RESUMEN
Small (sub-mm) fragments of construction materials derived from geological products are common components of soil and dust samples from urban and industrial environments. These particles increase the complexity of a soil through the admixture of man-made materials with natural minerals within the soil matrix. One application of such indicators is in nuclear security investigations, where there is a requirement to determine the origin and process history of a nuclear material discovered outside of regulatory control. In such cases, analysis of trace environmental materials accumulated from locations where the material was produced, transported and stored may help to establish material provenance. Given a suitable sample, the recognition of particles derived from construction materials can aid such investigations by helping to determine potentially distinctive properties of the originating environment, such as types and potential sources of building materials. Correct identification of man-made particles is also necessary to prevent misidentification of soil mineral particle profiles, and therefore enable determination of the natural mineralogy of associated soil material. In this paper the application of automated mineralogy (based on scanning electron microscopy) analysis for the characterisation of sub-mm particles of man-made construction materials is tested. Thirty-three examples of concrete, construction blocks, cement, brick, plaster and render were analysed. Based on both the particle texture and the minerals/chemical phases present, it is shown that the different construction materials can be readily recognised and characterised. Comparison of natural and artificial cemented particles derived from sedimentary rocks and concrete, and of natural and artificial fine-grained particles derived from mudstone and brick fragments highlights how salient features can be recognised from automated mineralogy data to distinguish man-made geological products from soil mineral assemblages.
RESUMEN
This review paper summarizes the European nanometrology landscape from a technical perspective. Dimensional and chemical nanometrology are discussed first as they underpin many of the developments in other areas of nanometrology. Applications for the measurement of thin film parameters are followed by two of the most widely relevant families of functional properties: measurement of mechanical and electrical properties at the nanoscale. Nanostructured materials and surfaces, which are seen as key materials areas having specific metrology challenges, are covered next. The final section describes biological nanometrology, which is perhaps the most interdisciplinary applications area, and presents unique challenges. Within each area, a review is provided of current status, the capabilities and limitations of current techniques and instruments, and future directions being driven by emerging industrial measurement requirements. Issues of traceability, standardization, national and international programmes, regulation and skills development will be discussed in a future paper.