) bear on a straight coating architecture suited for mass production with nanosized layers.
The mechanism of action of zirconium permanent modifiers on graphite surfaces was investigated in order to understand its influence on the analytical signal in atomic and molecular absorption spectrometry (AAS/MAS). For this, the molecule formation of CaF was studied, which is used for the indirect analytical determination of fluorine in high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS). The kinetics of this reaction was established by monitoring its molecular spectrum at different atomisation temperatures. An Arrhenius plot showed a pseudo-first order reaction with respect to fluorine (n = 1). An intermediate state was isolated, and its structure was elucidated by spectroscopic methods: scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEMEDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES and EXAFS), and Raman microspectroscopy. We propose here a mechanism, where ZrO2 acts as a heterogeneous catalyst: after a pyrolytic step, an intermediate state of ZrO(OCaF) is activated, and at higher temperatures, CaF(g) is released from the zirconium-coated graphite surface. No evidence of the formation of zirconium carbide was found. Consequently, as the CaF formation is catalysed by a heterogeneous catalyst, surface modifications with ZrO2 nanoparticles and ZrO xerogels were investigated in order to increase the surface area. Their influence was evaluated in the molecule formation of CaF, CaCl, CaBr, and CaI. Graphite furnace modification with zirconium oxide nanoparticles proves to be the best choice for fluorine analysis with a signal enhancement of more than eleven times with respect a non-coated graphite furnace. However, the influence of zirconium modifications in the analytical signals of Cl, and I is lower than the F signals or even negative in case of the Br. Understanding zirconium modifiers as heterogeneous catalysts offers a new perspective to AAS and MAS, and reveals the potential of surface analytical methods for development of improved permanent modifiers and graphite furnace coatings.
Zirconium chloro fluoride as catalyst for C-F bond activation and HF transfer of fluoroalkanes
(2024)
In this work1, we have successfully synthesised amorphous zirconium chloro fluoride (ZCF), which exhibits medium lewis acidity. In addition to investigating the local coordination sphere around the Zr atoms and the material properties, we were able to establish a catalytic behavior of ZCF in C-F bond activation reactions. We present the first heterogeneous catalyst that performs dehydrofluorination of a fluoroalkane and consecutive hydrofluorination of an alkyne at room temperature.
Zirconium chloro fluoride as catalyst for C-F bond activation and HF transfer of fluoroalkanes
(2023)
In this work, we successfully synthesized amorphous zirconium chloro fluoride (ZCF), which exhibits medium lewis acidity. In addition to investigating the local coordination sphere around the Zr atoms and the material properties, we were able to establish a catalytic behavior of ZCF in C-F bond activation reactions. We present a heterogeneous catalyst that performs dehydrofluorination of a fluoroalkane and consecutive hydrofluorination of an alkyne at room temperature.
This paper reports the formation of zinc phosphate nanoparticles from the artificial digestion of zinc chloride. Initially, the formation of amorphous primary particles with a mean radius of 1.1 nm is observed, alongside the formation of larger, protein stabilized aggregates. These aggregates, with a radius of gyration of 37 nm, are observed after 5 minutes of exposure to artificial saliva and are shown to be colloidally stable for a minimum time of two weeks. The initially formed primary particles are thought to consist of amorphous zinc phosphate, which is then transformed into crystalline Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O over the course of two weeks. Our results demonstrate that the interaction of inorganic salts with bodily fluids can induce the formation of de novo nanoparticles, which in turn, provides insights into how zinc‐enriched foods may also facilitate the formation of nanoparticles upon contact with saliva. As such, this may be considered as an undesirable (bio)mineralization.
Zn is known to be located in the reactive centers of various enzymes, which play a major role in the mineralization process at sites where new bone formation occurs. In addition, elevated Zn levels are supposed to increase the proliferation rate of osteoblasts [1] and may lead to a stimulation of bone formation in vitro and in vivo [2]. Consequently, Zn seems to play an essential role in bone formation and mineralization through various pathways. We thus expected Zn levels to be altered at sites of extensive bone formation like in the case of fracture healing.
We measured the same areas on human bone samples with both a scanning confocal synchrotron radiation induced micro X-ray fluorescence (SR-μXRF) at the FLUO beamline (ANKA) and a full-field Color X-ray Camera at the BAMline (Bessy II) setup in order to find the ideal SR-μXRF imaging method to investigate trace element distributions in bone samples. As zinc is a trace element of special interest in bone, the setups were optimized for Zn detection. The setups were compared concerning count rate, required measurement time and resolution. We could show that the ideal method is depending on the element of interest. While for Ca (a major constituent of the bone with a low energy of 3.69keV for K) the Color X-ray Camera provided us with a higher resolution in the plane, for Zn (a trace element in bone) only the confocal SR-μXRF was able to sufficiently image the distribution.
Biopsies of healing osteoporotic fractures (Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs)) were investigated in regard to their Zn distribution. The samples were measured with a confocal SR-μXRF setup with a 10 μm x 15 μm resolution at the FLUO beamline at ANKA. As we found increased Zn levels, which seemed to be accumulated in narrow structures between bone packages we also investigated thin cuts (4 μm thick) of two sample areas with a higher resolution of 1 μm x 1 μm (monochromatic beam with E= 17 keV) at B16 at Diamond SR facility.
We will present the advantages and disadvantages of all three SR-μXRF setups (ANKA FLUO beamline, Bessy II BAMline, and Diamond B16) for imaging elemental distributions in bone with a focus on Zn. We will also show the distribution of Zn in healing VCFs.
Zinc anodizing
(1985)
Agar gel pads have been used for electrochemical measurements for some time. For zinc in particular, a standard method for measuring the stability of the corrosion product layer is being established. The main interpretation factor is the corrosion product layer resistance RL, as it is easy to determine and interpret. A high corrosion product layer resistance indicates a high level of protection. However, it is not yet known how low the corrosion product layer resistance is for freshly produced zinc samples. As zinc is highly active, it reacts immediately with the environment to form a corrosion product layer, which affects the corrosion product layer resistance. The addition of zinc acetate to the agar gel pads prevents the formation of a surface layer and destroys existing ones.
This makes it possible to measure an almost corrosion product-free zinc surface. This is important in defining the range of corrosion product layer resistance for a protective surface.
