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The European Commission has identified Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Materials as two of six Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). It is considered that Metrology is a key enabler for the advancement of these KETs. Consequently, EURAMET, the association of metrology institutes in Europe, has strengthened the role of Metrology for these KETs by enabling the creation of a European Metrology Network (EMN) for Advanced Manufacturing. The EMN is comprised of National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) from across Europe and was formally established in October 2021. The aim of the EMN is to provide a high-level coordination of European metrology activities for the Advanced Manufacturing community.
The EMN itself is organized in three sections representing the major stages of the manufacturing chain: 1) Advanced Materials, 2) Smart Manufacturing Systems, and 3) Manufactured Components & Products. The EMN for Advanced Manufacturing is engaging with stakeholders in the field of Advanced Manufacturing (large companies & SMEs, industry organisations, existing networks, and academia), as well as the wider Metrology community, including Technical Committees, to provide input for the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) on Metrology for Advanced Manufacturing.
This contribution will give an overview about the first version of the SRA prepared by the EMN for Advanced Manufacturing
The European Commission has identified Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Materials as two of six Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). It is considered that Metrology is a key enabler for the advancement of these KETs. Consequently, EURAMET, the association of metrology institutes in Europe, has strengthened the role of Metrology for these KETs by enabling the creation of a European Metrology Network (EMN) for Advanced Manufacturing. The EMN is comprised of National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and Designated Institutes (DIs) from across Europe and was formally established in October 2021. The aim of the EMN is to provide a high-level coordination of European metrology activities for the Advanced Manufacturing community.
The EMN itself is organized in three sections representing the major stages of the manufacturing chain: 1) Advanced Materials, 2) Smart Manufacturing Systems, and 3) Manufactured Components & Products. The EMN for Advanced Manufacturing is engaging with stakeholders in the field of Advanced Manufacturing (large companies & SMEs, industry organisations, existing networks, and academia), as well as the wider Metrology community, including Technical Committees, to provide input for the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) on Metrology for Advanced Manufacturing.
This contribution will give an overview about the first version of the SRA prepared by the EMN for Advanced Manufacturing.
Surface functionalized silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NP) gained great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used e.g. as drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. They are highly stable, are easily produced and modified on a large scale at low cost and can be labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes. These dye modified particle conjugates have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte-sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, stained nanoparticles can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments.
Here we present our work on multicolored sensors for the measurement of pH, oxygen and saccharides utilizing amorphous SiO2 NPs.
In recent years, chromium (III) complexes have received a lot of attention as novel near-infrared (NIR) emitters triggered by the report on the first molecular ruby Cr(ddpd)2(BF4)3 with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 13.7% of its near infrared (NIR) emission band and a long luminescence lifetime of 1.122 ms at room temperature.[1] However, in an oxygen-containing environment, the photoluminescence quantum yields and luminescence lifetimes of these chromium(III) complexes show only very small values. This hampers their application as NIR luminescence labels. This application, that cannot be tackled by conventional deoxygenating approaches, requires suitable strategies to protect the luminescence of the chromium(III) complexes from oxygen quenching. An elegant approach to reduce the undesired luminescence quenching by triplet oxygen explored by us presents the incorporation of these chromium(III) complexes into different types of amorphous, non-porous silica nanoparticles, that can be simply surface functionalized, e.g., with targeting ligands and/or other sensor molecules. In this work, as first proof-of-concept experiments, a set of chromium (III) complexes constituting of different ligands and counter anions, were embedded into the core of silica nanoparticles. Subsequently, the optical properties of the resulting luminescent silica nanoparticles were spectroscopically assessed by steady state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. First results of time-resolved luminescence measurements confirm our design concept of nanoscale NIR emissive Cr(III) complex-based reporters
Electrocatalysis is and will continue to play a central role in the development of a new and modern sustainable economy, especially for chemicals and fuels. The storage of excess electrical energy into chemical energy by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is a feasible solution in this economic sector. A major drawback of electrical energy lies in the storage. Therefore, hydrogen is discussed as promising alternative. Fortunately, this issue can be effectively addressed through the implementation of chemical storage mechanisms. Due to their abundance on Earth and inherent stability in alkaline solutions, transition-metal oxides have become one of several viable alternatives to conventional noble-metal catalysts. Since FeNi oxide is one of the most active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts for alkaline water electrolysis, it has been the subject of extensive research.
