Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles toward highly efficient photocatalysis and antibacterial application

• Vo Thi Thu Nhu,
• Nguyen Duy Dat,
• Le-Minh Tam and
• Nguyen Hoang Phuong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1108–1119, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.94

• technologies have been proposed to remove organic pollutants from water, including coagulation coupled with sedimentation, biological processes, membrane filtration, adsorption, advanced oxidation, catalysis, and photocatalysis [1][2][3]. Using semiconductors as photocatalysts has been a widely studied

• approach for the complete removal of organic pollutants due to their advantages. Semiconductors can act as catalysts for the complete degradation of organic substances when excited by light with an energy value higher than their bandgap. Among many semiconductors, TiO2 and ZnO are widely used as

Recent advances in green carbon dots (2015–2022): synthesis, metal ion sensing, and biological applications

• Aisha Kanwal,
• Naheed Bibi,
• Sajjad Hyder,
• Arif Muhammad,
• Hao Ren,
• Jiangtao Liu and
• Zhongli Lei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1068–1107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.93

• that could detect Hg2+ and cysteine in a linear range of 2–20 μM and 0.1–2.0 μM for Hg2+ and Cys, respectively [53]. When compared to un-doped CDs, CDs co-doped with nitrogen and phosphorus (N,P-CDs) display novel and surprising features. After doping with N, the CDs become n-type semiconductors. In

Spindle-like MIL101(Fe) decorated with Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles for enhanced degradation of chlortetracycline under visible-light irradiation

• Chen-chen Hao,
• Fang-yan Chen,
• Kun Bian,
• Yu-bin Tang and
• Wei-long Shi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1038–1050, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.91

• traditional measures were difficult to be popularized. Photocatalysis is considered as an alternative and promising strategy for degradation and mineralization of antibiotics due to its low cost, high efficiency, mild reaction condition, and no secondary pollution [9][10][11]. A variety of semiconductors have

• use carbon nanotubes or carbon quantum dots to modify MIL101(Fe) to enhance its conductivity and broaden its visible-light response [37][38]. Another strategy is to construct MIL101-based heterostructures with the aid of narrow-gap semiconductors to promote the separation and transfer of

• photogenerated charges and resultant photocatalytic activity [26]. Up to date, a few semiconductors such as ZnO [39], TiO2 [19] and g-C3N4 [40] have been employed to construct heterojunctions with MIL101(Fe). The abovementioned MIL101-based heterojunctions are all traditional heterojunctions which promote the

Theoretical investigations of oxygen vacancy effects in nickel-doped zirconia from ab initio XANES spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge

• Dick Hartmann Douma,
• Lodvert Tchibota Poaty,
• Alessio Lamperti,
• Stéphane Kenmoe,
• Abdulrafiu Tunde Raji,
• Alberto Debernardi and
• Bernard M’Passi-Mabiala

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 975–985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.85

• ; Introduction The search for room-temperature magnetic semiconductors has been the driving force behind the increasing interest of material scientists and solid-state physicists in magnetic oxides [1]. This is due to their potential applications as building block of spintronic devices. Magnetic oxides are

• stoichiometric concentration required to ensure overall charge neutrality can modify the presence of defect states in the electron bandgap [4][26][27]. In diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS), magnetic impurities such as the transition metals (TM) Fe or Ni are introduced to produce a magnetic ground state. The

• zirconia will also create oxygen vacancies, although of different concentration due to the different oxidation states of Fe and Ni. Furthermore, O vacancies may be inadvertently introduced into semiconductors as a result of the processing conditions. For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing process

Efficient liquid exfoliation of KP₁₅ nanowires aided by Hansen's empirical theory

• Zhaoxuan Huang,
• Zhikang Jiang,
• Nan Tian,
• Disheng Yao,
• Fei Long,
• Yanhan Yang and
• Danmin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 788–795, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.69

• temperature measurements of KP15 nanodevices. Keywords: Hansen's empirical theory; KP15; liquid exfoliation; nanodevices; nanowires; Raman; semiconductors; Introduction Low-dimensional materials have drawn significant attention in recent years. So far, not only new composite materials with excellent

