Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• vast majority of PSCs relies on the use of highly polar aprotic solvents during the preparation process, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), which is toxic and detrimental to both humans and the environment. Here, we describe the preparation of PSCs under ambient conditions from an aqueous solution of

• 0.1 cm2. The PCE continued to be over 80% of the initial PCE after 60 days of storage. FInally, the introduced PVP-doped PSCs present a low-cost and low-toxicity way to commercialize perovskite solar cells. Keywords: additive; lead nitrate aqueous solution; low-toxicity process; perovskite solar

• paper, we describe the preparation of perovskite solar cells from an aqueous solution of lead nitrate as precursor under ambient conditions. In order to improve the photoelectric performance of the PSCs, PVP was added to the precursor solution. A combination of SEM, EIS, PL, UV, and other

The role of Ag⁺, Ca²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Al³⁺ adions in the SERS turn-on effect of anionic analytes

• Stefania D. Iancu,
• Andrei Stefancu,
• Vlad Moisoiu,
• Loredana F. Leopold and
• Nicolae Leopold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2338–2345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.224

•  2B). Comparing the Raman spectrum of salicylic acid in aqueous solution (0.1 M) with the SERS spectrum reveals that several bands shift to lower wave numbers due to the interaction of the adsorbate with the silver surface (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S3B). For example, the C=C stretching

Design of a nanostructured mucoadhesive system containing curcumin for buccal application: from physicochemical to biological aspects

• Sabrina Barbosa de Souza Ferreira,
• Gustavo Braga,
• Évelin Lemos Oliveira,
• Jéssica Bassi da Silva,
• Hélen Cássia Rosseto,
• Lidiane Vizioli de Castro Hoshino,
• Mauro Luciano Baesso,
• Wilker Caetano,
• Craig Murdoch,
• Helen Elizabeth Colley and
• Marcos Luciano Bruschi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2304–2328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.222

Mannosylated brush copolymers based on poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(ε-caprolactone) as multivalent lectin-binding nanomaterials

• Stefania Ordanini,
• Wanda Celentano,
• Anna Bernardi and
• Francesco Cellesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2192–2206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.212

• -recognition domains [15]. DC-SIGN was efficiently targeted also by mannose-decorated polymers synthesized through SET-LRP of glycomonomers [16]. When amphiphilic glycopolymers were produced, they formed nanoparticles in aqueous solution, and their binding activities were also affected by shape and size [17

• polymers and their glyco-derivatives, once dispersed in aqueous solution. Firstly, the non-mannosylated polymers were tested in three different media (H2O, 10 mM PBS, 0.9% w/v NaCl) and at three different temperatures (10, 25 and 37 °C; concentration of 1 mg/mL, see Supporting Information File 1, Figures

The importance of design in nanoarchitectonics: multifractality in MACE silicon nanowires

• Stefania Carapezzi and
• Anna Cavallini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2094–2102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.204

• the cleaned surfaces by electron beam evaporation. These gold films do not coat the substrates uniformly. The uncovered parts of the Si surfaces become the seeds of the NWs in the subsequent etching step. For the etching step, the substrates are immersed in an aqueous solution of HF (5 M) and H2O2

Synthesis of highly active ETS-10-based titanosilicate for heterogeneously catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides

• Muhammad A. Zaheer,
• David Poppitz,
• Khavar Feyzullayeva,
• Marianne Wenzel,
• Jörg Matysik,
• Radomir Ljupkovic,
• Aleksandra Zarubica,
• Alexander A. Karavaev,
• Andreas Pöppl,
• Roger Gläser and
• Muslim Dvoyashkin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2039–2061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.200

• solution was prepared by dilution of the 9.8 mL aqueous solution of 51–55 wt % Na2SiO3 with 45.2 mL of DDW in a 250 mL flask. An aqueous solution of NaCl (3.4 g of NaCl dissolved in 10.0 mL of DDW) was subsequently added into the flask with the silica-containing solution in it. A titania-containing

