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The EC recommendation for the definition of nanomaterial [2011/696/EU] requires the quantitative size determination of constituent particles in samples down to 1 nm. Accordingly, a material is a nanomaterial if 50 % or more of the particles are in the size range 1-100 nm. The fact that engineered nanomaterials already exist in many industrial and consumer products challenges the development of measurement methods to reliably identify, characterize and quantify their occurrence as substance and in various matrices.
The EU FP7 NanoDefine project [www.nanodefine.eu] has addressed this challenge by developing a robust, readily implementable and cost-effective measurement strategy to obtain quantitative particle size distributions and to distinguish between nano and non-nano materials according to the EU definition. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of existing methodologies and intra- and inter-lab comparisons, validated measurement methods and instrument calibration procedures have been established to reliably measure the size of particles within 1-100 nm, and beyond, including different shapes, coatings and chemical compositions in industrial materials and consumer products. Case studies prove their applicability for various sectors, including food, pigments and cosmetics.
Main outcome is the establishment of an integrated tiered approach including rapid screening (tier 1) and confirmatory methods (tier 2), and a user manual to guide end-users, such as manufacturers, in selecting appropriate methods. Another main product is the “NanoDefiner” e-Tool allowing the standardised / semi-automated selection of appropriate methods for material classification according to the EU definition. Results also contribute to standardization efforts, such as CEN TC 352 or ISO TC 229.
Nanotechnology has been identified as a Key Enabling Technology for the European Union (Horizon 2020) and already has a wide field of applications. However, hazardous properties of nanomaterials such as their flammability and explosivity, have to be determined to ensure their sustainable development. This poster gives an overview of the current status in nanodust explosion research, standardization and european collaboration as well as highlighting current and future perspectives.
The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) set up the Technical Committee 352 (CEN/TC 352) in 2006 to develop and maintain up to date standards in the field of nanotechnologies. Part of the work group (WG 3) dedicated to Health, Safety and Environment, the CEN/TC 352/WG 3/PG 3 led by INERIS was constituted to develop a Technical Specification (TS) for the determination of explosivity and flammability properties of manufactured nano-objects in powder form (2013-2018).
Evaluation of particle sizing techniques for implementation of the EC Definition of a nanomaterial
(2017)
Many techniques are available for measuring particle size distribution. For ideal materials (spherical particles, well dispersed) it is possible to evaluate the Performance of these methods. The performance of the analytical instrumentation for the purpose of classifying materials according to EC Definition is unknown. In this work the performance of commercially available particle sizing techniques on representative NanoDefine set of real-world testing materials (RTM) and quality control materials (QCM) for the implementation of the Definition is evaluated.
Volume specific surface area (VSSA) by BET: concept and demonstration on industrial materials
(2017)
Volume specific surface area (VSSA) as measured by BET constituites a simple and reliable solution to (most) powders. Porous, coated, polydisperse/multimodal materials are to be treated with care, i.e. doubled by analysis with electron microscopy or more advanced BET analysis (e.g. t-plot)for each material in part.
Electrospray ionization constitutes a promising deposition technique for high-resolution imaging. Particle distribution on TEM grids takes place homogeneously and no losses occur. Suspension must be appropriate (stabilizer may induce artefacts). ESI parameters need to be optimized for each material.
The potential of electrospray deposition, for the controlled preparation of particles for imaging in electron microscopes, is evaluated on various materials: from mono-modal suspensions of spherical particles to multimodal suspensions and to real-world industrial materials. It is shown that agglomeration is reduced substantially on the sample carrier, compared with conventional sample preparation techniques. For the first time, it is possible to assess the number concentration of a tri-modal polystyrene suspension by electron microscopy, due to the high Deposition efficiency of the electrospray. We discovered that some suspension stabilizing surfactants form artifact particles during electrospraying. These can be avoided by optimizing the sprayed suspension.
A central challenge to ensure the sustainable production and use of nanotechnologies is to understand the risks for environment, health and safety associated with this technology and resulting materials and products, and to identify and implement practical strategies to minimize these risks. Knowledge about nanotechnology-enabled processes and products and related environment, health and safety issues is growing rapidly, achieved through numerous European or national R&D programs over the last decade, but effective use of this knowledge for risk management by market actors is lagging behind.
The EC4SafeNano initiative (www.EC4SafeNano.eu) is an ongoing effort to build a European Centre for Risk Management and Safe Innovation in Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies. EC4SafeNano aims to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge on hazard and risk, and ‘fit-for-purpose’ risk management tools and strategies supported by measurement and control methods. The consortium comprises 15 partners (INERIS (coordinator), EU-VRi, TNO, BAM, FIOH, VITO, SP, DEMOKRITOS, TECNALIA, Health and Safety Executive, NRCWE, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Birmingham and ENEA) from 11 European Member States with significant expertise on risk assessment and management, who already provide knowledge and technical services to public and private organizations, to industry and to public authorities and regulatory bodies.
The overall objective of the EC4SafeNano project is to develop a distributed Centre of European Organisations offering services for Risk Management and Safe Innovation for Nanomaterials & Nanotechnologies. The Centre will be structured as a hub-based network of organizations managed by a core group of public-oriented bodies providing risk management and safe innovation support to all stakeholders. It will be operated with the support of Associated Partners so as to expand its capabilities, resources and services. It will interact with existing platforms and centres of excellence in nanosafety and foster the organization or development of national hubs mirroring the European hub. The Centre will seek financial support from stakeholders and service users to sustain the services in the longer term.
The operational objectives of the project involve understanding and mapping the needs of the various stakeholders (private and public). It will identify the resources and capabilities and develop a range of harmonized services required to meet these needs. The construction of the centre will include putting in place and implementing processes to deliver and update services, to test and benchmark services, to evaluate the governance of the Centre, and developing a business plan to ensure self-sufficiency of the Centre beyond the project lifetime.
A cornerstone of the project is to build a community for risk management and safe innovation for nanotechnology. Interested persons or organisations are invited to join this initiative as registered stakeholders or Associated Partners, to engage in focus networks and to help shape the future Centre. The poster will present the EC4SafeNano initiative and will detail the role of registered stakeholders and Associated Partners.
The application of inorganic nanoparticles as reinforcement agent for polymer composites is constantly growing. Improving the performance of the material with desirable properties requires understanding of the interaction between polymer chains and nanoparticles and the properties of the interphase as well. Boehmite, a mineral of aluminum with basic unit of AlO(OH), is a novel and promising nanofiller which leads to enhanced performance of polymer composites. It has been recently reported that boehmite nanoparticles have reinforcing effect on epoxy matrix in carbon-fiber composites. It was primarily assumed that these improvements are due to very high Young’s modulus of boehmite particles. However, in our latest study we presented new values for the Young’s modulus of boehmite much lower than those reported earlier. This brings up the importance of interphase properties, e.g. the crosslink density, which can have the dominant role in the overall material property. Nevertheless, due to resolution limitations of conventional nanoprobing approaches, characterization of the interphase between individual particles and matrix is a challenge.
