Morales S González, Garcia A S González, Martínez V Vega, Rodriguez M Corte, de la Prida Pidal V M, Montes-Bayón M
Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería 8, 33006, Oviedo, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Principality of Asturias (ISPA), Avda. Hospital Universitario s/n, 33011, Oviedo, Spain.
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Oviedo, C/ Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo 18, 33007, Oviedo, Spain.
Talanta. 2025 May 15;287:127600. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2025.127600. Epub 2025 Jan 17.
The use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in single particle mode (SP-ICP-MS) for the characterization of micro and nanostructured materials is a growing field of research. In this work, the possibility of expanding the boundaries to anisotropic structures including solid Pt-nanorods and hollowed FeO-nanotubes is presented. The obtained structures are evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and SP-ICP-MS techniques. Solid Pt-nanorods (191 ± 18 nm in diameter) showed important heterogeneity in their length, ranging 42-72 nm, due to sample preparation difficulties. The analysis by SP-ICP-MS confirmed the presence of two different populations of Pt/nanorods at 19 ± 4 fg and 41 ± 5 fg, respectively, yielding a mean value of 23 ± 12 fg Pt/rod and a length range of 38-67 nm, in agreement with TEM measurements. In the case of the two different sized double-walled FeO-nanotubes of 900 nm and 1800 nm in length, the SP-ICP-MS measurements provided results of 16 ± 10 and 25 ± 4 fg Fe/nanotube, respectively. Out of this data, the layer thickness of the FeO nanotube wall was calculated, reporting values ranging between 20 ± 6 and 17 ± 4 nm, respectively, in good agreement with the TEM estimations (18 ± 4 nm). Considering the complexity of the highly anisotropic nano and micro-structures analyzed, SP-ICP-MS technique can be seen as a novel tool to evaluate the fabrication process of non-spherical nanomaterials as well as the sample preparation strategies, complementary to microscopic techniques and with higher sample throughput.