Gold-coated plant virus as computed tomography imaging contrast agent

• Alaa A. A. Aljabali,
• Mazhar S. Al Zoubi,
• Khalid M. Al-Batanyeh,
• Ali Al-Radaideh,
• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Abeer Al Sharabi,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Bayan AbuFares,
• Tasnim Al-Zanati,
• Murtaza M. Tambuwala,
• Naveed Akbar and
• David J. Evans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1983–1993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.195

• extract CPMV particles following our previously published protocol [34]. CPMV-poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAHCPMV) PAHCPMV particles were prepared as previously reported [30]. CPMV (1 mg/mL) was suspended in double-distilled (DD) water and added dropwise to a freshly prepared aqueous solution of PAH

• ) against 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 7.0 for 15 h. Gold hydroxide solution Gold hydroxide solution was prepared following the published protocol [30]. Hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (HAuCl4·3H2O) (17.4 mL of 25 mM aqueous solution) was diluted with DD water (982.6 mL), and potassium carbonate (249 mg, 1.8

• (approximately 1 mg/mL) was incubated with gold hydroxide solution (0.8 mL to generate 50 nm particles, 1.1 mL to generate 70 nm particles and 1.5 mL to generate 90 nm particles). The solution was stirred continuously at 500 rpm for 2 h at ambient temperature. Freshly prepared aqueous solution of hydroxylamine

Porous silver-coated pNIPAM-co-AAc hydrogel nanocapsules

• William W. Bryan,
• Riddhiman Medhi,
• Maria D. Marquez,
• Supparesk Rittikulsittichai,
• Michael Tran and
• T. Randall Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1973–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.194

• , as well as the negatively charged THPC-Au seed particles and the positively charged pDADMAC layer [88]. As such, the stable attachment of the Ag particles to the polymer in aqueous solution was demonstrated by repeated cycles of centrifuging and redispersing the particles via sonication in water

Magnetic properties of biofunctionalized iron oxide nanoparticles as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents

• Natalia E. Gervits,
• Andrey A. Gippius,
• Alexey V. Tkachev,
• Evgeniy I. Demikhov,
• Sergey S. Starchikov,
• Igor S. Lyubutin,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Vladimir P. Chekhonin,
• Maxim A. Abakumov,
• Alevtina S. Semkina and
• Alexander G. Mazhuga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1964–1972, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.193

• MNPs were precipitated by acetone, then thoroughly washed with acetone and dried. HSA-coated MNPs were synthesized by the following procedure. First, the MNPs (80 mg) were placed in NaOH aqueous solution (30 × 10−3 M, 20 mL) and the mixture was stirred until all the precipitate was suspended. After

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• ingredients could undergo self-assembly into stable vesicles in aqueous solution, which could act as a vehicle to facilitate membrane transport [29]. Compared to liposomes, phytosomes can load more drug molecules, and showed enhanced stability in the lyophilization and reconstitution processes prior to use

• be attribute to the coalescence of particles during drying. According to the literature, phytosomes will display micellar shapes in aqueous solution [37]. The spherical phytosomes may probably coagulate into rods in the drying step during TEM sample preparation. From the DLS and TEM measurements, the

Facile synthesis of carbon nanotube-supported NiO//Fe₂O₃ for all-solid-state supercapacitors

• Shengming Zhang,
• Xuhui Wang,
• Yan Li,
• Xuemei Mu,
• Yaxiong Zhang,
• Jingwei Du,
• Guo Liu,
• Xiaohui Hua,
• Yingzhuo Sheng,
• Erqing Xie and
• Zhenxing Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1923–1932, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.188

• , the CC-CNT was immersed into FeCl3 (0.1 M) aqueous solution for 12 h, and then dried at 70 °C in drying oven for 2 h, and transferred into NaBH4 (0.1 M) aqueous solution for 6 h at room temperature afterwards. Finally, the obtained samples were washed by deionized water and dried in a drying oven for

