Nanomaterials are integrated within consumer products to enhance specific properties of interest. Their release throughout the lifecycle of nano-enabled products raises concerns; specifically, mechanical strains can lead to the generation of fragmented materials containing nanomaterials. We investigated the potential release of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs—brand TUBALL™) from epoxy composite materials. A pin-on-disk-type tribometer was used for the accelerated mechanical aging of the nanocomposites. A pristine nanocomposite material, abraded material and debris obtained from the abrasion in the tribometer were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. The airborne-produced particles were captured using particle collectors. Stat Peel’s Identifier C2 system was used to monitor the SWCNT content of respirable particles produced during the abrasion test. The SWCNT amounts found were below the LoQ. The Raman spectra conducted on the Stat Peel filters helped identify the presence of free SWCNTs released from the epoxy matrix, although they were notably scarce. Raman spectroscopy has been proved to be a crucial technique for the identification, characterization and assessment of structural changes and degradation in SWCNTs that occurred during the abrasion experiments.

Modern catalysts are complex systems whose performance depends both on space and time domains and, most importantly, on the operational environment. As a direct consequence, understanding their functionalities requires sophisticated techniques and tools for measurement and simulation, addressing the proper spatial and temporal scale and being capable of mimicking the working conditions of every single component, such as catalyst supports, electrodes, electrolytes, as well as of the entire assembly, e.g., in the case of fuel cells or batteries. Scanning photoelectron spectro-microscopy (SPEM) is one of the approaches that allow combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with sub-micron spatial resolution; in particular, the SPEM hosted at the ESCA Microscopy beamline at Elettra has been upgraded to conduct in situ and operando experiments. Three different case studies are presented to illustrate the capabilities of the SPEM in the investigation of catalytic materials in different conditions and processes.

Despite the growing demand for battery gigafactories and recycling plants, there is a paucity of research on the release of airborne nanomaterials during the mechanical processing and recycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Therefore, the potential release of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was investigated to demonstrate an appropriate aerosol measurement strategy for occupational health monitoring. UFP size distributions were characterized during the shredding (<1 mm) and milling (<0.5mm) operations using an optical particle sizer (OPS) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). Concurrently, a Raman spectroscopy-based method enabled to selectively quantify airborne CNT mass and differentiate between multi and single wall forms (MWCNTs/SWCNTs). Method validation demonstrated consistent sampler performance with limits of quantification of 0.013 ng for SWCNTs and 0.27 ng for MWCNTs. The high chemical specificity of the Raman spectroscopy, enabling clear distinction between different carbon allotropes and resulting in minimal quantification bias, even in the presence of complex carbonaceous matrices. Overall, the proposed tried approach is robust, selective and valid for the monitoring of nanomaterial exposure in battery manufacturing and recycling environments.