In this study, the main goal is to investigate the interphase of the epoxy/boehmite nanocomposites using AFM-based methods. We simplify the three-dimensional nanocomposite system to a two-dimensional horizontally layered sample with a large and easy to access interphase area. For this purpose, 1µm coatings of hydrothermally synthesized boehmite are prepared as the substrate on which the epoxy is later molded and cured. AFM surface potential and force maps were obtained on the cross-sectional cut of epoxy/ boehmite sample. The results show unexpectedly a large interphase area (approx. 1 µm) with different electrical and mechanical properties comparing to bulk epoxy. The average force-distance curves from this region showed more elastic behavior compared to bulk. The underlying mechanism of this influence is not fully understood yet. Thus, further investigation on the interphase region using the novel Nano-IR approach provides more information about the chemical characteristics. Numerical simulation will give complementary information to understand the effect of nanoparticles on the crosslinking density of the interphase. This can be different to bulk epoxy due to either different local temperature gradients or due to a surface selectivity of boehmite towards the monomer molecules.
Although there are many experimental techniques for measuring particle sizes and size distributions, electron microscopy (EM) is still considered as the gold standard in this field, especially when it comes to particle sizes in the nanorange (1 nm – 100 nm). Furthermore, high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) can be applied to individual nanoparticles. To be able to extract accurate information from the EM micrographs and EDS elemental maps that are representative for the material under investigation, one needs to assure the representativity of the particles as sampled on the substrate and their homogeneous spatial distribution, to avoid operator bias when selecting the imaged area. Furthermore, agglomeration should be avoided as far as possible. Several sample preparation techniques exist since a long time, the most common way being suspending the particles in a liquid and depositing them on the grid. However, this procedure includes the drying of larger solvent amounts on the substrate itself, which can affect the spatial distribution of the deposited particles. One possibility to overcome this problem is the use of an electrospray system, where the suspension of particles is sprayed onto the substrate in charged droplets that are so small that they either dry off on the substrate immediately without affecting the position of particles, or even already during their flight time to the substrate. No dedicated commercial instruments are available for the preparation of TEM grids yet, only electrostatic deposition of aerosols on TEM grids has been reported so far. To test the prototype and assess its performance, several materials have been sprayed onto TEM grids and the resulting particle distributions were compared to more traditional sample preparation strategies like the “drop on grid” method. Operation parameters such as the sample flow-rate, capillary – substrate distance, electric field strength and sampling period length have been optimised. It was found that the particles deposited by electrospray generally show a much more homogeneous spatial distribution on the substrate and a substantial increase of the number of single particles, which are much better suited to an automatic image evaluation procedure than the agglomerated particles observed otherwise. The applicability of the technique to a broad range of materials is demonstrated by various examples, but also the influence of the substrate, the choice of the particular TEM grid, on the obtained spatial particle distribution is assessed.
The traceability and availability of nanoparticles enables their use to enhance a variety of nano-biological and nano-medicinal applications. The particular size and shape of nanoparticles determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cell, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. Selecting specific particle types allows researchers to target the process or structure of interest, with minimal additional impact. This can be used for drug or DNA delivery, and is being explored for use in oncology. Understanding the different uptake mechanisms and impacted processes requires sub-cellular Imaging resolution to determine, for example, whether or not the nanoparticles are reaching the nucleus.
Sub-cellular imaging has traditionally been challenging to achieve with laser ablation ICP-MS due to a lack of sensitivity at small spots. Bioimaging using LA-ICP-MS is a well-established technique, but usually applied on the tissue scale, which depends on larger spot areas where sensitivity is less problematic. The improved sensitivity and washout from the NWRimage has allowed faster imaging of smaller spots. The NWRimage also provides the possibility of true sub-micron spot sizes. This work compares the capabilities of standard laser Ablation (NWR213 system) with results from the NWRimage platform, which has been optimized for imaging applications.
The synthesis of TiO2 nanoplatelets with fluorine-containing reactants is carried out using Ti (IV) butoxide as precursor and concentrated HF as shape controller, the final product requires a working up in order to eliminate or at least to reduce the amount of residual fluorides, which is realized here by well-defined thermal treatment.
Qualitative investigation of the bulk elemental composition by means of EDX of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) has identified fluorine in case of the as-synthesized samples. EDX spectra of thermally treated products exhibit either a fluorine content close to the limit of detection. The latter holds also true for the reference sample, TiO2 NPs of bipyramidal shape and prepared by a different synthesis route. For differentiation whether fluorine is present in the bulk or at the surface of the TiO2 nanoplatelets, top-surface sensitive AES and ToF-SIMS has been applied. Secondary ions of fluorine are detected in ToF-SIMS spectra of all samples, but could be roughly quantified by measurement of same reference sample as for EDX, namely TiO2 nano-bipyramids. This revealed that the amount of fluorine within1 nm depth beneath the surface is reduced in the thermally treated specimen compared to the raw product down to a content about as low as in the reference sample. AES allows analyzing analysis of the first few nanometers from the top-surface of individual NPs by point analysis. An F KLL peak has been detected at the surface of samples of as-prepared TiO2 nanoplatelets under optimized measurement conditions, but was not detectable after their calcination, which is in agreement with ToF-SIMS results. Moreover, high resolution AES on single TiO2 nanoplatelets elucidated that the surface atomic layers surrounding the TiO2 nanopaltelet contain fluorides before thermal treatment of the NPs.
Hydrothermal synthesis of anatase TiO2 nanosheets with a high fraction of exposed {001} facets and related high photocatalytic activity - as an alternative to bipyramidal anatase TiO2 nanoparticles mainly exposing the {101} facets. The scope of the material preparation work is the thermal reduction of residual fluorides from HF (capping agent) induced during the synthesis of TiO2 nanosheets by calcination at 873K. The analytical task consists of detection and localization of fluorine present at the surface and/or in the bulk of TiO2 nanosheets before and after calcination by SEM/EDX, Auger electron spectroscopy and ToF-SIMS.
Polycrystalline Ni materials with grain sizes less than 100 nm (nano crystalline NC) and with grain sizes in the micrometer range (micro crystalline MC) in form of thin films have become important in many technologies due to their improved physical, chemical and mechanical properties. Usual the mechanical properties of such coatings are described by a Hardness value and a Young´s modulus measured by Instrumented Indentation Testing (IIT).The behavior of such coatings during indentation test is influenced by different size effects having their representative length scale – grain size, coating thickness, length that characterizes the depth dependence of the hardness (Indentation Size Effect ISE). To estimate realistic values for the intrinsic coating Hardness and Young´s modulus all size effects have to be considered.
For this work thin nano crystalline Ni – coatings (average grain size 30 nm) with thickness from 1 μm to 5 μm were electrodeposited on brass substrates. Indentation tests in the continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) mode were provided on as prepared Ni – coatings using a G200 Nanoindentation system (Fa. Keysight). For estimation of the intrinsic hardness of the coatings from composite hardness values calculated from the measured force –displacement curve using the Oliver & Pharr method, the model described by Z.S. Ma [1] was used.
It was found that the experimental data can be well described by the model. The fitted values for the intrinsic hardness and the fitting parameters will be given. The different values of intrinsic hardness and of length characterizing depth dependence of the hardness for different coating thickness are discussed as results of changes in the coating structure because of changes in deposition parameters.