• 12 h. CC-CNT@NiO: The NiO was coated on the CC-CNT by the same process with NiCl2 (0.1 M) aqueous solution instead of FeCl3 (0.1 M). Materials characterization The morphologies and microstructures of the as-prepared samples were characterized by using a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE

• (ASAP 2020). Electrochemical characterization The half-cell electrochemical properties were tested in a standard three-electrode system at room temperature on an electrochemical work station (CHI 600E, CH Instruments, Inc., China). 2 M KOH aqueous solution was used as the electrolyte, a Pt plate as the

Lipid nanostructures for antioxidant delivery: a comparative preformulation study

• Elisabetta Esposito,
• Maddalena Sguizzato,
• Markus Drechsler,
• Paolo Mariani,
• Federica Carducci,
• Claudio Nastruzzi,
• Giuseppe Valacchi and
• Rita Cortesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1789–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.174

• nanoparticles Lipid nanoparticles were prepared by a hot homogenization technique based on ultrasound treatment. In both cases the dispersing phase was an aqueous solution of poloxamer 188 (2.5% w/w) [37]. In the case of SLN the disperse phase was constituted of one solid lipid (i.e., tristearin, precirol

Biocatalytic oligomerization-induced self-assembly of crystalline cellulose oligomers into nanoribbon networks assisted by organic solvents

• Yuuki Hata,
• Yuka Fukaya,
• Toshiki Sawada,
• Masahito Nishiura and
• Takeshi Serizawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1778–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.173

• oligomerization-induced self-assembly assisted by organic solvents, which are widely used typical small molecules. The CDP-catalyzed oligomerization from ᴅ-glucose primers, which is known to produce rectangular nanosheets as precipitates in aqueous solution (Figure 1) [30][31], was used in this study. The

• sulfoxide (DMSO), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile (MeCN), and ethanol (EtOH), with different characteristics were used in this study. We addressed the CDP-catalyzed oligomerization from ᴅ-glucose primers, where the precipitated nanosheets are produced in aqueous solution [30][31]. The

• ). The values were calculated from both kinds of spectra to be 8–10, slightly lower than that of the oligomers synthesized in aqueous solution (i.e., 10) [31][42], depending on the organic solvent species and their concentrations (Table 1). The slight decrease in with the organic solvents was mainly

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

• -dimensional iron–nickel cyanide-bridged network at the air–water interface. A small amount of the amphiphilic pentacyanoferrate complex monomer was spread from a chloroform solution to form a monolayer in a LB trough, and was subsequently connected by introducing an aqueous solution of nickel nitrate into the

• ) [228]. DHTPA was dissolved in water, and the resulted aqueous solution was layered on top of a chloroform solution of a tetra-substituted amine monomer containing porphyrin. The segregation of the monomers confined the imine formation to the interface and yielded wafer-size multilayer imine-linked COF

• monomers were treated with p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) forming [amine-PTSA] salts, and dissolved into aqueous phases. Each aqueous solution was layered on a dichloromethane solution containing 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp), an aldehyde-derivative COF monomer, yielding large COF films of sub-100 nm

Hierarchically structured 3D carbon nanotube electrodes for electrocatalytic applications

• Pei Wang,
• Katarzyna Kulp and
• Michael Bron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1475–1487, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.146

• -oxidation The CVs of the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) over the Pt-containing nanostructured electrodes were recorded in N2-purged 1 M CH3OH and 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution to investigate their suitability for electrocatalytic applications. Due to the large double-layer capacity of the samples, a slow

• oxygen functional groups as anchoring sites. Afterwards, Fe nanoparticles were grown on the oxidized GC by double pulse deposition [57] in 0.005 M FeSO4·7H2O (≥99.5%, Roth, Germany) and 0.5 M MgSO4·7H2O (pure, Roth, Germany) aqueous solution. MgSO4 simply serves as a conducting electrolyte to avoid high