Cryoadsorption on the inner surface of porous materials is a promising solution for safe, fast, and reversible hydrogen storage. Within the class of highly porous metal−organic frameworks, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) show high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. In this study, we selected ZIF-8 synthesized mechanochemically by twin-screw extrusion as powder and pellets. The hydrogen storage capacity at 77 K and up to 100 bar has been analyzed in two laboratories applying three different measurement setups showing a high reproducibility. Pelletizing ZIF-8 increases the packing density close to the corresponding value for a single crystal without loss of porosity, resulting in an improved volumetric hydrogen storage capacity close to the upper limit for a single crystal. The high volumetric uptake combined with a low and constant heat of adsorption provides ca. 31 g of usable hydrogen per liter of pellet assuming a temperature−pressure swing adsorption process between 77 K − 100 bar and 117 K − 5 bar. Cycling experiments do not indicate any degradation in storage capacity. The excellent stability during preparation, handling, and operation of ZIF-8 pellets demonstrates its potential as a robust adsorbent material for technical application in pilot- and full-scale adsorption vessel prototypes.
The purpose of this paper is to underline the future need for OEMs to receive lowSAP, polymer- and metal-free engine oils with high-viscosity indices and to illuminate for other OEMs the technical feasibility for application of alternative engine oils based on esters or blends of hydrocarbons with esters or polyglycols.
Design/methodology/approach The strategic goal depends technically on the use of intrinsic properties of alternative base fluids, thus substituing some additives, like anti-wear, extreme pressure and viscosity index improvers. The prone wear resistance of novel triboactive/-reactive materials enables higher portions of mixed/boundary lubrication generated by oils with a lower viscosity.
Findings Overall, the different bionotox and low-ash prototype engine oils with reduced additive contents displayed isoperformance regarding the tribological behaviour against cast iron and triboreactive materials. APS-Tin-2Cr2O2n-1 displayed an overall wear resistance comparable with grey cast iron with high-carbon content and liner wear reduction of one order of magnitude when mated with Mo-based rings. Both tests confirmed the potential for substituing molybdenum-based rings by APS-Tin-2Cr2O2n-1. The most significant reduction in system wear down to zero wear was demonstrated by mating the APS-Tin-2Cr2O2n-1 coated piston rings with smooth machined HVOF-(Ti,Mo)(C,N) liner coatings.
Research limitations/implications As lubricants are today not part of the core business of automotive OEMs, the next steps have to be proposed by the petrochemical suppliers. It is recalled here that some OEMs in their history developed and produced lubricants.
Practical implications The customer will appreciate any increase in longevity resulting in reduced maintenance. The OEM now owns, under increased solicitations, now a future-oriented tool box in order to respond to environmental and CAFÉ demands with reasonable cost management.
Originality/value This OEM report displays the complete methodology in order to adopt alternative engine oils in existing engine architectures.
This paper presents a dry sliding tribo-couple (DLC/monolithic oxide ceramics), where the tribological quantities are more or less in a wide ränge independent of the sliding speed. The DLC film is composed of a specific mixture of sp3 /sp2 hybridized carbon. Self-mated ceramic/ceramic couples of MgO-Zr02, alpha-AI203 or SSiC are with their coefficients of friction above 0.45 not so lubricious, whereas the coefficients of friction of the tribocouples MgO-Zr02/DLC and alpha-AbOVDLC ranged between 0.075 and 0.15 under dry sliding. The coefficients of friction for these tribo-couples tend to decrease with increase sliding speed from 0.03 m/s to 6 m/s. The dry wear rates of the thin film is low (<10‘7 mm3/Nm) and perfectly independent from sliding velocity.
Zero wear (Null Verschleiß)
(2013)
Zero wear (Null Verschleiß)
(2012)
Recent developments in contact mechanics and microfribology have shown that it is very important to study surface modification effects for quantification of „Zero wear“ (plastic deformation of upper parts of asperities) during sliding friction. The present work considers experimental and Simulation data on the Formation of elastic and plastic contact areas during sliding friction on rough surfaces. The Simulation of discrete contact was carried out using as a source the AFMimages of real surface topography at micro/nanoscale.
The approach for quantification of „zero wear“, proposed here, is not using common Statistical Parameters of roughness, but it considers contact areas on asperities.
In these areas some regions are undergoing plastic deformation which influences surface Transformation during sliding friction. Also, the workhardening effect was taken into account in the Simulation
of sliding friction. This enabled a rnore successful fit of experimental data. The results obtained of the Computer simulations will provide a way of studying friction force at the initial stage of the running-in process.
Reactive geomembranes and geotextiles are an innovative approach to control the migration of contaminants in geotechnical applications. Within a joint research project in cooperation with a medium-sized enterprise, the preparation and characterization of “reactive” geomembranes and geotextiles modified by the addition of zero-valent metal nanoparticles was performed. Zero-valent iron (ZVI) nanoparticles were added to polyethylene or to the fillings of geo-containers or geosynthetic clay liners. These geosynthetic products consist of mixtures of sand with clay or bentonite, typically embedded in geotextile nonwovens or geomats. The permeability of these geo-containers can be adjusted by the ratio of clay or bentonite to sand. ZVI nanoparticles were also added as reactive material to geomembranes made of polyethylene with additives like the antioxidant Irganox 1010 or glycerin. These additives prohibit oxidation of the nanoparticle and act as hydrogen donor in the dechlorination of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Contaminates such as chlorinated hydrocarbons and toxic heavy metal compounds are either decomposed or converted to less toxic species (e.g. Cr-(VI) reduction to Cr-(III)). The paper reports the first experimental results from manufacturing of the reactive geomembrane model materials and characterization of the products with microscopic techniques. First breakthrough measurements of the ZVI modified geomembrane compared to a reference sample are presented.
An approach to achieve 'zero leakage' is discussed with respect to experience in Germany, where strict regulations for landfill lining and capping Systems have been developed and issued because of large environmental Problems related to landfills that accumulated in the 1970s and 1980s. Using a thick, high-quality high-density Polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane (GM) that is installed free of residual waves and wrinkles in intimate contact with a compacted clay liner or geosynthetic clay liner of very low permeability, by a qualified, experienced, well-equipped and properly third-party-controlled installer, and which is protected by heavy protection layers designed with respect to the long-term performance of the GM may result in a liner or capping system of practically no leakage. This is demonstrated by analysing results of measurements obtained from permanently installed leak-detection Systems in combination with HDPE GMs. The survey was based on 32 German landfills with 1.276.500 m² of installed GMs.
