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Worldwide there is a variety of regulatory provisions addressing nanomaterials. The identification as nanomaterial in a regulatory context often has the consequence that specific legal rules apply. In identifying nanomaterials, and to find out whether nanomaterial-specific provisions apply, the external size of particles is globally used as a criterion. For legal certainty, its assessment for regulatory purposes should be based on measurements and methods that are robust, fit for the purpose and ready to be accepted by different stakeholders and authorities. This should help to assure the safety of nanomaterials and at the same time facilitate their international trading. Therefore, we propose a categorisation scheme which is driven by the capabilities of common characterisation techniques for particle size measurement. Categorising materials according to this scheme takes into account the particle properties that are most important for a determination of their size. The categorisation is exemplified for the specific particle number based size metric of the European Commission's recommendation on the definition of nanomaterial, but it is applicable to other metrics as well. Matching the performance profiles of the measurement techniques with the material property profiles (i) allows selecting the most appropriate size determination technique for every type of material considered, (ii) enables proper identification of nanomaterials, and (iii) has the potential to be accepted by regulators, industry and consumers alike. Having such a scheme in place would facilitate the regulatory assessment of nanomaterials in regional legislation as well as in international relations between different regulatory regions assuring the safe trade of nanomaterials.
The large number of nanomaterial-based applications emerging in the materials and life sciences and the foreseeable increasing use of these materials require methods that evaluate and characterize the toxic potential of these nanomaterials to keep safety risks to people and environment as low as possible. As nanomaterial toxicity is influenced by a variety of parameters like size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry, high throughput screening (HTS) platforms are recommended for assessing cytotoxicity. Such platforms are not yet available for genotoxicity testing. Here, we present first results obtained for application-relevant nanomaterials using an automatable genotoxicity platform that relies on the quantification of the phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) for detecting DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and the automated microscope system AKLIDES® for measuring integral fluorescence intensities at different excitation wavelengths. This platform is used to test the genotoxic potential of 30 nm-sized citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as well as micellar encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles (FeOx-NPs) and different cadmium (Cd)-based semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), thereby also searching for positive and negative controls as reference materials. In addition, the influence of the QD shell composition on the genotoxic potential of these Cd-based QDs was studied, using CdSe cores as well as CdSe/CdS core/shell and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs. Our results clearly revealed the genotoxicity of the Au-NPs and its absence in the FeOx-NPs. The genotoxicity of the Cd-QDs correlates with the shielding of their Cd-containing core, with the core/shell/shell architecture preventing genotoxicity risks. The fact that none of these nanomaterials showed cytotoxicity at the chosen particle concentrations in a conventional cell viability assay underlines the importance of genotoxicity studies to assess the hazardous potential of nanomaterials.
Functional nanomaterials (NM) of different size, shape, chemical composition, and surface chemistry are of increasing relevance for many key technologies of the twenty-first century. This includes polymer and silica or silica-coated nanoparticles (NP) with covalently bound surface groups, semiconductor quantum dots (QD), metal and metal oxide NP, and lanthanide-based NP with coordinatively or electrostatically bound ligands, as well as surface-coated nanostructures like micellar encapsulated NP. The surface chemistry can significantly affect the physicochemical properties of NM, their charge, their processability and performance, as well as their impact on human health and the environment. Thus, analytical methods for the characterization of NM surface chemistry regarding chemical identification, quantification, and accessibility of functional groups (FG) and surface ligands bearing such FG are of increasing importance for quality control of NM synthesis up to nanosafety. Here, we provide an overview of analytical methods for FG analysis and quantification with special emphasis on bioanalytically relevant FG broadly utilized for the covalent attachment of biomolecules like proteins, peptides, and oligonucleotides and address methodand material-related challenges and limitations. Analytical techniques reviewed include electrochemical titration methods, optical assays, nuclear magnetic resonance and vibrational spectroscopy, as well as X-ray based and thermal analysis methods, covering the last 5–10 years. Criteria for method classification and evaluation include the need for a signal-generating label, provision of either the total or derivatizable number of FG, need for expensive instrumentation, and suitability for process and production control during NM synthesis and functionalization.