• a scan rate of 200 mV s−1 for 50–100 cycles in N2-purged 0.5 M H2SO4 (prepared from 98% H2SO4, Roth, Germany) aqueous solution until the CVs did not change any more, while Pt-GC, Pt-CNT/GC and Pt-CNT/CNT/GC were cycled in the potential range from 0.05 V to 1.2 V vs RHE. After this treatment, the

Warped graphitic layers generated by oxidation of fullerene extraction residue and its oxygen reduction catalytic activity

• Machiko Takigami,
• Rieko Kobayashi,
• Takafumi Ishii,
• Yasuo Imashiro and
• Jun-ichi Ozaki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1391–1400, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.137

• the amount of surface functional groups. The details of this technique are described elsewhere [45][46]. Electrochemical techniques Cyclic voltammetry was used to evaluate the heterogeneous electron transfer rate of the carbons in an aqueous solution consisting of 6 × 10−3 mol/L K3[Fe(CN)6] and 1 mol

• perfluorinated resin solution, Aldrich) solution on a 4 mm glass-like carbon disk electrode (0.2 mg [carbon]/cm2, 0.1 mg [binder]/cm2). The reference electrode was a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The electrolyte was a 0.5 mol/L H2SO4 aqueous solution. A voltammogram obtained in a N2-saturated electrolyte

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• onto the surface of CBO by a facile simple thermal reduction–precipitation method. A certain amount of prepared CBO microrods was added to an aqueous solution of HAuCl4·4H2O. Afterward, the mixed solution was heated to boiling under continuous stirring for 10 min. The as-prepared product was washed and

• method and dispersed in aqueous solution of HAuCl4. After vigorous stirring, Au3+ was adsorbed on the surface CBO microrods. Then, the precursor mixture was boiled to reduce Au3+ to Au NPs precipitating on the CBO microrods yielding the Au/CBO hybrid photocatalyst. The crystalline phases of CBO and Au

The effect of magneto-crystalline anisotropy on the properties of hard and soft magnetic ferrite nanoparticles

• Hajar Jalili,
• Bagher Aslibeiki,
• Ali Ghotbi Varzaneh and
• Volodymyr A. Chernenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1348–1359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.133

• deionized water to a concentration of 8.0 M. In the second step, the temperature of the metal-salt solution was raised 80 °C under stirring. Then, the aqueous solution of NaOH was added quickly to the solution at 80 °C. The obtained black slurry was constantly stirred at 80 °C for 30 min. The prepared

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• (VC750 Sonics Vibra-Cell, operating at 20 kHz) using a 13 mm standard probe. Separately, chitosan was slowly dissolved in an aqueous solution of 1% v/v acetic acid at 70 °C and added to the SEP/HNTs/GNPs/MWCNTs dispersion under magnetic stirring. The bionanocomposite films were processed by solvent

A silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite as a highly effective substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Yongxin Lu,
• Yan Luo,
• Zehao Lin and
• Jianguo Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1270–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.126

• points on the paper substrate with an integration time of 5 s for each spectrum. To monitor the molecular recognition between adenosine and thymidine, 10 μL aqueous solution (10 µM) of each nucleoside was dripped separately onto two pieces of the paper substrates; after the evaporation of the solvent, 10

• μL aqueous solution of the complementary nucleoside was dripped onto the corresponding paper substrate, and then the SERS spectra were measured after drying under the same experimental conditions as noted above. The finite element method (FEM) modeling of the plasmonic properties of the silver

A highly efficient porous rod-like Ce-doped ZnO photocatalyst for the degradation of dye contaminants in water

• Binjing Hu,
• Qiang Sun,
• Chengyi Zuo,
• Yunxin Pei,
• Siwei Yang,
• Hui Zheng and
• Fangming Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1157–1165, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.115

• ratio of 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% were named as CZO-1, CZO-2, CZO-3, CZO-4, and CZO-5, respectively. Photocatalytic activity measurements The photocatalytic activity was evaluated based on the degradation of RhB using a sunlight stimulator. First, 4 mg of the photocatalyst was added to the RhB aqueous

