Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance using morphology-controlled BiVO₄ with W doping

• Xin Zhao and
• Zhong Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2640–2647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.264

• , the pore size decreases. The film prepared from the water-based solution with the smallest amount of EG (0.5-EG) exhibits cracks in the film (Figure S2, Supporting Information File 1) and has poor adhesion to the substrate. The sol–gel method allows reagents to be mixed at the atomic/molecular level

• films can be successfully synthesized by the sol–gel method. Elemental analysis was also performed to confirm the composition. To simplify the test, two typical samples, 0-water and 1-EG, were selected for the EDX analysis. The results were shown in Table S1 and Table S2 of Supporting Information File 1

Synthesis of metal-fluoride nanoparticles supported on thermally reduced graphite oxide

• Alexa Schmitz,
• Kai Schütte,
• Vesko Ilievski,
• Juri Barthel,
• Laura Burk,
• Rolf Mülhaupt,
• Junpei Yue,
• Bernd Smarsly and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2474–2483, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.247

• modern chemistry [53][54]. Nanoscale main-group metal fluorides can be obtained from a fluorolytic sol–gel route by the reaction of the metal alkoxide or acetate with anhydrous HF in a suitable organic solvent. Strong Lewis-acidic main-group metal fluorides such as AlF3 or MgF2 represent a new class of

Synthesis and characterization of noble metal–titania core–shell nanostructures with tunable shell thickness

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Dariusz Zasada and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2083–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.208

• formation is desired. A sol–gel based titania coating method, which allows control over the shell thickness, was developed and applied to the synthesis of Ag@TiO2 and Au@TiO2 with various shell thicknesses. The morphology of the synthesized structures was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM

• control [21]. This is also the main reason for the low monodispersity of TiO2 particles prepared from titanium alkoxides using the sol–gel method [23]. The limitations in titania coating can be overcome by using the less common but more expensive TiO2 precursors, various solvents or their mixtures

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

• sol−gel approaches, the hydro/solvothermal synthesis route is known to be advantageous due to the homogenous nucleation/growth process and highly crystallized products [20][21][22]. In order to develop a synthesis method with morphology control aspects, inorganic ions as well as organic reagents

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• known as chemical-modified graphene [51]. The schematic illustration of RGO preparation from graphite is shown in Figure 2. The composite formation of graphene with semiconductor materials has been reported by various methods, such as hydrothermal/solvothermal [52], sol−gel [53], self-assembly [54

• concentration, temperature, reaction time, etc., nanocomposites with various exposed crystal facets can be obtained by hydrothermal/solvothermal methods. The sol–gel method is another widely explored method for the synthesis of graphene-based nanocomposites [53]. The precursor material undergoes a series of

• reactions, mainly controlled hydrolysis and condensation, to form the desired photocatalyst. The major advantage of using the sol–gel method is the in situ growth of nanostructures so that the various functional groups on the surface of GO sheets are available to provide reactive and anchoring sites for the

Low-temperature CO oxidation over Cu/Pt co-doped ZrO₂ nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion

• Amit Singhania and
• Shipra Mital Gupta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1546–1552, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.156

• reported a high activity of Cu-containing ZrO2-based nanocomposites (T50 = 70 °C) for CO oxidation. So, the combination of Cu, Pt and ZrO2 appears to be very interesting and promising. In literature, different methods have been used for the synthesis of doped ZrO2 nanoparticles. These include sol–gel, ball

• milling, precipitation, combustion, and reverse microemulsion [30][31][32][33]. Vahidshad et al. [34] synthesized sol–gel-derived Cu–ZrO2 nanoparticles. Similarly, Saha et al. [35] prepared CuO-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles via ball milling. Among the described methods, solution combustion is used frequently

Calcium fluoride based multifunctional nanoparticles for multimodal imaging

• Marion Straßer,
• Joachim H. X. Schrauth,
• Sofia Dembski,
• Daniel Haddad,
• Bernd Ahrens,
• Stefan Schweizer,
• Bastian Christ,
• Alevtina Cubukova,
• Marco Metzger,
• Heike Walles,
• Peter M. Jakob and
• Gerhard Sextl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1484–1493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.148

• fluorolytic sol–gel process [33]. The stability and biocompatibility of CaF2 makes it an attractive material for biomedical applications [28][29]. In addition, due to the high capacity to accept lanthanide ions, CaF2 is suitable for the preparation of CAs for multimodal imaging [24]. In this study, we report