[1] Z.S. Ma, Y.C. Zhou, S.G. Long, C. Lu: On the intrinsic hardness of a metallic film/substrate system: Indentation size and substrate effects. International Journal of Plasticity 34 (2012) 1-11.
This work is supported by European Metrology Program for Innovation and Research (EMPIR)
(JRP 14IND03 Strength – ABLE)
The manufacturing of NbC with Ni binder with addition of titanium carbide by using a colloidal process for blending the different powders without a milling step were investigated. The the sintering process and formation of the resulting microstructures, the phase relations and the hardness of the produced cermet materials are characterized.
The overall objective of project Improved traceability chain of nanoparticle size measurements is to improve the traceability chain for nanoparticle size measurements. The main impact will be achieved by manifold contributions to standard documents for CEN/TC 352 “Nanotechnologies”, which directly addresses the research needs of CEN, CENELEC and ETSI mandated by EC to develop standards for methods and reference materials to accurately measure the size and size distribution of nanoparticles. This will take place in collaboration with ISO/TC229 ‘Nanotechnologies’, ISO/TC24/SC4 ‘Particle characterization’ and ISO/TC201 ‘Surface analysis’/ SC9 ‘Scanning probe microscopy’.
In micro or nano particles development it is important to understand and control the particle structure, as it affects among other things the potential further surface functionalisation/modification possible.
This work shows the capability of resonant mass measurements (RMM) to measure the mass and density of micron sized particles. The technology utilizes a suspended MEMS microchannel resonator, through which individual particles transit across the resonator altering the resonant frequency, which is then detected using an optical-based method. Changes in frequency observed when a particle enters the microchannel resonator are proportional to the buoyant mass of the particle, and can be translated into mass, size or surface area. RMM therefore allows particle concentration to be determined as well as particle mass in a single measurement.
Furthermore, a method for estimating the density distribution of particles from RMM measurements has been developed. This uses the convolution of the buoyant mass distribution of the particles obtained when suspended in different fluids.
By combining the data from the density and mass determinations, small mass shifts arising from applying a coating to a particle can be estimated, and the resulting shell thicknesses calculated. These methods have been applied to silica coated and uncoated polystyrene latex particles.
RMM shows that it can be used to measure, and distinguish between, silica shell thicknesses that are in the order of 10 to 55 nanometres on hybrid micron-sized particles. RMM can also determine the shell density.
We report on the design, preparation and application of immobilized Oligonucleotides as biological sensors for dosimetry and protein activity. Oligonucleotides can be custom tailored in terms of sequence and length to the needs of the specific application. The preparation can be scaled from small lab-scales to higher output via spotting technology on various surfaces such as glass, silicon-dioxide or gold. They can be applied for the sensing of DNA-protein interaction and surface-plasmon resonance to detect the influence of cosolutes on the protein activity. This can be applied in the testing of pharmaceutical or cosmsetic applications and incorporated in microfluidic devices. Other important use cases are the usage in dosimetric application where the oligonucleotides are subjected to ionizing radiation. They can directly act as a sensor for biological damage which is detected and quantified by the subsequent hybridization of complementary strands who carry a fluorescence dye. The quantification can be performed by an array scanner or fluorescence microscope. Investigation on a molecular level can be performed with the AFM-IR technique. Applications are calibration of radiation sources and the investigation of interaction of ionizing radiation with biomolecules.
The synthesis of TiO2 nanoplatelets with fluorine-containing reactants is carried out using titanium (IV) butoxide as precursor and concentrated HF as shape controller, the final product requires a working up in order to eliminate or at least to reduce the amount of residual fluorides, which is realized here by well-defined thermal treatment of the samples. Bulk and surface sensitive methods namely scanning electron microscopy with energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) have been applied to trace the presence of any fluorides in dependence on different information depths and measurement sensitivities of these methods.
Laser-induced Nanostructures as Biomimetic Model of Fluid Transport in the Integument of Animals”, aims on laser-fabrication of biomimetic surfaces with unique wetting properties, which are inspired by the hierarchical micro- and/or nano- structures of animal body surfaces. LiNaBioFluid is a Research and Innovation Action funded by the European Commissions’ Horizon 2020 - FET Open Programme, which supports early-stage research on any idea for a new technology (Grant Agreement no: 665337). It brings together 7 partners from 4 different countries and is strongly interdisciplinary combining renowned experts from the fields of zoology, physics, mechatronics, life sciences, materials sciences, laser-matter interaction, production technology, tribology, and biomimetics. www.laserbiofluid.eu/
Inhibition of Herpes Virus by Specific and Non-specific Interactions With Graphene Conjugates
(2017)
Herpes viruses (HSV) are global, host-adapted pathogens that cause a widespread diversity of diseases. The frequency of HSV infections all over the world has amplified over the last years, making it a major concern in the area of public health. Therefore, synthesis of systems that can inhibit development of these viruses is required. Various compounds already have shown inhibition of HSV, but concentration of these inhibitors is relatively high and resistance against those drugs is challenging.
Combination of biological knowledge, about structure of the active site on the surface of HSV that is responsible for inhibition of the pathogen, with the chemistry of graphene results in 2D systems with the ability of specific and nonspecific interactions with HSV. In this work, 2D nanomaterials with picomolar IC50 against HSV are synthesized by conjugation of peptides to the surface of graphene.
2D nanomaterials are characterized by various methods, including XPS, AFM and IR. Biological evaluation showed high potency of synthesized nanomaterials to inhibit HSV and therefore underlined possibility to use such materials in future biomedical applications.
Aufgrund von Erfahrungen mit Stäuben mit Partikelgrößen im Mikrometerbereich ist bekannt, dass Stoffe mit abnehmender Partikelgröße kritischer einzustufen sind, da z.B. maximaler Explosionsdruck (pmax), maximaler zeitlicher Druckanstieg (dp/dtmax) und Zündempfindlichkeit durch die Zunahme der reaktiven Oberfläche des Staubes zunehmen. Eine Übersicht des Verlaufes der Explosionsauswirkungen metallischer Stäube vom Mikrometerbereich bis in den Nanometerbereich konnte bislang nur vereinzelt durch wenige Ergebnisse gegeben werden.
Dieser Beitrag präsentiert einen detaillierten Überblick über das Explosionsverhalten von Metallstäuben vom Mikrometer- bis in den Nanometerbereich. Hierfür wurden verschiedene Metallstäube untersucht und deren Explosionsauswirkungen in Abhängigkeit der mittleren Primärteilchengröße entweder durch BET-Messungen, Partikelgrößenverteilung oder REM-Mikroskopie bestimmt. Um den Verlauf des Explosionsverhaltens für diese Metalle darzustellen, wurde einerseits eine umfangreiche Literaturrecherche durchgeführt. Darüber hinaus wurden die im Rahmen deutscher und französischer Forschungsprogramme durchgeführten experimentellen Untersuchungen genutzt, um insbesondere die Datenlage für nanoskalig hergestellte Stäube zu verbessern. Auch bei Metallstäuben im Allgemeinen führt eine Verringerung der Teilchengröße zu einem kritischeren Verhalten der Stäube. Es scheint jedoch, dass diese Aussage nur bis zu einem kritischen Durchmesser gilt, unterhalb dessen die Auswirkungen einer Explosion (pmax, dp/dtmax) für alle betrachteten Stäube wieder abnehmen. Diese kritische Größe kann durch theoretische Überlegungen zur Art der thermischen Übertragung in der Flamme erklärt werden. Der Einfluss der Schlüsselparameter wird in diesem Beitrag ebenfalls diskutiert, um die Mechanismen besser zu verstehen und das Verständnis letztendlich auch auf andere pulverförmige Materialien auszudehnen.
