Liquid-crystalline nanoarchitectures for tissue engineering

• Baeckkyoung Sung and
• Min-Ho Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 205–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.22

• electrostatically induced phase transitions from isotropic sol to nematic gel of synthetic nanofibers or filamentous bacteriophages can be adopted as a mild and efficient process for cell encapsulation in a highly anisotropic hydrogel scaffold [91][103]. These in situ cell inclusion techniques allow for the

Electrical properties of a liquid crystal dispersed in an electrospun cellulose acetate network

• Doina Manaila Maximean,
• Octavian Danila,
• Pedro L. Almeida and
• Constantin Paul Ganea

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 155–163, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.18

• switching cycles. Conclusion CA electrospun nanofibers were deposited onto ITO-coated glass and an electro-optic cell was formed by two such glass plates with fibers in between. By filling in the nematic liquid crystal E7 a light scattering device with a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal was obtained

Advances in nanocarbon composite materials

• Sharali Malik,
• Arkady V. Krasheninnikov and
• Silvia Marchesan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 20–21, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.3

• , Moldova, Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. This Thematic Series highlights virtually all subfields of advanced nanocarbon materials research, from the longer established fields of carbon nanofibers, graphene oxide (GO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in composite materials, to the

Dry adhesives from carbon nanofibers grown in an open ethanol flame

• Christian Lutz,
• Julia Syurik,
• C. N. Shyam Kumar,
• Christian Kübel,
• Michael Bruns and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2719–2728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.271

• , 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.8.271 Abstract Based on magnetic-field-assisted growth of carbon nanofibers in an open ethanol flame we

• fabricated arrays of carbon nanofibers with different degrees of orientation. Inspired by the dry adhesive system of geckos we investigated the adhesive properties of such carbon nanofiber arrays with ordered and random orientation. AFM-based force spectroscopy revealed that adhesion force and energy rise

• linear with preload force. Carbon nanofibers oriented by a magnetic field show a 68% higher adhesion (0.66 N/cm2) than the randomly oriented fibers. Endurance tests revealed that the carbon nanofiber arrays withstand 50.000 attachment/detachment cycles without observable wear. Keywords: adhesion; atomic

One-step chemical vapor deposition synthesis and supercapacitor performance of nitrogen-doped porous carbon–carbon nanotube hybrids

• Egor V. Lobiak,
• Lyubov G. Bulusheva,
• Ekaterina O. Fedorovskaya,
• Yury V. Shubin,
• Pavel E. Plyusnin,
• Pierre Lonchambon,
• Boris V. Senkovskiy,
• Zinfer R. Ismagilov,
• Emmanuel Flahaut and
• Alexander V. Okotrub

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2669–2679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.267

• the combustion of porous carbon (component 1), MWCNTs with many defects like the nanofibers shown in Figure 2d (component 2), and finally, more structurally perfect MWCNTs (component 3). The ratios of the components and their peak temperatures are collected in Table S1 in Supporting Information File 1

Systematic control of α-Fe₂O₃ crystal growth direction for improved electrochemical performance of lithium-ion battery anodes

• Nan Shen,
• Miriam Keppeler,
• Barbara Stiaszny,
• Holger Hain,
• Filippo Maglia and
• Madhavi Srinivasan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2032–2044, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.204

• reported for several iron-oxide-based electrodes, including porous α-Fe2O3 nanorods [13], macroporous α-Fe2O3 submicrometer spheres [54], and 1D hollow α-Fe2O3 electrospun nanofibers [55], however its origin remains speculative. Several hypotheses are stated in the literature, among others, such as an

Fabrication of carbon nanospheres by the pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile–poly(methyl methacrylate) core–shell composite nanoparticles

• Dafu Wei,
• Youwei Zhang and
• Jinping Fu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.190

• nitrogen were removed. Small molecule gases including H2O, NH3, HCN, CO2, N2 and alkyl fragments were produced, which caused the formation of many micropores in the PAN-based carbon nanofibers [28]. Here, the presence of an outer PMMA layer, which might be fully decomposed above 600 °C, may impede the