Nowadays, people spend most of their time indoors. Thus, a good indoor air quality is important. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from furniture and building materials can cause health complaints1. Quantitative VOC-emission testing is carried out under standardized conditions in emission test chambers. In the presented project an emission reference material (ERM) is developed that emits a defined mixture of VOCs which is required for quality assurance and -control (QA/QC) measures. Porous materials (e.g zeolites, activated carbons, MOFs or aerogels) are used as reservoir materials and impregnated with VOC. The porous materials are selected, among others, by their pore size, pore size distribution, polarity and availability. Due to their regular pore structure zeolites are tested at first. For a prediction of the emission profile, the ERM is supposed to exhibit a constant emission rate over time. The aim is a stability of ≤ 10 % change in the emission rate over a minimum of 14 days.
Method
For impregnation, the material is placed into an autoclave inside a rotatable basket. The VOC is added and the autoclave is closed. Afterwards, CO2 is inserted. The closed system is then heated to the supercritical point of CO2 (31 °C, 73.75 bar). In this state, the CO2 acts as solvent for the VOC. By rotating the basket, the distribution of the VOC is ensured. After a few minutes, the pressure is decreased slowly and the CO2 is released. For the determination of the emission profile, the impregnated sample is placed into an emission test chamber. These chambers can be operated either with dry or humid air (50 ± 5 % rel. humidity). Every second to third day, air samples are taken and analyzed by gas chromatography. For an ideal impregnation, several different pressures and temperatures as well as impregnation times are tested.
Results
Two zeolite materials tested in dry air conditions reach emission profiles with a decrease of less than 10 % over 14 days (heptane and toluene, respectively). Further it was discovered that smaller pellets of the same zeolite show better results than bigger particles. When the pore size of a zeolite is too small, e.g. 0.3 nm, the VOC cannot be absorbed sufficiently. The main disadvantage of zeolites is their hygroscopicity because it has a large impact on the release of VOC when they are used in emission test chambers under standardized test conditions (23 °C, 50 % rel. humidity). Activated carbons have emission profiles with a larger change over 14 days. However, the high hydrophobicity allows measurements in humid air conditions which was not possible with the before mentioned hygroscopic zeolites. It is possible to impregnate powdered materials as well, and thus powdered non-hygroscopic (n.h.) zeolites were impregnated. Their emission profiles are comparable to those of the activated carbons. The use of methylated hygroscopic zeolites with a decrease in hygroscopicity did not yield successful emission measurements. The change over 14 days is calculated only for the stable phase (~250–300 h).
The desired stability of ≤ 10 % change of the emission rate over 14 days could already be reached under dry testing conditions. Further investigations under humid conditions show that zeolites with high Si/Al-ratios are non-hygroscopic and comparable to activated carbons (20–30 % change). The next step is to reduce the change in the emission rate of these materials to the aimed ≤ 10 % over 14 days.
Zeolite synthesis was studied using two silica rich filtration residues (FR 1 and FR 2) as Si-source
and sodium aluminate in a direct synthesis at 60°C at strong alkaline conditions (8 M - 16 M NaOH).
In addition to these one-pot syntheses, a two-step process was investigated. Here, an alkaline digestion
of FR at 60°C was followed by gel precipitation with sodium aluminate and gel crystallization
under usual conditions of 80°C - 90°C. The results show that the substitution of chemical
reagent sodium silicate by a waste material like FR as Si-source is possible but requires fine tuning
of the reaction conditions as zeolite crystallization is a process under kinetic control. The
solubility behaviour and impurities of the inserted filtration residues strongly influenced the
course of reaction. Thus zeolites like hydrosodalite or intermediate zeolite between cancrinite
and sodalite, or zeolite NaA or Z-21 in cocrystallization with hydrosodalite could be observed in
the one pot syntheses already in a short time interval between 1 - 4 h depending on the alkalinity.
The two step process yield to zeolites NaA and NaX in very good quality. The reaction process of FR
in both reaction methods was characterized by chemical analyses, X-ray powder diffraction,
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as well as scanning electron microscopy. Surface area
and water content of selected products were further characterized by the BET-method and by
thermogravimetry. Summing up the results, we can show that zeolite formation from filtration residues
is possible by several reaction procedures as model cases for a re-use of industrial waste
materials. Beside the importance for environmental protection, the reactions are of interest for
zeolite chemistry as the re-use of FR is possible under economically conditions of low energy consumption
at 60°C and short reaction periods.
Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio changes due to machining in porous microcracked cordierite
(2016)
Microstructural changes in porous cordierite caused by machining were characterized using microtensile testing, X-ray computed tomography, and scanning electron microscopy. Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios were determined on similar to 215- to 380-mu m-thick machined samples by combining digital image correlation and microtensile loading. The results provide evidence for an increase in microcrack density and decrease of Young's modulus due to machining of the thin samples extracted from diesel particulate filter honeycombs. This result is in contrast to the known effect of machining on the strength distribution of bulk, monolithic ceramics.
You Ask – ACEnano Replies
(2020)
The workshop starts with introductory information about the workshop and the H2020 project ACEnano, followed by two expert round tables, focussing on how the project could address regulator and industry needs, respectively. This is be followed by parallel sessions on tools (based on preferences expressed by those registered to attend, see “Questions”) and finally a question-and-answer session with the attendees.
The experts invited in Round Table 1 have been prepared to answer to questions related to obstacles and advantages for stakeholders such as SMEs to use the ACEnano approaches/tools. Standardisation needs are discussed.
High sensitizer and activator concentrations have been increasingly examined to improve the performance of multi-color emissive upconversion (UC) nanocrystals (UCNC) like NaYF4:Yb,Er and first strategies were reported to reduce concentration quenching in highly doped UCNC. UC luminescence (UCL) is, however, controlled not only by dopant concentration, yet by an interplay of different parameters including size, crystal and shell quality, and excitation power density (P). Thus, identifying optimum dopant concentrations requires systematic studies of UCNC designed to minimize additional quenching pathways and quantitative spectroscopy. Here, we quantify the dopant concentration dependence of the UCL quantum yield (ΦUC) of solid
NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Lu upconversion core/shell nanocrystals of varying Yb3+ and Er3+ concentrations (Yb3+ series: 20%‒98% Yb3+; 2% Er3+; Er3+ series: 60% Yb3+; 2%‒40% Er3+). To circumvent other luminescence quenching processes, an elaborate synthesis yielding OH-free UCNC with record ΦUC of ~9% and ~25 nm core particles with a thick surface shell were used. High Yb3+ concentrations barely reduce ΦUC from ~9% (20% Yb3+) to ~7% (98% Yb3+) for an Er3+ concentration of 2%, thereby allowing to strongly increase the particle absorption cross section and UCNC brightness. Although an increased Er3+ concentration reduces ΦUC from ~7% (2% Er3+) to 1% (40%) for 60% Yb3+. Nevertheless, at very high P (> 1 MW/cm2) used for microscopic studies, highly Er3+-doped UCNC display a high brightness because of reduced saturation. These findings underline the importance of synthesis control and will pave the road to many fundamental studies of UC materials.
