Morphology of SiO₂ films as a key factor in alignment of liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropy

• Volodymyr Tkachenko,
• Antigone Marino,
• Eva Otón,
• Noureddine Bennis and
• Josè Manuel Otón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1743–1748, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.167

• rule" [11] are shown for comparison. LC pretilt vs the SiO2 deposition angle. The experimental data from [2] and [3] are shown for comparison. Acknowledgements This work has been partially supported by ICT COST Action IC1208 "Integrating devices and materials: a challenge for new instrumentation in

Nanoanalytics for materials science

• Thilo Glatzel and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1674–1675, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.159

• Thilo Glatzel Tom Wirtz Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland Advanced Instrumentation for Ion Nano-Analytics (AINA), MRT Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 41 rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg 10.3762

• “Nanoanalytics for materials science” groups six exciting articles around the aforementioned aspects of nanoanalytics, describing the development of both new instrumentation as well as new methodologies. On the side of instrumental development, a ultra-high resolution multi-probe device based on tuning fork

False positives and false negatives measure less than 0.001% in labeling ssDNA with osmium tetroxide 2,2’-bipyridine

• Anastassia Kanavarioti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1434–1446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.135

• the pore in speeds that correspond microseconds per base − speeds that are too fast for detection by current instrumentation [11]. To remedy the situation, work mostly with α-HL and MspA has yielded engineered versions thereof with improved DNA sensing capabilities [12][22][23], as well as the

• experiment (Figure 4). These calculations of 0.3/100,000 for A reactivity and 2/100,000 for G reactivity are upper limits of detectability, and not actual levels of reactivity. This is due to limitations in instrumentation and the specifics of the experiment. These limits are also consistent with

• pyrimidines and 31 plausible positions for backbone cleavage would be visible at the level of 2/20,135/3/31 = 1/1,000,000, and suggests that OsBp reactivity towards a DNA backbone, osmylated or not, is lower than 1/1,000,000. As previously discussed, this limit is the result of our current instrumentation and

Experimental and simulation-based investigation of He, Ne and Ar irradiation of polymers for ion microscopy

• Lukasz Rzeznik,
• Yves Fleming,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1113–1128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.104

• Lukasz Rzeznik Yves Fleming Tom Wirtz Patrick Philipp Advanced Instrumentation for Ion Nano-Analytics (AINA), MRT Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 41 rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg 10.3762/bjnano.7.104 Abstract Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) on

Voltammetric determination of polyphenolic content in pomegranate juice using a poly(gallic acid)/multiwalled carbon nanotube modified electrode

• Refat Abdel-Hamid and
• Emad F. Newair

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1104–1112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.103

• gallic acid were prepared by dilution of the stock solution with 0.2 M phosphoric acid. Instrumentation Cyclic and square wave voltammetric, chronoamperomeric and chronocoulomeric experiments were performed by using an Autolab PGSTAT128N Potentiostat/Galvanostat (Eco-Chemie, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Phenalenyl-based mononuclear dysprosium complexes

• Yanhua Lan,
• Andrea Magri,
• Olaf Fuhr and
• Mario Ruben

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 995–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.92

• the concept that we discussed in our introduction. Experimental Instrumentation Elemental analysis of carbon and hydrogen, were carried out in a Vario Micro Cube. Infrared spectra were recorded using KBr pressed pellets with a Perkin-Elmer Spectrum GX FTIR spectrometer (MAGNA FTIR 750, Nicolet) in the

Modelling of ‘sub-atomic’ contrast resulting from back-bonding on Si(111)-7×7

• Adam Sweetman,
• Samuel P. Jarvis and
• Mohammad A. Rashid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 937–945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.85

• temperature scanning probe instrumentation [1], coupled with specific experimental techniques utilising the in situ functionalisation of scanning probe tips with single molecules [2], and operation in the constant-height imaging mode, have resulted in an explosion of interest in high-resolution imaging and

Efficient electron-induced removal of oxalate ions and formation of copper nanoparticles from copper(II) oxalate precursor layers

• Kai Rückriem,
• Sarah Grotheer,
• Henning Vieker,
• Paul Penner,
• André Beyer,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Petra Swiderek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 852–861, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.77