Oxidative stabilization of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers and carbon nanofibers containing graphene oxide (GO): a spectroscopic and electrochemical study

• İlknur Gergin,
• Ezgi Ismar and
• A. Sezai Sarac

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1616–1628, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.161

• Istanbul, Turkey 10.3762/bjnano.8.161 Abstract In this study, a precursor for carbon nanofibers (CNF) was fabricated via electrospinning and carbonized through a thermal process. Before carbonization, oxidative stabilization should be applied, and the oxidation mechanism also plays an important role

• interior pores filled with electrolyte. Keywords: carbon nanofiber; graphene oxide; oxidized polyacrylonitrile (PAN); Introduction Carbon nanofibers are of great interest because of their chemical similarity to fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanofibers (CNF) have promising electrochemical and

• mechanical properties and a potential for a variety of applications; such as supercapacitor applications, battery applications, and catalyst support materials. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is one of the well-known precursor for obtaining carbon nanofibers that have a diameter ranging between nanometers and

Carbon nanomaterials sensitize prostate cancer cells to docetaxel and mitomycin C via induction of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation

• Kati Erdmann,
• Jessica Ringel,
• Silke Hampel,
• Manfred P. Wirth and
• Susanne Fuessel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1307–1317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.132

• , Dresden 01171, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.8.132 Abstract We have previously shown that carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can sensitize prostate cancer (PCa) cells to platinum-based chemotherapeutics. In order to further verify this concept and to avoid a bias, the present study

• last decades, various nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been extensively investigated for their utilization as drug carriers and delivery vehicles. They possess great potential for such biomedical applications based on their ability to be loaded with

Fabrication of hierarchically porous TiO₂ nanofibers by microemulsion electrospinning and their application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

• Jin Zhang,
• Yibing Cai,
• Xuebin Hou,
• Xiaofei Song,
• Pengfei Lv,
• Huimin Zhou and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1297–1306, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.131

• China 10.3762/bjnano.8.131 Abstract Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofibers have been widely applied in various fields including photocatalysis, energy storage and solar cells due to the advantages of low cost, high abundance and nontoxicity. However, the low conductivity of ions and bulk electrons hinder

• its rapid development in lithium-ion batteries (LIB). In order to improve the electrochemical performances of TiO2 nanomaterials as anode for LIB, hierarchically porous TiO2 nanofibers with different tetrabutyl titanate (TBT)/paraffin oil ratios were prepared as anode for LIB via a versatile single

• -nozzle microemulsion electrospinning (ME-ES) method followed by calcining. The experimental results indicated that TiO2 nanofibers with the higher TBT/paraffin oil ratio demonstrated more axially aligned channels and a larger specific surface area. Furthermore, they presented superior lithium-ion storage

Needs and challenges for assessing the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs)

• Michelle Romero-Franco,
• Hilary A. Godwin,
• Muhammad Bilal and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 989–1014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.101

Synthesis of coaxial nanotubes of polyaniline and poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) by oxidative/initiated chemical vapor deposition

• Alper Balkan,
• Efe Armagan and
• Gozde Ozaydin Ince

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 872–882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.89

• sensors are very limited. Zeng et al. [33] studied the resistance change of PANI nanofibers depending on the humidity level. They observed that the resistance changed parabolically as the humidity of the environment increased, and a minimum value for the resistance at a certain humidity level existed. The

• humidity increased due to charge transfer between CeO2 and PANI. However, incorporating CeO2 in the polymer decreases flexibility and increases the overall electrical resistance, which may limit the range of applications. Lin et al. [35] fabricated electrospun PANI nanofibers and introduced hydrophilic

Investigation of growth dynamics of carbon nanotubes

• Marianna V. Kharlamova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 826–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.85

• [39]. It implied the carbon diffusion on the surface of the metallic catalytic particle and not in its bulk. Later on, this growth mechanism was used by other authors to explain the formation process of carbon nanofibers [40][41][42] and nanotubes [43]. In [42], Hofmann with co-authors provided the

• of carbon nanofibers on nickel nanoparticles and suggested the growth mechanism involving the surface diffusion. They observed the movement of atoms on the surface of the crystalline nickel cluster and change of its shape during the growth process. It was concluded that the surface transport of

