The origin of black and white coloration of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Manuela Rebora,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Silvana Piersanti,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 496–508, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.41

• on the single scales structure is responsible for the reduced visible and UV (compared to near-IR) reflection. Sputter coating with Au/Pd (10 nm thickness) of the tarsal scales of Ae. albopictus (Figure 7) almost eliminates the visual difference between white and black scales. Since the scale surface

• is optically smooth, the metal-coated scales demonstrated specular reflection. A thin Au/Pd film on the scale surface effectively screens the pigment presented inside the scales and traps the light so that the white as well as the black appearance of the scales disappears. Observations of the legs of

• refraction and reflection on the ridges and microribs, as well as reflection from the upper surface of the scales between ridges (and the corresponding herringbone surface pattern) are mainly responsible for the white appearance of the scales. Coating of scales with a thin Au/Pd layer eliminates the white

Molecular nanoarchitectonics: unification of nanotechnology and molecular/materials science

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 434–453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.35

• multistep electrochemical epitaxial polymerization technique [113]. This technique consists of combining two electrochemical polymerization processes using different monomer solutions. First, a voltage pulse was applied to an iodine-covered Au(111) substrate in an electrolyte solution containing the first

• reversibly terminated by C60 fullerene molecules (Figure 4). First, the Au probe was positioned at the target Br atom site. Then, when the bias voltage was swept, an abrupt change in the tunneling current was detected. As a result, the bromine atoms disappeared from the molecule and the C–Br bonds in the

• scanned region were easily broken. Next, when a C60 molecule was picked up from the surface with an Au tip and brought close to the radical at a low bias voltage, a large protrusion became clearly visible at the radical site. This indicated that the C60 molecule had been added to the radical site. In

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

• materials [7][8], such as Au nanoparticles (AuNPs), in photodynamic therapy [9][10][11]. Metal nanoparticles in general have been extensively explored in PPT applications due to their high free electron density and the possibility of intricate tuning of light absorption [12]. Noble metal nanoparticles with

• . When the energy of the photons is greater than the bandgap, interband transitions are observed. As an example of the energies at which interband transitions [28] occur, Cu, Au, Ag exhibit them at 2.25, 2.4, and 4 eV, respectively, and threshold energy levels of interband transitions are 1.6–1.8 eV for

• Cu, Au, and Al, as well as 3.5 eV for Ag [29]. Concerning PT applications, radiative transitions such as luminescence and scattering imply inefficiency, as this scattered energy is not converted to heat. Hot electron generation and subsequent thermalization are consequences of SPR absorption that can

Overview of mechanism and consequences of endothelial leakiness caused by metal and polymeric nanoparticles

• Magdalena Lasak and
• Karol Ciepluch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 329–338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.28

• whose therapeutic success depends on the effective drug delivery to the target sites through highly selective vascular barriers. A relatively new method that overcomes the endothelial barrier is the use of nanoparticles (NPs), especially different metal nanoparticles, for example, Au or Ti nanoparticles

• transcellular transport. They supported their observations using PEGylated Au NPs of various sizes (15, 50, and 100 nm) in various tumor models. In addition, they characterized the morphology of blood vessels and demonstrated that the vessels with NP-transporting cells were longer and had a greater volume and

• mechanism based on the transcellular pathway as the dominant mechanism of NP transport through the endothelium. They supported their observations by quantitatively measuring the uptake of 15, 50, and 100 nm PEGylated Au NPs in various mouse tumor models using ICP-MS. Similarly, in a Zombie mouse model, they

Bismuth-based nanostructured photocatalysts for the remediation of antibiotics and organic dyes

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo and
• Faisal Suleiman Mustafa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 291–321, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.26

• charges and, hence, increase photocatalytic activity, metallic bismuth can function as a direct plasmonic photocatalyst (similar to Au and Ag) or a co-catalyst [77]. Also, the unique layered crystal structure of Aurivillius-type bismuth oxide-based semiconductors allows for the induction of an internal

• turn improves the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposites. Additionally, to maximise the effectiveness of the transfer/separation of photogenerated carriers, noble metals (such as Pt, Ag, and Au) are typically used to induce surface plasmon resonance effects in photocatalysts [146]. However

Formation of nanoflowers: Au and Ni silicide cores surrounded by SiO_x branches

• Feitao Li,
• Siyao Wan,
• Dong Wang and
• Peter Schaaf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.14