Boehmite nanoparticles (AlOOH) were recently found to improve properties such as crack resistance, shrinkage and compressive strength in epoxy composites. Concentration and surface modification of boehmite nanoparticles are key factors for abovementioned enhancements. To understand the underlying mechanisms, more detailed research of micro- and nanoscopic mechanical properties is required. The presented study aims to investigate the influence of concentration and surface modification of boehmite on the stiffness of the bulk epoxy by means of AFM-based approaches: Force-Distance curves (FDC) on the sub- microscale and Intermodulation AFM and amplitude-dependent force spectroscopy (ADFS) on the nanoscale. For this purpose, stiffness-maps of epoxy filled with boehmite, with and without surface modification (HAc-boehmite) were obtained by FDC. These measurements showed a slight increase in overall stiffness of composite with increasing the nanoparticle content. The stiffening effect was observed to be intensified with HAc-boehmite. Since the lateral resolution of FDC is not high enough to distinguish nanoparticles, this effect was assumed to be due to the inevitable inclusion of nanoparticles in the measurement. By using Intermodulation-AFM, yielding ADFS stiffness maps with the resolution of <10 nm, we were able to calculate the average stiffness of bulk epoxy without the interference of nanoparticles. It was expected that the stiffness of regions faraway from particles would be equal to neat epoxy. In contrast, the results showed a drastic increase in stiffness of epoxy with increasing boehmite concentration (0, 1, 2.5, and 15%) especially in case of introducing 15wt% HAc-boehmite. Another important observation was formation of a spatial structure with non-homogenous stiffness distribution in bulk epoxy with HAc-boehmite. The underlying mechanisms of described observations are not fully understood yet. One hypothesis is the local increase in crosslinking density which we aim to investigate in our further studies by combining Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA) and Intermodulation-AFM.
Ever since increasing a reaction’s yield while shortening the reaction time is the main objective in synthesis optimization. Microwave reactors meet these demands. In literature however their usage is under discussion due to claims of the existence of non-thermal effects resulting from the microwave radiation. Especially for nano-material syntheses it is of crucial importance to be aware of influences on the reaction pathway. Therefore, we compare ultra-small silver nanoparticles with mean radii of 3 nm, synthesized via conventional and microwave heating. We employed a versatile one-pot polyol synthesis of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) stabilized silver nanoparticles, which display superior catalytic properties. No microwave specific effects in terms of particle size distribution characteristics, as derived by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), are revealed. Due to the microwave reactor’s characteristics of a closed system, syntheses can be carried out at temperatures beyond the solvent’s boiling point. Particle formation was accelerated by a factor of 30 by increasing the reaction temperature from 200 °C to 250 °C. The particle growth process follows a cluster coalescence mechanism. A post-synthetic incubation step at 250 °C induces a further growth of the particles while the size distribution broadens. Thus, utilization of microwave reactors enables an enormous decrease of the reaction time as well as the opportunity of tuning the particles’ size. Possibly, decomposition of the stabilizing ligand at elevated temperatures results in reduced yields. A temperature of 250 °C and a corresponding reaction time of 30 s represent a compromise between short reaction times and high yields.
Silver nanoparticles are one of the most widespread consumer related nanoparticles worldwide. Since the particles show special optical and antibacterial properties they are used for a wide range of applications from biological investigations over medical applications and catalysis. Especially the outstanding question of applicable alternatives for catalysts in diverse reactions can be addressed with the design of versatile system of small silver nanoparticles. In this study we present the synthesis and application of ultra-small silver nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution (R = 3.1 nm, σ = 0.6 nm). The particles are thoroughly characterized by small angle X-ray scattering, dynamic light scattering and UV/Vis spectroscopy. As a representative test reaction the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol was chosen. The particles show a catalytic activity of (436 ± 24) L g-1 s-1, which is two orders of magnitude higher than for other silver particles in the literature. The particles surrounding shell, composed of poly(acrylic acid), provides the particles with a good accessibility for the reactants. Since the catalytic activity strongly depends on the surrounding ligand, the particles shell can also be exchanged by other ligands enabling a tuning of the catalytic activity to a desired value. This shows the high flexibility of this system which can also be applied for other catalytic reactions.
Hexagonal NaYF4 doped with 20 % Yb3+ and 2 % Er3+ is an efficient upconversion (UC) phosphor for the conversion of 976 nm excitation light to emission at 845 nm, 800 nm, 655 nm, 540 nm and 410 nm light. The emission behavior of nanoparticles made from this material is strongly influenced by particle size, surface chemistry, and microenvironment. Furthermore their UC emission originates from multiphotonic absorption processes, rendering the resulting luminescence spectra and intensities excitation power density (P) dependent. Therefore the rational design of efficient nm-sized UC particles e.g., for applications in the material and life sciences requires reliable spectroscopic tools for the characterization of the optical properties of these materials like the excitation power density (P)-dependent UC quantum yield (QYUC) in dispersion, which presents a measure for the efficiency of the conversion of absorbed into emitted photons. Up to date the P-dependent absolute measurement of QYUC in aqueous media with an excitation wavelength of 976 nm presents a considerable challenge due to the low absorption coefficients of the UC materials and the absorption of water at this wavelength.
The synthesis of hybrid inorganic/organic copolymers, using reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) techniques, has been an intensively studied research topic over recent years. A plethora of hybrid inorganic/organic copolymers were synthesized, including hybrid inorganic/organic block copolymers as well as random copolymers,[1–4] that showed great potential in fabricating hybrid (nano)materials with tailored properties [5]. Two widely employed RDRP techniques to prepare such hybrid inorganic/organic copolymers are atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) [1,2] and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization [3,4]. In order, to afford hybrid inorganic/organic copolymers with narrow dispersity, high conversions and precise structures, it is required to choose proper reaction conditions. Due to the importance of both ATRP and RAFT in the preparation of such hybrid polymers, we aim to compare both RDRP techniques by preparing 2-acetoxyethyl methacrylate (AcEMA) and 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TESPMA) based homopolymers. For this purpose, AcEMA and TESPMA were polymerized in 1,4-dioxane at 60 °C mediated by CuBr/N,N,N',N'-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) and 2-(2-carboxylethylsulfanylthiocarbonyl-sufanyl) propionic acid (TTC) as well as cumyl dithiobenzoate (CDB) to evaluate the suitability and reliability of ATRP and RAFT to prepare such hybrid (co)polymers.
