npSCOPE: A New Multimodal Instrument for In Situ Correlative Analysis of Nanoparticles

Abstract

Over the last few decades, nanoparticles have become a key element in a number of scientific and technological fields, spanning from materials science to life sciences. The characterization of nanoparticles or samples containing nanoparticles, in terms of morphology, chemical composition, and other parameters, typically involves investigations with various analytical tools, requiring complex workflows and extending the duration of such studies to several days or even weeks. Here, we report on the development of a new unique in situ correlative instrument, allowing us to answer questions about the shape, size, size distribution, and chemical composition of the nanoparticles using a single probe. Combining various microscopic and analytical capabilities in one single instrument allows a considerable increase in flexibility and a reduction in the duration of such complex investigations. The new instrument is based on focused ion beam microscopy technology using a gas field ion source as a key enabler and combining it with specifically developed secondary ion mass spectrometry and scanning transmission ion microscopy technology. We will present the underlying concept, the instrument and its main components, and proof-of-concept studies performed on this novel instrument. For this purpose, different pure titanium dioxide nanoparticle samples were investigated. Furthermore, the distribution and localization of the nanoparticles in biological model systems were studied. Our results demonstrate the performance and usefulness of the instrument for nanoparticle investigations, paving the way for a number of future applications, in particular, nanotoxicological research.

Correlative High-Resolution Imaging of Iron Uptake in Lung Macrophages

“… 63 Therefore, acquisition of structural and chemical data in situ for thin flat cryopreserved biosamples is possible. 64 Regarding sensitivity of the SIMS analysis mode, it is feasible to implement flooding with reactive oxygen species 65 , 66 during analysis that can enhance the useful yield of positive secondary ions such as iron ion species.…”

Magnetic Sector Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry on FIB-SEM Instruments for Nanoscale Chemical Imaging

“…Note that this SIMS system offers the capability to integrate a continuous full range focal plane detector, allowing full parallel detection of all the masses and hyperspectral SIMS analysis. This type of focal plane detector has been developed and reported elsewhere, 23 and it will equip the next-generation SIMS on this FIB-SEM-SIMS system. Moreover, the system integrates an additional channeltron detector positioned at the end of the transfer optics for total ion current (TIC) measurements.…”

Food-grade titanium dioxide translocates across the oral mucosa in pigs and induces genotoxicity in an in vitro model of human oral epithelium

“…For TEM, TR146 cell monolayers were treated as previously described for buccal tissues. Since EDX might not be sensitive enough to allow investigation of the uptake of single NPs in cell preparations, correlative high-resolution imaging and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were performed using a customized Zeiss Orion NanoFab helium ion microscope called the "npSCOPE" instrument [25] developed in the framework of EU HORIZON 2020 project no. 720964.…”

“…DLS was carried out to determine the hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential in ultrapure water, and the sample was also analysed by BET for speci c surface area [7]. Correlative secondary electron and SIMS imaging with the npSCOPE recently con rmed the SEM data, also providing chemical information with < 20 nm resolution [25]. Using TEM imaging, the TiO 2 particles from the E171 food additive dispersed into ultrapure water were mostly recovered as isolated particles mixed with small aggregates and agglomerates of particles of various sizes (Fig.…”