Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• nanocomposites. Then, the development of various graphene-based nanocomposites for the above-mentioned applications is presented, wherein graphene plays different roles, including electron acceptor/transporter, cocatalyst, photocatalyst and photosensitizer. Subsequently, the development of different graphitic

• water splitting reaction, the graphene in the nanocomposite plays different roles, such as photocatalyst, cocatalyst, electron acceptor/transporter and photosensitizer. These roles are described in detail in the following sections. Graphene as a photocatalyst A photocatalyst is a substance which

• graphene sheets, wherein H2 is produced from H+ ions. Graphene as a photosensitizer Apart from the photocatalytic and cocatalytic role of graphene, it is worth to discuss the photosensitizer role played by graphene in many nanocomposite materials. A photosensitizer is a light-absorbing substance which

Nano-engineered skin mesenchymal stem cells: potential vehicles for tumour-targeted quantum-dot delivery

• Liga Saulite,
• Dominyka Dapkute,
• Karlis Pleiko,
• Ineta Popena,
• Simona Steponkiene,
• Ricardas Rotomskis and
• Una Riekstina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1218–1230, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.123

• NPs and act synergistically [13][14]. QDs were also chosen for their applicability as resonant energy donors in photodynamic therapy. For example, the second-generation photosensitizer chlorin e6 has the absorption band at 654 nm and carboxyl QD655 would be excellent energy donors in such complexes

ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• both under solar and visible light illumination (light intensity = 5 mW/cm2) of all the ZnO/ZCIS composites prepared, we selected Orange II dye as a model contaminant because this dye is not a photosensitizer (in contrast to Methylene Blue or Rhodamine which promote photocatalytic degradation). Prior

• photosensitizer (Ф1O2 (RB) = 75% in water) [58]. The plots ln(PL525) of SOSG-EP vs time for RB and for the ZnO/ZCIS composite show a good linear fit during the first 3.5 min of irradiation (Figure 10b). The Ф1O2 of the ZnO/ZCIS catalyst was estimated using the equation: Ф1O2 (ZnO/ZCIS) = Ф1O2 (RB) × (kZnO/ZCIS

Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

• to the nature of the photosensitizer used in the present investigation. Furthermore, the small thickness of the ZnO NRs and NWs can be a major reason for this degradation in the efficiency. However, the chemical reaction of the ZnO nanostructures when immersed in dye solution was carried out at the

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles

• Anurag Roy,
• Partha Pratim Das,
• Mukta Tathavadekar,
• Sumita Das and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 210–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.23

• Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411 008, India 10.3762/bjnano.8.23 Abstract As an alternative photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells, bovine serum albumin (BSA) (a nonhazardous protein) was used in the synthesis of colloidal CdS nanoparticles (NPs). This system has been employed

• , we have reported the advantages of using 1D ZnO nanorods compared to nanoparticles in DSSCs using N719 as a photosensitizer [31]. Due to the reduced grain boundaries and direct conjunction pathway, 1D nanorods can diffuse electrons faster than nanoparticles and other morphologies. However

The influence of phthalocyanine aggregation in complexes with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on the photophysical properties of the complexes

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov,
• Kevin Berwick and
• Alexander V. Baranov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.94

• ; Förster resonance energy transfer; photosensitizer; semiconductor nanocrystals; tetrapyrroles; Introduction Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and their complexes with organic molecules have been a subject of extensive research during the last couple of decades. In particular, complexes of QDs and

• . Experimental Materials The photosensitizer Photosens® was obtained from NIOPIK (Russia). At present, the Photosens® is used clinically for PDT [42]. Photosens® is a mixture of sulfonated hydroxyaluminium phthalocyanines (PcSz) with different numbers of sulfo groups per molecule, with z = 2, 3 or 4. So, in an

Hierarchical coassembly of DNA–triptycene hybrid molecular building blocks and zinc protoporphyrin IX

• Rina Kumari,
• Sumit Singh,
• Mohan Monisha,
• Sourav Bhowmick,
• Anindya Roy,
• Neeladri Das and
• Prolay Das

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 697–707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.62

• desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF). The biologically relevant photosensitizer Zn PpIX was used to direct the hybridization-mediated self-assembly of DNA–TPA molecular building blocks as well as a model guest molecule within the DNA–TPA supramolecular self-assembly. The formation of fiber-like

Silica-coated upconversion lanthanide nanoparticles: The effect of crystal design on morphology, structure and optical properties