A series of different types of FeNi oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with atomic ratios covering a broad range, and various sizes with specific stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric iron and nickel ratios was synthesized and characterized by the combination of surface analysis techniques, such as time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which revealed the coexistence of mixed and unmixed iron and nickel NPs with comparable sizes in the range of 30–40 nm across all ratios. The synthesis technique displayed control over the iron-nickel ratio, as evidenced by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) data. The presence of magnetite (Fe3O4) was detected in all samples investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the existence of nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) was shown in the Fe2Ni by XRD analysis. For the cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements, the NPs were deposited onto glassy carbon electrodes using Nafion® as an ionomer, and 1 M KOH was employed as the electrolyte. Subsequently, the NPs/Nafion® electrode was transferred into the ToF-SIMS chamber to allow surface analysis and depth profiling.
The ToF-SIMS analysis revealed distinct peaks corresponding to Fe, Ni, and other peaks associated with Nafion®, whereas a straightforward correlation between the Ni.Fe ratio and the SIMS peak pattern is not possible.
The catalytic activity towards OER was evaluated through CV measurements, where the Fe2Ni3 ratio exhibited the most favorable performance, displaying a lower overpotential.
Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) with various chemical compositions and surface functionalities are routinely fabricated for industrial applications such as medical diagnostics, drug delivery, sensing, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, opto-electronics, and information storage which improve the quality of life and European prosperity. NP function, performance, interaction with biological species, and environmental fate are largely determined by their surface functionalities. Standardized repeatable surface characterization methods are therefore vital for quality control of NPs, and to meet increasing concerns regarding their safety. Therefore, industry, regulatory agencies, and policymakers need validated traceable measurement methods and reference materials. This calls for fit-for-purpose, validated, and standardized methods, and reference data and materials on the surface chemistry of engineered NPs. Here, we present a concept for the development of such standardized measurement protocols utilizing method cross-validation and interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) with emphasis on both advanced measurement methods such as quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and cost-efficient, non-surface specific methods like optical assays and electrochemical titration methods.
Electrocatalysis is and will continue to play a central role in the development of a new and modern sustainable economy, especially for chemicals and fuels. The storage of excess electrical energy into chemical energy by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is a feasible solution in this economic sector. A major drawback of electrical energy lies in the storage. Therefore, hydrogen is discussed as promising alternative. Fortunately, this issue can be effectively addressed through the implementation of chemical storage mechanisms. Due to their abundance on Earth and inherent stability in alkaline solutions, transition-metal oxides have become one of several viable alternatives to conventional noble-metal catalysts. Since FeNi oxide is one of the most active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts for alkaline water electrolysis, it has been the subject of extensive research.
A series of different types of FeNi oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with atomic ratios covering a broad range, and various sizes with specific stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric iron and nickel ratios was synthesized and characterized by the combination of surface analysis techniques, such as time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which revealed the coexistence of mixed and unmixed iron and nickel NPs with comparable sizes in the range of 30–40 nm across all ratios. The synthesis technique displayed control over the iron-nickel ratio, as evidenced by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) data. The presence of magnetite (Fe3O4) was detected in all samples investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the existence of nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) was shown in the Fe2Ni by XRD analysis. For the cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements, the NPs were deposited onto glassy carbon electrodes using Nafion® as an ionomer, and 1 M KOH was employed as the electrolyte. Subsequently, the NPs/Nafion® electrode was transferred into the ToF-SIMS chamber to allow surface analysis and depth profiling.
The ToF-SIMS analysis revealed distinct peaks corresponding to Fe, Ni, and other peaks associated with Nafion®, whereas a straightforward correlation between the Ni.Fe ratio and the SIMS peak pattern is not possible.
The catalytic activity towards OER was evaluated through CV measurements, where the Fe2Ni3 ratio exhibited the most favorable performance, displaying a lower overpotential.
Engineered and tailored nanomaterials (NM) are of great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used, e.g., as drug carriers, barcodes, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. Their performance and safety depend not only on their particle size, size distribution, and morphology, but also on their surface chemistry, i.e., the total number of surface functional groups (FG) and the number of FG accessible for subsequent functionalization with ligands or biomolecules, which in turn determines surface charge, colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and toxicity. It also underlines the importance of validated analytical methods that provide accurate information on these application-relevant physicochemical properties with a known uncertainty. In the case of FG quantification, this calls for robust, fast, inexpensive, and reliable methods which allow for the characterization of a broad variety of NM differing in size, chemical composition, and optical properties.
Methods
Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of bioanalytically relevant FG such as amine, carboxy, thiol, and aldehyde functionalities, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification. This includes electrochemical titration methods, dye-based optical assays, and other instrumental analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), and thermal analysis methods.
Results
Here, we will present examples for different types of NMs and FGs including results from a currently running interlaboratory comparison (ILC) with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to pave the road for method standardization.
