Impact of the anodization time on the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ nanotubes

• Jesús A. Díaz-Real,
• Geyla C. Dubed-Bandomo,
• Juan Galindo-de-la-Rosa,
• Luis G. Arriaga,
• Janet Ledesma-García and
• Nicolas Alonso-Vante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2628–2643, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.244

• characterizations. A UV hot-mirror filter (Edmund Optics F45-066) was used to prevent the heating of the electrolyte and to allow light with an irradiance power of 20 mW/cm2 to pass. Photocurrent transient curves were obtained by blocking the light for periods of 5 s with an automated shutter (Lambda SC Smart

Hydrothermal-derived carbon as a stabilizing matrix for improved cycling performance of silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion full cells

• Mirco Ruttert,
• Florian Holtstiege,
• Jessica Hüsker,
• Markus Börner,
• Martin Winter and
• Tobias Placke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2381–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.223

• (DMC) in a ratio of 1:1 by weight, 1 M LiPF6 (LP30, BASF) plus 5 vol % of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC, BASF). A Maccor Series 4000 automated test system (Maccor) was used to carry out constant current charge (=lithiation)/discharge (=delithiation) experiments. The cut-off potentials during the long

Filling nanopipettes with apertures smaller than 50 nm: dynamic microdistillation

• Evelyne Salançon and
• Bernard Tinland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2181–2187, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.204

• filled nanopipettes were open and exhibited electrical characteristics related to their shape. The process works despite surrounding atmospheric pollution and humidity, which usually impede complete filling. Using a programmable piezo-electric actuator, the process could be automated and certainly

High-throughput synthesis of modified Fresnel zone plate arrays via ion beam lithography

• Kahraman Keskinbora,
• Umut Tunca Sanli,
• Margarita Baluktsian,
• Corinne Grévent,
• Markus Weigand and
• Gisela Schütz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2049–2056, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.194

• as illustrated schematically in Figure 4a. A single FZP was written using the parameters described above, and then the stage was driven to the next FZP position until all 64 FZPs were finished in an automated overnight process. The writing of 64 FZPs using the given parameters takes less than 10 h

Numerical analysis of single-point spectroscopy curves used in photo-carrier dynamics measurements by Kelvin probe force microscopy under frequency-modulated excitation

• Pablo A. Fernández Garrillo,
• Benjamin Grévin and
• Łukasz Borowik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1834–1843, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.175

• automated numerical analysis routine, we verify the validity of the model by checking the self-consistency of the previously obtained results via the comparison of measured data, mathematical fit and simulations. In a first approach, an exponential function can be used to describe the built-up and decay of

Nanoporous silicon nitride-based membranes of controlled pore size, shape and areal density: Fabrication as well as electrophoretic and molecular filtering characterization

• Axel Seidenstücker,
• Stefan Beirle,
• Fabian Enderle,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Othmar Marti and
• Alfred Plettl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1390–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.131

• (Supporting Information File 1, details in the text and Figure S1). Subsequently, the chambers were filled with a KCl electrolyte and the conductance was determined by applying dc voltages to the Ag/AgCl electrodes and automated current measurements. The results of the according experiments on the membranes A

Automated image segmentation-assisted flattening of atomic force microscopy images

• Yuliang Wang,
• Tongda Lu,
• Xiaolai Li and
• Huimin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 975–985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.91

• are generally manually excluded using rectangular masks in image flattening, which is time consuming and inaccurate. In this study, a two-step scheme was proposed to achieve optimized image flattening in an automated manner. In the first step, the convex and concave features in the foreground were

• case, hundreds of features maybe required to be excluded in one image, which makes the manual operation tedious and time consuming. A robust and automated algorithm for feature detection in MEF is highly awaited. Essentially, the extraction of the exclusion masks is a process of image segmentation

• lines can no longer be represented by polynomial curves. To solve the problems mentioned above, a two-step scheme was proposed for optimized flattening of AFM images in this study. In this method, the contour expansion method [3] was first applied to achieve automated extraction of exclusion mask areas

Towards 3D crystal orientation reconstruction using automated crystal orientation mapping transmission electron microscopy (ACOM-TEM)

• Aaron Kobler and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 602–607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.56

• combination with template matching for the creation of crystal orientation maps, mostly referred to as automated crystal orientation mapping transmission electron microscopy (ACOM-TEM), has become the most prominent method [22][23][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The template matching, which cross-correlates the

Robust nanobubble and nanodroplet segmentation in atomic force microscope images using the spherical Hough transform

• Yuliang Wang,
• Tongda Lu,
• Xiaolai Li,
• Shuai Ren and
• Shusheng Bi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2572–2582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.257

• potential for numerous applications. As a result, the automated segmentation and morphological characterization of NBs and NDs in atomic force microscope (AFM) images is highly awaited. The current segmentation methods suffer from the uneven background in AFM images due to thermal drift and hysteresis of

• AFM scanners. In this study, a two-step approach was proposed to segment NBs and NDs in AFM images in an automated manner. The spherical Hough transform (SHT) and a boundary optimization operation were combined to achieve robust segmentation. The SHT was first used to preliminarily detect NBs and NDs

