Optimisation of purification techniques for the preparation of large-volume aqueous solar nanoparticle inks for organic photovoltaics

• Furqan Almyahi,
• Thomas R. Andersen,
• Nathan A. Cooling,
• Natalie P. Holmes,
• Matthew J. Griffith,
• Krishna Feron,
• Xiaojing Zhou,
• Warwick J. Belcher and
• Paul C. Dastoor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 649–659, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.60

• have been developed for transferring currently utilized semiconducting macromolecules into green solvents: Method 1: The reprecipitation method, herein the semiconductive materials are dissolved in organic solvent which is added to a vigorously stirring alcohol causing the semiconductive materials to

Facile phase transfer of gold nanorods and nanospheres stabilized with block copolymers

• Yaroslav I. Derikov,
• Georgiy A. Shandryuk,
• Raisa V. Talroze,
• Alexander A. Ezhov and
• Yaroslav V. Kudryavtsev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 616–627, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.58

• or cetyl trimethylammonium bromide-stabilized Au nanorods with a solution of thiol- [18] or amine-terminated [19] surfactants in organic solvent. With a strong affinity to gold, thiols and amines replace nanoparticle shells via ligand exchange, while the tails of these molecules provide miscibility

• in non-polar media. In some cases, for instance, when an organic solvent is poorly miscible with water, more complex schemes involving phase transfer catalysts [20], electrostatics [21][22] or sonication [23] are implemented. Large (>10 nm) nanoparticles are prone to aggregation in organic solvents

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• activity and experimental setups show large variations in terms of, e.g., reactor design, feed design, light source, irradiation window, and water/organic solvent mixtures in the reactors [9]. Regardless of this, Silva et al. [24] reported that a higher amount of AuNPs results in a lower H2 yield, similar

Thermo- and electro-optical properties of photonic liquid crystal fibers doped with gold nanoparticles

• Agata Siarkowska,
• Miłosz Chychłowski,
• Daniel Budaszewski,
• Bartłomiej Jankiewicz,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz and
• Tomasz R. Woliński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2790–2801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.278

• nanoparticles (NPs): particle size distribution of Au NPs obtained by using a disc centrifuge sedimentation method (a) and UV–vis spectrum of Au NPs in an organic solvent (b). Cross-section of the PCF 061221 (a) and experimental setup for measuring the propagation spectra in PLCF (b). Experimental setup for

Synthesis of metal-fluoride nanoparticles supported on thermally reduced graphite oxide

• Alexa Schmitz,
• Kai Schütte,
• Vesko Ilievski,
• Juri Barthel,
• Laura Burk,
• Rolf Mülhaupt,
• Junpei Yue,
• Bernd Smarsly and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2474–2483, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.247

• modern chemistry [53][54]. Nanoscale main-group metal fluorides can be obtained from a fluorolytic sol–gel route by the reaction of the metal alkoxide or acetate with anhydrous HF in a suitable organic solvent. Strong Lewis-acidic main-group metal fluorides such as AlF3 or MgF2 represent a new class of

Development of polycationic amphiphilic cyclodextrin nanoparticles for anticancer drug delivery

• Gamze Varan,
• Juan M. Benito,
• Carmen Ortiz Mellet and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1457–1468, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.145

• -formulation studies were used as a basis for selecting the suitable organic solvent and surfactant concentration for the novel polycationic cyclodextrin nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were then extensively characterized with particle size distribution, polydispersity index, zeta potential, drug loading

• optimized for selection of organic solvent, ratio of organic phase to aqueous phase and surfactant concentration to obtain monodisperse particles with a diameter range around 80 to 125 nm. Intended as chemotherapeutic nanocarriers, various PCX-loaded amphiphilic CD nanoparticles were also evaluated for

• organic solvent, which diffuses from the organic phase into the aqueous phase. Meanwhile, polymers in the organic phase tend to spontaneously aggregate, forming spherical crystals, and thus nanoparticles form rapidly [27][29]. As seen in Table 1, the mean particle size of the nanoparticles varies greatly

Cationic PEGylated polycaprolactone nanoparticles carrying post-operation docetaxel for glioma treatment

• Cem Varan and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1446–1456, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.144

