Atomic defect classification of the H–Si(100) surface through multi-mode scanning probe microscopy

• Jeremiah Croshaw,
• Thomas Dienel,
• Taleana Huff and
• Robert Wolkow

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1346–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.119

• ” (Figure 2h-6). A defect of similar appearance was reported in a prior work exploring chlorine-terminated silicon [80] which was linked to water contamination in the vacuum chamber (observed as H and OH bonded to the unterminated surface [15][16][17]). A mild annealing followed by halogen-termination

An atomic force microscope integrated with a helium ion microscope for correlative nanoscale characterization

• Santiago H. Andany,
• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Stefan Hummel,
• Charlène Brillard,
• Mustafa Kangül and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1272–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.111

• performed without contamination of the sample and environmental changes between processing steps. The practicality of the resulting tool lies in the complementarity of the two techniques. The AFM offers not only true 3D topography maps, something the HIM can only provide in an indirect way, but also allows

Ultrasensitive detection of cadmium ions using a microcantilever-based piezoresistive sensor for groundwater

• Dinesh Rotake,
• Anand Darji and
• Nitin Kale

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1242–1253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.108

• to this may have a significant effect on maintaining the safety and security of human beings [2][3]. One common water contamination is caused by cadmium ions. There are numerous sources of Cd ions in groundwater, including industrial wastewater, mining industry, fossil fuels, iron and steel industry

• degeneration, diarrhea, osteoporosis, renal dysfunction, cancer, anemia, and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease [4][5]. The WHO has set a water contamination limit of 3 μg/L Cd(II) [6]. We conclude from the WHO limit that cadmium is hazardous, and smaller Cd

Photothermally active nanoparticles as a promising tool for eliminating bacteria and biofilms

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Piersandro Pallavicini,
• Angelo Taglietti,
• Laura D’Alfonso,
• Maddalena Collini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1134–1146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.98

• Taramelli 12, 27100, Pavia, Italy Department of Physics, University of Milano-Bicocca, piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo, 20126, Milan, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.11.98 Abstract Bacterial contamination is a severe issue that affects medical devices, hospital tools and surfaces. When microorganisms adhere to a surface

• biofilm forms at the surface of prostheses, catheters or other implantable devices, surgical removal is the only possible solution to prevent the infection from spreading [6]. Aside from the hospital environment, the bacterial contamination and the biofilm formation also affect the food packaging, textile

Plant growth regulation by seed coating with films of alginate and auxin-intercalated layered double hydroxides

• Vander A. de Castro,
• Valber G. O. Duarte,
• Danúbia A. C. Nobre,
• Geraldo H. Silva,
• Vera R. L. Constantino,
• Frederico G. Pinto,
• Willian R. Macedo and
• Jairo Tronto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1082–1091, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.93

• applied to plantations in higher doses than recommended. These high doses can cause environmental problems such as contamination of soil, water, plants, and animals. The intercalation of agrochemicals in LDHs can generate a sustained release of the organic compounds, reducing the number of applications

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

• K. Priya Madhuri,
• Abhay A. Sagade,
• Pralay K. Santra and
• Neena S. John

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 814–820, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.66

• . Single-layer graphene was synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a copper substrate and transferred by a standard technique using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) onto a SiO2 (300 nm)/Si substrate as reported elsewhere [30]. This process is optimized with regard to minimal PMMA contamination

Effect of Ag loading position on the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ nanocolumn arrays

• Jinghan Xu,
• Yanqi Liu and
• Yan Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 717–728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.59

• -TNC film, and the result is shown in Figure 5. According to Figure 5a, all the peaks can be attributed to Ti, O, C, and Ag, which indicates that the sample consists of TiO2 and Ag. The appearance of the C element is attributable to contamination from the cavity of the XPS device and/or from the

Electromigration-induced directional steps towards the formation of single atomic Ag contacts

• Atasi Chatterjee,
• Christoph Tegenkamp and
• Herbert Pfnür

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 680–687, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.55

• Ag structures as they are quite susceptible to sulfur contamination under ambient conditions. UHV also provided an ultra-clean environment for point contact measurements. Two out of the four available tips were used for the EM measurements. The tips were pre-cooled by making electrical (and

Adsorptive removal of bulky dye molecules from water with mesoporous polyaniline-derived carbon

• Hyung Jun An,
• Jong Min Park,
• Nazmul Abedin Khan and
• Sung Hwa Jhung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 597–605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.47

• ; polyaniline-derived carbon; water purification; Introduction Dyes have been widely used in a wide range of industries including textile, leather and paper, causing serious concern worldwide mainly because of the contamination of water resources. For example, around 700,000 tons of textile dyes are produced