• . After that, the so-called contour expansion operation was applied to achieve optimized boundaries. The principle and the detailed procedure of the proposed method were presented, followed by the demonstration of the automated segmentation and morphological characterization. The result shows that the

Tailoring the nanoscale morphology of HKUST-1 thin films via codeposition and seeded growth

• Landon J. Brower,
• Lauren K. Gentry,
• Amanda L. Napier and
• Mary E. Anderson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2307–2314, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.230

• literature by alternating, solution-phase deposition [11]. This process was automated by a Midas III automated slide stainer. For all experiments herein, solutions were held at room temperature. Characterization All samples were characterized by atomic force microscopy (Figures 1–3) and ellipsometry (Table 1

Optical techniques for cervical neoplasia detection

• Tatiana Novikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1844–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.186

• not suitable for CIN screening in real settings. The instruments that perform a multi-spectral wide-field imaging of the whole cervix are required to address these issues. Park et al. [41] developed an algorithm for the automated analysis of colposcopic images taken with a multispectral digital

• cervical tissue. In their study of 29 patients a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 88% for HSIL detection were reported using histological analysis of excised cone biopsies (Figure 5c) as the gold-standard diagnosis technique. The advanced version of the automated domain-specific image analysis

• increased number of false positive results. Gu et al. [53] suggested using fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) on haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained histological cuts of cervical tissue and a neural network classifier for the automated diagnosis of CIN lesions. This technique can overcome the

A biofunctionalizable ink platform composed of catechol-modified chitosan and reduced graphene oxide/platinum nanocomposite

• Peter Sobolewski,
• Agata Goszczyńska,
• Małgorzata Aleksandrzak,
• Karolina Urbaś,
• Joanna Derkowska,
• Agnieszka Bartoszewska,
• Jacek Podolski,
• Ewa Mijowska and
• Mirosława El Fray

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1508–1514, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.151

• process did not remove Pt nanoparticles from rGO–Pt. The obtained images were analyzed using Fiji [22] following the NIST guidelines [23]: noise was reduced by processing with “Despeckle,” followed by five rounds of “Smooth,” automated thresholding was performed using the Otsu algorithm to obtain binary

BTEX detection with composites of ethylenevinyl acetate and nanostructured carbon

• Santa Stepina,
• Astrida Berzina,
• Gita Sakale and
• Maris Knite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 982–988, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.100

• ). The samples were dried at room temperature [20]. The schematic structure and the dimensions are illustrated in Figure 1. Methods Gas-sensing measurements were carried out using a Kin-Tek FlexStream automated permeation tube system with a benzene permeation tube and synthetic air as carrier gas. A

• automated permeation tube system. As expected the measured effect decreases with increasing Kin-Tek carrier gas flow (Figure 5a) because the faster gas flow does not allow the molecules to adsorb. In Figure 5 we can see that at 500 ppm, the value of ∆R/R0 max for ethylbenzene is over 0.08 while for benzene

Bio-inspired micro-to-nanoporous polymers with tunable stiffness

• Julia Syurik,
• Ruth Schwaiger,
• Prerna Sudera,
• Stephan Weyand,
• Siegbert Johnsen,
• Gabriele Wiegand and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 906–914, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.92

• analysis of the porous surfaces, only the undeformed regions between the indents were used (see below in Figure 2). The open-source software ImageJ [23] was used for automated analysis of pore-size and pore-area fraction. Thickness of polymeric walls was determined with the help of the recently created ND

• . In order to account for this minimum pore size, Ramesh et al. [28] introduced a cut-off to a log-normal distribution of pore sizes, so the resulting distribution is cut around zero-values. As the pores were analysed based on automated image processing, we introduced a minimum detectable pore size of

Functional dependence of resonant harmonics on nanomechanical parameters in dynamic mode atomic force microscopy

• Federico Gramazio,
• Matteo Lorenzoni,
• Francesc Pérez-Murano,
• Enrique Rull Trinidad,
• Urs Staufer and
• Jordi Fraxedas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 883–891, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.90

• distance. Off-resonance experimental approach curves. Acknowledgements This work has been performed within the aim4np project (Automated in-line Metrology for Nanoscale Production), which is supported by the EC through a grant (contract Nr. 309558) within the 7th Frame-work Program NMP Call 2012.1.4-3 on

3D Nanoprinting via laser-assisted electron beam induced deposition: growth kinetics, enhanced purity, and electrical resistivity

• Brett B. Lewis,
• Robert Winkler,
• Xiahan Sang,
• Pushpa R. Pudasaini,
• Michael G. Stanford,
• Harald Plank,
• Raymond R. Unocic,
• Jason D. Fowlkes and
• Philip D. Rack

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 801–812, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.83

• automated axial translation. An objective lens located at the shaft tip projects the 100 µm diameter laser spot with a Gaussian distribution at the coincidence point between the focused electron beam and the gas injection systems. The laser delivery system is a prototype under development by Waviks, Inc

Ion beam profiling from the interaction with a freestanding 2D layer

• Ivan Shorubalko,
• Kyoungjun Choi,
• Michael Stiefel and
• Hyung Gyu Park

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 682–687, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.73