Lanthanide-based, spectrally shifting, and multi-color luminescent upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have received much attention in the last decades because of their applicability as reporter for bioimaging, super-resolution microscopy, and sensing as well as barcoding and anti-counterfeiting tags. A prerequisite for the broad application of UCNPs in areas such as sensing and encoding are simple, robust, and easily upscalable synthesis protocols that yield large quantities of UCNPs with sizes of 20 nm or more with precisely controlled and tunable physicochemical properties from lowcost reagents with a high reproducibility. In this context, we studied the reproducibility, robustness, and upscalability of the synthesis of β-NaYF4:Yb, Er UCNPs via thermal decomposition. Reaction parameters included solvent, precursor chemical compositions, ratio, and concentration. The resulting UCNPs were then examined regarding their application-relevant physicochemical properties such as size, size distribution, morphology, crystal phase, chemical composition, and photoluminescence.
Based on these screening studies, we propose a small volume and high-concentration synthesis approach that can provide UCNPs with different, yet controlled size, an excellent phase purity and tunable morphology in batch sizes of up to at least 5 g which are well suited for the fabrication of sensors, printable barcodes or authentication and recycling tags.
Electron microscopy (EM) is the gold standard for the characterisation of the morphology (size and shape) of nanoparticles. Visual observation of objects under examination is always a necessary first step in the characterisation process. Several questions arise when undertaking to identify and count particles to measure their size and shape distribution. In addition to challenges with the dispersion and identification of the particles, more than one protocol for counting particles is in use. This paper focuses on precise rules for the counting of particles in EM micrographs, as this influences the measurement accuracy of the number of particles, thus implicitly affecting the size values of the counted particles. We review and compare four different, commonly used methods for counting, which we then apply in case studies. The impact of the selected counting rule on the obtained final particle size distribution is highlighted. One main aim of this analysis is to support the application of a specific, well-defined counting approach in accordance with regulatory
requirements to contribute to achieving more reliable and reproducible results. It is also useful for the new harmonised measurement procedures for determining the particle size and particle size distribution of nanomaterials.
The content of the paper is the assessment of the performance of (conventional) measurement techniques (MTs)with respect to the classification of disperse materials according to the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial. This performance essentially refers to the accurate assessment of the number weighted median of (the constituent) particles. All data and conclusions are based on the analytical study conducted as real-world performance testing.
It comprised different types of MTs (imaging, counting, fractionating, spectroscopic and integral) as well as different types of materials. Beside reference materials with well-defined size distribution the study also included several commercial powders (variation of particle composition, morphology, coating, size range and polydispersity). In order to ensure comparability of measurement results, the participants were guided to use uniform protocols in sample preparation, conducting measurements, data analysis and in reporting results. Corresponding documents have been made public, in order to support the reviewing process of the paper, respectively to ensure the reproducibility of data by other users under the same conditions.
The scientific paper relies on a comprehensive set of revised measurement data reported in uniform templates, completely describes the experimental procedures and discusses the MTs’ performance for selected materials in detail. Even more, the study is summarised and evaluated, which leads to recommendations for the use of MTs within a tiered approach of NM characterisation. In addition, the paper critically examines the factors that may affect the outcome of such a comparison among different MTs.
The VSSA approach has the important advantage over classifying, imaging and counting techniques that it does not involve dispersion protocols. Further, the BET technique as the basis for VSSA determination it is in widespread use, generates low costs and is specified for many commercial materials. Finally, the same equipment allows for a deeper analysis by full isotherm evaluation.
The present deliverable assesses all NanoDefine powders, supplemented by further real-world materials (in total 26 powders), and quantitatively compares the relationship between the median size (by Electron Microscopy – considered as benchmark for the EC nanomaterial definition) vs. the size derived from VSSA. The VSSA method mitigates the challenges of EM to assess the thickness of platelets, but worked as well on fibbers and particles of irregular shapes. A screening strategy is proposed. If applied to the further data from real-world materials as validation set, this screening does achieve a correct classification, leaving only borderline materials for tier 2 assessment.