Yb,Nd,Er-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted considerable interest as luminescent reporters for bioimaging, sensing, energy conversion/shaping, and anticounterfeiting due to their capability to convert multiple near-infrared (NIR) photons into shorter wavelength ultraviolet, visible or NIR luminescence by successive absorption of two or more NIR photons. This enables optical measurements in complex media with very little background and high penetration depths for bioimaging. The use of Nd3+ as substitute for the commonly employed sensitizer Yb3+ or in combination with Yb3+ shifts the excitation wavelength from about 980 nm, where the absorption of water can weaken upconversion luminescence, to about 800 nm, and laser-induced local overheating effects in cells, tissue, and live animal studies can be minimized. To systematically investigate the potential of Nd3+ doping, we assessed the performance of a set of similarly sized Yb3+,Nd3+,Er3+-doped core- and core–shell UCNPs of different particle architecture in water at broadly varied excitation power densities (P) with steady state and time-resolved fluorometry for excitation at 980 nm and 808 nm. As a measure for UCNPs performance, the P-dependent upconversion quantum yield (Φ) and its saturation behavior were used as well as particle brightness (B). Based upon spectroscopic measurements at both excitation wavelengths in water and in a lipid phantom and B-based calculations of signal size at different penetration depths, conditions under which excitation at 808 nm is advantageous are derived and parameters for the further optimization of triple-doped UCNPs are given.
Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) defined -Al2O3 has been investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and x-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES). The Au 4f7/2 orbital is used for static charge referencing. This feature originates from well-defined and chemically inert 20 nm highly dispersed gold particles deposited on the sample surface. The particles, with a narrow particle size distribution, were obtained from a highly purified colloidal solution (sodium concentration below 1 mg/l). This procedure allows a determination of gold-referenced XPS and XAES data sets. ©2001 American Vacuum Society.
X‑ray emission during the ablative processing of biological materials by ultrashort laser pulses
(2023)
The ablative laser processing with ultrashort pulsed laser beams may cause secondary emission of hazardous X-rays. While the effect has recently been proven to be considered in working safety regulations when processing technical materials, such as metals, the X-ray emission rates during the ablative processing of biological tissue materials are widely unexplored yet.
Therefore, biological materials like water, isotonic saline solution, pig eyes, and human teeth were ablated with ultrashort laser pulses of 1030 nm wavelength, 600 fs pulse duration and 5 kHz pulse repetition rate, aiming to mimic typical surgery situations. Simultaneously, in-situ X-ray dose rate measurements were performed at a short distance from the plasma to display potential X-ray emission. For all four studied biological materials, our measurements prove the secondary emission of laser-induced X-rays.
Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, in combination with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and focused beam microdiffraction, was applied to study the solid-state reactions taking place during contact formation of the system Ge(115 nm)/Pd(50 nm)In0.53Ga0.47As. In order to get information about the sequence of the different processes, rapid thermal, annealing experiments in the range 225400 °C were performed. The following features were observed: at 225 °C Pd reacted with the substrate forming the quaternary phase PdxIn0.53Ga0.47As (x 4), and with the Ge-layer forming mainly PdGe and Pd2Ge. Between PdxIn0.53Ga0.47As and In0.53Ga0.47As, a 5 nm thick amorphous Pd-In-Ga-As layer remained, indicating that the first reaction step was solid-state amorphization. After annealing at 350 °C, PdxIn0.53Ga0.47As disappeared and regrowth of In0.53Ga0.47As occured. Finally, at 400 °C, residual Ge from the amorphous top layer diffused to the interface and grew epitaxially on the regrown In0.53Ga0.47As, thus separating the IIIV compound semiconductor from the Pd-Ge reaction products. The interface remained flat, while only about 10 nm of the active In0.53Ga0.47As layer had been modified during the annealing processes.
XTEM and TFXRD investigations of ohmic Ti/Al/Ti/Au/WSiN contacts on AlGaN/GaN HFET layer systems
(2002)
The microstructural features of the high-temperature-stable ohmic contact system Ti/Al/Ti/Au/WSiN on AlGaN/GaN were investigated using analytical transmission electron microscopy and thin film x-ray diffraction. For two typical rapid thermal annealing steps at 750 °C (non-ohmic behaviour) and 850 °C (ohmic behaviour) the intermetallic phases at the metal-semiconductor interface are presented. Increased annealing leads to the transformation of an Al2Au-AlAuTi phase mixture to a mixture of Al2Au-Al3Au8 phases and the formation of Ti-Al-nitride layers at the interfaces. In light of these results the electrical contact properties are discussed.
XTEM and TFXRD investigations of ohmic Ti/Al/Ti/Au/WSiN contacts on AlGaN/GaN HFET layer systems
(2002)
The microstructural features of the high-temperature-stable ohmic contact system Ti/Al/Ti/Au/WSiN on AlGaN/GaN were investigated using analytical transmission electron microscopy and thin film x-ray diffraction.
For two typical rapid thermal annealing steps at 750 ◦C (non-ohmic behaviour) and 850 ◦C (ohmic behaviour) the intermetallic phases at the metal–semiconductor interface are presented. Increased annealing leads to the transformation of an Al2Au-AlAuTi phase mixture to a mixture of Al2Au-Al3Au8 phases and the formation of Ti-Al-nitride layers at the interfaces. In light of these results the electrical contact properties are discussed.
