Physico-chemical characterization of sterile ZnO nanoparticles by XPS / HAXPES / SEM

<p>Here a dataset of XPS, HAXPES and SEM measurements for the physico-chemical characterization of nanoparticles is presented. The measurements are part of the H2020 project &ldquo;NanoSolveIT&rdquo;.</p> <p>Sterile ZnOnanoparticles were synthesized under aseptic conditions at Mintek, South Africa (EMR-Identifier&nbsp;in the project: ERM00000584).</p> <p>Prior to the measurements, the samples were prepared from the solution as drop cast on Si wafers. &nbsp;First SEM measurements were performed, followed by XPS and HAXPES measurements on the same samples. Here at first survey spectra were recorded followed by high resolution spectra. For XPS / HAXPES several Si-wafers were mounted together on one platen. The platen was left in the intro chamber of the instrument for several hours before the measurement started.</p> <p>Equipment:</p> <p>SEM images were acquired with a <em>Supra 40 </em>(Zeiss) SEM.</p> <p>For X-ray spectroscopy experiments, a combined XPS / HAXPES spectrometer (<em>Quantes </em>from ULVAC-PHI) was used, where XPS is measured at 1486.6 eV (monochromatic Al K&alpha; source) and HAXPES at 5414.9 eV (monochromatic Cr K&alpha; source). Here it is possible to perform the measurements at the exact same position.</p> <p>Data:</p> <p>For SEM, the data are given in .tif format. For XPS / HAXPES the raw data are given as .spe (PHI format) and .npl (VAMAS format) files. The measurement conditions are given in the data files.</p> <p>Naming of data:</p> <p>SEM: <em>sample_treatment (n)</em>, with n a consecutive number.</p> <p>XPS / HAXPES: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For the .spe and for the corresponding .npl files <em>Pn.m.o.sample_treatment, </em>with Pn: platen-number, m: spectrum number (order of the measurements); o: point-number, of the position on the sample, sample_treatment with &quot;p&quot; for pristine.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The authors thank&nbsp;Thorid Lange, who performed the SEM measurements.</p>