Hierarchical Bi₂WO₆/TiO₂-nanotube composites derived from natural cellulose for visible-light photocatalytic treatment of pollutants

• Zehao Lin,
• Zhan Yang and
• Jianguo Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 745–762, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.66

• -responsive semiconductors with suitable band structures provides a pathway for the advancement of highly efficient photocatalysts [9]. It has been demonstrated that the assembly of various nanoscale building blocks to form the corresponding nanoarchitectonics provides an ideal pathway for the syntheses of a

• conduction band (ECB) of the TiO2 and Bi2WO6 semiconductors are determined according to the Equation 5 and Equation 6 [31]: where χ, Ee, and Eg represent the geometric mean of the absolute electronegativity of the atoms in the semiconductors, the free electron energy on the hydrogen scale (approx. 4.5 eV

• ), and the bandgaps of semiconductors based on the UV–vis DRS characterizations, respectively. It is reported that the χ values of the TiO2 and Bi2WO6 semiconductors are 5.81 and 6.21 eV, respectively [52]; while the Eg values of the TiO2 and Bi2WO6 semiconductors are determined to be 3.12 and 2.40 eV

Direct measurement of surface photovoltage by AC bias Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Yasuhiro Sugawara and
• Yan Jun Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 712–720, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.63

• photocatalytic semiconductors. The local SPV is generally measured consecutively by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in darkness and under illumination, in which thermal drift degrades spatial and energy resolutions. In this study, we propose the method of AC bias Kelvin probe force microscopy (AC-KPFM

• thermal drift between darkness and illumination. In the case of semiconductors, an electric field is screened on the scale of the Debye length LD [3], where kB is the Boltzmann constant, T is the temperature, ε0 is the vacuum permittivity, εr is the relative permittivity of the semiconductor, e is the

• reactions (hours) [62][63][64]. Particularly for photocatalytic semiconductors, AC-KPFM would be an indispensable tool for detecting the fast SPV distribution related to charge redistribution (microseconds to milliseconds) because SPV measured with classical KFPM is attributed to both charge redistribution

Zinc oxide nanostructures for fluorescence and Raman signal enhancement: a review

• Ioana Marica,
• Fran Nekvapil,
• Maria Ștefan,
• Cosmin Farcău and
• Alexandra Falamaș

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 472–490, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.40

• on semiconductors decorated with noble metals, or vice versa, has been proposed. These hybrid nanostructures show enhanced optical and electronic properties due to the coupling between the noble metal and the semiconductor [10][11][13]. Various fabrication techniques have been employed to develop

Tin dioxide nanomaterial-based photocatalysts for nitrogen oxide oxidation: a review

• Viet Van Pham,
• Hong-Huy Tran,
• Thao Kim Truong and
• Thi Minh Cao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 96–113, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.7

• ] (see Equations 1–10). Recently, research on tin dioxide (SnO2) materials has increased significantly, which expresses the potential of SnO2 materials for the scientific community (Figure 2a). SnO2 is one of the most extensively investigated n-type semiconductors. It is known as tin(VI) oxide or stannic

• Many attempts have been made to enhance the photocatalytic activity and take better advantage of SnO2 for the NOx abatement, including the combination with other metal oxides [70], organic semiconductors [71], or metallic nanomaterials [72] to form a heterojunction/composite photocatalyst, and self

• co-photocatalysts, including inorganic and organic semiconductors, is a practical approach to enhance the charge transfer efficacy for the photocatalytic process. The photocatalytic degradation of NOx over SnO2 as a host photocatalyst is reported to be considerably enhanced after the combination with

Chemical vapor deposition of germanium-rich CrGe_x nanowires

• Vladislav Dřínek,
• Stanislav Tiagulskyi,
• Roman Yatskiv,
• Jan Grym,
• Radek Fajgar,
• Věra Jandová,
• Martin Koštejn and
• Jaroslav Kupčík

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1365–1371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.100

• reasonable choice for DMS alloys with chromium for the best compatibility with silicon-based industry. However, precipitation of transition metals is the main obstacle; but in low-dimensional semiconductors the precipitation is significantly reduced. Therefore, CrGe nanowires (NWs) were prepared to study