Lanthanide doped photon upconverting nanophosphors (UCNPs) have the unique capability to produce narrow band, multi-color emission in the UV/vis/NIR upon multiphotonic absorption of infrared light, which makes them promising reporters for diagnostic, bioanalytical, and biological applications. This minimizes background signals, which normally occur due to autofluorescence from auxochromes, in biological matrices and enables deep penetration depths in biological applications. Moreover, UCNPs show long luminescence lifetimes in the μs range favorable for time gated emission in conjunction with a high photostability and chemical inertness and they do not blink. One of the most efficient upconversion (UC) phosphors for conversion of 976 nm to 655 nm and 545 nm light presents the hexagonal NaYF4-host crystal doped with 20 % Yb3+ used as sensitizer to absorb infrared light and 2 % Er3+ acting as activator mainly responsible for light emission. The high transparency in the relevant spectral windows of this host together with its low phonon frequencies ensure relatively high luminescence efficiencies.
Although UCNPs are ideal candidates for many chemical and biological sensing and imaging applications, compared to other well-known chromophores like organic dyes or QDs, they suffer from a comparatively low brightness due to the low absorption cross sections of the parity forbidden f-f-transitions and low photoluminescence quantum yields (QYUC) particularly in the case of small nanoparticles with sizes of < 50 nm. The rational design of more efficient UCNPs requires an improved understanding of the nonradiative decay pathways in these materials that are influenced by particle architecture including dopant ion concentration and homogeneity of dopant distribution within UCNPs, size/surface-to-volume ratio, surface chemistry, and microenvironment. A promising approach to overcome the low efficiency of UCNPs is to use plasmonic interactions between a noble metal (Ag or Au) structure in the proximity of UCNPs and the incident light. This interaction leads to a modification of the spectroscopic properties due
to local field enhancements and can involve an increase of the photoluminescence. In this respect, we study the interactions of UCNPs with metal structures (clusters and shells) by varying shape and size. Here, first results derived from integrating sphere spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence measurements are presented.
Graphene and its derivatives have recently attracted much attention for sensing and deactivating pathogens. However, mechanism of multivalent interactions at the graphene-pathogen interface are not fully understood. Since different physicochemical parameters of graphene play a role at this interface, control over graphene’s structure is necessary to study the mechanism of these interactions. In this work, zwitterionic graphene nanomaterials (ZGNMs) were synthesized with defined isoelectric points and exposure, in terms of polymer coverage and functionality. Then, the switchable interactions of ZGNMs with E. coli were investigated to study the validity of the generally proposed “trapping” mechanism for inactivating pathogens by functionalized graphene derivatives. The ZGNMs were able to controllably trap and release E. coli by crossing their isoelectric points.
An important aspect of micro or nano particles development is the understanding and control of the particle structure, as it can be determining for particle’s final function, and it affects among other things potential further surface functionalisation/modification.
This work shows the capability of resonant mass measurements (RMM) to measure the mass and density of micron sized particles. The technology utilizes a suspended MEMS microchannel resonator, through which individual particles transit across the resonator altering the resonant frequency, which is then detected using an optical-based method. Changes in frequency observed when a particle enters the microchannel resonator are proportional to the buoyant mass of the particle, and can be translated into mass, size or surface area. RMM therefore allows particle concentration to be determined as well as particle mass in a single measurement.
Furthermore, a method for estimating the density distribution of particles from RMM measurements has been developed. This uses the convolution of the buoyant mass distribution of the particles obtained when suspended in different fluids.
By combining the data from the density and mass determinations, small mass shifts arising from applying a coating to a particle can be estimated, and the resulting shell thicknesses calculated. These methods have been applied to silica coated and uncoated polystyrene latex particles.
RMM shows that it can be used to measure, and distinguish between, silica shell thicknesses that are in the order of 10s of nanometres on hybrid micron-sized particles
A multilayer consisting of two different rotaxanes was investigated with different analytical methods. The rotaxanes can be switched with two different stimuli - chemical and photochemical. XPS indicates that our layer-by-layer approach worked and a layer growth with every deposition step is present. NEXAFS showed that both stimuli cause an increase of the multilayer's preferential orientation.
Several restoration projects of stained-glass windows have been performed in Poland since 2010.Chemical analysis of glass samples was performed with SEM/EDX on a FEI ESEM-XL 30, (EDX-EDAX) and with Micro-XRF (M4 Tornado, Bruker).The chemical composition of medieval glass samples and of glass samples of the 19th Century have been determined.
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) or Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) ? This is a question, nowadays discussed in EM labs of research and industry involved in the characterization and metrology of nanoparticles. The Scanning principle is adapted to TEM, the Transmission mode is adapted to Ultra High Resolution SEM. Can modern SEM replace TEM, reach atomic resolution even without Cs corrector or nm lateral resolution for energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX)?
Due to the development of a New Cold Field Emission (NCFE) electron source Hitachi SEMs SU9000 and SU8200 can deliver routinely sub-nm image resolution and EDX mappings at very high count rates and a lateral EDX resolution of a few nm. A TiO2 sample provided by BAM was analysed at 30kV using low kV STEM – simultaneously with the Through-the-lens (TTL) SE detector, the Bright Field transmitted and Dark Field transmitted signals. By this method a pixel precise information of the particles surface using SE, its chemical nature using DF-STEM and its crystalline structure using Bright Field signal is given in one 40sec scan. The advantage of this observation mode compared to Ultra Low Voltage imaging is outlined.
Manufacturing of new perovskite layered solar cells with constant high light conversion efficiency over time may be hampered by the loss of efficiency caused by structural and/or chemical alterations of the complex layered system. SEM/EDX combined with XPS were chosen as an appropriate methodical approach to characterize perovskite laboratory cells in depth and at surface, before and after light exposure. The layered perovskite system investigated here is based on glass covered with fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), followed by thin films of TiO2, ZrO2 and a thick monolithic carbon. TiO2 film is subdivided into a dense layer covered by porous one constituted of nanoparticles (NPs) of truncated bipyramidal shape. This layered system serves as the matrix for the perovskite. EDX spectral maps on cross-sections of specimen have shown that Pb and I are distributed homogeneously throughout the porous layers C, ZrO2 and TiO2. SEM/EDX data show that 20 weeks of ambient daylight did not change significantly the indepth distribution of the elemental composition of Pb and I throughout the entire solar cell system. It was confirmed with EDX that NPs identified in high-resolution SEM micrographs contain mainly Pb and I, indicating these to be the perovskite crystals. However, a compositional and chemical altering began in the near-surface region of the outermost ~10 nm after 2 months of illumination which was observed with XPS.
Microstructure and wear behavior of improved NbC cermets for (BS-1452) grey cast iron machining
(2017)
Tungsten carbide (WC) and cobalt (Co) based cermets are the most successful commercial cermets beacuse of the good combination of physical, mechanical and behavioral properties. Niobium carbide (NbC) has good mechanical and physical properties, such as high hardness, very high melting point and low density. SPS refined the NbC grains and increased the hardness, while substitution of Co with Ni improved the fracture toughness.