• This work reports the formation of nanoflowers after annealing of Au/Ni bilayers deposited on SiO2/Si substrates. The cores of the nanoflowers consist of segregated Ni silicide and Au parts and are surrounded by SiOx branches. The SiO2 decomposition is activated at 1050 °C in a reducing atmosphere, and

• it can be enhanced more by Au compared to Ni. SiO gas from the decomposition of SiO2 and the active oxidation of Si is the source of Si for the growth of the SiOx branches of the nanoflowers. The concentration of SiO gas around the decomposition cavities is inhomogeneously distributed. Closer to the

• cavity border, the concentration of the Si sources is higher, and SiOx branches grow faster. Hence, nanoflowers present shorter and shorter branches as they are getting away from the border. However, such inhomogeneous SiO gas concentration is weakened in the sample with the highest Au concentration due

Combining physical vapor deposition structuration with dealloying for the creation of a highly efficient SERS platform

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Walter Puglisi,
• Damien Thiry,
• Cristina Satriano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.10

• efficiency compared to that of Au, Ag nanoparticles (NPs) are prone to oxidation. Moreover, they are less thermodynamically stable leading to morphology variation and ultimately to deterioration of their SERS efficiency [13][14]. Besides that, most studies report on the high SERS properties for NPs in

Gap-directed chemical lift-off lithographic nanoarchitectonics for arbitrary sub-micrometer patterning

• Chang-Ming Wang,
• Hong-Sheng Chan,
• Chia-Li Liao,
• Che-Wei Chang and
• Wei-Ssu Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 34–44, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.4

• alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on Au to generate surface patterns that are orders of magnitude smaller than structures on the original elastomer stamp. The smallest achieved feature dimension is 5 nm using a micrometer-scale structured stamp in a chemical lift-off lithography (CLL) process

• biorecognition arrays or be transferred to the underneath Au layer for metallic structure creation. By combining CLL process with this gap phenomenon, soft material properties that are previously thought as demerits can be used to achieve sub-10 nm features in a straightforward sketch. Keywords: chemical lift

• through reusable economic hardware and straightforward processes [5]. For instance, microcontact printing, which transfers ink molecules (e.g., alkanethiols) onto a surface (e.g., Au) using a soft material stamp (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane), is a strong contender in this field as the technique is easy to

Utilizing the surface potential of a solid electrolyte region as the potential reference in Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Nobuyuki Ishida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1558–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.129

• has not yet been directly confirmed. This study explored the possibility of obtaining a stable reference for KPFM measurements performed on electrochemical devices without a reference electrode. To this end, we prepared an electrochemical cell consisting of two Au electrodes and one Li reference

• electrode placed on a solid electrolyte (Li-ion conductor) substrate. The surface-potential distribution in the region across the solid electrolyte was measured with a DC voltage applied between the Au electrodes. During the KPFM measurements, the potential of each Au electrodes relative to the Li electrode

• was monitored using a voltmeter. Our analysis showed that the changes in the surface potential at each Au electrode, measured relative to the surface potential in the solid electrolyte region, agreed well with the changes in the Au electrode potential monitored by the voltmeter. This finding

Photoelectrochemical water oxidation over TiO₂ nanotubes modified with MoS₂ and g-C₃N₄

• Phuong Hoang Nguyen,
• Thi Minh Cao,
• Tho Truong Nguyen,
• Hien Duy Tong and
• Viet Van Pham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1541–1550, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.127

• , the electrode material must be extremely durable and nearly chemically inert to be able to withstand highly acidic or basic environments. Therefore, noble metals such as Pt, Pd, Au and Ag with suitable chemical properties, such as inertness, good resistance against corrosion and good electrical

In search of cytotoxic selectivity on cancer cells with biogenically synthesized Ag/AgCl nanoparticles

• Mitzi J. Ramírez-Hernández,
• Mario Valera-Zaragoza,
• Omar Viñas-Bravo,
• Ariana A. Huerta-Heredia,
• Miguel A. Peña-Rico,
• Erick A. Juarez-Arellano,
• David Paniagua-Vega,
• Eduardo Ramírez-Vargas and
• Saúl Sánchez-Valdes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1505–1519, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.124