• ultrapure water (1:2 v/v) dropwise under magnetic stirring at room temperature. As a result, nanoparticles were spontaneously obtained. The organic solvent was then evaporated under vacuum at 40 °C. The formulations were filtered through a 0.45 μm pore membrane filter to eliminate polymer aggregates

• stirring. This organic phase (5 mL) was added to ultrapure water (20 mL) containing PF68 (1% v/w) and polyvinyl alcohol (0.1% v/w) and emulsified by ultraturrax at 13,000 rpm. The organic solvent was evaporated under vacuum at 40 °C. The formulations were filtered through a 0.45 μm pore filter to eliminate

• was emulsified by ultraturrax at 13,000 rpm. This primary emulsion was added to 20 mL ultrapure water containing PF68 (1% w/v) and polyvinyl alcohol (0.1% w/v) and emulsified by ultraturrax at 13,000 rpm. The organic solvent was evaporated under vacuum at 40 °C. The formulations were filtered through

First examples of organosilica-based ionogels: synthesis and electrochemical behavior

• Andreas Taubert,
• Ruben Löbbicke,
• Barbara Kirchner and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 736–751, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.77

• remaining silanol groups, or to traces of organic solvent from the synthesis. Between 260 and 420 °C a significant mass loss of ca. 70% is observed. It is mainly due to the decomposition of the IL but the decomposition of the organic linker in the organosilica matrix also contributes to this weight loss

Liquid permeation and chemical stability of anodic alumina membranes

• Dmitrii I. Petukhov,
• Dmitrii A. Buldakov,
• Alexey A. Tishkin,
• Alexey V. Lukashin and
• Andrei A. Eliseev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 561–570, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.60

• , Russia 10.3762/bjnano.8.60 Abstract A study on the chemical stability of anodic alumina membranes and their performance in long-term water and organic solvent permeation experiments is reported. Anodic alumina possesses high stability for both protonic and aprotonic organic solvents. However, serious

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• (7-octen-1-yl)silane (7-OTS) and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate coupling agents during TiO2 nanoparticle synthesis from titanium isopropoxide in anhydrous benzyl alcohol [27]. The particles however needed further post functionalization with 7-OTS for better compatibility with organic solvent

Ferromagnetic behaviour of ZnO: the role of grain boundaries

• Boris B. Straumal,
• Svetlana G. Protasova,
• Andrei A. Mazilkin,
• Eberhard Goering,
• Gisela Schütz,
• Petr B. Straumal and
• Brigitte Baretzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1936–1947, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.185

• “liquid ceramics” method. This is a kind of so-called wet-chemistry methods for the synthesis of nanograined oxide films. The precursor was zinc(II) butanoate dissolved in an organic solvent. It was used for the preparation of pure zinc oxide. Similar solutions of Mn, Co, Ni and Fe butanoates of were also

Chitosan-based nanoparticles for improved anticancer efficacy and bioavailability of mifepristone

• Huijuan Zhang,
• Fuqiang Wu,
• Yazhen Li,
• Xiping Yang,
• Jiamei Huang,
• Tingting Lv,
• Yingying Zhang,
• Jianzhong Chen,
• Haijun Chen,
• Yu Gao,
• Guannan Liu and
• Lee Jia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1861–1870, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.178

• Cs [25]. Ethanol and Tween-80 (1:1 v/v) were used as the organic solvent and detergent, respectively, for MIF because of their low toxic potential and emulsifying activity for dissolution of the hydrophobic components. In the preparation process, it was reported that several factors such as Cs

Antitumor magnetic hyperthermia induced by RGD-functionalized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, in an experimental model of colorectal liver metastases

• Oihane K. Arriortua,
• Eneko Garaio,
• Borja Herrero de la Parte,
• Maite Insausti,
• Luis Lezama,
• Fernando Plazaola,
• Jose Angel García,
• Jesús M. Aizpurua,
• Maialen Sagartzazu,
• Mireia Irazola,
• Nestor Etxebarria,
• Ignacio García-Alonso,
• Alberto Saiz-López and
• José Javier Echevarria-Uraga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1532–1542, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.147