Polyurethanes (PU) are formed by polyaddition reaction between diols and diisocyantes. They can be formed utilizing three building blocks, namely a polyol or long-chain diol, a chain extender or short-chain diol, and a diisocyanate. The derived multi-phase block copolymer has thermoplastic properties and is called thermoplastic PU (TPU). This modular approach allows for a variety of alternations yielding a broad range of structural properties and applications. TPUs are based on three main classes of polyols, i.e. polyethers, polyesters, and polycaprolactones. With these different polyols and the ability of changing the ratio of building blocks a variety of material properties can be obtained thus TPUs find numerous applications in e.g. lightweight construction1, insulation, flame retardants, lacquer and glue, as well as medicine.
Linear, isocyanate terminated, polyurethane prepolymers prepared from non-equivalent amounts of diisocyanate such as methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) attached to a polyol are widely used as precursors of the correspondent polymers. Chain-extending reactions with low molecular weight compounds bearing different amounts of active hydrogens enable both linear and crosslinked polyurethane to be formed.
Due to TPUs being used in a broad range of applications facing a variety of stress (e.g. mechanical, hydrolytic, thermal, radiative/UV, as well as its combinations) the complexity of possible degradation mechanism is high. A functional group derived from degradation of the bulk matrix can be detected utilizing a suited fluorogenic sensor molecule. There are several fluorogenic dyes known for the application as sensor for amine groups e.g. fluorescamine, pyrylium dyes, deriving a fluorescent signal upon reaction.
Flow cytometry is a widely used method in biological research and medical diagnostics. Depending on the respective application, two opposing directions of development are currently of interest. On the one hand, there is a need for analyses of growing complexity employing more and more fluorescent labels and codes. On the other hand, cost-effective methods and portable, miniaturized, and robust instruments are desired.
Commonly performed spectral multiplexing utilizing a color code suffers from several problems, such as the sensitivity of fluorescence intensity measurements to fluctuations in excitation light intensity and dye concentration and hence, photobleaching, dye leaking for certain encoding procedures, and spectral crosstalk, limiting the achievable number of detection channels. Moreover, it typically requires several costly excitation light sources. An innovative alternative can be lifetime multiplexing and the discrimination between different encoding fluorophores and carrier beads based on their fluorescence decay kinetics. In order to examine the potential of this approach, dye encoded beads (lifetime encoded surface chemistry) were prepared using several fluorophores from different dye classes and their suitability for lifetime discrimination in a flow was tested in conjunction with a custom designed flow cytometer equipped with a pulsed light source and a fast detector.
In a first step, the spectroscopic properties of micrometer-sized dye-stained PMMA beads were studied by means of steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. For the performance of studies on the practical use of these microbeads in flow cytometry applications, a custom-built demonstrator model for a flow system was employed.
Our results demonstrated that lifetime discrimination and simultaneous readout of a ligand fluorescence signal for analyte quantification with a set of dye-stained polymer microbeads at single wavelength excitation is feasible. These studies are expected to pave the road for new applications of fluorescence lifetime multiplexing within the framework of time-domain flow cytometry and bead-based assays.
The motivation of this work is to produce thin films perovskite solar cells with constant high light conversion efficiency over time. Loss of efficiency may be caused by structural and/or chemical alterations of the complex layered system. As these changes might take place either in the bulk and/or on the surface of the stratified material, analytical tools addressing both key issues are selected and combined. SEM/EDS combined with XPS were chosen as appropriate methodical approach to characterise perovskite laboratory cells in depth and complementary on top, before and after light exposure. The layered perovskite system investigated here is based on glass covered with fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), followed by three porous thin films of TiO2, ZrO2 and a thick monolithic carbon. The TiO2 film is subdivided into a dense layer covered by a porous one constituted of nanoparticles with a truncated bipyramidal shape. This layered system serves as the matrix for the perovskite. After infiltration of perovskite solution and annealing, EDS
spectral maps on cross-sections of the specimen have been measured. The distribution of relevant
elements – Si, Sn, Ti, Zr and C – correlates conclusively with layers visible in the acquired SEM images. Lead and iodine are distributed throughout the porous layers C, ZrO2 and TiO2. Specimens were exposed to ambient daylight for 7 weeks. In a SEM micrograph taken of the cross-section of a sample after illumination, the glass substrate and all layers FTO, TiO2, ZrO2 as well as C are clearly identified. EDS data have been acquired under the same measurement conditions as before the illumination. It was found that several weeks of ambient daylight did not change significantly the qualitative elemental composition of lead and iodine throughout the solar cell system. It was confirmed with EDS that nanoparticles identified in high-resolution SEM micrographs contain mainly Pb and I, indicating these to be the perovskite
crystals. However, a time-dependent compositional and chemical altering was observed with XPS for the near-surface region of the outermost ~10 nm after 2 months of illumination.
Nanoparticles (NPs) have potential applications in medical diagnostics, imaging, drug delivery and other kinds of therapy. Furthermore, studies concerning nanoparticle uptake by cells are important for risk assessment. Size, shape and surface modification of the NPs determine the uptake rate and pathway into the cells, and therefore impact specific cell components and processes. Understanding the different uptake mechanisms and involved processes require sub-cellular resolution to determine, for example, whether the nanoparticles are reaching the nucleus. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is an established quantitative multi-elemental analysis and mapping technique. However, sub-cellular imaging has traditionally been challenging to achieve due to a lack of sensitivity at small laser spots. But now novel laser ablation systems with improved sensitivity and washout time allow imaging at high lateral resolution with spot sizes down to 1 µm.
Here LA-ICP-MS was applied for the imaging of individual fibroblast cells to study the uptake and intracellular processing of metal-containing NPs. To indicate cell morphology the local distribution of naturally occurring elements in cells like P and Zn was measured, too. Our results show that LA-ICP-MS can be used to localise nanoparticle aggregates within cellular compartments. The studied NPs accumulate in the perinuclear region in the course of intracellular processing, but do not enter the cell nucleus. The uptake efficiency depends strongly on the physico-chemical properties of the nanostructures as well as on the incubation conditions like concentration and incubation time. The potential of LA-ICP-MS for analysis at single cell level will be demonstrated.
Graphene derivatives have shown great promise in the field of pathogen binding and sensing. Due to their diverse applications, they show a variety of activities that range from bacterial adhesion to bacterial resistance. Therefore, domination of the graphene-pathogen interactions is highly relevant for producing 2D platforms with the desired applications. In order to gain control over the interactions between graphene and biosystems, mechanisms should be fully understood. The surface functionality of graphene is one of the most important factors that dominates its interactions with biosystems and pathogens. Covalent functionalization is a robust method through which functionality, chemical structure, and subsequently physicochemical properties of graphene are abundantly manipulated. A critical issue for preparing graphene-based 2D materials with a defined surface structure, however, is controlling the functionalization in terms of number, position, and type of functional groups.