• precursor distribution on the surface was achieved by using liquid precursor materials, i.e., molten salts [5] or solutions of the precursors [6][7][8]. The latter processes are more demanding in terms of instrumentation as they require heating stages [5] or liquid cells [6][7][8], respectively. Furthermore

Facile synthesis of water-soluble carbon nano-onions under alkaline conditions

• Gaber Hashem Gaber Ahmed,
• Rosana Badía Laíño,
• Josefa Angela García Calzón and
• Marta Elena Díaz García

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 758–766, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.67

• H2SO4 (n = 1.33) with a quantum yield of 0.54 at λex = 350 nm was used as a reference. C-dots and C-onions were dissolved in Milli-Q water (n = 1.33). Instrumentation HRTEM (JEOL JEM-2100F, 200 kV) was used to determine the size and morphology of the synthesized carbon materials. Powder X-ray

Novel roles for well-known players: from tobacco mosaic virus pests to enzymatically active assemblies

• Claudia Koch,
• Fabian J. Eber,
• Carlos Azucena,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Alexander M. Bittner,
• Holger Jeske,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Fania C. Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 613–629, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.54

• has been growing enormously since then [170][171], which parallels the investigation of viral biotemplates (see above). The main emerging application area is medical diagnostics, namely “point-of-care” on-site analytics circumventing the need for expensive instrumentation [172], with further uses

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

• method and instrumentation, almost arriving at the conclusion that it is nearly impossible to carry out quantitatively accurate measurements of viscoelasticity with AFM, unless one assumes that the sample follows the simplest continuum behaviors. For the most part, the development of new AFM imaging and

Charge and heat transport in soft nanosystems in the presence of time-dependent perturbations

• Alberto Nocera,
• Carmine Antonio Perroni,
• Vincenzo Marigliano Ramaglia and
• Vittorio Cataudella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 439–464, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.39

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

• due to its great potential for many applications. For example, recent advancements in instrumentation of dynamic-mode AFM have enabled atomic-resolution imaging not only in vacuum [2][3][4] but also in liquid [5][6]. In addition, other advanced AFM techniques such as high-speed AFM [7][8][9] and

Molecular machines and devices

• Jan van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 310–311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.29

• interesting combination of theoretical questions, dedicated instrumentation development, synthetic chemistry, and experimental observations. Concepts for electrically actuated, molecular scale motion are discussed in many of the contributions, where switches, pumps, or motors are considered, and first

High-bandwidth multimode self-sensing in bimodal atomic force microscopy

• Michael G. Ruppert and
• S. O. Reza Moheimani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 284–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.26

• enables the omission of the commonly used piezoelectric stack actuator and optical beam deflection sensor, alleviating limitations due to distorted frequency responses and instrumentation cost, respectively. The proposed method benefits from a more than two orders of magnitude increase in deflection to

• excitation of higher order eigenmodes of a microcantilever [1][2][3] and as such, present a number of practical challenges to cantilever instrumentation. Both high-bandwidth cantilever actuation and deflection sensing are necessary, ideally without distorting the frequency response of the cantilever and

• elimination of the piezoelectric base actuator and the OBD sensor from the cantilever instrumentation setup, avoiding tedious laser alignment and distorted frequency responses. In this contribution, we demonstrate that the self-sensing method can be extended to MF-AFM techniques such as bimodal imaging by

Single-molecule magnet behavior in 2,2’-bipyrimidine-bridged dilanthanide complexes

• Wen Yu,
• Frank Schramm,
• Eufemio Moreno Pineda,
• Yanhua Lan,
• Olaf Fuhr,
• Jinjie Chen,
• Hironari Isshiki,
• Wolfgang Wernsdorfer,
• Wulf Wulfhekel and
• Mario Ruben

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 126–137, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.15

• −17 °C and by layering EtOH onto a CHCl3 solution of 1, 4 and 5 at room temperature, respectively. Results of elemental analyses and isolated yields are given in Table 1. Physical measurements and instrumentation IR transmission measurements of pressed KBr pellets were recorded at room temperature

Single pyrimidine discrimination during voltage-driven translocation of osmylated oligodeoxynucleotides via the α-hemolysin nanopore

• Yun Ding and
• Anastassia Kanavarioti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 91–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.11