In this work, the elemental composition of fine and ultrafine particles emitted by ten different laser printing devices (LPD) is examined. The particle number concentration time series was measured as well as the particle size distributions. In parallel, emitted particles were size-selectively sampled with a cascade impactor and subsequently analyzed by the means of XRF. In order to identify potential sources for the aerosol's elemental composition, materials involved in the printing process such as toner, paper, and structural components of the printer were also analyzed. While the majority of particle emissions from laser printers are known to consist of recondensated semi volatile organic compounds, elemental analysis identifies Si, S, Cl, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Fe as well as traces of Ni and Zn in different size fractions of the aerosols. These elements can mainly be assigned to contributions from toner and paper. The detection of elements that are likely to be present in inorganic compounds is in good agreement with the measurement of nonvolatile particles. Quantitative measurements of solid particles at 400 °C resulted in residues of 1.6 × 109 and 1.5 × 1010 particles per print job, representing fractions of 0.2% and 1.9% of the total number of emitted particles at room temperature. In combination with the XRF results it is concluded that solid inorganic particles contribute to LPD emissions in measurable quantities. Furthermore, for the first time Br was detected in significant concentrations in the aerosol emitted from two LPD. The analysis of several possible sources identified the plastic housings of the fuser units as main sources due to substantial Br concentrations related to brominated flame retardants.
Recent research has suggested that some of the inks used in Herculaneum papyri do not consist of pure carbon. Starting from this finding, in June 2018 a preliminary campaign of analysis by means of X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) of external portions removed mechanically from their original rolls in the eighteenth century (the so-called scorze) took place at the Biblioteca Nazionale at Naples. Also in this case, the aim of the survey was to investigate the ink composition in order to detect possible traces of metal. This article sums up the results of this survey.
Hundreds of papyrus rolls, carbonized during the 79CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were discovered in 1754 at Herculaneum. Sophisticated mechanical methods for unrolling the best-preserved scrolls have been applied, with varying success. However, such processes have been abandoned, to prevent risk from irremediable damage or loss and to preserve the integrity of the extremely fragile rolls. Following the development of X-ray based non-invasive techniques, attempts to virtually unroll the scrolls were made. The most common ink in Antiquity was carbon-based, and the main element of carbonized papyrus is carbon, making these investigations difficult. However, some attempts with synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) were successful. Recently, the identification of antique inks containing metals raised hope that if some of the inks contain metal the rolls can be virtually unrolled using conventional CT- technique. We investigated the inks of a selection of partially unrolled fragments stored at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli with X-ray fluorescence in order to select the best candidates for tomography. Despite the many difficulties (analysis of several layers sticking together, letters barely visible, difficulty to separate contribution from the ink and from the papyrus, inhomogeneity of the support, fragility of the fragments…), encouraging results were found, with a number of inks from Greek fragments found to contain additions to the soot (Fe, Pb, Cu P).
Hundreds of papyrus rolls, carbonized during the 79CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were discovered in 1754 at Herculaneum. Sophisticated mechanical methods for unrolling the best-preserved scrolls have been applied, with varying success. However, such processes have been abandoned, to prevent risk from irremediable damage or loss and to preserve the integrity of the extremely fragile rolls. Following the development of X-ray based non-invasive techniques, attempts to virtually unroll the scrolls were made. The most common ink in Antiquity was carbon-based, and the main element of carbonized papyrus is carbon, making these investigations difficult. However, some attempts with synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) were successful. Recently, the identification of antique inks containing metals raised hope that if some of the inks contain metal the rolls can be virtually unrolled using conventional CT- technique. We investigated the inks of a selection of partially unrolled fragments stored at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli with X-ray fluorescence in order to select the best candidates for tomography. Despite the many difficulties (analysis of several layers sticking together, letters barely visible, difficulty to separate contribution from the ink and from the papyrus, inhomogeneity of the support, fragility of the fragments…), encouraging results were found, with a number of inks from Greek fragments found to contain additions to the soot (Fe, Pb, Cu P).
Hundreds of papyrus rolls, carbonized during the 79CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were discovered in 1754 at Herculaneum. Sophisticated mechanical methods for unrolling the best-preserved scrolls have been applied, with varying success. However, such processes have been abandoned, to prevent risk from irremediable damage or loss and to preserve the integrity of the extremely fragile rolls. Following the development of X-ray based non-invasive techniques, attempts to virtually unroll the scrolls were made. The most common ink in Antiquity was carbon-based, and the main element of carbonized papyrus is carbon, making these investigations difficult. However, some attempts with synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) were successful. Recently, the identification of antique inks containing metals raised hope that if some of the inks contain metal the rolls can be virtually unrolled using conventional CT- technique. We are presenting here the first results of a preliminary analysis, which aimed at identifying scrolls whose ink contains metals.
The need for sustainable and effective usage of limited resources like water and soil becomes more and more important due to increasing populations and their need for food. The research initiative BonaRes funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, develops strategies to use soil as a sustainable resource for the bio-economy. One part of this initiative is the Intelligence for Soil (I4S) project. It deals with the development of an integrated system for the site-specific soil fertility management. The goal of the project is to establish a mobile sensor platform for soil mapping as well as to apply soil and crop models to deal with the high amount of produced data. These models are going to be used to formulate recommendations on the use of fertilizers and to gain an improvement on the soil fertility. Using this information, the environmental pollution with substances like nitrate contained in fertilizers can be decreased. Furthermore, the costs for farmers can be decreased if only the amounts of fertilizer needed are applied to the field.
The task for BAM is installation and optimization of a handheld XRF sensor for online measurement directly on the field. It is a non-destructive technique and quite suitable for an online approach due to a low maintenance in sample preparation and a fast and simultaneous multi element analysis. The elements of interest in this case are light elements like phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. One of the major tasks is the calibration of the sensor for different soils is finding suitable calibration models, which are evolved to deal with different types of soil. Due to the multi element analysis, micro and macro nutrients can be determined simultaneously. Those differ a lot in their contents, which makes it inevitable to optimize and adapt the analytical procedure. By analyzing soil it is always important to deal with matrix effects, that is why the influence of different disturbances like the moisturize content and the grain size needs to be investigated. The XRF is only one of many sensors that combined give customized fertilizing recommendations in the end.
xraylib 3.1.0
(2014)
Quantitative estimate of elemental composition by spectroscopic and imaging techniques using X-ray fluorescence requires the availability of accurate data of X-ray interaction with matter. Although a wide number of computer codes and data sets are reported in literature, none of them is presented in the form of freely available library functions which can be easily included in software applications for X-ray fluorescence. This work presents a compilation of data sets from different published works and an xraylib interface in the form of callable functions. Although the target applications are on X-ray fluorescence, cross sections of interactions like photoionization, coherent scattering and Compton scattering, as well as form factors and anomalous scattering functions, are also available.
xraylib provides access to some of the most respected databases of physical data in the field of x-rays. The core of xraylib is a library, written in ANSI C, containing over 40 functions to be used to retrieve data from these databases. This C library can be directly linked with any program written in C, C++ or Objective-C. Furthermore, the xraylib package contains bindings to several popular programming languages: Fortran 2003, Perl, Python, Java, IDL, Lua, Ruby, PHP and .NET, as well as a command-line utility which can be used as a pocket-calculator. Although not officially supported, xraylib has been reported to be useable from within Matlab and LabView.