Multilayer capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes: a review on the preparation, functionalization and applications in drug delivery

• Varsha Sharma and
• Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 508–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.41

• of the capsules and contamination issues during the core dissolution processes. Thus, despite the lower EE and drug absorption in the capsule wall rather than in the interior, pH and salt based approaches are the most widely used in weak PE systems. Functionalization The surface properties of the

Current measurements in the intermittent-contact mode of atomic force microscopy using the Fourier method: a feasibility analysis

• Berkin Uluutku and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 453–465, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.37

• torsional oscillations in a way that reduced cross-contamination of the signals used to reconstruct the tip–sample force. We have also reported numerical simulations of this method, providing analysis software that enables estimations of the accuracy of the method under different conditions [29]. Fourier

Atomic-resolution imaging of rutile TiO₂(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Daiki Katsube,
• Shoki Ojima,
• Eiichi Inami and
• Masayuki Abe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 443–449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.35

• -AFM and tunneling current for STM), the surface structure sometimes results in different contrasts in both images. In Figure 3, white squares and circles indicate line defects and protrusions, which are considered to be adsorbates or contamination. A line defect was imaged as a likely vacancy by STM

Formation of nanoripples on ZnO flat substrates and nanorods by gas cluster ion bombardment

• Xiaomei Zeng,
• Vasiliy Pelenovich,
• Bin Xing,
• Rakhim Rakhimov,
• Wenbin Zuo,
• Alexander Tolstogouzov,
• Chuansheng Liu,
• Dejun Fu and
• Xiangheng Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 383–390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.29

• surface by the ion beam and thermal diffusion of the target atoms. Recently, the gas cluster ion beams (GCIB) technique has been introduced as a mask-free method to produce nanostructures on solid surfaces [11][12]. Among its advantages are the lack of chemical contamination and the low damage to the

Facile biogenic fabrication of hydroxyapatite nanorods using cuttlefish bone and their bactericidal and biocompatibility study

• Satheeshkumar Balu,
• Manisha Vidyavathy Sundaradoss,
• Swetha Andra and
• Jaison Jeevanandam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 285–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.21

• Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Miri, Sarawak 98009, Malaysia 10.3762/bjnano.11.21 Abstract Cuttlefish bones are an inexpensive source of calcium carbonate, which are produced in large amounts by the marine food industry, leading to environmental contamination and waste. The

• waste material every day by the marine food industry across the world, resulting in environmental contamination [10]. In ancient times, cuttlefish bone powder was used as biomedicine in China and India for oral health and is proven to be completely suitable for biomedical applications [11]. Further, the

Size effects of graphene nanoplatelets on the properties of high-density polyethylene nanocomposites: morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical characterization

• Tuba Evgin,
• Alpaslan Turgut,
• Georges Hamaoui,
• Zdenko Spitalsky,
• Nicolas Horny,
• Matej Micusik,
• Mihai Chirtoc,
• Mehmet Sarikanat and
• Maria Omastova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 167–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.14

• was easily indicated by the low amount of carbonyl (C=Oar) in the case of the O 1s signal. There was also a small amount of surface contamination present in the case of G1, with 0.1 atom % of Si 2p at ca. 103.6, corresponding to siloxanes, and 0.1 atom % sodium (Na 1s at ca. 1072.1 eV). For G3, some

• contamination with sulfur was observed (0.3 atom %, S 2p at ≈164–169 eV). However, the small differences in the GnPs’ surfaces’ chemical composition did not affect the properties of the HDPE-based nanocomposites. The results of FTIR analysis are shown in Figure 3a (further details can be found in Figures S1–S7

Synthesis and acetone sensing properties of ZnFe₂O₄/rGO gas sensors

• Kaidi Wu,
• Yifan Luo,
• Ying Li and
• Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2516–2526, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.242

• obtained percentage is higher than theoretically predicted, which may be due to a contamination arising from the carbon-containing electrically conductive adhesive or another source of carbon in the sample stage or on the sample surface. Still, the actual quantities derived by EDX are basically consistent

Incorporation of doxorubicin in different polymer nanoparticles and their anticancer activity

• Sebastian Pieper,
• Hannah Onafuye,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Martin Michaelis and
• Klaus Langer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2062–2072, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.201

• streptomycin at 37 °C. The drug-adapted sub-lines were continuously cultured in the presence of the indicated drug concentrations. Cells were routinely tested for mycoplasma contamination and authenticated by short tandem repeat profiling. Cell viability assay Cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5