Soil formation on rock surfaces is intrinsically coupled to primary microbial colonisation of the atmosphere-lithosphere interface. Rock-inhabiting microbial life is ubiquitous but the mechanisms of biofilm establishment and more importantly, quantification of its geological input are so far only possible to be studied in simplified, well-controlled laboratory experiments. In a previous study [1] a laboratory biofilm consisting of the phototrophic cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 and the rock-inhabiting ascomycete Knufia petricola A95 was tested for its mineral weathering potential. Mineral dissolution was enhanced in biotic experiments as compared to abiotic ones. Here the influence of K. petricola strain A95 and a recently constructed melanin deficient mutant (A95ΔPKS) were used to study the influence of fungal pigments on weathering of forsteritic olivine. The olivine with fungal biomass was submerged in a nutrient solution (pH 6.2) in batch-reactor flasks that were incubated for 90 d at 25°C and 90 μmol photons.m2.sec-1, while shaken at 150 rpm. qPCR was used to quantify the growth of fungi. Mineral dissolution was quantified by ICP-OES analysis of the liquid medium while SEM-EDX analysis of the solid phase was used to determine secondary mineral formation and visualise growth behaviour. Wild type and mutant accelerated dissolution of the mineral: over time both release more Mg and Si from olivine than the abiotic control. Also SEM revealed a closer physical contact of the wild type cells to the mineral and a higher production of EPS of the melanin mutant A95ΔPKS. This important difference in the ability of the wild type strain to adhere to the mineral surface might be crucial in maintaining a biologically modified environment. This biologically engineered habitat serves as a place where mineral dissolution as well as deposition of metabolic products (EPS + pigments) can impact the rock surface. We expect this study to increase the awareness on the impact of microbiology, and more specifically, rock-inhabiting fungi on mineral weathering. [1] Seiffert, F., Bouchez, J., von Blanckenburg, F., and Gorbushina, A. A. (2014). Microbial colonization of bare rocks: laboratory biofilm enhances mineral weathering. Proc. Earth Plan. Sci. 12,123–129.doi: 10.1016/j.proeps.2014.08.042
The electrospun fibers with micrometer diameter show ribbon-like morphology, the physical features are further studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman and XPS Spectroscopy is used to study the changes after irradiation. Partial electron beam treatment of the electrospun mats lead to localized fluorescence with a broad band emission. The change in the optical response of the fluorescent area in the mats is measured under different chemical environments to evaluate their suitability as an optical chemical sensor in polar and non polar environments.
In this study, series of coatings with the goal of sensitising gold SPR sensors towards CO, NH4, etc. were prepared. To better understand the mechanism behind the sensitizing effect and to enable the targeted production of optimized layers, the wide range of coatings was studied by multiple methods from spectroscopic ellipsometry for their dielectric function, by XPS for chemical composition and SEM, TEM to determine their microscopic structure. The coatings were deposited at inert Ar gas and reactive Ar/O2 gas mixture by RF magnetron sputtering or DC pulsed magnetron sputtering with settable RF bias on the substrates. The plasma processes were monitors by mass spectrometry.
The metal oxide coatings in SPR sensors have to be prepared reproducible with thickness about 5 nm therefore lower deposition rate conditions were advantages.
1. Introduction
Catalytic processing of heavy feedstock can meet the increased demand of energy up to a great extent. It requires the application of acidic catalysts like zeolites. However, the used synthetic catalysts are difficult to recover and reuse and are mostly spent. The use of natural zeolite as spent catalysts may open new perspectives in the chemical use of heavy feed feedstock by chemical conversion. Natural zeolites are not expensive, widely available and environment friendly. Clinoptilolite is a natural, most abundant medium pore size zeolite, consisting of 2-deminsional pore system containing of oxygen-8- membered and oxygen-10-membered rings.Although clinoptilolite is porous and can be acidified by ion exchange or acid treatment. Samples were characterized by XRD regarding crystallinity and phase composition. The acidity was studied by ammonia-TPD measurements and 1H solid state MAS NMR as well as REDOR experiments. Structure and structural changes caused by applied modifications were studied by 27Al- and 29Si MAS NMR measurements and thermal analysis.
2. Experimental Part
The ion exchange behaviour of natural zeolite tuff contained ca. 90 ma. % of clinoptilite was studied in 0.1 and 0.5 M ammonium nitrate solution and for comparison with HCl solution of similar concentration. The activation temperature was varied between 300-600°C.The catalytic test was performed using ca. 0.2 g of the catalyst and ca.10g of the aldehyde and alcohol using toluene as solvent and under reflux. Reaction water was removed via a by-pass.
3. Results and discussion
The experiments show that a part of the cations of clinoptilolite readily exchange with ammonium ions and protons supplied by acid treatment. Substitution of the compensating cations by NH4+ followed by calcination and HCl treatment does not produce structural changes in the original material, but it opens the channels and increases acidity and thermal stability. Calcination at higher temperature and exchange with concentrated acid has a more severe impact on the clinoptilolite structure dealumination as indicated by the appearance of 5- and 6-fold coordinated aluminum. Catalytic activity of sample is related to the surface acidity. The presence of acidic protons of medium to strong strength is confirmed by ammonia-TPD and proton NMR measurements.
4. Conclusions
Acidic natural clinoptilolite catalysts prepared via ammonium exchange followed by calcination and acid treatment shows a positive influence on acidity and porosity. Modification creates hierarchical micro-nano porosity. The specific surface area varies between ca. 45 m2/g and 245 m2/g.
The interest in porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) has been rapidly growing due to its numerous applications in separation, catalysis, energy generation and storage, electronics, and sensors. From the scientific point of view, AAO is a topical interest in soft matter fields. Spatial confinement of soft matter in nanoporous media influences its structure, thermodynamics, and mobility. Embedding polymers and liquid crystals into nanopores of AAO results in a 2D nanoconfinement of these materials. This confinement affects their properties, compared to the bulk, such as phase transition temperatures and enthalpies, molecular mobility, and architecture of the crystallization. On the other hand, discotic liquid crystals (DLCs) are a promising class of soft matter for electronic applications. This is due to their ability to organize and stack themselves into columns in a hexagonal columnar mesophase, a mesophase in between the plastic crystalline and isotropic phase, driven by the overlap of the π orbitals of their aromatic core. This leads to a high charge-carrier mobility along the column axis. Further, these columns could then be considered as “molecular nanowires”. In this study, 2,3,6,7,10,11 hexakis[hexyloxy] triphenylene (HAT6), a triphenylene based DLC, was confined into nanoporous AAO membranes. The structure, dynamics and the phase behavior of the confined HAT6 were investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). HAT6 was embedded into nanoporous AAO membranes by melt infiltration in the isotropic phase under argon atmosphere. The membranes have parallel aligned cylindrical nanopores, with pore diameter of 10, 20, 25, 40, 80, 120 and 180 nm. The filling degree for each sample was checked by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in order to ensure complete filling. Bulk HAT6 forms a hexagonal columnar phase; in between the isotropic phase above 371 K and the plastic crystalline phase below 340 K. Unlike the bulk, the confined HAT6 split the plastic crystalline-to-hexagonal columnar phase transition in two, which might be interpret as two different phase structures; close to the wall and at the pore center. Moreover, the isotropic-to-columnar transition of the confined HAT6 shifted, with decreasing pore diameter, to lower temperatures. Furthermore, pore surfaces of a series of membranes were chemically modified, resulting in a more hydrophobic pore surface than the unmodified ones. HAT6 was embedded into the modified membranes by the same aforementioned preparation. The influence of the changed host-guest-interaction, on the structure, dynamics, and the phase behavior of HAT6 confined in the modified membranes, was also investigated by BDS and DSC.