The source code is known to compile and run on the following platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD and Windows.
Development occurs on Github: http://github.com/tschoonj/xraylib
Downloads are hosted by the X-ray Micro-spectroscopy and Imaging research group of Ghent University: http://lvserver.ugent.be/xraylib
Version 3.1.0 release notes:
- Database of commonly used radionuclides for X-ray sources added (new API: GetRadioNuclideDataByName, GetRadioNuclideDataByIndex, GetRadioNuclideDataList and FreeRadioNuclideData)
- numpy Python bindings added, generated with Cython. Performance basically the same as the core C library. (suggested by Matt Newville)
- docstring support added to Python bindings (suggested by Matt Newville)
- Windows SDKs now have support for Python 3.4.
- Windows 64-bit SDK now comes with IDL bindings
- Confirmed support for LabView (thanks to Dariush Hampai!)
- Universal Intel 32/64 bit Framework built for Mac OS X
- Perl support for Debian/Ubuntu
- Several bugfixes: thanks to those that reported them!
The principles of (Hard) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and some application in the field of (core-shell) nanoparticles will be presented. The presentation should answer hoe to get reliable results. Furthermore, examples of the correlation between physical-chemical measurments and toxicological results are given which are crucial for the risk assessment of nanoparticles.
The datasets from (Hard Energy) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microsopy are related to the publication
G. Chemello, X. Knigge, D. Ciornii, B.P. Reed, A.J. Pollard, C.A. Clifford, T. Howe, N. Vyas, V.-D. Hodoroaba, J. Radnik
"Influence of the morphology on the functionalization of graphene nanoplatelets analyzed by comparative photoelectron spectroscopy with soft and hard X-rays"
Advanced Materials Interfaces (2023), DOI: 10.1002/admi.202300116.
Water and aqueous reagents are essential in any biological process or system. But apart from a few special low vapor-pressure cases, liquids have not been accessible to any technique requiring UHV conditions. EnviroESCA opens up this exciting field of applications.
In this paper first results from water based samples are presented as a proof of concept to demonstrate the special capabilities of EnviroESCA analyzing liquid samples. The following solutions were investigated under near ambient pressure conditions: i.) water, ii.) brine, iii.) an oil in water dispersion, iv.) aqueous iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate, and v.) a suspension of nano silver particles in water.
This application note presents how EnviroESCA can be used to analyze bacterial samples under near ambient pressure conditions in various states of hydration using different levels of humidity. Such investigations of bacterial cell wall surfaces in their hydrated state are essential for studying biological interfaces at work.
The use of innovative near-ambient pressure (NAP-)XPS instrumentation allows the detailed analysis of irregularly-surfaced biofilms. NAP-XPS enables the surface analysis of bacterial samples in their natural hydrated state without complex sample preparation techniques such as freeze-drying or fast-freezing, which are needed for XPS analysis in ultrahigh vacuum.
XPS of GR2M
(2022)
CrN film coatings were prepared by magnetron sputter deposition at different nitrogen partial pressures. The film characterisation by XRD and DTG gives average bulk compositions of Cr2N and CrN for the coatings. Highly sensitive XPS investigations were performed and the chemical and phase compositions of a film surface range of about 10 nm thickness was estimated quantitatively from the deconvoluted peak intensities. It is demonstrated that the composition of the surface of chromium nitride thin films differs from the core and is more complex in constitution. Not only chromium nitrides (Cr2N and CrN) but also chromium oxynitrides and chromium oxides (CrOx and CrOxHy) were detected. Metallic chromium was also found in films prepared at higher nitrogen flow. The concentration of the estimated phases shows dependence on film preparation and additional heat treatment.
The growing interest in artificial bioorganic Interfaces as a platform for applications in emerging Areas as personalized medicine, clinical diagnostics, biosensing, biofilms, prevention of biofouling, and other fields of bioengineering is the origin of a need for in Detail multitechnique characterizations of such layers and interfaces. The in-depth analysis of biointerfaces is of special interest as the properties of functional bioorganic coatings can be dramatically affected by in-depth variations of composition.
In worst cases, the functionality of a device produced using such coatings can be substantially reduced or even fully lost.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) were used to study the formation of AlN films by N+2 ion implantation of aluminium at energies of 3 keV and 100 keV. In both cases, a two-stage mechanism was found, comprising first the oriented precipitation of small particles of the hexagonal AlN-phase, followed by growth and coalescence finally forming a continuous AlN-layer while increasing the implantation dose from 1×1017 cm-2 to 2×1017 cm-2. The results of both methods are in excellent agreement and furthermore provide complementary information concerning chemical composition and binding energies as well as microstructural details.
The chemical constitution of functionalized supports is an important parameter that determines their performance in a broad range of applications, e.g. for immobilization of biomolecules. Supports with amino functionalized surfaces are also often used for DNA microarray experiments. However, spectral data which have been reported for surfaces with amino functionalities suffer from some inconsistencies. In this article a detailed XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and NEXAFS (Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure) database for amino functionalized surfaces is presented. Amino-terminated surfaces prepared from aliphatic and aromatic aminosilanes or aminothiols and a field sample are considered. Effects of aging in air and damage by radiation are addressed as well.
XMI-MSIM 5.0
(2014)
XMI-MSIM is an open source tool designed for predicting the spectral response of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers using Monte-Carlo simulations. It comes with a fully functional graphical user interface in order to make it as user friendly as possible. Considerable effort has been taken to ensure easy installation on all major platforms.
Development of this package was part of my PhD thesis. The algorithms were inspired by the work of my promotor Prof. Laszlo Vincze of Ghent University. Links to his and my own publications can be found in our manual.
A manuscript has been published in Spectrochimica Acta Part B that covers the algorithms that power XMI-MSIM. Please include a reference to this publication in your own work if you decide to use XMI-MSIM for academic purposes.
A second manuscript was published that covers our XMI-MSIM based quantification plug-in for PyMca. Soon information on using this plug-in will be added to the manual.
