Molecular nanoarchitectonics: unification of nanotechnology and molecular/materials science

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 434–453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.35

• nanoarchitectonics, Kubo and co-workers have developed room-temperature phosphorescence-active thiophene boronate ester-crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol films [93]. The films are capable of multicolor afterglow emission by changing the amount of sulforhodamine B. Molecular design and nanoarchitectonics can sometimes

• thiophene monomer. This process produced the first polythiophene wires on the substrate. The substrate was then transferred to an electrolyte solution containing another thiophene monomer. The second process of applying voltage oxidized both the thiophene monomer in solution and the polythiophene on the

• substrate. This process resulted in the formation of heterowires in which the polymer initially formed on the substrate was linked to another type of thiophene polymer that was growing. In this way, nanoarchitectonics of conjugated polymers can be obtained on metal surfaces by multistep electrochemical

A nonenzymatic reduced graphene oxide-based nanosensor for parathion

• Sarani Sen,
• Anurag Roy,
• Ambarish Sanyal and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 730–744, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.65

• , hybrid carbon nanomaterials such as ferrocene-thiophene modified by carbon nanotubes, zinc(II) phthalocyanine-boron dipyrromethene attached single-walled carbon nanotubes were used for the direct detection of pesticides [12][13][14][15]. So far, only limited electrochemical nanosensors modified by

Self-assembly of amino acids toward functional biomaterials

• Huan Ren,
• Lifang Wu,
• Lina Tan,
• Yanni Bao,
• Yuchen Ma,
• Yong Jin and
• Qianli Zou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1140–1150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.85

• membrane and had good biocompatibility. After 20 h of incubation, approximately 95% of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial proliferation was effectively inhibited [46]. A novel supramolecular self-assembled hydrogel was prepared by mixing Fmoc-ʟ-phenylalanine (Fmoc-ʟ-Phe) with oligo(thiophene ethynylene)-ᴅ

Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• P80 as the acceptor could intimately blend with the donor P81, which rendered HERs up to 128.85 μmol·h−1 (2 mg) [96]. Regarding heterojunctions with TiO2, for instance, Hua et al. used two indeno[1,2-b]thiophene-based organic dyes (P82 and P83) (Figure 10) to sensitize TiO2 to harvest near-infrared

Growth of a self-assembled monolayer decoupled from the substrate: nucleation on-command using buffer layers

• Robby Reynaerts,
• Kunal S. Mali and
• Steven De Feyter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1291–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.113

• controlled electrochemical polymerization of thiophene to produce polythiophene nanowires with tunable lengths [36][37]. In the context of their use for controlling surface architectures, insertion of the buffer layers between the assembling moiety and the solid substrate affects the assembly process via the

High permittivity, breakdown strength, and energy storage density of polythiophene-encapsulated BaTiO₃ nanoparticles

• Adnanullah Khan,
• Amir Habib and
• Adeel Afzal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1190–1197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.103

• . This article presents the synthesis of polythiophene-encapsulated BaTiO3 (BTO-PTh) nanoparticles via an in situ Cu(II)-catalyzed chemical oxidative polymerization of thiophene monomer on hydrothermally obtained tetragonal BTO nanocrystals. The formed core–shell-type BTO-PTh nanoparticles exhibit

• to dissolve and remove impurities and is dried in an oven at 120 °C. The obtained dried product is pulverized to get BTO nanoparticles. In the next step, core–shell BTO-PTh nanoparticles are synthesized via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of thiophene on hydrothermally produced BTO

• nanoparticles. BTO nanoparticles are first dispersed in double-distilled water containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, ACS reagent, ≥99.0%, Sigma Aldrich) and thiophene (Th, synthesis grade 99%, Scharlab, S.L.) monomer through ultrasonication for 1 h. The mass ratio of BTO/Th is adjusted to 9:1. Subsequently

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• electronically decouple 2,5-bis(3-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene from the metal surface [10]. A rich vibronic fine structure was observed in the HOMO spectroscopic signature induced by several fundamental vibrational modes of the molecule together with their higher harmonics and combination

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• have obtained a PCE of ≈2% at a size of 2.52 × 0.52 m [25]. The bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) approach is the most promising configuration to enhance the interpenetrated interface area in OPVs. In previous works, OPVs based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) or poly(thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-co-benzodithiophene