Bright fluorescent silica-nanoparticle probes for high-resolution STED and confocal microscopy

• Isabella Tavernaro,
• Christian Cavelius,
• Henrike Peuschel and
• Annette Kraegeloh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.130

• silica matrix, which is mostly based on non-polar aromatic or conjugated π-electron systems [33], is not easy to achieve due to the hydrophobic character of the organic dye molecules. Commonly, fluorescent silica nanoparticles are obtained by hydrolysis and condensation of a silica precursor via sol–gel

• or reverse microemulsion synthesis [34]. Using the traditional sol–gel synthesis of silica particles described by Stöber et al. [35], particles are available in the size range of a few tens of nanometres up to the micrometre range. Although the Stöber method can be utilised to obtain particles with a

A top-down approach for fabricating three-dimensional closed hollow nanostructures with permeable thin metal walls

• Carlos Angulo Barrios and
• Víctor Canalejas-Tejero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1231–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.124

• as artificial cells [2], controlled transport and delivery of chemical agents (e.g., pharmaceutical drugs) [3], catalysis [4], lithium batteries [5] and confined reaction compartments (nanoreactors) [1]. Most fabrication methods of nanocages are based on bottom-up techniques, mainly colloidal and sol

• –gel chemical reactions [1][2][3][4][5]. These procedures allow the synthesis of disperse, hollow nanostructures with precise control of their physical and chemical properties, such as size, shape, material composition and structural characteristics of the shell (thickness, permeability and surface

Preparation of thick silica coatings on carbon fibers with fine-structured silica nanotubes induced by a self-assembly process

• Benjamin Baumgärtner,
• Hendrik Möller,
• Thomas Neumann and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1145–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.116

• carbon fibers with a silica shell is presented in this work. By immobilizing linear polyamines on the carbon fiber surface, the high catalytic activity of polyamines in the sol–gel-processing of silica precursors is used to deposit a silica coating directly on the fiber’s surface. The surface

• fiber by fibrillar and interconnected silica fine-structures. The high surface area of the nanostructured composite fiber may be exploited for catalytic applications and adsorption purposes. Keywords: biomimetic silicification; carbon fiber; self-assembly; silica nanotubes; sol–gel process

• –gel techniques [6]. Even though the CVD method leads typically to a uniform and dense surface coating, low deposition rates can make this process time-consuming and expensive. The sol–gel method is advantageous owing to the low processing temperature, inexpensive and commercially available precursors

Assembly of metallic nanoparticle arrays on glass via nanoimprinting and thin-film dewetting

• Sun-Kyu Lee,
• Sori Hwang,
• Yoon-Kee Kim and
• Yong-Jun Oh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1049–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.106

• noble metal nanoparticles on glass substrates via nanoimprinting and dewetting of metallic thin films. Glass templates were made via pattern transfer from a topographic Si mold to an inorganically cross-linked sol–gel (IGSG) resist on glass using a two-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp followed by

• metallic thin films at high temperatures. Hybrid sol–gel thin films prepared from methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS) may fulfill these requirements due to the complete hydrolyzation of the ethoxy groups and decomposition of the methyl groups [16][17]. MTEOS films have attracted attention as self-sustainable

• 184 PDMS. In the next imprinting step, an inorganically cross-linked sol–gel (ICSG) resist with a thickness (tf) of 400 nm was spin-coated on a Pyrex glass substrate. To improve the wettability of the resist, the glass surface was pretreated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) using He and O2

High photocatalytic activity of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by photodeposition for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

• Shu Chin Lee,
• Hendrik O. Lintang and
• Leny Yuliati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 915–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.93

• ][15]. Commonly, the reported methods for the preparation of Fe2O3/TiO2 include impregnation [5][6][16][17][18], sol–gel [7][19], and hydrothermal methods [8][9][10]. A combination of several processes has also been employed, such as the electrospinning method combined with a hydrothermal approach [11

• the Fe(III) complex at 400 °C [5]. This is in contrast to the one prepared by the sol–gel method that showed an obviously reduced Eg value as the Fe ions were incorporated into the TiO2 lattice [7][19]. Diffuse reflectance (DR) UV–vis spectra and Tauc plots of the nanocomposites prepared by the

