Ferrihydrite is a widespread poorly crystalline Fe oxide which becomes easily coated by natural organic matter in the environment. This mineral-bound organic matter entirely changes the mineral surface properties and therefore the reactivity of the original mineral. Here, we investigated 2-line ferrihydrite, ferrihydrite with adsorbed organic matter, and ferrihydrite coprecipitated with organic matter for microbial and abiotic reduction of Fe(III). Ferrihydrite-organic matter associations with different organic matter loadings were reduced either by Geobacter bremensis or abiotically by Na-dithionite. Both types of experiments showed decreasing initial Fe-reduction rates and decreasing degrees of reduction with increasing amounts of mineral-bound organic matter. At similar organic matter loadings, coprecipitated ferrihydrites were more reactive than ferrihydrites with adsorbed organic matter. The difference can be explained by the smaller crystal size and poor crystallinity of such coprecipitates. At small organic matter loadings the poor crystallinity of coprecipitates led to even faster Fe-reduction rates than found for pure ferrihydrite. The amount of mineral-bound organic matter also affected the formation of secondary minerals: goethite was only found after reduction of organic matter-free ferrihydrite and siderite was only detected when ferrihydrites with relatively low amounts of mineral-bound organic matter were reduced. We conclude that direct contact of G. bremensis to the Fe oxide mineral surface was inhibited by attached organic matter. Consequently, mineral-bound organic matter shall be taken into account as a factor in slowing down reductive dissolution.

The DESY NanoLab is a facility providing access to nano-characterization, nano-structuring and nano-synthesis techniques which are complementary to the advanced X-ray techniques available at DESY’s light sources. It comprises state-of-the art scanning probe microscopy and focused ion beam manufacturing, as well as surface sensitive spectroscopy techniques for chemical analysis. Specialized laboratory x-ray diffraction setups are available for a successful sample pre-characterization before the precious synchrotron beamtimes. Future upgrades will include as well characterization of magnetic properties.

X-ray-based analytics are routinely applied in many fields, including physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. The full potential of such techniques in the life sciences and medicine, however, has not yet been fully exploited. We highlight current and upcoming advances in this direction. We describe different X-ray-based methodologies (including those performed at synchrotron light sources and X-ray free-electron lasers) and their potentials for application to investigate the nano-bio interface. The discussion is predominantly guided by asking how such methods could better help to understand and to improve nanoparticle-based drug delivery, though the concepts also apply to nano-bio interactions in general. We discuss current limitations and how they might be overcome, particularly for future use in vivo.

Corrosion is the main factor limiting the lifetime of metallic materials, and a fundamental understanding of the governing mechanism and surface processes is difficult to achieve since the thin oxide films at the metal–liquid interface governing passivity are notoriously challenging to study. In this work, a combination of synchrotron‐based techniques and electrochemical methods is used to investigate the passive film breakdown of a Ni–Cr–Mo alloy, which is used in many industrial applications. This alloy is found to be active toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and the OER onset coincides with the loss of passivity and severe metal dissolution. The OER mechanism involves the oxidation of Mo⁴⁺ sites in the oxide film to Mo⁶⁺ that can be dissolved, which results in passivity breakdown. This is fundamentally different from typical transpassive breakdown of Cr‐containing alloys where Cr⁶⁺ is postulated to be dissolved at high anodic potentials, which is not observed here. At high current densities, OER also leads to acidification of the solution near the surface, further triggering metal dissolution. The OER plays an important role in the mechanism of passivity breakdown of Ni–Cr–Mo alloys due to their catalytic activity, and this effect needs to be considered when studying the corrosion of catalytically active alloys.