Innovative aspects
• Surface analysis
• Performance and safety of nanomaterials
• Standardization
Engineered nanomaterials (NM) with their large surface-to-volume ratios and their for some materials observed size-dependent functional properties are of increasing relevance for current and future developments in various fields such as medical and pharmaceutical industry, computing and electronics or food and consumer products. The performance and safety of NM are determined by the sum of their intrinsic physicochemical properties. Especially, the particle surface chemistry, which is largely controlled by the chemical nature and density of functional groups (FG) and ligands, is an important key driver for NM performance, stability, and processibility as well as the interaction of NM with the environment. Thus, methods for FG quantification can foster the sustainable development of functional and safe(r) NM.
Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of many bioanalytically relevant FG and ligands, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification. This includes electrochemical titration methods, dye-based optical assays, and other instrumental analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance and thermal analysis methods.
The potential of our multimodal approach for FG quantification was demonstrated for commercial and custom-made polymeric and silica particles of varying FG, used as optical pH sensors. In the future, our strategy can contribute to establish multi-method characterization strategies to provide a more detailed picture of the structure-properties relationship.
In recent years, the use of functionalized micro- and nanomaterials has increased rapidly for a wide range of applications in the life and material sciences, due to their unique properties in combination with their high surface-to-volume ratio and stability. For instance, functionalized micro- and nanomaterials, that are labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes can be used for monitoring, and quantification of neutral and ionic analytes. These materials have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte-sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, stained nanoparticles can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments.
Versatile templates and carriers for the fabrication of nanosensors by staining and/or labeling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules are biocompatible silica and polymeric particles, because they can be synthesized in large scales at low costs with different surface chemistries.
Here we present our work on multicolored sensors for the measurement of pH, oxygen and saccharides utilizing commercially available or in-house synthesized silica and polymeric particles.
Nowadays amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NP) are one of the most abundant engineered nanomaterials, that are highly stable and can be easily produced on a large scale at low cost. Surface functionalized SiO2-NP are of great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used e.g. as
drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. Their performance in such applications depends not only on particle size, size distribution, and morphology, but also on surface chemistry, i.e. the total number of surface functional groups (FG)
and the number of FG accessible for subsequent functionalization with ligands or biomolecules, which in turn determines surface charge, colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and toxicity. Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of many bioanalytically relevant FG and ligands, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification. This includes electrochemical titration methods, dye-based optical assays, and other instrumental analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance and thermal analysis methods.
The potential of our multimodal approach for FG quantification was demonstrated for commercial and custom-made silica particles of varying FG, showing not only an influence of the synthesis methods on the number of FG but also on the performance. In the future, our strategy can contribute to establish multi-method characterization strategies to provide a more detailed picture of the structure-properties relationship.
In the focus of division Biophotonics are the design, preparation, analytical and spectroscopic characterization, and application of molecular and nanoscale
functional materials, particularly materials with a photoluminescence in the visible, near infrared (NIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR). This includes optical reporters for bioimaging and sensing, security and authentication barcodes, and materials for solid state lighting, energy conversion, and photovoltaics. For the identification of optimum particle structures quantitative spectroscopic studies are performed under application-relevant conditions, focusing on the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield. In addition, simple, cost-efficient, and standardizable strategies for quantifying functional groups on the surface of nano- and microparticles are developed, here with a focus on optical assays and electrochemical titration methods, cross-validated by more advanced methods such as quantitative NMR. In addition, reference materials and reference products are developed for optical methods, particularly luminescence techniques, and for analytical methods utilized for the characterization of nanomaterials.
There is an urgent demand for reliable data on microplastic analysis, particularly on its physico-chemical properties as well as validated methodology to obtain such data. Through interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) it becomes possible to assess accuracy and precision of methods by involving many laboratories around the world. At BAM, my tasks focused around organisation of an ILC on physico-chemical characterisation of microplastic detection methods under the international pre-standardisation platform VAMAS (www.vamas.org/twa45/) as Project 2 “Development of standardized methodologies for characterisation of microplastics with microscopy and spectroscopy methods” under the Technical Working Area TWA 45 “Micro and Nano Plastics in the Environment”.
With a proud number of 84 participants this ILC is able to provide superior statistical results. Thermoanalytical (Py-GC/MS and TED-GC/MS) and vibrational (µ-IR and µ-Raman) methods were asked for identification and quantification of microplastic test samples according to mass or particle number. Preliminary results indicate which methods show a higher accuracy and precision and reveal some sample preparation ideas which work best for microplastics characterisation. At the end of the ILC an overall plausibility of the results will be assessed.
