Chemische Charakterisierung und Spurenanalytik
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Quantitative Analysis and 2D/3D Elemental Imaging of Cocoa Beans Using X‑ray Fluorescence Techniques
(2023)
As an important raw material for the confectionery industry, the cocoa bean (Theobroma cacao L.) has to meet certain legal requirements in terms of food safety and maximum contaminant levels in order to enter the cocoa market. Understanding the enrichment and distribution of essential minerals but also toxic metals is of utmost importance for improving the nutritional quality of this economically important raw food material. We present three X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques for elemental bio-imaging of intact cocoa beans and one additional XRF technique for quantitative analysis of cocoa pellets. The interrelation of all the methods presented gives a detailed picture of the content and 3D-resolved distribution of elements in complete cocoa beans for the first time.
With increasing demand and environmental concerns, researchers are exploring new materials that can perform as well or better than traditional materials while reducing environmental impact. The BAMline, a real-life sample materials research beamline, provides unique insights into materials’ electronic and chemical structure at different time and length scales. The beamline specializes in x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and tomography experiments. This enables real-time optimization of material properties and performance for various applications, such as energy transfer, energy storage, catalysis, and corrosion resistance. This paper gives an overview of the analytical methods and sample environments of the BAMline, which cover non-destructive testing experiments in materials science, chemistry, biology, medicine, and cultural heritage. We also present our own synthesis methods, processes, and equipment developed specifically for the BAMline, and we give examples of synthesized materials and their potential applications. Finally, this article discusses the future perspectives of the BAMline and its potential for further advances in sustainable materials research.
To gain insight into the possible origin of the gold used in the production of tesserae containing gold leaf less than 0.5 μm thick placed between two layers of glass, we propose a non-destructive synchrotron radiation (SR) XRF protocol based on sequential analysis under optimised analytical conditions. Using this protocol, trace element analysis is achieved with detection limits of 1–6 mg/kg. As Pt and Au have adjacent fluorescence energies, we tested the most challenging situation, when Pt is present in very low concentrations in gold. Data obtained by double-dispersive XRF (D2XRF) and μXRF for fourth–ninth-century mosaics decorating nine Eastern and Western religious buildings show that the Eastern and Western tesserae are made from different alloys.
However, these alloys are identical to those used to make gold leaf for gilding, because plastic deformation requires the use of gold alloys with high ductility and malleability. Although trace element composition of gold used in the concerned period is only available for coins, by comparing the amounts of Pt contained in the tesserae and in the coins we show that Roman tesserae are made from Roman gold, as described in the documentary sources. We observe for the Byzantine period the use of a Byzantine gold and of gold supposedly from different stages of recycling, and we suggest the use of Umayyad and Abbasid gold for the production of Islamic tesserae.
X-ray fluorescence imaging is a well-established tool in materials characterization. In this work, we present the adaption of coded aperture imaging to full-field X-ray fluorescence imaging at the synchrotron. Coded aperture imaging has its origins in astrophysics, and has several advantages: Coded apertures are relatively easy to fabricate, achromatic, allow a high photon throughput, and high angular acceptance. Coded aperture imaging is a two-step-process, consisting of the measurement process and a reconstruction step. Different programs have been written, for the raytracing/forward projection and the reconstruction. Experiments with coded aperture in combination with a Color X-ray Camera and an energy-dispersive area detector, have been conducted at the BAMline. Measured samples were successfully reconstructed, and gave a 9.1-fold increase in count rate compared to a polycapillary optic.
n this study, two green synthesis routes were used for the synthesis of Ag/ZnO nanoparticles, using cassava starch as a simple and low-cost effective fuel and Aloe vera as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The Ag/ZnO nanoparticles were characterized and used for bacterial dis-
infection of lake water contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli). Characterization indicated the formation of a face-centered cubic structure of metallic silver nanoparticles with no insertion of Ag into the ZnO hexagonal wurtzite structure. Physicochemical and bacteriological analyses described in “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater” were used to evaluate the efficiency of the treatment. In comparison to pure ZnO, the synthesized Ag/ZnO nanoparticles showed high efficiencies against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and general coliforms present in the lake
water. These pathogens were absent after treatment using Ag/ZnO nanoparticles. The results indicate that Ag/ZnO nanoparticles synthesized via green chemistry are a promising candidate for the treatment of wastewaters contaminated by bacteria, due to their facile preparation, low-cost synthesis,and disinfection efficiency.