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• bio-organic transistor (Figure 3). In this construction, the source and drain patterned substrate was covered with p-type poly[2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene], a water droplet and a Au-plate modified with the odorant binding protein as a gate. Enantiomers of odorant carvone

• poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) as an organic semiconductor co-crystallized with an alkyl derivative of bisphenol A as a hapten [102] (Figure 6). Upon binding of the anti-bisphenol A antibody, the output current of the transistor first decreased. The addition of bisphenol

• semiconductive monolayers was also demonstrated by Chan and co-workers who successfully prepared semiconductor monolayer crystals of 2,9-didecyldinaphtho[2,3-b:2’,3’-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene on the millimeter scale [145]. The semiconductor crystals encapsulated within poly(methyl methacrylate) exhibited a

Alloyed Pt₃M (M = Co, Ni) nanoparticles supported on S- and N-doped carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction

• Stéphane Louisia,
• Yohann R. J. Thomas,
• Pierre Lecante,
• Marie Heitzmann,
• M. Rosa Axet,
• Pierre-André Jacques and
• Philippe Serp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1251–1269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.125

• % Pt on carbon black from Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo (reference TEC36V52) with NPs of around 5 nm. CNT synthesis and functionalization CNTs were grown using a catalytic-CVD process: ethylene as a carbon source, acetonitrile as a nitrogen/carbon source and thiophene as a sulfur/carbon source were decomposed

Widening of the electroactivity potential range by composite formation – capacitive properties of TiO₂/BiVO₄/PEDOT:PSS electrodes in contact with an aqueous electrolyte

• Konrad Trzciński,
• Mariusz Szkoda,
• Andrzej P. Nowak,
• Marcin Łapiński and
• Anna Lisowska-Oleksiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 483–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.49

• . Typical bands of PEDOT:PSS can be found in the Raman spectrum of the electrode after polymer electrodeposition. The main band (ca. 1438 cm−1) can be assigned to (C=C)–O vibrations in thiophene rings [41]. The symmetric C=C bands of the polymer chain are seen at 1508 and 1567 cm−1. The bands at ca. 1260

Synthesis and characterization of two new TiO₂-containing benzothiazole-based imine composites for organic device applications

• Anna Różycka,
• Agnieszka Iwan,
• Krzysztof Artur Bogdanowicz,
• Michal Filapek,
• Natalia Górska,
• Damian Pociecha,
• Marek Malinowski,
• Patryk Fryń,
• Agnieszka Hreniak,
• Jakub Rysz,
• Paweł Dąbczyński and
• Monika Marzec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 721–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.67

• makes it a good substitute for expensive Spiro-OMeTAD [28]. Recently, asymmetrical azomethine with porphiryne moieties was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells and a PCE of 1.75% was achieved [24], while azomethine with triphenylamine, thiophene and thiazolo moieties showed a PCE of 2.2% [30]. Titanium

The role of ligands in coinage-metal nanoparticles for electronics

• Ioannis Kanelidis and
• Tobias Kraus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2625–2639, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.263

• . Exchanging CTAB with conjugated, thiophene-based polymers provided a stable ink that was used to deposit lines with good electrical conductivities [83]. Silver nanoparticles initially carrying oleylamine were coated with acrylic acid (Figure 2) that provided excellent stability in acetone or ethanol over a

• stress that the thickness of the ligand shell strongly affects conductivity. Films of gold nanoparticles functionalized by thiophene-terminated dodecanethiols had 256-times lower conductivities than particles protected with thiophene-terminated hexanethiols. The decreased number of methylene units in the

• of 3 × 10−2 S/cm, a value 1123-times higher compared to drop-casted films of unlinked particles with the same surface ligands. The authors suggest that the conjugated thiophene part of the phosphine ligands acted as a conductive pathway between the particles [120]. Similarly, alkyl-substituted

Oxidative chemical vapor deposition of polyaniline thin films

• Yuriy Y. Smolin,
• Masoud Soroush and
• Kenneth K. S. Lau

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1266–1276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.128

• cycle life even after 5000 cycles due to the robust ultrathin coatings [32]. In addition, our study of the copolymerization of thiophene and pyrrole via oCVD showed enhanced conductivity and stability of the copolymers [33]. In view of experimental evidence that oCVD conducting polymers show favorable

High-resolution noncontact AFM and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of self-assembled photovoltaic donor–acceptor dyads