XMI-MSIM is released under the terms of the GPLv3.
Development occurs at Github: http://github.com/tschoonj/xmimsim
Downloads are hosted by the X-ray Micro-spectroscopy and Imaging research group of Ghent University: http://lvserver.ugent.be/xmi-msim
Version 5.0 release notes:
Changes:
1. Custom detector response function: build a own plug-in containing your own detector response function and load it at run-time to override the builtin routines. Instructions can be found in the manual.
2. Escape peak improvements: new algorithm is used to calculate the escape peak ratios based on a combined brute-force and variance-reduction approach. Ensures high accuracy even at high incoming photon energies and thin detector crystals. Downside: it's slower…
3. Removed maximum convolution energy option. Was a bit confusing anyway.
4. Number of channels: moved from simulation controls into input-file
5. Radionuclide support added: Now you can select one or more commonly used radionuclide sources from the X-ray sources widget.
6. Advanced Compton scattering simulation: a new alternative implementation of the Compton scattering has been implemented based on the work of Fernandez and Scot (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2007.04.203), which takes into account unpopulated atomic orbitals. Provides an improved simulation of the Compton profile, as well as fluorescence contributions due to Compton effect (extremely low!), but slows the code down considerably. Advanced users only. Default: OFF
7. Plot spectra before convolution in results
8. Windows: new Inno Setup installers. Contains the headers and import libraries
9. Windows: compilers changed to GCC 4.8.1 (TDM-GCC)
10. Windows: rand_s used to generate seeds on 64-bit version (requires Vista or later)
11. Windows: new gtk runtime for the 64-bit version (see also https://github.com/tschoonj/GTK-for-Windows-Runtime-Environment-Installer)
12. Mac OS X: compilers changed to clang 5.1 (Xcode) and gfortran 4.9.1 (MacPorts)
13. Original input-files from our 2012 publication (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2012.03.011) added to examples
14. Updater performs checksum verification after download
15. X-ray sources last used values stored in preferences.ini
16. xmimsimdata.h5 modified: even bigger now...
Bugfixes:
1. Windows: support for usernames with unicode characters. Fixed using customized builds of HDF5. Thanks to Takashi Omori of Techno-X for the report!
2. Spectrum import from file fixes. Was never properly tested apparently
Note:
For those that compiled XMI-MSIM from source: you will need to regenerate the xmimsimdata.h5 file with xmimsim-db. Old versions of this file will not work with XMI-MSIM 5.0.
The quantification of experimental and data analysis errors is most of the times jeopardised by the presence of surface roughness, waviness, as well as by typical measurement artefacts of the XCT technique (for instance refraction at sharp edges). One way to at least estimate the influence of those factors on dimensional measurements and on tolerances is to simulate them using Monte-Carlo method. An alternative strategy is to use independent knowledge (e.g. CMM data) to smoothen/calibrate/correct XCT data.
Microstructural changes in porous cordierite for diesel particulate filter applications caused by machining were characterized using microtensile testing and X-ray computed tomography (XCT). Young’s modulus was determined on ~215-380 m thick machined samples by digital image correlation. Results show a decrease of Young’s modulus due to machining of the thin samples. Explanation of this phenomenon was provided by XCT: the presence of debris due to machining and the variation of porosity due to removal of the outer layers were quantified and correlated with the introduction of further microcracking.
X-Ray computed tomography (XCT) scan of 11 individual metallic powder particles, made of (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloy. The data set consists of 4 single XCT scans which have been stitched together [3] after reconstruction. The powder material is an (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloy with an average density of 6.4 g/cm³. The particle size range is about 100 - 150 µm with equivalent pore diameters up to 75 µm. The powder and the metallic alloy are described in detail in [1, 2].
Direct Laser Writing (DLW) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) both offer unique possibilities in their respective fields. DLW produces full three-dimensional (3D) polymer structures on the microscale with resolutions below 100 nm. The fabricated structures can be analysed by XCT or X-ray microscopy (XRM), which incorporates additional X-ray lenses, in three dimensions down to a minimal basic spatial resolution of about 500 nm or 50 nm, respectively. In this work, two different DLW structures are analysed via XCT. Internal defects are detected and analysed for the purpose of quality control. Defects and structures with sizes down to 1.5 µm are successfully analysed. A 3D reconstruction and internal, hidden features of the fabricated structures are shown and discussed. In a first-of-its-kind study, we demonstrate the detectability of a single-voxel line inside a fabricated structure that would not be detectable with SEM or light microscopy. Furthermore, the direct fabrication on a PET substrate is shown to overcome the high X-ray absorbance of commonly used glass substrates. Attenuation spectra of SZ2080 and glass substrates are compared to a fabrication route direct on a 170 µm PET foil. The practical aspects of XCT measurements for DLW structures on different substrates will be discussed.
Selective Electron Beam Melting (SEBM) is a promising powder bed Additive Manufacturing technique for near-net-shape manufacture of high-value titanium components. However without post-manufacture HIPing the fatigue life of SEBM parts is currently dominated by the presence of porosity. In this study, the size, volume fraction, and spatial distribution of the pores in model samples have been characterised in 3D, using X-ray Computed Tomography, and correlated to the process variables. The average volume fraction of the pores (b0.2%) was measured to be lower than that usually observed in competing processes, such as selective laser melting, but a strong relationship was found with the differentbeamstrategies used to contour ,and infill by hatching, a part section. The majority of pores were found to be small spherical gas pores, concentrated in the infill hatched region; this was attributed to the lower energy density and less focused beam used in the infill strategy allowing less opportunity for gas bubbles to escape the melt pool. Overall, increasing the energy density or focus of the beam was found to correlate strongly to a reduction in the level of gas porosity. Rarer irregular shaped pores were mostly located in the contour region and have been attributed to a lack of fusion between powder particles.
The preparation and characterization of a Titanium dioxide (TiO2) by a simple, cost effective, facile and eco-friendly green synthesis method using Peltophorum pterocarpum plant extract is presented. The green synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES). XRD results show that the prepared TiO2 NPs were significantly crystalline with various percentages of anatase and rutile phases. The nanoparticles were found to have different diameters ranging from 20 to 80 nm. No evidence of any intermediate or different TiO2 phases were found in XANES measurements performed at the Ti K- and L-edge. It is shown that the TiO2 NPs with high uniformity, high surface area and minimum aggregation can be prepared with relative ease and the desired anatase: rutile phase ratio can be obtained by controlling the experimental conditions.
