Calculating free energies of organic molecules on insulating substrates

• Julian Gaberle,
• David Z. Gao and
• Alexander L. Shluger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 667–674, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.71

• of attention due to their versatility, functionality, and technological potential. Understanding the behaviour of self-assembling molecules is important for catalysis [1], coatings [2], sensors [3][4] and molecular electronics [5][6][7]. To design and fabricate surface structures relevant for these

Analysis and modification of defective surface aggregates on PCDTBT:PCBM solar cell blends using combined Kelvin probe, conductive and bimodal atomic force microscopy

• Hanaul Noh,
• Alfredo J. Diaz and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 579–589, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.62

• transport characteristics and the distribution of carriers and materials, which are relevant to device performance [16]. In this work, we use a series of AFM techniques to characterize electrically defective surface structures aggregated on test PSC specimens. The active layer of the test PSCs comprises the

Biological and biomimetic materials and surfaces

• Stanislav Gorb and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 403–407, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.42

• , which later proved to be wax crystals that are formed by self-organisation processes and show specific shapes characteristic for different plant groups. To study these surface structures in the SEM, the leaves have to be prepared and cleaned, and Wilhelm Barthlott soon realized that the leaves of some

Nano- and microstructured materials for in vitro studies of the physiology of vascular cells

• Alexandra M. Greiner,
• Adria Sales,
• Hao Chen,
• Sarah A. Biela,
• Dieter Kaufmann and
• Ralf Kemkemer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1620–1641, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.155

• /nanotopographies. We define micro/nanostructured substrates as materials having fabricated surface structures in all three dimensions and, consequently, not having a planar surface. The number of possible architectures of micro/nanostructured substrates is huge and it is often difficult to keep track with all

• desired surface feature size. In particular, some methods are not suited for structuring surface topographies in the nanometer range. 1.2 Microfabrication techniques Microfabrication techniques are mainly used to generate surface structures in the micrometer range, which is the size scale of cells. In

• using metals [58]. The surface structures made by photolithography are typically further used as a master structure for further processing. Hot embossing also replicates micro- and nanofeatures of master substrates. In that case, a thermoplastic material is pressed on the mold at a high temperature to

Surface roughness rather than surface chemistry essentially affects insect adhesion

• Matt W. England,
• Tomoya Sato,
• Makoto Yagihashi,
• Atsushi Hozumi,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Elena V. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1471–1479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.139

• attachment of the beetles. Surface roughness was found to be the dominant factor, strongly affecting the attachment ability of the beetles. Keywords: insect attachment; superhydrophilicity; superhydrophobicity; superoleophobicity; surface structures; Introduction The development of functional coatings that

• also produce capillary forces. Inspired by this idea, artificial silicone polymer structures with underwater adhesive properties were fabricated [34]. Thus, the relationship between surface structures and the attachment of insects, in combination with their particular chemical/physical properties, has

• flows on textured substrates with different roughness parameters and surface energies [39]. These numerical studies demonstrated that a higher density of geometrical surface structures of the rigid substrate results in a greater loss of fluid from the pad. The draining rate of the pad fluid is more

Three-gradient regular solution model for simple liquids wetting complex surface topologies

• Sabine Akerboom,
• Marleen Kamperman and
• Frans A. M. Leermakers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1377–1396, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.129

• approach, without a discontinuity in the water front shape or in the water advancing contact angle θ. Therefore, air entrapment cannot be the main reason why the contact angle θ for an advancing water front varies. Rather, the contact line is pinned and curved due to the surface structures, inducing

• surface is hydrophobic (apparent contact angle θ > 90°) [1]. Recently, different surface structures have been designed and fabricated from hydrophilic materials that show hydrophobic contact angles [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. An example is an inverse opal as schematically shown in Figure 1. Our group

• scale, and does not entail details about the droplet shape close to the surface structures on a microscopic level. Another explanation of the difference in θ for a structured and unstructured surface of the same material is contact line pinning [17][18][19][20]. The three-phase contact line is hereby

Functional diversity of resilin in Arthropoda

• Jan Michels,
• Esther Appel and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1241–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.115

• is transported to the mouth region of the beetle where it can be seized with the mandibles [116][117][118]. The sticky pads feature a surface that is subdivided into numerous terminally branched outgrowths. During the prey capture, these surface structures are completely covered by an adhesive

Frog tongue surface microstructures: functional and evolutionary patterns

• Thomas Kleinteich and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 893–903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.81

• been shown before, that the anatomy of frog tongues can be very diverse in different anuran taxa [14], little is known about the diversity of tongue surface structures in frogs. Besides a study on the ornamentation of the tongue in the dicroglossid frog Fejervarya cancrivora [15] (the frog is referred

• and tongue adhesion in frogs of the genus Ceratophrys [13][31]. The Litoria caerulea specimen studied herein was previously used for a study on toe-pad anatomy in tree frogs [32]. We examined the surface structures of frog tongues by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For SEM we prepared pieces