• representatives of diluted magnetic semiconductors, which have been intensively studied for future magnetic, optomagnetic, electronic, and related devices. Preparation of Cr/Ge materials in the form of NWs opens space for tuning the magnetic properties in germanium-rich Cr/Ge nanostructures. Moreover, the complex

Open-loop amplitude-modulation Kelvin probe force microscopy operated in single-pass PeakForce tapping mode

• Gheorghe Stan and
• Pradeep Namboodiri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1115–1126, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.83

• structures including metals [1], semiconductors [2][3][4], dielectrics [5][6][7], photovoltaics [8][9][10], polymers [11][12][13], ferroelectrics [14][15][16], and biological samples [17][18][19]. Technical descriptions and applications of KPFM methods for nanoscale material property characterizations are

First-principles study of the structural, optoelectronic and thermophysical properties of the π-SnSe for thermoelectric applications

• Muhammad Atif Sattar,
• Najwa Al Bouzieh,
• Maamar Benkraouda and
• Noureddine Amrane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1101–1114, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.82

• modified Becke–Johnson (mBJ) meta-GGA exchange-correlation functional over the optimized structure of π-SnSe generated with PBEsol. For a variety of semiconductors and insulators, the mBJ potential calculates the bandgap in a good agreement with experimental data [53]. To ensure a good energy convergence

•  11b, which is directly linked to the electronic properties (i.e., band structure and DOS). This absorption of photons accounts for interband transitions within semiconductors from a certain location of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most transitions happen within the infrared region once the energy is

Assessment of the optical and electrical properties of light-emitting diodes containing carbon-based nanostructures and plasmonic nanoparticles: a review

• Keshav Nagpal,
• Erwan Rauwel,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Protima Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1078–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.80

• semiconductors and emit from the UV to the red region of the visible spectrum via bandgap tuning (i.e., on alloying with In and Al [5][6][7]). Similarly, other active materials for quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLED), such as the II–VI semiconductor family include ZnO, CdSe, CdS, CdTe, ZnSe, ZnS, ZnTe, and

• as TiO2, ZnO, SnO2 in combination with Ag, Au, and PtNP has shown increment in the luminance and reduction in the operating voltages of the devices. For several decades, inorganic LED based on III–V group semiconductors (i.e., GaAs, GaP, InGaAs, InGaP, GaN, InGaN, and AlGaInP) have been extensively

Revealing the formation mechanism and band gap tuning of Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles

• Maximilian Joschko,
• Franck Yvan Fotue Wafo,
• Christina Malsi,
• Danilo Kisić,
• Ivana Validžić and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1021–1033, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.76

• , Abulikemu et al. reported a value of 2.15 eV, while Wang et al. reported 2.02 eV for nanoparticles received from a hot-injection synthesis using different solvents [17][19]. Variation in band gap values is also known to occur in other amorphous semiconductors, e.g., amorphous, hydrogenated silicon. This was

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• ][30][31][32]. Additional concepts to weaken adsorbate–surface interactions involve the post-deposition intercalation of atomic species such as iodine [33]. For semiconductors, for example, bare silicon or germanium, electronic decoupling of molecules can be achieved by either the growth of ultrathin

• these ultrathin interfacial layers significantly reduce both the molecular adsorption energy and the hybridization of molecular states with the electronic bands in metals and semiconductors. However, charge transport is not completely inhibited, and electrons can still tunnel from the metal through

• due to the lattice mismatch between 2D material and its substrate might serve as structural templates for molecular adsorption and self-assembly [79][80][81][82]. The electronic decoupling depends on the electronic properties of the 2D materials as they can be insulators, semiconductors, semimetals

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

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

• units. The challenges and prospects associated with D–A polymer-based photocatalysts are described as well. Keywords: π-conjugated polymeric photocatalysts; donor–acceptor junctions; nanostructure semiconductors; photocatalytic hydrogen production; Introduction To date, fossil fuels still are the

• and Honda [4] reported the first example of hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting in 1972, using TiO2 as the photocatalyst under ultraviolet-light irradiation. Since then, numerous semiconductors have been explored for photocatalytic hydrogen production (PHP) by water splitting, which