First examples of organosilica-based ionogels: synthesis and electrochemical behavior

• Andreas Taubert,
• Ruben Löbbicke,
• Barbara Kirchner and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 736–751, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.77

• . Experimental Preparation of the organosilica monoliths. Silica monoliths were made via sol–gel reaction from bis(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl)amine (BTMSPA) and tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) or methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). Reactions were made such that the total silicon concentration in the reaction mixture

• remain intact. The monoliths synthesized in methanol are clear to translucent as long as they are wet, but turn opaque upon drying. The monoliths grown in acetone are opaque already after the sol–gel reaction and Soxhlet extraction. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM, Figure 2) images obtained from

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

• 3D flower hybrids [113], where this typical morphology results in a high surface area as well as better electrical contact with the graphene leading to better electrochemical performance. Liu et al. have developed a sol–gel method for the incorporation of GSs into V2O5 nanoribbons [114]. These

Carbon nanotube-wrapped Fe₂O₃ anode with improved performance for lithium-ion batteries

• Guoliang Gao,
• Yan Jin,
• Qun Zeng,
• Deyu Wang and
• Cai Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 649–656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.69

• sol–gel method to prepare graphene-wrapped Fe2O3, which demonstrated an excellent capacity retention of 777 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 100 mA·g−1 after 30 cycles. Wang et al. [29] synthesized Fe2O3/GCNTs via a hydrothermal synthesis method and subsequent thermal reduction. The synthesized Fe2O3

Investigation of the photocatalytic efficiency of tantalum alkoxy carboxylate-derived Ta₂O₅ nanoparticles in rhodamine B removal

• Subia Ambreen,
• Mohammad Danish,
• Narendra D. Pandey and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 604–613, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.65

• Subia Ambreen Mohammad Danish Narendra D. Pandey Ashutosh Pandey Department of Chemistry, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, 211004, India 10.3762/bjnano.8.65 Abstract Ta2O5 nanoparticles have been synthesized from alkoxy carboxylates of tantalum via the sol–gel route

• . Tantalum alkoxides were reacted with chlorocarboxylic acids in order to lower the susceptibility hydrolysis. When these modified alkoxy carboxylates were used in the sol–gel synthesis, they yielded Ta2O5 nanoparticles of better properties than those of the alkoxide-derived Ta2O5 nanoparticles. These

• absorption of these materials [9][10][11]. Tantalum(V) alkoxides are important precursors for materials based on tantalum oxide in sol–gel processes. The reactions involved in sol–gel processes can be written as: An inorganic network is formed during hydrolysis the ends of which are occupied either by –OH

Thin SnO_x films for surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometric gas sensing (SPREE)

• Daniel Fischer,
• Andreas Hertwig,
• Uwe Beck,
• Volkmar Lohse,
• Detlef Negendank,
• Martin Kormunda and
• Norbert Esser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 522–529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.56

• , several different coating methods were developed which include chemical vapor deposition [11], sol–gel [12], spray pyrolysis [13], sputtering [14][15][16] and electron beam evaporation [17]. In our approach, we aim to develop a new sensing concept which combines the adsorption concept of MOS sensors with

Fiber optic sensors based on hybrid phenyl-silica xerogel films to detect n-hexane: determination of the isosteric enthalpy of adsorption

• Jesús C. Echeverría,
• Ignacio Calleja,
• Paula Moriones and
• Julián J. Garrido

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 475–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.51

• , respectively. The films were synthesized by the sol–gel method and affixed to the end of optical fibers by the dip-coating technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption at 77 K and X-ray diffraction analysis were used to characterize the xerogels. At a given pressure of n-hexane

• ]. Some advantages of FOCSs over electrical methods are immunity to electromagnetic interference and safety while working with flammable and explosive compounds. Although the xerogel films prepared by the sol–gel method are often considered chemically inert, the films and analytes can interact by one or

• more mechanisms, such as electrostatic, hydrophobic or hydrogen bonding. Films made of hybrid silica materials synthesized by the sol–gel process are well suited for the preparation of sensing elements. These films have chemical and thermal stability, transparency over a wide wavelength range

The longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

• Florent Pessina and
• Denis Spitzer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 452–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.49

• diameter of 70 to 100 nm. However, the nanoparticles produced from this elegant solution exhibit an undesired rod-like morphology. Sol–gel Energetic materials processed by the sol–gel method are desensitized by being embedded in a matrix, usually a silica one. Developed by Gash et al. [23] and Tillotson et