• an improvement in the selectivity of the reaction [31]. In this paper, a successive addition synthesis by a thermal decomposition method has been employed to obtain oleic acid and oleylamine-capped magnetite nanoparticles with defined sizes [32][33][34]. Nevertheless, these high quality, organic

• solvent dispersed, iron oxide nanocrystals must be transferred into aqueous phase and make them active in bioconjugation reactions with biomolecules [35]. In order to obtain the required aqueous stability, amphiphilic polymers like poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene (PMAO) are able to form oil-in

Reasons and remedies for the agglomeration of multilayered graphene and carbon nanotubes in polymers

• Rasheed Atif and
• Fawad Inam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1174–1196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.109

• lower the viscosity of polymer matrix as dispersion becomes easier in a low-viscosity medium. Due to decreased viscosity, the dispersion state of the filler can be improved. However, worsened mechanical properties were reported in some cases when an organic solvent was used in polymers [45][46][47][48

• direct relation to the quantity of acetone used to produce epoxy samples [50]. The degraded mechanical properties may be associated with a restriction of the cross-linking process and a variation in cure kinetics due to the residual organic solvent [51]. Hong and Wu reported that the residuum of organic

• viscosity of the polymer using a suitable organic solvent as dispersion medium. A homogeneous composite may be obtained after solvent evaporation. Sonication is applicable for liquids with low viscosity. However, the polymers are either highly viscous or solid. So, they first need to be dissolved in a

Reconstitution of the membrane protein OmpF into biomimetic block copolymer–phospholipid hybrid membranes

• Matthias Bieligmeyer,
• Franjo Artukovic,
• Stephan Nussberger,
• Thomas Hirth,
• Thomas Schiestel and
• Michaela Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 881–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.80

• to dry to get rid of organic solvent. Then, the chambers on both sides of the aperture were filled with degassed KCl saline (1 M KCl, 20 mM Tris (pH 8)) and 2 µL of PIPEO/DPhPC in chloroform was painted across the aperture with a fine brush. Successful self-assembly of a membrane was monitored by

Microwave solvothermal synthesis and characterization of manganese-doped ZnO nanoparticles

• Jacek Wojnarowicz,
• Roman Mukhovskyi,
• Elzbieta Pietrzykowska,
• Sylwia Kusnieruk,
• Jan Mizeracki and
• Witold Lojkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 721–732, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.64

• selected an organic solvent with weak reducing properties to prevent the precipitation of foreign phases, which is caused above all by the changed oxidisation state of Mn2+ ions. The microwave solvothermal synthesis was selected for obtaining Zn1−xMnxO. It was shown before by us that the MSS method led to

• of as much as 25 mol % dopant in the precursor solution, no foreign phases in the form of ZnMnO3, ZnMn2O4, metallic Mn, or MnxOy were observed in the synthesis product, which proves that the organic solvent selected by us (ethylene glycol) prevented competitive reactions and a change of the

Gold nanoparticles covalently assembled onto vesicle structures as possible biosensing platform

• M. Fátima Barroso,
• M. Alejandra Luna,
• Juan S. Flores Tabares,
• Cristina Delerue-Matos,
• N. Mariano Correa,
• Fernando Moyano and
• Patricia G. Molina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 655–663, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.58

• synthesized in glycerol are not extracted from the reaction medium and will be subsequently immobilized on SH–DOPC LUVs, these LUVs were prepared with different percentage of glycerol in order to verify if this organic solvent has some effect on their size measured by DLS. Figure 4 shows the effect that

Fabrication and characterization of novel multilayered structures by stereocomplexion of poly(D-lactic acid)/poly(L-lactic acid) and self-assembly of polyelectrolytes

• Elena Dellacasa,
• Li Zhao,
• Gesheng Yang,
• Laura Pastorino and
• Gleb B. Sukhorukov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 81–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.10

• structure PLL(PDLA/PLLA)n directly on calcium carbonate microtemplates. The obtained PLA-coated particles were then transferred back to water after washing off the organic solvent and the CaCO3 cores were solubilized by 0.2 M EDTA solution. The hollow microcapsules were redispersed in water and were stored

Green and energy-efficient methods for the production of metallic nanoparticles

• Mitra Naghdi,
• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• M. Verma,
• R. Y. Surampalli and
• J. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2354–2376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.243