Preservation of rutin nanosuspensions without the use of preservatives

• Pascal L. Stahr and
• Cornelia M. Keck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1902–1913, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.185

• . They are produced by various techniques, typically yielding aqueous nanosuspensions, which are prone to microbial contamination. Preservation of nanocrystals is possible but might not always be feasible, as preservatives might interfere with other excipients in the formulations or with chemicals used

• need to be stored, which certainly requires a sufficient stability of the nanosuspension. For this, besides chemical and physical stability, also the microbial stability needs to be considered. One method to avoid microbial contamination of aqueous formulations during storage is the use of

• confirmed by this set of data. The same trend was also observed for the growth of fungi. However, there was one exception, which was observed for the Plantacare-stabilized formulation at day 60 of storage. At this time point a slight contamination with fungi was observed for one aliquot (Figure 10 and Table

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• ; atomic layer deposition; electrospinning; hollow nanospheres; titanium dioxide; Introduction Microbial contamination and the increase of multidrug bacterial resistance have become two major current concerns for food safety and human health due to the number of food-borne diseases and nosocomial

Doxorubicin-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles overcome transporter-mediated drug resistance in drug-adapted cancer cells

• Hannah Onafuye,
• Sebastian Pieper,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Klaus Langer and
• Martin Michaelis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1707–1715, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.166

• cultured in the presence of the indicated drug concentrations. The cells were routinely tested for mycoplasma contamination and authenticated by short tandem repeat profiling. Cell viability assay Cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay

Tuning the performance of vanadium redox flow batteries by modifying the structural defects of the carbon felt electrode

• Ditty Dixon,
• Deepu Joseph Babu,
• Aiswarya Bhaskar,
• Hans-Michael Bruns,
• Joerg J. Schneider,
• Frieder Scheiba and
• Helmut Ehrenberg

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1698–1706, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.165

• single redox species, element cross-contamination issues, which are common in other redox flow batteries such as Cr/Fe, are obviously nonexistent [1]. Nevertheless, the system suffers from irreversible capacity fade due to parasitic reactions such as air oxidation of V2+ species and hydrogen evolution

Layered double hydroxide/sepiolite hybrid nanoarchitectures for the controlled release of herbicides

• Ediana Paula Rebitski,
• Margarita Darder and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1679–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.163

• molecules adsorbed on the inorganic solids that appear at around 1630 cm−1 [40]. In addition around 1360 and 1365 cm−1, in the initial LDH and in the MCPAie-LDH, a possible contamination with carbonate ions during the preparation of the materials is observed (Figure 2B) [41]. The amounts of MCPA present in

Subsurface imaging of flexible circuits via contact resonance atomic force microscopy

• Wenting Wang,
• Chengfu Ma,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Lei Zheng,
• Huarong Liu and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1636–1647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.159

• substrate on which conductive metal circuits are patterned. Another thin polymer coating is employed to protect the circuits from contamination and short circuiting. Such a sandwich structure permits the device to bend and fold flexibly, yet with other advantages including small volume, light weight, and so

Development of a new hybrid approach combining AFM and SEM for the nanoparticle dimensional metrology

• Loïc Crouzier,
• Alexandra Delvallée,
• Sébastien Ducourtieux,
• Laurent Devoille,
• Guillaume Noircler,
• Christian Ulysse,
• Olivier Taché,
• Elodie Barruet,
• Christophe Tromas and
• Nicolas Feltin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1523–1536, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.150

• ]. Precautions Before starting the measurements, several precautions must be taken. During SEM imaging, molecules already existing at the sample surface desorb in the chamber vacuum or diffuse on the substrate and accumulate in the irradiated part of the sample [19] forming a contamination layer at the sample

• surface. This layer modifies the position of the reference plane during the AFM measurement. This is why it is necessary to start with the characterization of the NPs by AFM. Moreover, a contamination layer could form on the substrate during drying of the suspension. In fact, the nanoparticles might be

• located not on the substrate surface but on a deformable contamination layer. This phenomenon has been observed in [19]. As a reminder, the height of a nanoparticle is calculated as the height maximum of the NP minus the mean surface height of the substrate. If this mean surface height cannot be clearly

Flexible freestanding MoS₂-based composite paper for energy conversion and storage

• Florian Zoller,
• Jan Luxa,
• Thomas Bein,
• Dina Fattakhova-Rohlfing,
• Daniel Bouša and
• Zdeněk Sofer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1488–1496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.147

• identified (Supporting Information File 1, Table S1) that there was about 2.1 wt % of iron in the sample. This contamination originates from the carbon nanotubes, where iron usually serves as a catalyst for their growth [36]. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to track the degree of degradation