Clinoptilolite is a natural, medium pore size zeolite. It contains a 2-deminsional pore system consisting of oxygen-8- membered and oxygen-10-membered rings. It is one of the most abundant natural zeolites. It is mainly used as ion exchanger and adsorbent for removal of toxic elements and compounds from the environment. Although clinoptilolite is microporous and can be acidified by ion exchange or acid treatment and a potential catalyst, reports on its application in catalysis are limited so far. This contribution deals with modification of a natural zeolite clinoptilolite, and the study of the influence of the textural and acidic properties on the catalytic performance in the acid catalyzed acetalization of bezaldehyde with butandiol-1,3 and the more demanding etherification of glycerol with t-butanol or isomerization of n-hexane. The samples were acidified by via ammonium-ion exchange followed by calcination and acid treatment. Samples were characterized by XRD regarding crystallinity and phase composition, FTIR, and N2-adsorption for porosity. The morphology was studied by TEM images. The acidity was studied by ammonia-TPD measurements and 1H solid state MAS NMR. Structure and structural changes caused by applied modifications were studied by 27Al- and 29Si MAS NMR measurements and TRAPDOR experiments as well as thermal analysis.
The studied natural zeolite tuff contained ca. 90 ma.-% of clinoptilolite. The ion exchange behavior was studied with ammonium nitrate solution and for comparison with HCl solution of similar concentration. The cation exchange was followed by AES. The activation temperature was varied between 400-600°C. The catalytic test was performed e.g. using ca. 0.2 g of the catalyst and ca.10g of the aldehyde or alcohol using toluene as solvent and under reflux. Reaction water was removed via a by-pass. The isomerization of n-hexane was performed in a fall stream reactor at elevated temperature at gas phase. Water vapour saturated air was passed over clinoptilolite samples at elevated temperature for different time.
The ion exchange experiments shows that ca 45% of the cations of clinoptilolite readily exchange with ammonium ions and protons supplied by acid treatment. However, exchange with the acid has a more severe impact on the clinoptilolite structure. More severe treatment times leads to a loss of activity in terms of acetal formation. Sample show all high conversions after 4 h of reaction, but show markedly differences after short reaction times. The presence of acidic protons of medium to strong strength is confirmed by ammonia-TPD and proton NMR measurements. The sample activation causes a partial dealumination as indicated by the appearance of 5- and 6-fold coordinated aluminum. Interestingly, the NMR results give first hints for a relation of the catalytic conversion with the amount of 5-fold coordinated aluminum. The results will be discussed in terms of a collaborative action of Brønsted acid sites and 5-fold coordinated aluminum.
Modified clinoptilpolite is highly active in acid catalyst acetalization of aldehydes, isomerization of n-hexane and etherification of glycerol with t-butanol. Acidic natural clinoptilolite catalysts prepared via ammonium exchange followed by calcination and acid treatment shows a positive influence on acidity and porosity. Modification creates hierarchical micro-nano porosity. The specific surface area varies between ca. 45 m2/g and 257 m2/g.
Electron beam therpy is used to treat tumor cells by irradiation with high energy electrons (HEE). The irradiation is performed by medical linear accelerators.
By interaction of the HEE with the irradiated tissue a broad spectra of secondary electrons and water dissoziation products is generated.
These products interact with biomolecules, especially DNA, by various processes. The disentanglement of the resulting direct- and indirect damage to DNA and other cellular components is still under debate.
To increase the efficiency of future therapies a better understanding of the microscopic damaging processes is highly important.
Especially the various contributions of the secondary species produced, such as low energy electrons (LEE) and radicals is far from understood and quantified.
To increase the understanding we present a combination of a microdosimetric simulations and experiments to quantify the damage by means of electron scattering and diffusion simulations within the Geant4-DNA framework.
In combination with in-liquid irradiation of plasmid DNA it possible to determine microdosimetric quantities for biomolecules in liquid environment.
The presented method was applied to the irradiation of plasmid DNA (pUC19) in water.
This opens up new possibilities in radiation research to quantify the dosage-damage relationship for microscopic plasmid volumes under well defined physiological condition.
The damage caused by ionizing radiation to biomolecules, especially DNA, is the reason to treat cancer via radiation therapy. A better understanding of the molecular processes and the quantification of the various damaging mechanisms is the prerequisit to develope efficient therapies. Hereby the understanding of the processes involved in the damage to DNA are of key interest due to its central role in reproduction and mutation. Due to the high amount of water in biological tissue, most of the damage is caused by the secondary particles produced by the interaction of the IR with water. Thereby a multitude of species are produced, e.g. kinetic low energy electrons, prehydrated electrons, OH-radicals and ions. The quantification of the contribution to DNA damage of the various species is of interest. Here we present an experimental approach to disentangle their relative DNA strand break yield. Plasmid DNA is irradiated in water with electrons under the presence of different scavengers. With the presented method it will be possible to reveal the relative contributions of OH-radicals, low energy electrons and prehydrated electrons to the DNA single and double strand break yield.
Raman spectroscopy is becoming a powerful process analytical technology (PAT) tool. Until now Raman technology has not shown its full potential in bioprocess on-line monitoring due to several technical challenges. Because of only small? interference from water molecules, Raman-spectroscopy is in contrast to IR spectroscopy able to follow changes of metabolite concentrations in dilute aqueous solutions. Results from common CCD-based process Raman-spectrometers reveal only barely identifiable peaks with a dominating (fluorescence) background. To solve this, Raman spectroscopy needs: (A) an enhancement to increase the limit of detection (LOD), and (B) a reliable method to distinguish the Raman signal from the sample-related auto-fluorescence.
SERS (surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy) acts as an optical "nano-antenna"-effect. It causes a dipolar localized surface Plasmon resonance effect due to noble metallic nanoparticles or roughened metal and improves the limit of detection (LOD) significantly. Another new process-monitoring technique, which removes the fluorescence background in Raman-measurements is called time-gated Raman spectroscopy. It uses a picosecond pulsed Nd:YVO4-laser as emission source (exc= 532 nm) and a gated SPAD-array (Single Photon Avalanche Detector) detector instead of commonly used CCD (Charged Coupled Device)-detectors and CW (Continues Wave) laser emission. Time-Gate can measure the Raman-signal before the stronger fluorescence signal reaches the detector.
In this study we utilized both SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy) and time-gated Raman spectroscopy (TG-Raman) in combination on cell-free supernatant samples of an Escherichia coli cultivation with mineral salt media and a lactic acid bacteria fermentation with complex media. As a reference method for the estimation of amino acids and other metabolites, HPLC-RID and HPLC-FLD were used to evaluate the Raman-based detection. The quantitative evaluation of Raman data was performed by multivariate data analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR). For the first time, we can show that both qualitative and quantitative measurements are conducted successfully with both, SERS and time-gated Raman methods in industrially relevant media, so that a fast and reliable in situ or bypassed concentration measurement becomes feasible.
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management (IWF) of the Technical University Berlin analyzed the suitability of various NbC types in comparison to tungsten carbide (WC) for use as a tool in cutting processes. The focus was placed on the optimization of the functional profile of NbC-based cutting materials with reproducible industrial production.