National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of CEN ISO/TS 23359:2025. It is identical to ISO/TS 23359:2025.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee NTI/1, Nanotechnologies.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 September 2025.

This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 23 August 2025 for provisional application.

The period of validity of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to submit their comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard.

CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in parallel to the CEN/TS) until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (CEN ISO/TS 23359:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 229 "Nanotechnologies" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 352 “Nanotechnologies” the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO/TS 23359:2025 has been approved by CEN as CEN ISO/TS 23359:2025 without any modification.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).

ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.

This document was prepared jointly by Technical Committee ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnologies, and Technical Committee IEC/TC 113, Nanotechnology for electrotechnical products and systems, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 352, Nanotechnologies, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are applied in many technology areas, including solar cells, biosensors, displays, composites, flexible electronics and energy storage, due to the exceptional properties of graphene. However, it is not just GNPs that are used commercially but other material variants as well, such as reduced graphene oxide, graphene oxide and chemically functionalised forms of GNPs. These different graphene-related two-dimensional materials (GR2Ms) are suitable for different application areas and therefore, there must be a full understanding of the chemical properties of commercially available materials, so that the correct material is selected for specific application areas.

As these materials are increasingly used in different industries, international standardization is needed to support commercialization. Reliable, accurate, and reproducible measurements are important due to the multiple production routes and therefore variability in properties. Producers of the material must use standards to maintain quality in manufacture and confidence in the supply chain.

This document specifies methods to measure the chemical properties of powders and dispersions containing a GR2M. The techniques covered are X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). These techniques determine the elemental composition, oxygen to carbon ratio, trace metal impurities, weight percentage of chemical species and the functional groups present.

XPS is used to provide quantitative measurements of the surface elemental composition of GR2Ms. It can measure every element except hydrogen and helium that are within up to approximately 10 nm of the surface and at equivalent homogeneous concentrations above the XPS detection limit.

TGA is a common material characterization technique available in research and industry labs, which offers rapid and simple characterization of bulk material properties providing useful qualitative and quantitative information. TGA is widely used for characterization of GR2M to determine the amount of impurities (i.e. water, amorphous carbon, metals), presence of functional groups, traces of surfactants or other organic impurities from fabrication processes or impurities from the initial raw material (graphite, silica, metal oxides etc).

ICP-MS is used to provide detection of the trace metal impurities in samples containing graphene related two-dimensional materials. However, using conventional solution sample introduction ICP-MS, the sample must be completely solubilized and hence digestion of the samples is required using harsh acid and microwave treatment before analysis using ICP-MS.

FTIR is used to understand the functional groups that are present for different materials with significant non-carbon elements, already identified using complementary techniques herein.

1 Scope

This document specifies methods for characterizing the chemical properties of powders or liquid dispersions containing graphene-related two-dimensional material (GR2M), using a set of suitable measurement techniques.

This document covers the determination of elemental composition, oxygen to carbon ratio, trace metal impurities, weight percentage of chemical species and functional groups present, by use of the following techniques:

— X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS);

— thermogravimetric analysis (TGA);

— inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS);

—Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

This document covers sample preparation, protocols and data analysis for the different techniques.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Abbreviated terms

5 Approaches to chemical characterization

6 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Instrument preparation

6.3 Sample preparation

6.4 Method

6.5 Quantitative analysis

7 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Sample preparation

7.3 Data processing and quantitative analysis

8 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

9 Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

10 Reporting

10.1 Introduction

10.2 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

10.3 Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

10.4 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

10.5 Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

Bibliography

PD CEN ISO/TS 23359:2025

Nanotechnologies. Chemical characterization of graphene-related two-dimensional materials from powders and liquid dispersions

Current

Published:

30 Sep 2025