Synthesis of Li ion battery materials via ball milling has been a huge area of growth, leading to new high-capacity electrode materials, such as a number of promising disordered rocksalt (DRS) phases. In prior work, it was generally assumed that the synthesis was facilitated simply by local heating effects during the milling process. In this work, we show that ball milling Li2MoO4 leads to a phase transformation to the high pressure spinel polymorph and we report electrochemical data for this phase. This observation of the formation of a high pressure polymorph shows that local heating effects alone cannot explain the phase transformation observed (phenakite to spinel) and so indicates the importance of other effects. In particular, we propose that when the milling balls collide with the material, the resulting shockwaves exert a localised pressure effect, in addition to local heating. To provide further support for this, we additionally report ball milling results for a number of case studies (Li2MnO3, Li2SnO3, Nb2O5) which reinforces the conclusion that local heating alone cannot explain the phase transformations observed. The work presented thus provides greater fundamental understanding of milling as a synthetic pathway and suggests potential strategies to prepare such samples without milling (e.g., doping to create internal chemical pressure). In addition, we suggest that further research is needed into the effect of the use of milling as a route to smaller particles, since we believe that such milling may also be affecting the surface structure of the particles through the influence of the shockwaves generated.
A series of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal based bichromophores is readily synthesized by Buchwald-Hartwig amination and Ullmann reaction in moderate to good yields. The aminated aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals are emissive in the solid state and in the aggregate, but not in solution, thus, they are AIEgens (aggregation induced emission chromogens). Aggregation is induced by fractional alternation of the solvent mixture, here by increasing the water fraction of ethanol/water mixtures. For most derivatives, the emission upon induced aggregation stems solely from the aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal chromophore, regardless whether excitation occurs at the absorption maximum of the triarylamine or the aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal. Therefore, a pronounced energy transfer from the triarylamine donor to the aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal acceptor can be inferred. The color of the emission can be controlled by choosing the para-aroyl substituent. A partial energy transfer could also be observed for some bichromophores, leading to aggregation-induced dual emission (AIDE). In addition, four examples of aminated diaroyl-S,N-ketene acetals were added to the compound library. The electron-withdrawing properties of the additional aroyl group provide a bathochromic shift of the emission band of the aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal. These bichromophores also show AIDE and in one case even aggregation-induced white light emission as a result of additive color mixing.
Liaison of ISO/TC 202 Microbeam Analysis with VAMAS/TWA 37 Quantitative Microstructural Analysis
(2023)
The progress in activities on Microbeam Analysis under VAMAS/TWA 37 is reviewed. Particularly the liaison with the new projects within the ISO technical committee TC 202 is presented and discussed with respect to the identification and launching corresponding VAMAS projects. The ongoing project "FIB sample processing for TEM" is presented in detail.
Titanium and its alloys are known to allow the straightforward laser-based manufacturing of ordered surface nanostructures, so-called high spatial frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures (HSFL). These structures exhibit sub-100 nm spatial periods – far below the optical diffraction limit. The resulting surface functionalities are usually enabled by both, topographic and chemical alterations of the nanostructured surfaces. For exploring these effects, multi-method characterizations were performed here for HSFL processed on Ti–6Al–4V alloy upon irradiation with near-infrared ps-laser pulses (1030 nm, ≈1 ps pulse duration, 1–400 kHz) under different laser scan processing conditions, i.e., by systematically varying the pulse repetition frequency and the number of laser irradiation passes. The sample characterization involved morphological and topographical investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), tactile stylus profilometry, as well as near-surface chemical analyses hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and depth-profiling time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). This provides a quantification of the laser ablation depth, the geometrical HSFL characteristics and enables new insights into the depth extent and the nature of the non-ablative laser-induced near-surface oxidation accompanying these nanostructures. This allows to answer the questions how the processing of HSFL can be industrially scaled up, and whether the latter is limited by heat-accumulation effects.
Although the use of noble metal catalysts can increase the efficiency of hydrogen evolution reaction, the process is still limited by the characteristics of the metal-hydrogen (M−H) bond, which can be too strong or too weak, depending on the metal employed. Studies revealed that the hydrogen affinity for the metal surface (i.e. H absorption/desorption) is regulated also by the potential at the metal nanoparticles. Through controlled periodic illumination (CPI) of a series of metal/TiO2 suspensions, here we demonstrated that an increase of the HER efficiency is possible for those photodeposited metals which have a Tafel slope below 125 mV. Two possible explanations are here reported, in both of them the M−H interaction and the metal covering level play a prominent role, which also depend on the prevailing HER mechanism (Volmer-Heyrovsky or Volmer-Tafel).