The npSCOPE: a new multimodal instrument for in-situ correlative analysis of nanoparticles

Over the last decades, nanoparticles have become a key element in a number of scientific and technological fields, spanning from materials science to life sciences. The characterisation 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 about the development of a new unique in-situ correlative instrument, allowing to answer questions about the nanoparticles’ shape, size, size-distribution and chemical composition using a single probe. Combining various microscopic and analytical capabilities in one single instrument allows a considerable increase in flexibility and a reduction of 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 titanium dioxide nanoparticular samples, as well as their distribution and localisation in biological model systems, have been investigated. Our results demonstrate the performance and usefulness of the instrument for nanoparticle investigations, laying the ground for a number of future applications, including in particular nanotoxicological research.