XAFS@BAMline
(2018)
X-ray Absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) is a frequently employed technique in order to investigate structural composition and Change of chemical compounds such as catalytic species or corrosion processes. These structural properties are essential (i) to understand underlying reaction mechanism and (ii) to further improve the design of materials.
While XAFS measurements are usually performed with ionization Chambers or simple fluorescence detectors, we at BAMline specialize in measurements with innovative set-ups that meet Specialrequirements such as time resolution, (3D-) spatial Resolution or demanding sample environments.
This contribution presents various available XAFS configurations with their corresponding applications. In particular, these comprise single -shot XAFS for time- resolved measurements, grazing-exit XAFS with energy and a spatially resolved detector for the characterization of thin films and an in situ grazing incidence Setup for the characterization of corrosion layers.
Additionally,the possibility of analyzing Minute samples in total-reflection geometry is demonstrated.
Until the 1980s radiography was used to inspect civil structures in case of special demands and showed a much better resolution than other NDT techniques. However, due to safety concerns and cost issues, this method is almost never used anymore. Meanwhile, non-destructive techniques such as ultrasound or
radar have found regular, successful practical application but sometimes suffer from limited resolution and accuracy, imaging artefacts or restrictions in detecting certain features when applied to reinforced or prestressed concrete inspection.
Muon tomography has received much attention recently. Muons are particles generated naturally by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere and pose no risk to humans. Novel detectors and tomographic imaging algorithms have opened new fields of application, mainly in the nuclear sector, but also in spectacular cases such as the Egyptian pyramids.
As a first step towards practical application in civil engineering and as a proof of concept we used an existing system to image the interior of a reference reinforced 600 kg concrete block. Even with a yet not optimized setup for this kind of investigation, the muon imaging results have been at least of similar quality compared to ultrasonic and radar imaging, potentially even better. Recently, the research was expanded to more realistic testing problems such as the detection of voids in certain structural elements. However, before practical implementation, more robust, mobile, and affordable detectors would be required as well as user-Friendly imaging and simulation software.
X-rays without X-rays: Can muon tomography provide pictures from within concrete and other objects?
(2024)
Until the 1980s radiography was used to inspect civil structures in case of special demands and showed a much better resolution than other NDT techniques. However, due to safety concerns and cost issues, this method is almost never used anymore. Meanwhile, non-destructive techniques such as ultrasound or
radar have found regular, successful practical application but sometimes suffer from limited resolution and accuracy, imaging artefacts or restrictions in detecting certain features when applied to reinforced or prestressed concrete inspection.
Muon tomography has received much attention recently. Muons are particles generated naturally by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere and pose no risk to humans. Novel detectors and tomographic imaging algorithms have opened new fields of application, mainly in the nuclear sector, but also in spectacular cases such as the Egyptian pyramids.
As a first step towards practical application in civil engineering and as a proof of concept we used an existing system to image the interior of a reference reinforced 600 kg concrete block. Even with a yet not optimized setup for this kind of investigation, the muon imaging results have been at least of similar quality compared to ultrasonic and radar imaging, potentially even better. Recently, the research was expanded to more realistic testing problems such as the detection of voids in certain structural elements. However, before practical implementation, more robust, mobile, and affordable detectors would be required as well as user-Friendly imaging and simulation software.
The talk also discusses other applications , such as volcanology, mining and geothermal exploration.
X-ray refraction is analogous to visible light deflection by matter; it occurs at boundaries between different media. The main difference between visible light and X-rays is that in the latter case deflection angles are very small, from a few seconds to a few minutes of arc (i.e., the refraction index n is near to 1). Trivially but importantly, deflection of X-rays is also sensitive to the orientation of the object boundaries. These features make X-ray refraction techniques extremely suitable to a) detect defects such as pores and microcracks and quantify their densities in bulk (not too heavy) materials, and b) evaluate porosity and particle properties such as orientation, size, and spatial distribution (by mapping). While X-ray refraction techniques cannot in general image single defects, their detectability is simply limited by the wavelength of the radiation.
We thereby show the application of X-ray refraction 2D mapping (topography) and tomography to different sorts of problems in materials science and technology: 1) Sintering of SiC green bodies; 2) Porosity analysis in additively manufactured alloys; 3) Fiber de-bonding in metal and polymer matrix composites.
Such techniques, especially at the Synchrotron BESSY II, Berlin, Germany, can be used in-situ, i.e. when the specimen is subjected to temperatures or external loads. Applications of in-situ X-ray refraction radiography on aluminum alloys and composites are also shown.
The use of X-ray refraction analysis yields quantitative information, which can be directly input in kinetics, mechanical and damage models.
X-ray tomography characterisation of lattice structures processed by selective electron beam melting
(2017)
Metallic lattice structures intentionally contain open porosity; however, they can also contain unwanted closed porosity within the structural members. The entrained porosity and defects within three different geometries of Ti-6Al-4V lattices, fabricated by Selective Electron Beam Melting (SEBM), is assessed from X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans. The results suggest that horizontal struts that are built upon loose powder show particularly high (~20 x 10⁻³ vol %) levels of pores, as do nodes at which many (in our case 24) struts meet. On the other hand, for struts more closely aligned (0° to 54°) to the build direction, the fraction of porosity appears to be much lower (~0.17 x 10⁻³%) arising mainly from pores contained within the original atomised powder particles.
The new standard ‘ISO 17636-2:2013: Non-destructive testing of welds — Radiographic testing — Part 2: X- and gamma-ray techniques with digital detectors’, defines the practice for radiographic inspection of welded pipes for manufacturing and in-service inspection. It is applied in Europe for inspections of pipe welds in nuclear power plants as well as in chemical plants and allows a faster inspection with digital detector arrays (DDA) than with film. Nevertheless, it does not allow the evaluation of the depth and shape of volumetric and planar indications. In 2001 a planar tomography scanner, TomoCAR, was introduced for mechanized radiographic testing (RT) inspection and non-destructive measurement of cross sections. The project TomoWELD is based on a new concept of the scan geometry, an enhanced GPU based reconstruction, and the application of a new generation of photon counting DDAs based on CdTe crystal CMOS hybrids. The new detector permits the selection of energy thresholds to obtain an optimum energy range and reduction of the influence of scattered radiation. The concept and first measurements are presented. Flaw depth and shape of volumetric and planar irregularities can be determined.