Fire-gilding is a historic technique for the application of golden layers on a number of different base materials utilizing a gold amalgam. This technique leaves a significant amount of Hg in the golden layer, giving archeometrists a reliable indicator to identify firegildings.
Recent findings on presumably fire-gilded objects have shown in several cases significantly lower Hg content than previously studied objects. This prompted a synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence investigation into the Hg distribution along the material–gilding interface, as well as a series of measurements regarding the Hg content development in fire-gilded samples during artificial aging. This work presents findings on laboratory-prepared fire-gildings, indicating an Hg enrichment at the interface of firegilded silver samples. Notably, such an enrichment is missing in fire-gilded copper samples. Further, it is confirmed that fire-gilded layers typically do not undercut an Hg bulk content of 5%. In this light, it seems improbable that ancient samples that contain <5% Hg are fire-gilded. The results presented in this study might lead to a non-destructive method to identify the Hg enrichment at the interface. This might be obtained by a combination of different non-destructive measurements and might also work unambiguously in samples in which the gold top layer is altered.
EXAFS analysis of pure elements, binary and ternary equiatomic refractory alloys within the Nb-Zr-Ti-Hf- Ta system is performed at the Nb and Zr K-edges to analyze the evolution of the chemical local environ- ment and the lattice distortion. A good mixing of the elements is found at the atomic scale. For some compounds, a distribution of distances between the central atom and its neighbors suggests a distortion of the structure. Finally, analysis of the Debye-Waller parameters shows some correlation with the lat- tice distortion parameter δ², and allows to quantify experimentally the static disorder in medium entropy alloys.
The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is currently a potential candidate for stationary energy storage. A major challenge is the unintended vanadium transport through the separator, which results in a fade of capacity. To overcome this issue, it is necessary to understand the transport processes in the membrane on a more fundamental level. In this work, the vanadium species distribution in Nafion™ 117 after cyclization was investigated. Two membranes, one from a charged VRFB and another from a discharged VRFB, were analyzed using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV/VIS) and X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES). Little difference between the two membranes was recognizable according to the UV/VIS results. In comparison, the XANES results showed that the membrane from the charged VRFB contains more V3+ than VO2+, whereas for the discharged case, more VO2+ is present in the membrane.
In this work, we describe the use of artificial neural networks for the quantification of X-ray fluorescence measurements. The training data were generated using Monte Carlo simulation, which avoided the use of adapted reference materials. The extension of the available data set by means of an ANN to generate additional data was demonstrated. Particular emphasis was put on the comparability of simulated and experimental data and how the influence of deviations can be reduced. The search for the optimal hyperparameter, manual and automatic, is also described. For the presented case, we were able to train a network with a mean absolute error of 0.1 weight percent for the synthetic data and 0.7 weight percent for a set of experimental data obtained with certified reference materials.
To better study the impact of nanoparticles on both in vitro and in vivo models, tissue distribution and cellular doses need to be described more closely. Here silver nanoparticles were visualized in alveolar macrophages by means of synchrotron radiation micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (SR-μXRF) with high spatial resolution of 3 × 3 μm2. For the spatial allocation of silver signals to cells and tissue structures, additional elemental labeling was carried out by staining with eosin, which binds to protein and can be detected as bromine signal with SR-μXRF. The method was compatible with immunostaining of macrophage antigens. We found that the silver distribution obtained with SR-μXRF was largely congruent with distribution maps from a subsequent laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of the same tissue sites. The study shows a predominant, though not exclusive uptake of silver into alveolar macrophages in the rat lung, which can be modeled by a similar uptake in cultured alveolar macrophages. Advantages and limitations of the different strategies for measuring nanoparticle uptake at the single cell level are discussed.