• ° in 2θ. Quantitative chemical analysis was performed on a JEOL JSM-7401F field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) using EDX. An acceleration voltage of 15 kV and a working distance of 8 mm were used. The samples were precoated with Au/Pd for 10 seconds. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy was

Rapid and sensitive detection of box turtles using an electrochemical DNA biosensor based on a gold/graphene nanocomposite

• Abu Hashem,
• M. A. Motalib Hossain,
• Ab Rahman Marlinda,
• Mohammad Al Mamun,
• Khanom Simarani and
• Mohd Rafie Johan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1458–1472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.120

• surface-to-volume ratio [37][38][43][44][45][46]. Biomolecules such as DNA may readily modify AuNPs by adding thiol and amine groups via Au–S or Au–N links without losing their activity [38][47]. In electrocatalytic applications, the combination of carbon-based materials with metal nanoparticles has been

Facile preparation of Au- and BODIPY-grafted lipid nanoparticles for synergized photothermal therapy

• Yuran Wang,
• Xudong Li,
• Haijun Chen and
• Yu Gao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1432–1444, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.118

• nanoparticles limit their therapeutic applications. Previously, gold nanoclusters carrying lipid nanoparticles (Au-LNPs) have been reported after simply mixing Au3+ with preformed diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid lipid nanoparticles to solve this contradiction. Au-LNPs demonstrated enhanced photothermal

• effects in comparison to neat gold nanoparticles. To further improve the photothermal activity, we introduced the organic photothermal agent boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) to Au-LNPs for synergistic PTT. Au- and BODIPY-grafted LNPs (AB-LNPs) were formed by simply mixing Au-LNPs with BODIPY. The BODIPY

• could be associated stably to Au-LNPs, and the release of BODIPY from AB-LNPs could be accelerated by laser irradiation. AB-LNPs are scalable and showed excellent photothermal effects. AB-LNPs showed enhanced cellular uptake efficiency compared to free BODIPY in 4T1 breast cancer cells. Under laser

Supramolecular assembly of pentamidine and polymeric cyclodextrin bimetallic core–shell nanoarchitectures

• Alexandru-Milentie Hada,
• Nina Burduja,
• Marco Abbate,
• Claudio Stagno,
• Guy Caljon,
• Louis Maes,
• Nicola Micale,
• Massimiliano Cordaro,
• Angela Scala,
• Antonino Mazzaglia and
• Anna Piperno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1361–1369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.112

• public health threat of antimicrobial resistance [11]. Au/Ag BMNPs with different structural motifs and biological properties have been produced via eco-friendly synthesis using natural extracts or natural compounds which act as both reducing and capping agents [2]. When these green methods are used to

• obtain metallic NPs, particle growth, colloidal stability, as well as the biological profile of the resulting products are generally attributed to the phenolic and/or the carbohydrate components of the capping natural source [12]. Particularly interesting are Au/Ag bimetallic systems with a core–shell

• structure. In this case, the inner Au component favors cellular entry (typically via endocytosis) and slow release of the Ag+ ions, to which the overall biological activity of the system is ascribed. It all comes down to greater system biocompatibility [2]. Au/Ag BMNPs with a core–shell architecture can be

Recent trends in Bi-based nanomaterials: challenges, fabrication, enhancement techniques, and environmental applications

• Vishal Dutta,
• Ankush Chauhan,
• Ritesh Verma,
• C. Gopalkrishnan and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1316–1336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.109

• semiconductor surface. SPRs can potentially boost quantum yield by broadening the spectral response range of semiconductors. Fe, Au, Co, Ag, Ni, Bi, Al, and other metallic elements are often deposited and doped. For example, a nanostructure composite based on plasmonic Ag metal nanoclusters and monoclinic BiVO4

• , efficiently contributing to enhanced photocatalytic performance. Another research group reported that photoreduction and hydrothermal techniques were used to successfully synthesize a new 2D/2D Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4 S-scheme composite including Au as a co-catalyzer [107]. Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4/Au had a photocatalytic

• activity in RhB degradation that was 9.7 times and 13.1 times higher than that of Bi2MoO6 and g-C3N4, respectively. In the Bi2MoO6/g-C3N4/Au system, the higher photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the abundance of active sites and the enhanced separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. The