• package Amira 6.0 (FEI SAS, Mérignac Cedex, France). The micro-CT data of the Ceratophrys ornata specimen was already used in a previous study [13] and is accessible at http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.066mr. Results Tongue surface structures: Two types of papillae cover the dorsal surface of frog tongues

Microscopic characterization of Fe nanoparticles formed on SrTiO₃(001) and SrTiO₃(110) surfaces

• Miyoko Tanaka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 817–824, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.73

• 200 kV. High-resolution images were acquired with a CCD camera (Gatan Orius SC200). The observation of the identical samples by both TEM and STM was not performed in the present study owing to experimental difficulties. Results and Discussion Various surface structures are known to be formed on STO

• studied using a UHV–STM/TEM combined system. The surfaces were annealed by electron beam irradiation in UHV before deposition. Oxygen-depleted surface structures were formed for both TEM and STM substrates. Some nanoparticles grow epitaxially on both substrates. They have a single major epitaxial

Nanoscale effects in the characterization of viscoelastic materials with atomic force microscopy: coupling of a quasi-three-dimensional standard linear solid model with in-plane surface interactions

• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 554–571, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.49

• above discussion, it is clear that the structure of the surface itself is not expected to be the same as that of the bulk, and that the surface structures of viscoelastic surfaces can be very complex and difficult to predict. Additionally, the constituent molecules in a viscoelastic material can exhibit

Efficiency improvement in the cantilever photothermal excitation method using a photothermal conversion layer

• Natsumi Inada,
• Hitoshi Asakawa,
• Taiki Kobayashi and
• Takeshi Fukuma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 409–417, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.36

• ; dynamic mode; photothermal conversion; photothermal excitation; Introduction Atomic force microscopy (AFM) [1] is an analytical technique to investigate nanoscale surface structures and local physical properties of various samples. Dynamic-mode AFM has attracted considerable interests in various fields

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

• observed. This could be due to an alternative adsorption site or to atomic S from dissociation. To clarify this, one needs information on the CLBEs for atomic S adsorption on Cu. Atomic S adsorption on Cu(100) and Cu(111) surfaces [81][82][83][84][85][86][87] leads to rather complex surface structures

Nanostructured surfaces by supramolecular self-assembly of linear oligosilsesquioxanes with biocompatible side groups

• Maria Nowacka,
• Anna Kowalewska and
• Tomasz Makowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2377–2387, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.244

• ) that are coiled due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the compatible side groups. ATR-FTIR spectra (Supporting Information File 1) confirmed that COOH groups in all the studied polymers are involved in the formation of adsorbed surface structures (a substantial decrease of the νC=O band at

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

• method allows for a very quick and easy deposition of conducting polymer films while the formation of surface structures can be controlled by electrochemical parameters [26] and the used monomer [27]. In order to control the formation of surface nanostructures, the core responsible for the polymerization

• during the reaction and the polymerization is not favorable. Surface structures and wettability The surface structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and surface roughness measurements. The SEM images for Qs = 100 mC·cm−2 are given in Figure 3 and Figure 4 and the surface

• polymers PIndole-4-Fn are just slightly hydrophobic confirming the low effect of the surface structures for these polymers, independent of the fluorinated chain size. The polymers PIndole-5-Fn are more hydrophobic with apparent water contact angles (θwater) of 124.8° for a normalized deposition charge of

Influence of surface chemical properties on the toxicity of engineered zinc oxide nanoparticles to embryonic zebrafish

• Zitao Zhou,
• Jino Son,
• Bryan Harper,
• Zheng Zhou and
• Stacey Harper

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1568–1579, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.160

• clusters suggest that a set of appropriate intrinsic properties of surface chemistry can be used to partition NPs into different groups. The 17 ZnO NPs partitioned into clusters that were fairly easy to identify using only capping agent properties. However, with more complex surface structures, overlap

Atomic force microscopy as analytical tool to study physico-mechanical properties of intestinal cells

• Christa Schimpel,
• Oliver Werzer,
• Eleonore Fröhlich,
• Gerd Leitinger,
• Markus Absenger-Novak,
• Birgit Teubl,
• Andreas Zimmer and
• Eva Roblegg

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1457–1466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.151

• , elasticity and adhesion. Moreover, differences in F-actin networks were investigated via phalloidin labeling using confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results and Discussion Morphological surface structures and cytoskeleton organization of Caco-2

• electron microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate morphological changes of cell surface architectures and examine protrusive surface structures including microvilli. For this, specimens were prepared similar as described previously [62]. After cultivation in transwell® systems cells were washed twice with PBS

Enhanced fullerene–Au(111) coupling in (2√3 × 2√3)R30° superstructures with intermolecular interactions

• Michael Paßens,
• Rainer Waser and
• Silvia Karthäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1421–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.147

• prefer to be surrounded by unlike NN (unl-NN), and hex-vac C60, which prefer to be surrounded by like next neighbors (l-NN), form surface structures that remind of Ising-like systems (Figure 2). This is even more astonishing, since in the standard Ising model either l-NN (interaction energy, J > 0) or