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Pierre-Olivier Schwartz,
• Laure Biniek,
• Martin Brinkmann,
• Nicolas Leclerc,
• Elena Zaborova and
• Stéphane Méry

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 799–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.71

• on such self-assembled D–A networks [20]. In this study, we investigate a new class of PDI-based acceptor–donor block co-oligomers [19][21]. More precisely, the acceptor block (A) is PDI, whereas the donor block (D) is made of a combination of thiophene, fluorene, and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole

Thermo-voltage measurements of atomic contacts at low temperature

• Ayelet Ofarim,
• Bastian Kopp,
• Thomas Möller,
• León Martin,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 767–775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.68

• changes from hole to electron transport, when the number of thiophene dioxide monomers in the molecular backbone increases. A very elegant method for simultaneous measurements of the conductance and the thermopower has recently been presented by Kim et al. who create an oscillating temperature difference

Case studies on the formation of chalcogenide self-assembled monolayers on surfaces and dissociative processes

• Yongfeng Tong,
• Tingming Jiang,
• Azzedine Bendounan,
• Makri Nimbegondi Kotresh Harish,
• Angelo Giglia,
• Stefan Kubsky,
• Fausto Sirotti,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Srinivasan Sampath and
• Vladimir A. Esaulov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 263–277, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.24

• . We discuss some recent studies based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy that shed light on these aspects for a series of such organic molecules. Keywords: copper; nickel; palladium; reactivity; selenol; selenophene; self-assembly; thiol; thiophene; Introduction In recent years research related to

• interaction with the substrate is strong and can lead to dissociative processes. This is, for instance, the case of copper and transition metals (Ni and Pd), which are characterized by a greater reactivity than gold. Thus, in the case of thiophene, dehydrogenation and desulfurization is well known to occur on

• for the case of thiol and selenol SAMs on Au [30], as well as in the case of ultrathin layers of thiophene derivatives on Au. In the latter case, S–C bond scission occurs, leading to the opening of the ring and observation of thiolate species [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63]. The loss

Nanostructured superhydrophobic films synthesized by electrodeposition of fluorinated polyindoles

• Gabriela Ramos Chagas,
• Thierry Darmanin and
• Frédéric Guittard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2078–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.212

• (such as thiophene, pyrrole or 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) [27][28][29][30] is probably the most important parameter. Then, the polymer can also be controlled by introducing hydrophobic/hydrophilic substituents or dopant agents [17][18][27][28][29][30]. In most of the cases, fluorocarbon or hydrocarbon

Simple approach for the fabrication of PEDOT-coated Si nanowires

• Mingxuan Zhu,
• Marielle Eyraud,
• Judikael Le Rouzo,
• Nadia Ait Ahmed,
• Florence Boulc’h,
• Claude Alfonso,
• Philippe Knauth and
• François Flory

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 640–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.65

• bond in the thiophene ring [17][25][26]. Moreover, vibrations at 1040 cm−1, 1130 cm−1, 1180 cm−1 and 1300 cm−1 are assigned to stretching in the alkylenedioxy group [17][25][26]. These results confirm that the electrodeposited thin blue films are PEDOT. Cyclic voltammetry of PEDOT deposition on SiNWs

Optimization of solution-processed oligothiophene:fullerene based organic solar cells by using solvent additives

• Gisela L. Schulz,
• Marta Urdanpilleta,
• Roland Fitzner,
• Eduard Brier,
• Elena Mena-Osteritz,
• Egon Reinold and
• Peter Bäuerle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 680–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.77

• ]. Among these prominent classes of compounds, in particular oligothiophenes end-capped with electron-withdrawing cyano groups proved to have excellent performance in BHJSCs. Oligothiophenes of various lengths (from 3 to 7 thiophene units), which contain various alkyl side chains (methyl to octyl) with

• different substitution patterns, have been incorporated in photoactive layers of BHJSCs. When using vacuum deposition, the highest efficiency for single-junction solar cells to date has been reported to be 6.9% for dicyanovinyl (DCV)-capped quinquethiophene with methyl substituents on the central thiophene

• -4,4,5,5-tetramethyl[1,3,2]dioxaborolane and thiophene were purchased from Aldrich. Diiodoterthiophene 1 [31], bisstannylterthiophene 5 [21], and 2-[(5-bromothien-2-yl)methylene]malononitrile (6) [32] were synthesized according to known literature procedures. NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker AMX 500