The production of materials with dimensions in the nanometre range has continued to increase in recent years. In order to ensure safety when handling these products, the hazard potential of such innovative materials must be known. While several studies have already investigated the effects of explosions (such as maximum explosion pressure and maximum pressure rise) of powders with primary particles in the nanometre range, little is known about the ignition temperatures and flame velocities. Therefore, the minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of metallic nano powders (aluminium, iron, copper and zinc) was determined experimentally in a so called Godbert-Greenwald (GG) oven. Furthermore, the flame velocities were determined in a vertical tube. In order to better classify the test results, the tested samples were characterised in detail and the lower explosion limits of the tested dust samples were determined. Values for the burning velocity of aluminium nano powders are higher compared to values of micrometre powders (from literature). While MIT of nanometre aluminium powders is within the range of micrometre samples, MIT of zinc and copper nano powders is lower than values reported in literature for respective micrometre samples.
We developed a procedure to prepare luminescent LiYF4:Yb/LiYF4 and LiYF4:Yb,Er/LiYF4 core/shell nanocrystals with a size of approximately 40 nm revealing luminescence decay times of the dopant ions that approach those of high-quality laser crystals of LiYF4:Yb (Yb:YLF) and LiYF4:Yb,Er (Yb,Er:YLF) with identical doping concentrations. As the luminescence decay times of Yb3+ and Er3+ are known to be very sensitive to the presence of quenchers, the long decay times of the core/shell nanocrystals indicate a very low number of defects in the core particles and at the core/shell interfaces. This improvement in the performance was achieved by introducing two important modifications in the commonly used oleic acid based synthesis. First, the shell was prepared via anewly developed method characterized by a very low nucleation rate for particles of pure LiYF4 shell material. Second, anhydrous acetates were used as precursors and additional drying steps were applied to reduce the incorporation of OH− in the crystal lattice, known to quench the emission of Yb3+ ions. Excitation power density (P)-dependent absolute measurements of the upconversion luminescence quantum yield (Φ,UC) of LiYF4:Yb,Er/LiYF4 core/shell particles reveal a maximum value of 1.25% at P of 180 W·cm−2.
Although lower than the values reported for NaYF4:18%Yb,2%Er core/shell nanocrystals with comparable sizes, these Φ, UC values are the highest reported so far for LiYF4:18%Yb,2%Er/LiYF4 nanocrystals without additional dopants. Further improvements May nevertheless be possible by optimizing the dopant concentrations in the LiYF4 nanocrystals.
Photon upconversion upon 1550 nm excitation is of high relevance for applications in the third biological excitation window, for photovoltaics beyond current limitations, and enables appealing options in the field of glass Fiber telecommunications. Trivalent doped erbium ions (Er3+) are the material of choice for 1550 nm excited upconversion, however, they suffer from a low absorption cross-section and a low brightness. Therefore, the ability of Silicon metasurfaces to provide greatly enhanced electrical near-fields is employed to enable efficient photon upconversion even at low external Illumination conditions. Hexagonally shaped β-NaYF4:Er3+ nanoparticles are placed on large-area silicon metasurfaces designed to convert near-infrared (1550 nm) to visible light. More than 2400-fold enhanced photon upconversion luminescence is achieved by using this metasurface instead of a planar substrate.
With the aid of optical simulations based on the finite-element method, this result is attributed to the coupling of the excitation source with metasurface resonances at appropriate incident angles. Analysis of the excitation power density dependence of upconversion luminescence and red-to-green-emission ratios enables the estimation of nanoscale near-field enhancement on the metasurface. The findings permit the significant reduction of required external excitation intensities for photon upconversion of 1550 nm light, opening perspectives in biophotonics, telecommunication, and photovoltaics.