• solution (8 mL) with a concentration of 10 mg/L in numbered test tubes. The suspension was stirred for 30 min to reach the adsorption/desorption equilibration in darkness. Following this, the photocatalytic reaction was started by turning on the solar simulator. 1 mL of the suspension was sampled and

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• pharmaceutical drugs, organic dyes, and phenols in aqueous solution. The single-step synthesis yields W–TiO2, Zr–TiO2 and Ce–TiO2 immobilized on the surface of delaminated layered clay derived from montmorillonite. The resulting doped TiO2@clay materials showed high specific surface area values and a slight

• shows good catalytic activity (ca. 85%) in the photodegradation of the antibiotic flumequine in aqueous solution. Interestingly, the sepiolite nanoarchitecture shows better degradation efficiency than the semiconducting components alone according to the following sequence [160]: TiO2–ZnO@sepiolite

Scavenging of reactive oxygen species by phenolic compound-modified maghemite nanoparticles

• Małgorzata Świętek,
• Yi-Chin Lu,
• Rafał Konefał,
• Liliana P. Ferreira,
• M. Margarida Cruz,
• Yunn-Hwa Ma and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1073–1088, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.108

• compound-modified chitosan, was introduced immediately after the first coating with heparin. An aqueous solution (5 mL) of modified chitosan (8.1 mg) was magnetically stirred at 50 °C for 20 min and cooled to RT, while the γ-Fe2O3@Hep nanoparticle dispersion was sonicated for 5 min. After 2 min of

• , precursor chitosan (0.5 g) was dissolved in 2 wt % acetic acid (50 mL) at 70 °C for 24 h with magnetic stirring, the solution was cooled to room temperature (RT), and a mixture of ascorbic acid (AA) (54 mg), water (0.9 mL), and 25% H2O2 (0.1 mL) was added to yield chitosan (CS). After 30 min, an aqueous

• solution (20 mL) of phenolic compound (0.35 mmol) was added dropwise, and the reaction vessel was wrapped with aluminum foil to protect the reactants from light. The mixture was magnetically stirred at RT for 24 h and dialyzed against water, which was changed at least eight times, for 48 h using a membrane

Tailoring the stability/aggregation of one-dimensional TiO₂(B)/titanate nanowires using surfactants

• Atiđa Selmani,
• Johannes Lützenkirchen,
• Kristina Kučanda,
• Dario Dabić,
• Engelbert Redel,
• Ida Delač Marion,
• Damir Kralj,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin and
• Maja Dutour Sikirić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1024–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.103

• TNW surface and 12-2-12 due to the two positively charged polar heads of 12-2-12. Micrographs of synthesized TNWs taken by a) high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and b) atomic force microscopy. Variation of zeta potential (ζ) with pH of TNWs in 10−3 mol dm−3 NaBr aqueous solution. γ(TNW) = 1

Correlation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the surface density of gold nanoparticles: evaluation of the critical number of SERS tags for a detectable signal

• Vincenzo Amendola

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1016–1023, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.102

• AuNP solution at a 1:100 volume ratio. After 30 min under mild stirring, an aqueous solution of thiolated polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW 5000, Sigma-Aldrich) was added to the AuNPs with a final concentration of 30 µM. After stirring for 14 h at room temperature, the mixtures were washed with deionized

• samples for TEM analysis were obtained by mixing the AuNT solution (0.2 mg/mL in Au) 1:5 with a 10 mg/mL aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, 200,000 Mw, on average, from Fluka) and depositing one drop on a copper grid coated with a holey carbon film, according to a well-established procedure which

• for the same AuNT but with light polarized along the x-axis. (A) Sketch of sample preparation for combined Raman and TEM analysis: 20 µL of an aqueous dispersion of AuNTs (0.2 mg/mL in Au) is mixed with 100 µL of an aqueous solution of PVA (10 mg/mL); after homogenization by ultrasonication, one drop