• apparent for the products. Similarly, the NPs were in the size range from 8 to 10 nm [148]. In another study, Roy and Lahiri synthesized radioactive 198Au NPs using PEG-4000 as reducing agent without any other organic solvent. Their particle sizes ranged from 15 to 20 nm [149]. Chin et al. used PEG as the

Orthogonal chemical functionalization of patterned gold on silica surfaces

• Francisco Palazon,
• Didier Léonard,
• Thierry Le Mogne,
• Francesca Zuttion,
• Céline Chevalier,
• Magali Phaner-Goutorbe,
• Éliane Souteyrand,
• Yann Chevolot and
• Jean-Pierre Cloarec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2272–2277, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.233

• functionalization protocol to selectively bind different thiols and silanes (mixed in organic solvent at room temperature) onto the gold and silica areas of a patterned surface. The chemical functionalization was verified by direct characterization using XPS and ToF–SIMS mapping. To this end, microscale gold

PLGA nanoparticles as a platform for vitamin D-based cancer therapy

• Maria J. Ramalho,
• Joana A. Loureiro,
• Bárbara Gomes,
• Manuela F. Frasco,
• Manuel A. N. Coelho and
• M. Carmo Pereira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1306–1318, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.135

• % w/v Pluronic®F127 and stirred (800 rpm) at room temperature until complete evaporation of the organic solvent. The resulting suspension was filtered (0.2 μm, Millex-GP Filter Units, Merck Millipore, Germany) and incubated at 4 °C overnight to increase the NP stability. Then, the NPs were collected

• organic solvent evaporation to ensure vitamin solubility. The sample was measured by UV–vis spectrophotometry at 265 nm, using a UV-1700 PharmaSpec UV–vis spectrophotometer from Shimadzu (Japan). The results were inferred from a calibration curve of known vitamin concentrations. All experiments were

From lithium to sodium: cell chemistry of room temperature sodium–air and sodium–sulfur batteries

• Philipp Adelhelm,
• Pascal Hartmann,
• Conrad L. Bender,
• Martin Busche,
• Christine Eufinger and
• Juergen Janek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1016–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.105

• 1969, A. E. Lyall filed a patent application on “A room-temperature-operated fuel cell comprising an oxygen electrode, a lithium metal-containing electrode, and an electrolyte comprising an inert, aprotic organic solvent […], which contains an inorganic or organic ionizable salt […]” [28

The distribution and degradation of radiolabeled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots in mice

• Denise Bargheer,
• Artur Giemsa,
• Barbara Freund,
• Markus Heine,
• Christian Waurisch,
• Gordon M. Stachowski,
• Stephen G. Hickey,
• Alexander Eychmüller,
• Jörg Heeren and
• Peter Nielsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 111–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.11

• the present study the outer ZnS shell of CdSe/CdS/ZnS (core/shell/shell) quantum dots was labeled by incubation with water-free 65Zn2+ in an organic solvent. This radionuclide is a hard γ-emitter (1.1 MeV), which would allow precise measurement even in living animals using a whole body counter

Nanoparticle interactions with live cells: Quantitative fluorescence microscopy of nanoparticle size effects

• Li Shang,
• Karin Nienhaus,
• Xiue Jiang,
• Linxiao Yang,
• Katharina Landfester,
• Volker Mailänder,
• Thomas Simmet and
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2388–2397, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.248

• sodium phosphate, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) for later use. DPA-QDs were prepared as previously described [28]. Briefly, CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs were synthesized in organic solvent prior to ligand exchange with DPA, yielding water-soluble zwitterionic QDs. All PS NPs, labeled with the fluorescent dye N

Effects of surface functionalization on the adsorption of human serum albumin onto nanoparticles – a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy study

• Pauline Maffre,
• Stefan Brandholt,
• Karin Nienhaus,
• Li Shang,
• Wolfgang J. Parak and
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2036–2047, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.212

• step was repeated to remove residual organic solvent. Polymer-coated QDs with carboxylic acid surface functionalization (Qdot ITK 585) were purchased from Invitrogen (Carlsbad, CA, USA). Particle characterization Optical properties Absorption spectra were measured on a Cary 100 spectrophotometer