• carbon atoms was the growth rate-limiting process. The surface diffusion mechanism of the growth of carbon nanofibers and nanotubes on metallic catalysts was also revealed by theoretical methods [41][42][44]. In [44], Raty with co-authors reported ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of the formation

Measuring adhesion on rough surfaces using atomic force microscopy with a liquid probe

• Juan V. Escobar,
• Cristina Garza and
• Rolando Castillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 813–825, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.84

• experiments of cylindrical nanofibers dipped in liquids of different γ, where γ is the liquid–vapor surface tension [36]. For contact angles above 50–60°, the spring constants are almost insensible to the contact angle, and although these authors did not explore angles corresponding to hydrophobic surfaces

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• thermochromic transition at 257 °C and this material is used as a catalyst for industrial processes, gas sensors and in LIBs [105]. Various nanostructures of V2O5 such as nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibers, nanobelts, and nanorods have been prepared by sol–gel processes, hydrothermal processes [106

Graphene functionalised by laser-ablated V₂O₅ for a highly sensitive NH₃ sensor

• Margus Kodu,
• Artjom Berholts,
• Tauno Kahro,
• Mati Kook,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Helina Seemen,
• Tea Avarmaa,
• Harry Alles and
• Raivo Jaaniso

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 571–578, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.61

• distribution of the system [37]. V2O5 is known for its catalytic properties and as a good NH3 adsorber [7][8]. The good NH3 gas sensing properties of V2O5 thin films and nanofibers have been demonstrated by Huotari et al. [12] and Modafferi et al. [38]. Two strongly bound adsorption species are typically

Nanoscale isoindigo-carriers: self-assembly and tunable properties

• Tatiana N. Pashirova,
• Andrei V. Bogdanov,
• Lenar I. Musin,
• Julia K. Voronina,
• Irek R. Nizameev,
• Marsil K. Kadirov,
• Vladimir F. Mironov,
• Lucia Ya. Zakharova,
• Shamil K. Latypov and
• Oleg G. Sinyashin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 313–324, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.34

• , hyaluronic acid, and heparin, also amphiphilic prodrugs, and supramolecular hydrogels) [38][39][40]. One of the main strategies deals with the creation of self-assembled supramolecular structures with tunable morphologies (e.g., nanospheres, rods, nanofibers or nanotubes) adapted to the administration route

Phosphorus-doped silicon nanorod anodes for high power lithium-ion batteries

• Chao Yan,
• Qianru Liu,
• Jianzhi Gao,
• Zhibo Yang and
• Deyan He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 222–228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.24

• and graphene embedded in carbon nanofibers with atomic-scale control of the expansion space as anodes for LIBs. Such an anode delivered an electrochemical performance of 2000 mAh/g at a current density of 700 mA/g [5]. Cui et al. designed a yolk–shell-structured Si anode that has void space between

Nanocrystalline TiO₂/SnO₂ heterostructures for gas sensing

• Barbara Lyson-Sypien,
• Anna Kusior,
• Mieczylaw Rekas,
• Jan Zukrowski,
• Marta Gajewska,
• Katarzyna Michalow-Mauke,
• Thomas Graule,
• Marta Radecka and
• Katarzyna Zakrzewska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 108–122, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.12

• preadsorption at the surface of SnO2 grains. In the publications about the TiO2–SnO2 system [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][15][16][17] for improved gas sensing, one can find different types of materials: thick and thin films, nanostructures such as nanofibers, nanorods, nanobelts, nanopowders as well

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

• obtain nanofibers from natural proteins such as fibronectin. Recently, an alternative method has been developed where nanofibers of extruded fibronectin through a nanoporous aluminum oxide membrane were obtained. This method is based on a mechanical force to provoke fibrillogenesis (generation of fibers

Development of adsorptive membranes by confinement of activated biochar into electrospun nanofibers

• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Mitra Naghdi,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• Emile Knystautas,
• Mausam Verma,
• Rao. Y. Surampalli and
• Jose. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1556–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.149