Electrocatalysis on the nm scale

• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1008–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.103

• developed to a stage where a reliable description of complex surface structures and surface processes (at the solid–gas interface) is possible based on first-principles electronic structure theory (in particular, (periodic) density functional theory (DFT)), but it is also increasingly developing new

Self-assembled anchor layers/polysaccharide coatings on titanium surfaces: a study of functionalization and stability

• Ognen Pop-Georgievski,
• Dana Kubies,
• Josef Zemek,
• Neda Neykova,
• Roman Demianchuk,
• Eliška Mázl Chánová,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Milan Houska and
• František Rypáček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 617–631, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.63

• -aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) can result in several surface structures such as covalent attachment, self-assembly, multilayer formation by surface-initiated (SI) polymerization and particle adsorption [22]. The obstacles and limitations inherent to thiol–SAMs and silanes can be circumvented by the use of moieties

SERS and DFT study of copper surfaces coated with corrosion inhibitor

• Maurizio Muniz-Miranda,
• Francesco Muniz-Miranda and
• Stefano Caporali

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2489–2497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.258

• , silver and copper. To ensure the necessary SERS activation, a roughening procedure was implemented on the copper substrates, resulting in nanoscale surface structures, as evidenced by microscopic investigation. To obtain sufficient information on the molecule–metal interaction and the formation of an

Coating with luminal gut-constituents alters adherence of nanoparticles to intestinal epithelial cells

• Heike Sinnecker,
• Katrin Ramaker and
• Andreas Frey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2308–2315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.239

• increasing colloid stability or camouflaging attachment sites, certain components of intestinal fluid are capable to modify particle surfaces in such a way that interactions with cellular surface structures result in an increased binding. Keywords: adherence; agglomeration; intestinal epithelial cells

• can only speculate (Figure 5). Without having come into contact with proteins, “naked” NPs may interact non-specifically with surface structures either in the glycocalyx or – if the particles are small enough to penetrate this dense meshwork of glycostructures blanketing the epithelial cells

• particles and interact with surface structures of the cell determine the dimension of the NP-cell contact. Experimental Chemicals BSA (fraction V fatty acid free) and meat extract were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Taufkirchen, Germany), casein (Hammarsten grade) was from BDH Prolabo (via VWR International

Cathode lens spectromicroscopy: methodology and applications

• T. O. Menteş,
• G. Zamborlini,
• A. Sala and
• A. Locatelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1873–1886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.198

• of interest in the image. Figure 3a illustrates XAS-PEEM imaging spectroscopy on a nanostructured Fe film on W(110). The off-resonant image contrast (leftmost panel) is due to the different secondary photoelectron yield from different surface structures, dominated by the variations in the work

Synthesis of Pt nanoparticles and their burrowing into Si due to synergistic effects of ion beam energy losses

• Pravin Kumar,
• Udai Bhan Singh,
• Kedar Mal,
• Sunil Ojha,
• Indra Sulania,
• Dinakar Kanjilal,
• Dinesh Singh and
• Vidya Nand Singh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1864–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.197

• its re-deposition on the surface cannot result in such a uniform pattern on the surface. Therefore, transient thermal effects, activated by dewetting, are assumed to yield the uniform surface structures. These surface structures begin to disappear as the Se decreases (see Figure 2c). In the sample

• irradiated with 50 keV (Se/Sn = 1), the surface structures disappear completely. Figure 3 shows the Rutherford backscattering spectra (at the Pt edge) of pristine and irradiated samples. The shifting of the Pt peak towards lower energy with a decrease in the Se/Sn ratio confirms the burrowing of Pt in Si

• taking images with these two techniques. If surface structures are uniform, the correlation between the features governed by AFM and SEM can be discussed qualitatively. The Pt islands formed by kinetic sputtering followed by possible dewetting as seen in the AFM images (Figure 2d and 2e) are visible in

Probing the electronic transport on the reconstructed Au/Ge(001) surface

• Franciszek Krok,
• Mark R. Kaspers,
• Alexander M. Bernhart,
• Marek Nikiel,
• Benedykt R. Jany,
• Paulina Indyka,
• Mateusz Wojtaszek,
• Rolf Möller and
• Christian A. Bobisch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1463–1471, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.159

• , since segregation needs to be considered for other atomic wire-like surface structures as well. Whenever surface structures are engineered by adsorbing material, in depth profile analysis may unravel buried electronic channels which can prevent to access to the electronic system of the surface. a

Restructuring of an Ir(210) electrode surface by potential cycling

• Khaled A. Soliman,
• Dieter M. Kolb,
• Ludwig A. Kibler and
• Timo Jacob

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1349–1356, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.148

• cooling in nitrogen gas atmosphere [19][20]. Such thermally-induced faceted Ir(210) has been characterized by cyclic voltammetry and in situ scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) [20]. Thus, very similar surface structures with nanometer-scale pyramids consisting of (110) and {311} facets could be prepared