Enhanced electronic transport properties of Te roll-like nanostructures

• E. R. Viana,
• N. Cifuentes and
• J. C. González

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1284–1291, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.106

• writing optical lithography on 1 × 1 cm2 degenerate Si(100) substrates covered by a 300 nm thick high-quality SiO2 layer. A Cr(10 nm)/Au(100 nm) bilayer was thermally evaporated on the sample to produce good ohmic contacts (see Supporting Information File 1). This procedure follows the methodology

Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• attractive platform, offering more possibilities for sharpening tips in a controlled manner. These metal clusters can be easily generated with various metals (e.g., Ir, Au, Ni, Co, Pb, or Sn), allowing the generation of nano-tips with different functionalities. The good point is that these clusters were

• -cdse/ZnS quantum dots. This type of tracer has a significant signal amplification effect. Vesicle composite probes were generated using aptamer-labeled SSB/L-QD and nanogold (Au-Apt). Since Au-aptas receptors burst the signal of SSB/L-QD, this type of probe cannot fluoresce "off". To solve this problem

Design of surface nanostructures for chirality sensing based on quartz crystal microbalance

• Yinglin Ma,
• Xiangyun Xiao and
• Qingmin Ji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1201–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.100

• MA (Figure 1) [26]. The immobilization of ʟ-Phe on QCM sensors was through a two-step assembling process. A 4-aminothiophenol (ATP) monolayer was firstly adsorbed on the QCM surface by chemical Au–S bonding. Then, 4-NH2-ʟ-Phe was bound by a diazo-coupling reaction to form a monolayer with ʟ-Phe. The

• [{Zn2((+)cam)2(dabco)}n] oriented in the (110) or (001) direction, were obtained and showed significant enantioselectivity. Duan et al. fabricated 3D chiral porous Zn-organic frameworks (Zn2(bdc)(ʟ-lac)(dmf)-DMF) (ʟ-lac = ʟ-lactic acid, bdc = 4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) on the Au electrode surface of

• deposited CuO film onto highly symmetrical Au(111) surfaces was shown to have mirror-symmetric chirality. The enantiospecificity of the films was studied using QCM and evaluated according to the changes by the selective oxidation of chiral tartaric acid. The films etched in ʟ-(+)-tartaric acid were shown to

A cantilever-based, ultrahigh-vacuum, low-temperature scanning probe instrument for multidimensional scanning force microscopy

• Hao Liu,
• Zuned Ahmed,
• Sasa Vranjkovic,
• Manfred Parschau,
• Andrada-Oana Mandru and
• Hans J. Hug

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1120–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.95

• nitrogen (LN2) container and an additional heat shield, which is passively cooled by the evaporating He gases of the LHe tank (Figure 2a). The microscope is surrounded by two shields (a Au-plated oxygen-free high thermal conductivity (OFHC) copper LHe shield and an Al LN2 shield) of which there is an inner

• system is depicted in Figure 8a. A similar interferometer system has been developed by Miyahara and co-workers [53]. To perform the interferometry, we use a Sony SLD201 V3 laser diode with a wavelength of 785 nm coupled via an optical insulator to a Au-coated monomode optical fiber having a core diameter

• . Clearly, the deflection sensor noise does no longer limit the minimally detectable force derivative for bandwidths up to and beyond 1 kHz. Such high measurement bandwidths can for example, be used to measure with high speed a large-scale image showing atomic steps of the Au(111) surface with thin NaCl

Effects of focused electron beam irradiation parameters on direct nanostructure formation on Ag surfaces

• Jānis Sniķeris,
• Vjačeslavs Gerbreders,
• Andrejs Bulanovs and
• Ēriks Sļedevskis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1004–1010, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.87

• . However, some studies suggest that this process may not always be so simple. Ueda and Yoshimura [27] reported the fabrication of free-standing nanowires on various metal surfaces (Al, Ag, Au, Cu, Pt, Ta, Ti, and W) via EBID with pump oil (hydrocarbons) as a precursor. It was observed that the substrate

DNA aptamer selection and construction of an aptasensor based on graphene FETs for Zika virus NS1 protein detection

• Nathalie B. F. Almeida,
• Thiago A. S. L. Sousa,
• Viviane C. F. Santos,
• Camila M. S. Lacerda,
• Thais G. Silva,
• Rafaella F. Q. Grenfell,
• Flavio Plentz and
• Antero S. R. Andrade