• specification of 13 nm. The graphene sputtering yield estimated in the same way as above gives γC/Ga+ ≈ 0.68. The fact that all numbers agree well with each other strengthens the model used for understanding the underlying physical phenomena. The method can be automated and used as a quick way to precisely

On the pathway of cellular uptake: new insight into the interaction between the cell membrane and very small nanoparticles

• Claudia Messerschmidt,
• Daniel Hofmann,
• Anja Kroeger,
• Katharina Landfester,
• Volker Mailänder and
• Ingo Lieberwirth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1296–1311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.121

• content of approximately 0.1% and subsequently applied to a carbon coated TEM grid. Excess solution was blotted off and the sample was dried at ambient conditions. For automated analysis the TEM micrographs were processed using Gaussian blur filtering with 2 pixels radius, background subtraction

Generalized Hertz model for bimodal nanomechanical mapping

• Aleksander Labuda,
• Marta Kocuń,
• Waiman Meinhold,
• Deron Walters and
• Roger Proksch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 970–982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.89

• a Ti/Ir-coated tip of nominal tip radius R = 28 ± 10 nm. Photothermal excitation [56] was used, which ensures stable imaging [57] and accurate FM tracking [58][59][60]. An automated calibration method [61] was used to obtain the stiffness of the first eigenmode (kc1 = 43.2 N/m), which was then used

Improved biocompatibility and efficient labeling of neural stem cells with poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles

• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Marina Dobrivojević,
• Lada Brkić Ahmed,
• Michal Babič,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Daniel Horák and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 926–936, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.84

• nanoparticle morphology and to identify crystal structure, respectively. Micrographs were processed by image analysis program NIS Elements (Laboratory Imaging, Prague, Czech Republic). More than 100 particles were segmented in each experiment using automated edge detection. Each particle was characterized by

Large-scale fabrication of achiral plasmonic metamaterials with giant chiroptical response

• Morten Slyngborg,
• Yao-Chung Tsao and
• Peter Fojan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 914–925, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.83

• ]. The original molds were used to make negative imprints by thermal nanoimprint lithography using the EVG520HE semi-automated hot embossing system. This was done in TOPAS 5013L-10 substrates under vacuum with a stamping pressure of 1.25 bar and at 160 °C using the original molds. Next a 30 nm film was

In situ observation of deformation processes in nanocrystalline face-centered cubic metals

• Aaron Kobler,
• Christian Brandl,
• Horst Hahn and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 572–580, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.50

• -Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.7.50 Abstract The atomistic mechanisms active during plastic deformation of nanocrystalline metals are still a subject of controversy. The recently developed approach of combining automated crystal orientation mapping (ACOM) and in

• metals are beyond the spatial resolution limits of EBSD (>20 nm) [36]. Here, we demonstrate a combination of automated crystal orientation mapping (ACOM) in scanning TEM (STEM) modus with in situ straining [37][38][39] of NC metals to follow the GB-mediated processes (GB sliding and grain growth) and

Characterisation of thin films of graphene–surfactant composites produced through a novel semi-automated method

• Nik J. Walch,
• Alexei Nabok,
• Frank Davis and
• Séamus P. J. Higson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 209–219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.19

• Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6PE, UK 10.3762/bjnano.7.19 Abstract In this paper we detail a novel semi-automated method for the production of graphene by sonochemical exfoliation of graphite in the presence of ionic surfactants, e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium

• sonochemical method was carried out using a semi-automated apparatus designed specifically for the purposes of this research. In previous work [6] we manufactured graphene–surfactant complexes using the Notley method and applied them to carbon electrodes, thereby enhancing their electrochemical activity

• . Further work was then carried out on optimising graphene production, characterising the products and also depositing graphene layers by more controlled techniques than simple casting. In this work a semi-automated technology of graphene production by sonochemical exfoliation of graphite in the presence of

An ISA-TAB-Nano based data collection framework to support data-driven modelling of nanotoxicology

• Richard L. Marchese Robinson,
• Mark T. D. Cronin,
• Andrea-Nicole Richarz and
• Robert Rallo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1978–1999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.202

• database system which is able to, amongst other functionality, import validated ISA-TAB-Nano datasets [30][109][110]. To facilitate database submission and other computational analysis, a Python [111] program was written, within the context of the NanoPUZZLES project, to enable automated conversion of an

Nanocuration workflows: Establishing best practices for identifying, inputting, and sharing data to inform decisions on nanomaterials

• Christina M. Powers,
• Karmann A. Mills,
• Stephanie A. Morris,
• Fred Klaessig,
• Sharon Gaheen,
• Nastassja Lewinski and
• Christine Ogilvie Hendren

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1860–1871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.189

• this slows the workflow process and is not always possible. Related to challenges more specific to the nanomaterial community, caNanoLab curators note that inconsistent terminology and a lack of automated data sharing tools impede the efficient implementation of their workflow. Data curators at the

• automated approaches might facilitate bringing data into repositories through ISA-TAB-Nano [10]. Recommendations proposed here have been based on the current landscape of the nanoinformatics field, and are focused on potential best practices to catalyze progress given the existence of multiple repositories