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New standards for magnetic nanoparticles

EMPIR project ‘Towards an ISO standard for magnetic nanoparticles’ (16NRM04, MagNaStand) is developing new measurement approaches for the properties of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and products containing nanoparticles and will feed these into the international standardisation process.

MNPs can be precisely activated by magnetic fields, and so offer many valuable applications, such as targeting cells for cancer treatment and other biomedical applications, waste water treatment and mechanical engineering. A harmonised description and measurement of the MNP properties is very important for a safe, efficient and reliable use of these nanomaterials by technical and biomedical end-users.

The following progress towards the development of the new documentary standards has already been made:

• Initiation of a series of standards on magnetic nanomaterials at the Technical Committee ISO/TC229. ISO is the International Organisation for Standardisation with members from many countries over the world, and it relies on the active participation of technical experts. This will be the first series of standards on any nanomaterial and it would not have been possible without the support of the EMPIR project consortium.
• Development of the new standard ‘ISO/TS 19807-1 Specification of characteristics and measurements for magnetic nanosuspensions’. This standard is almost finalised and will be published by ISO in 2019.
• Decision to accept a New Work Item at ISO/TC229 WG4 entitled ‘ISO/TS 19807-2 Specification of characteristics and measurements for nanostructured superparamagnetic beads for nucleic acid extraction’. EURAMET member institute PTB, Germany will act as a co-project leader at ISO, together with SAC China. https://www.iso.org/standard/73840.html

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

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