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 873–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.78

• previously described by our group elsewhere [24]. The dimensions of the sensing region (100 μm × 100 μm) were defined by O2 plasma etching. The source and drain electrodes were fabricated by electron-beam evaporation of 2 nm/100 nm of Ti/Au, and we covered the metal contacts with a 10 μm thick passivation

Temperature and chemical effects on the interfacial energy between a Ga–In–Sn eutectic liquid alloy and nanoscopic asperities

• Yujin Han,
• Pierre-Marie Thebault,
• Corentin Audes,
• Xuelin Wang,
• Haiwoong Park,
• Jian-Zhong Jiang and
• Arnaud Caron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 817–827, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.72

• interfacial energies between a eutectic Ga–In–Sn liquid alloy and single nanoscopic asperities of SiOx, Au, and PtSi have been determined in the temperature range between room temperature and 90 °C by atomic force spectroscopy. For all asperities used here, we find that the interfacial tension of the eutectic

• spectroscopy to determine the interfacial energy between eutectic Ga–In–Sn liquid alloy and single nanoscopic asperities of SiOx, Au, and PtSi in the temperature range between room temperature and 90 °C. The choice of the asperity materials was motivated by their relevance in electronics and micro

• (PtSi-cont, manufactured from NanoSensors, Switzerland), SiOx cantilevers (Contsc, manufactured from NanoSensors, Switzerland), and Au-coated Si cantilevers (ContscAu, manufactured from NanoSensors, Switzerland). Before measurements, the sensitivity of the AFM photodiode was calibrated by recording a

Optimizing PMMA solutions to suppress contamination in the transfer of CVD graphene for batch production

• Chun-Da Liao,
• Andrea Capasso,
• Tiago Queirós,
• Telma Domingues,
• Fatima Cerqueira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Jérôme Borme,
• Paulo Freitas and
• Pedro Alpuim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 796–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.70

• : C4 PMMA; Wafer 2: B2 PMMA). Both wafers started with the patterning of Cr/Au contacts (deposited by magnetron sputtering) using direct-write laser lithography and ion milling. The fabrication of the two wafers followed slightly different steps, as described below. Wafer 1: A stopping layer (Al2O3

• the Au layer as protection. After that, the two wafers followed different fabrication processes. A residue-free transfer process was used, using a sacrificial metallic mask (TiWN, AlSiCu, TiWN) patterned by lift-off to protect the entire wafer except for the areas around the channel, source, and drain

Detection and imaging of Hg(II) in vivo using glutathione-functionalized gold nanoparticles

• Gufeng Li,
• Shaoqing Li,
• Rui Wang,
• Min Yang,
• Lizhu Zhang,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Wenrong Yang and
• Hongbin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 549–559, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.46

• through the interaction between covalent and non-covalent bonds due to the smaller steric hindrance [23][24][25]. The surface of GNPs can be modified by Au–S bonds with molecules containing thiol groups, such as cysteine [26][27][28], 3-mercaptopropionic acid [29], and homocysteine [30]. Also, they easily

• at 1650 and 1400 cm−1 were found in the IR spectrum of GNPs-GSH, which was attributed to the stretching vibration and the asymmetric stretching vibration of –COO−. The stretching vibration of S–H disappeared in GNPs-GSH due to the formation of Au–S bonds [47]. These results proved that GSH was

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

• combined with metal nanoparticles, resulting in enhanced photoactivity of Au-decorated ZnO nanocrystals for photoelectrochemical water splitting [9], improved photodetection performance of ZnO nanofibers decorated with Au NPs [10], or enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnO doped with Au NPs [11]. Moreover

• , enhanced Raman scattering for periodic ZnO-elevated Au dimer nanostructures [12] and enhanced fluorescence emission signals from Al-doped ZnO films [13] were obtained. The development of hybrid nanocomposites based on ZnO and noble metals for fluorescence and Raman signal enhancement has recently attracted

• allowed for the decoration of vertically aligned cone-shaped ZnO nanorods with Ag NPs on their sides and their top ends [35], and magnetron sputtering [7][36]. Electron beam evaporation of, for example, a 30 nm Au layer on ZnO nanopillars arrays [37] or of ZnO-elevated Au dimer nanostructures (Figure 2a,b