• moiety as a strong electron-withdrawing group, has been widely used to design organic semiconductors for diverse applications, such as organic solar cells [85], organic light-emitting diodes [86], and organic field-effect transistors [87]. Researchers have also incorporated cyano moieties into the design

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• the bandgap size of the AZO/Al2O3 layers deposited during the ALD process described in this paper. Knowing the bandgap size of AZO and GaAs, as well as the doping levels and the densities of states in the relevant bands of the semiconductors, we are able to construct the energy diagram of the

Influence of electrospray deposition on C₆₀ molecular assemblies

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Sebastian Scherb,
• Sara Freund,
• Zhao Liu,
• Thilo Glatzel and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 552–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.45

• ][25][28] and metal oxide semiconductors [23][24], while large three-dimensional molecular islands or clusters have been revealed on ionic crystals or bulk insulators [22][26][27][29]. Most of the studies have been performed after thermal evaporation (TE) of C60 from a crucible, but C60 is also one of

Interface interaction of transition metal phthalocyanines with strontium titanate (100)

• Reimer Karstens,
• Thomas Chassé and
• Heiko Peisert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 485–496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.39

• at interfaces; strontium titanate; transition metal phthalocyanines; Introduction Interfaces between organic semiconductors and oxides are of increasing fundamental interest. Such interfaces determine key properties of a broad variety of electronic devices. Common examples are dye-sensitized solar

Boosting of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via chlorine doping of polymeric carbon nitride

• Malgorzata Aleksandrzak,
• Michalina Kijaczko,
• Wojciech Kukulka,
• Daria Baranowska,
• Martyna Baca,
• Beata Zielinska and
• Ewa Mijowska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 473–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.38

• . Three of the most popular modifications are: (i) coupling with other semiconductors [22][23], (ii) self-optimization of the crystal structure [24][25], and (iii) doping with heteroatoms [26][27]. Therefore, PCN is called the "holy grail" because it is believed that its modifications will result in

Spontaneous shape transition of Mn_xGe_1−x islands to long nanowires

• S. Javad Rezvani,
• Luc Favre,
• Gabriele Giuli,
• Yiming Wubulikasimu,
• Isabelle Berbezier,
• Augusto Marcelli,
• Luca Boarino and
• Nicola Pinto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 366–374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.30

• spintronic applications. However, to achieve a reliable injection and detection of spin-polarized electrons in spintronic devices, appropriate heterostructures between semiconductors and magnetic alloys [9][10] need to be formed. Hence, a tailored growth process that preserves the injection efficiency and

Nickel nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide/WO₃ nanocomposite – a promising candidate for gas sensing

• Ilka Simon,
• Alexandr Savitsky,
• Rolf Mülhaupt,
• Vladimir Pankov and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 343–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.28

• ][9]. Metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) are the most commonly used gas sensors [10]. MOS can be divided into n-type and p-type MOS. In n-type MOS electrons are the majority charge carriers, while in p-type MOS holes are the majority charge carriers [6]. The exposure to reducing gases causes a decrease

• composite create a hierarchical nanostructure and facilitate the diffusion of NO2 molecules, increasing the contacts and enhancing the chemisorption of the gas. rGO has large specific area and more active sites. Gas sensors of n-type semiconductors based on oxides exhibit resistance changes induced by

Extended iron phthalocyanine islands self-assembled on a Ge(001):H surface

• Rafal Zuzak,
• Marek Szymonski and
• Szymon Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 232–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.19

• surfaces, since those semiconductors are at the foundations of traditional electronics. Finally, hydrogen-passivated semiconductors may also provide sufficient isolation for organic molecules to allow for the growth of molecular crystals. It has been already shown that PTCDA molecules form ordered islands

• ][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. However, the need to electronically decouple organic moieties from the underlying substrates directed the attention towards insulators and/or semiconductors. Metal phthalocyanines on semiconducting TiO2 surfaces have been frequently studied in the

A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures

• Sina Kaabipour and
• Shohreh Hemmati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 102–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.9

• [262][263]. This characteristic is obtained due to the rod-shape morphology of some plant viruses such as TMV. The synthesis of AgNPs using 1D templates can facilitate their application as bio-semiconductors [263]. One of the main advantages of viral templates is the simple synthesis of small AgNPs