• nanocomposites using a technique similar to sol–gel [30]. The matrix is the NC itself solidified by micrometer-sized AP crystals and cross-linked with toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL), whereas RDX is dissolved in acetone inside that template. The gel and the crystallization of RDX is

Tailoring bifunctional hybrid organic–inorganic nanoadsorbents by the choice of functional layer composition probed by adsorption of Cu²⁺ ions

• Veronika V. Tomina,
• Inna V. Melnyk,
• Yuriy L. Zub,
• Aivaras Kareiva,
• Miroslava Vaclavikova,
• Gulaim A. Seisenbaeva and
• Vadim G. Kessler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 334–347, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.36

• was optimized controlling the synthesis conditions, such as concentrations of reactants, basicity of the medium, and the process temperature. Keywords: copper(II) ions; methyl groups; N- and F-containing functional groups; silica nanospheres; sol–gel processes; sorption; surface chemistry

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• a dark red powder was obtained for 4-tert-butylcatechol and dopamine surface functionalized samples, respectively. More recently, Gao and Cui reported a sol–gel method in which TiO2 nanoparticles functionalized with chlorinated alcohols through hydrogen bonding were produced [21]. However, sol–gel

• synthesis often leads to poorly crystalline particles [22]. Hydrothermal synthesis [23] is simple and cost efficient [24] and allows for improved crystallinity compared to sol–gel methods [22] giving improved TiO2 characteristics for applications such as photocatalysis and solar cell applications [2][25][26

Template-controlled piezoactivity of ZnO thin films grown via a bioinspired approach

• Nina J. Blumenstein,
• Fabian Streb,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Zaklina Burghard and
• Joachim Bill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 296–303, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.32

• high mechanical deformation [13]. Growth of such oriented films was achieved via technically sophisticated methods under harsh reaction conditions [14][15][16][17]. For example radio-frequency magnetron sputtering [14][17], pulsed laser deposition [16] or sol–gel methods followed by annealing [15] were

• the films due to their (002) texture. This also reflects in the value obtained for deff of 3.2 pm V−1 (d33 = 6.4 pm V−1). This value is in the range or higher than the one of other oriented, ZnO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering (2–13 pm V−1) [14] or sol–gel process (5 pm V−1) [15]. Since

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• physicochemical characterization of nanoparticles Titania nanoparticles (TiO2) and titania nanoparticles mixed with Si–O–Si (TiO2/SiO2), γ-Fe2O3 (TiO2/Fe2O3) or Si–O–Si and γ-Fe2O3 (TiO2/SiO2/Fe2O3) were obtained by the sol–gel method, using titanium isopropoxide as precursor. The crystalline structures of the

• further purification. Nanoparticles preparation Synthesis of nanocrystalline TiO2 For the preparation of TiO2 nanoparticles through the sol–gel method, a literature pathway was employed [49], keeping the molar ratio of TTIP, glacial acetic acid and water at 1:10:350. Thus, 9.3 mL (31.5 mmol) TTIP were

Nanocrystalline ZrO₂ and Pt-doped ZrO₂ catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation

• Amit Singhania and
• Shipra Mital Gupta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 264–271, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.29

• nanoparticles such as sol–gel [21], precipitation [22], combustion [23], hydrothermal synthesis [24], solvothermal synthesis [25], reverse micelles [26], chemical vapor synthesis [27], aerosol pyrolysis [28], and sonochemical synthesis [29]. Dongare et al. [30] described the synthesis of ZrO2 by a sol–gel

Sensitive detection of hydrocarbon gases using electrochemically Pd-modified ZnO chemiresistors

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 82–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.9

• ], directly deposited on the surface of sol–gel pre-synthesized ZnO nanostructures. Further post-annealing at 550 °C to obtain ZnO NRs is necessary [45]. The prepared hybrid Pd@ZnO nanostructures are proposed as active layer in chemiresistive gas sensors for the detection of pollutant HCs. The effect of the

• contrary, high selectivity towards NO2 gas detection was obtained by using pristine ZnO chemiresistors. Experimental Sol–gel synthesis of ZnO ZnO nanostructures were prepared via a sol–gel process following the procedure reported in [45]. The subsequent washing of the obtained gel led to the complete