Open Access

The CCQM-K78.b key comparison was coordinated by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) on behalf of the CCQM Organic Analysis Working Group (OAWG) of the 'Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière' (CCQM), for National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) providing measurement services in organic analysis under the 'Comité International des Poids et Mesures' (CIPM) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). This key comparison was conducted as a 'Track A' comparison within the OAWG's 10-year strategic plan. The goal of CCQM-K78.b was to underpin capabilities for the value assignment of calibration solutions containing low polarity/non-polar organic analytes in organic solvents. The selected model system consisted of a two-component pesticide solution in acetonitrile, comprising methoxychlor and trifluralin. Participants were tasked with assigning the mass fractions, in units of μg/g, of methoxychlor and trifluralin in acetonitrile solution. The mass fraction levels and analytical challenges of the selected analytes were representative of those encountered for calibration solutions of non-polar organic analytes. Participation in CCQM-K78.b allowed for the benchmarking of capabilities for assigning the mass fraction of non-polar organic compounds (pKow < -2) in solution, at mass fractions above 5 μg/g, in an organic solvent. Additionally, the comparison assessed the capabilities for the quantitative assignment of thermally labile compounds. Participants were provided by the BIPM with ampoules containing methoxychlor and trifluralin in acetonitrile. Each participant reported the mass fraction content of each analyte in μg/g. All participants ensured the metrological traceability of their results through the use of a Primary Reference Material (PRM), which was used to prepare a primary calibrator solution for each analyte using a gravimetric procedure. The twenty participating institutes primarily used analysis procedures based on GC-MS, -IDMS, -MS/MS, -ECD, and -FID, with some participants also using LC-UV for the value assignment. The analysis of methoxychlor and trifluralin in acetonitrile solution presented several challenges, including the thermal stability of the analytes under selected analytical techniques, control of solvent volatility, and considerable variation in some results using MS-based quantification methods. The mass fraction assignments for methoxychlor and trifluralin, consistent with the key comparison reference values (KCRVs), were achieved with associated relative standard uncertainties of (0.38 - 2.9) % for methoxychlor and (0.35 - 2.5) % for trifluralin. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database https://www.bipm.org/kcdb/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Advanced ceramics printed with photon-based additive manufacturing deals with anisotropic mechanical properties from the layer-by-layer manufacturing. Motivated by the success in using highly filled transparent slurries containing nanoparticles for powder-based two-photon-polymerization (2PP) for advanced ceramic printing, this works approach is the transfer to Xolography, a volumetric additive manufacturing technology based on linear two-photon excitation and without recoating steps. This paper reports the results of a preliminary investigation optimizing the photocurable slurry to the requirements of Xolography in terms of transparency, over a significantly larger mean free path, compared to 2PP. A feedstock filled with 70 % weight fraction of ceramic particles (∼30 vol%) exhibiting an exceptionally high degree of transparency in the relevant wavelength range of 400–800 nm was prepared from 5 nm zirconia nanoparticles. The high transparency of the photocurable slurry is attributed to the near-monomodal particle size distribution of the zirconia nanoparticles used.

Tapes, cast by blade deposition of a lithium aluminosilicate glass slurry, were sintered using a YAG-fiber laser, with the aim of finding suitable parameters for an additive manufacturing process based on layer-wise slurry deposition and selective laser densification. The influence of the laser parameters (output power and scan velocity) on the sintering was evaluated, by scanning electron microscopy and by X-ray diffraction, on the basis of the quality of the processed layer. Well densified samples could be obtained only in a small window of values for the output power and the scan velocity. The measurement of the width of a set of single scanned lines allowed also to estimate the minimum resolution of the system along the layer plane.