• composition. Part B, Chemicals, materials and instrumentation for nanopore measurements: Nanopore experiments were conducted with 10 μM DNA in 1.0 M KCl, 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 and at 22 ± 1 °C, as described in detail in [14], and summarized here. WT α-hemolysin was purchased from List

Development of a novel nanoindentation technique by utilizing a dual-probe AFM system

• Eyup Cinar,
• Ferat Sahin and
• Dalia Yablon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2015–2027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.205

• Eyup Cinar Ferat Sahin Dalia Yablon Microsystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA SurfaceChar LLC., Sharon, MA, USA 10.3762/bjnano.6.205 Abstract A novel instrumentation approach to

The convenient preparation of stable aryl-coated zerovalent iron nanoparticles

• Olga A. Guselnikova,
• Andrey I. Galanov,
• Anton K. Gutakovskii and
• Pavel S. Postnikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1192–1198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.121

• NPs with a wide range of attached organic functional groups allows for the design of contrast agents for theranostic applications. Experimental Materials and instrumentation tert-Butyl nitrite, 4-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH), 4-nitroaniline, iron trichloride hexahydrate (FeCl3∙6H2O), and sodium

Tattoo ink nanoparticles in skin tissue and fibroblasts

• Colin A. Grant,
• Peter C. Twigg,
• Richard Baker and
• Desmond J. Tobin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1183–1191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.120

• ]. With highly specialised instrumentation and techniques, it is even possible to resolve molecular bonds [16][17]. Details of AFM operation and capabilities can be found elsewhere [18][19]. However, in brief, the AFM instrument involves a sharp probe at the end of a cantilever interacting with a surface

Scanning reflection ion microscopy in a helium ion microscope

• Yuri V. Petrov and
• Oleg F. Vyvenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1125–1137, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.114

• Abstract Reflection ion microscopy (RIM) is a technique that uses a low angle of incidence and scattered ions to form an image of the specimen surface. This paper reports on the development of the instrumentation and the analysis of the capabilities and limitations of the scanning RIM in a helium ion

• spectrometry [32][33], and ionoluminescence [34][35] were developed. In this paper we report on the development of the instrumentation and the analysis of the capabilities and limitations of scanning reflection ion microscopy (RIM) in a helium ion microscope. In the experimental part of our work we describe a

Charge carrier mobility and electronic properties of Al(Op)₃: impact of excimer formation

• Andrea Magri,
• Pascal Friederich,
• Bernhard Schäfer,
• Valeria Fattori,
• Xiangnan Sun,
• Timo Strunk,
• Velimir Meded,
• Luis E. Hueso,
• Wolfgang Wenzel and
• Mario Ruben

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1107–1115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.112

• organic thin film or at the organic/organic interface (exciplexes) act as electron traps, and as a result, the electron mobility can be lowered until the point of suppression (i.e., below the sensitivity of the instrumentation). Theory of HOMO–LUMO level charge mobility In order to shed more light on the

High sensitivity and high resolution element 3D analysis by a combined SIMS–SPM instrument

• Yves Fleming and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1091–1099, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.110

• Yves Fleming Tom Wirtz Advanced Instrumentation for Ion Nano-Analytics (AINA), MRT Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 41 rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg 10.3762/bjnano.6.110 Abstract Using the recently developed SIMS–SPM prototype, secondary ion mass

Optimization of phase contrast in bimodal amplitude modulation AFM

• Mehrnoosh Damircheli,
• Amir F. Payam and
• Ricardo Garcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1072–1081, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.108

• bimodal and trimodal AFM in the repulsive regime [41]. However, a similar comparison has not been reported for the attractive interaction regime. In bimodal AFM (Figure 1), the advances in instrumentation are ahead of its theoretical understanding. To bridge the gap between experiments and theory we study

Automatic morphological characterization of nanobubbles with a novel image segmentation method and its application in the study of nanobubble coalescence

• Yuliang Wang,
• Huimin Wang,
• Shusheng Bi and
• Bin Guo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 952–963, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.98

• the image of the PS surface immersed in DI water. The entire surface is covered with spherical cap-like domains, which are identified as NBs [6]. The Rrms is 2.8 nm, which is a value much larger than that obtained in air. Due to the mechanical instrumentation drift [42] that occurs during imaging, the