• Uliana Kostiv,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Hana Macková,
• Alexander Zhigunov,
• Hana Engstová,
• Katarína Smolková,
• Petr Ježek and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2290–2299, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.235

• photosensitizer [43]. Upconversion OM–NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanoparticles were excited by near-infrared light at 980 nm, i.e., at the Yb3+ absorption maximum. Photons were emitted at 520, 545 and 660 nm in the fluorescence spectra of the OM–NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanoparticles. The NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanoparticles were

Novel ZnO:Ag nanocomposites induce significant oxidative stress in human fibroblast malignant melanoma (Ht144) cells

• Syeda Arooj,
• Samina Nazir,
• Akhtar Nadhman,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Bakhtiar Muhammad,
• Ishaq Ahmad,
• Kehkashan Mazhar and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 570–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.59

• thus exciting the photosensitizer to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet oxygen (1O2) and hydroxyl radicals (HO•) [6][7]. Photo-oxidation holds promises for the targeted treatment and controlled elimination of cancer cells [8]. ZnO NPs have also shown photo-oxidative anticancer

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by combining water soluble graphene with cobalt salts

• Jing Wang,
• Ke Feng,
• Hui-Hui Zhang,
• Bin Chen,
• Zhi-Jun Li,
• Qing-Yuan Meng,
• Li-Ping Zhang,
• Chen-Ho Tung and
• Li-Zhu Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1167–1174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.128

• graphene. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of the catalyst was tested by using triethanolamine (TEOA) as electron donor and eosin Y (EY) as the photosensitizer under LED irradiation at 525 nm. Hydrogen was produced constantly even after 20 h, and the turnover number (TON) reached 148 (H2/Co

• graphene in terms of the unique spectroscopic property of photosensitizer EY [51]. The result stimulated us to explore graphene-based hydrogen evolution systems with earth-abundant co-catalysts. In the present work, we report a new water-soluble graphene–cobalt-based hydrogen evolution system, showing a

• 5.6 times higher efficiency than that of the same system without graphene. Herein, sulfonated-graphene (G-SO3), being water-soluble and partially reduced [52][53], serves as a great platform [41][51] to support the catalysts. With TEOA (triethanolamine) as an electron donor, EY as a photosensitizer

Growth and characterization of CNT–TiO₂ heterostructures

• Yucheng Zhang,
• Ivo Utke,
• Johann Michler,
• Gabriele Ilari,
• Marta D. Rossell and
• Rolf Erni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 946–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.108

• instrumentations. Efficiency enhancement mechanisms for photocatalysis using CNT–TiO2 nanocomposites. (a) CNT scavenges electrons generated in TiO2, resulting in excessive holes on the surface for redox actions. (b) CNT acts as a photosensitizer and injects electrons and holes into TiO2 for redox actions. (c) CNT

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• oxides can realize visible-light photocatalysis by virtue of a narrow bandgap of photosensitizers, which is fundamentally different from the metal or non-metal doped ones. The photosensitizer can be an organic dye, an inorganic complex, and different nanostructures. Normally, photosensitizers have a

• bandgap, which is, narrower and has a higher CB minimum or lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) in comparison with wide-bandgap transition metal oxides. Because a photosensitizer normally has a narrow bandgap, it can absorb the visible sunlight and even the infrared sunlight to generate electron

• –hole pairs. Then, if coupled with a transition metal oxide, the photogenerated electrons can be easily transferred from the CB minimum of the photosensitizer or LUMO to that of a transition metal oxide. Thus the efficient charge separation in the metal oxide-photosensitizer nanocomposites facilitates

Energy transfer in complexes of water-soluble quantum dots and chlorin e6 molecules in different environments

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Alexander V. Baranov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov and
• Mikhail Artemyev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 895–902, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.101

• example, the photoinduced reversible electron transfer between QD and molecule, and the formation of QD photoluminescence deactivation centers at the place where the molecule is attached to the QD. Chlorin e6 (Ce6) is one of the tetrapyrrole compounds widely used as a photosensitizer. Photophysical

• (ethylene terephthalate) track membranes that can be utilized as an element of microfluidic devices [8]. Experimental Chemicals Bis-N-methyl-D-glucamine salt of chlorin e6 (photosensitizer “Photoditazin”) was purchased from VETA Grand Ltd. Photoditazin has a QY of 9% in aqueous solution. Trioctylphosphine

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