Structural and electronic properties of oligo- and polythiophenes modified by substituents

• Simon P. Rittmeyer and
• Axel Groß

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 909–919, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.101

• have been studied by using periodic density functional theory calculations. We have in particular focused on the effect of substituents on the electronic structure of thiophenes. Whereas singly bonded substituents, such as methyl, amino or nitro groups, change the electronic properties of thiophene

• electrical conductivity of well-prepared PA is nearly the same as for copper [6], its technical applications are very rare due to its instability towards air and humidity [7]. Searching for more stable compounds, thiophene-based materials turned out to be promising candidates, and thus, they have gained

• , e.g., as organic transistors, photoresistances or polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [11]. In particular, thiophene-based organic solar cells have shown remarkable efficiency [5][8]. Nevertheless they are still relatively cheap in production [12]. For all these applications, the particular

Current–voltage characteristics of single-molecule diarylethene junctions measured with adjustable gold electrodes in solution

• Bernd M. Briechle,
• Youngsang Kim,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Artur Erbe,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Ulrich Groth and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 798–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.89

• presence of sulfur atoms in the switching core. For this study we chose the recently developed class of sulfur-free diarylethenes (with proper side-arms and end-groups) in which the thiophene rings have been replaced by furans that are assumed to be less prone to unspecific binding to the metal electrodes

Variations in the structure and reactivity of thioester functionalized self-assembled monolayers and their use for controlled surface modification

• Inbal Aped,
• Yacov Mazuz and
• Chaim N. Sukenik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 213–220, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.24

• reactivity. π-Systems (benzene and thiophene) conjugated to the thioester carbonyl enable the facile creation of photoreactive surfaces that are able to use light of different wavelengths. These elements of structural diversity combine with the utility of the hydrophilic, strongly negatively charged

• also followed by XPS. SAMs of compounds 1 and 2 showed peaks corresponding to the expected divalent sulfur of the thioester at 163.8 ± 0.2 eV and 164.8 ± 0.2 eV in the expected 2:1 ratio (±10%), see for example Figure 4A. The additional (thiophene) sulfur in both compounds 3 and 4 leads to a broad

• , merged signal (Figure 4B and Figure 4C). Deconvolution reveals the thiophene sulfurs at 164.5 ± 0.2 eV and 165.6 ± 0.2 eV. The overlap among the four peaks in the spectra, together with their inherently problematic signal-to-noise ratio, leads to a situation in which the expected 2:1 peak intensity ratio

Surface functionalization of aluminosilicate nanotubes with organic molecules

• Wei Ma,
• Weng On Yah,
• Hideyuki Otsuka and
• Atsushi Takahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 82–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.10

• spacers consisting of –CH2CH2– and P=O(OH)2 (Scheme 1). Thiophene oligomers have been extensively studied in recent years due to their excellent optic properties. It has been reported that thiophene oligomers exhibit high quantum yields of photoluminescence, both in solution as well as the solid state

• thiophene/imogolite films compared to solution indicates that additional an intermolecular interaction was present that plays a role in controlling the solid-state optical properties [65]. Fluorescence spectroscopy is a suitable analytical tool for monitoring the intermolecular interactions of terthiophene

• , the electrical conductance of HT3P/imogolite calculated from the forward bias region is 4.5 µS, which is lower than that before HT3P doping. Here, HT3P acts like an electron donor when interacting with imogolite. The p-type conductivity of imogolite is reduced when the HT3P thiophene ring transfers

Self-assembled monolayers and titanium dioxide: From surface patterning to potential applications

• Yaron Paz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 845–861, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.94

• ,ω-dicyano substituted β,β'-dibutylquaterthiophene (DCNDBQT) molecules by forming a hydrogen bond between the cyano group of CNBTPA and a hydrogen on the thiophene ring of DCNDBQT, and by forming a hydrogen bond between the cyano group of DCNDBQT and a hydrogen on the thiophene ring of CNBTPA [90]. A

• quasi-perpendicular structure of the CNBTPA–DCNDBQT layer relative to the TiO2 surface was inferred, suggesting optimal orbital overlap between neighboring thiophene rings. The same substituted oligothiophene was then used to form a nanoscopic organic field-effect transistor (OFET), albeit not on TiO2