• chlortetracycline showed that, under environmentally relevant concentrations, the fabricated adsorptive NFMs had a potential for removal of these types of emerging contaminants from water and wastewaters. Keywords: adsorptive membrane; biochar; chlortetracycline; nanofibers; Introduction Adsorptive membranes have

• atrazine from water [10]. Kampalanonwat and Supaphol and also Neghlani et al. used aminated polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers to remove heavy metals from water and achieved up to 150 mg/g adsorption capacity for copper [11][12]. Haider and Park fabricated chitosan nanofibers to take advantage of its

• of activated biochar are illustrated in Figure 2. Generally, the nanofibers were uniform in shape and size and the moderate speed of the rotational drum led to the formation of randomly oriented fibers, which is in favor of membrane fabrications due to required mechanical strength in all directions

A composite structure based on reduced graphene oxide and metal oxide nanomaterials for chemical sensors

• Vardan Galstyan,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Iskandar Kholmanov,
• Andrea Ponzoni,
• Veronica Sberveglieri,
• Nicola Poli,
• Guido Faglia and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1421–1427, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.133

• nanofibers loaded with reduced graphene oxide [23]. These recent studies indicate that the combination of graphene and its modified structures with ZnO nanomaterials may open new perspectives for the fabrication of ZnO-based chemical sensors. In this paper, we describe a hybrid nanomaterial consisting of RGO

Ammonia gas sensors based on In₂O₃/PANI hetero-nanofibers operating at room temperature

• Qingxin Nie,
• Zengyuan Pang,
• Hangyi Lu,
• Yibing Cai and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1312–1321, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.122

• Qingxin Nie Zengyuan Pang Hangyi Lu Yibing Cai Qufu Wei Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China 10.3762/bjnano.7.122 Abstract Indium nitrate/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (In(NO3)3/PVP) composite nanofibers were synthesized via

• electrospinning, and then hollow structure indium oxide (In2O3) nanofibers were obtained through calcination with PVP as template material. In situ polymerization was used to prepare indium oxide/polyaniline (In2O3/PANI) composite nanofibers with different mass ratios of In2O3 to aniline. The structure and

• morphology of In(NO3)3/PVP, In2O3/PANI composite nanofibers and pure PANI were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and current–voltage (I–V) measurements. The gas sensing properties

Improved lithium-ion battery anode capacity with a network of easily fabricated spindle-like carbon nanofibers

• Mengting Liu,
• Wenhe Xie,
• Lili Gu,
• Tianfeng Qin,
• Xiaoyi Hou and
• Deyan He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1289–1295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.120

• carbon nanofibers was fabricated via a simplified synthesis involving electrospinning followed by preoxidation in air and postcarbonization in Ar. Not only was the as-obtained carbon network comprised of beads of spindle-like nanofibers but the cubic MnO phase and N elements were successfully anchored

• combing pompon-like MnO nanocrystallites with carbon nanotube scaffolds [12]. Wang et al. and Zhao et al. claimed that the electrospun MnO–C composite nanofibers preformed high reversible capacities of 663 and 1082 mAh g−1, respectively, at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 [5][13]. On the whole, hybridizing

• , a network of spindle-like carbon nanofibers anchored with MnO and N for LIB anodes was fabricated via a simplified synthesis route involving electrospinning followed by preoxidation in air and postcarbonization in Ar. The microstructure, chemical composition and electrochemical lithium storage

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

• composite DNA nanostructures was observed. Native PAGE, circular dichroism (CD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been utilized for analyzing the formation of DNA nanofibers after the coassembly. Computational methods were applied to discern the theoretical dimension of the DNA–TPA molecular building

• block of the nanofibers. A notable change in photocatalytic efficiency of Zn PpIX was observed when it was inside the TPA–DNA scaffold. The significant increase in ROS generation by Zn PpIX when trapped in this biocompatible DNA–TPA hybrid nanofiber may be an effective tool to explore photodynamic

• applications [43][44].These small molecules also provide the template for the construction of self-assembled supramolecular structures that undergo several self-correction steps in the due course of the construction of their complex structures [45]. These structures may be nanopores, nanofibers, nanotubes and