Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• if an abundance of sulfur source is present in the precursor solution (SbCl3/SC(NH2)2 = 1:6) sprayed onto the substrate at 250 °C in air. Solar cells with glass-ITO-TiO2-Sb2S3-P3HT-Au structure and an active area of 1 cm2 had an open circuit voltage of 630 mV, short circuit current density of 5 mA

• temperature of 255 °C leads to films that consist of orthorhombic stibnite and a secondary phase that was identified as Sb2O3 [23]. To suppress the formation of oxides, an excess of sulfur source in the precursor solution may be required as indicated by similar studies for indium sulfide [25][26], zinc

• test the Sb2S3 layer in a planar TiO2/Sb2S3/P3HT configuration solar cell. In the present work we will show that by using an excess of thiourea as the sulfur source in the spray solution, such as with a SbCl3/tu molar ratio of 1:6, one can rapidly grow single-phase and crystalline Sb2S3 by ultrasonic

An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants

• Clément Monteil,
• Nathalie Bar,
• Agnès Bee and
• Didier Villemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1447–1453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.136

• MO sulfonate groups are at the maximum intensity. Concerning the MB, the sulfur atom is always positively charged. The adsorption therefore increases after the second deprotonation of phosphonate, and is maximized above pKa of the ammonium/amine deprotonation, where repulsive forces are negligible

Fracture behaviors of pre-cracked monolayer molybdenum disulfide: A molecular dynamics study

• Qi-lin Xiong,
• Zhen-huan Li and
• Xiao-geng Tian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1411–1420, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.132

• is displayed), unless otherwise specified, this model size will be used in most of the simulations. The SW potential [15] is adopted to describe the interaction between molybdenum and sulfur atoms in the MoS2 sheets due to its good agreement with the experimental data and its successful usage in the

• simulation. The top and side views of atomic structures under different uniaxial tension strains are shown in Figure 3. From Figure 3, the structure consisting of molybdenum and sulfur atoms varies suddenly at the engineering strain of about 18%. Please see Supporting Information File 1 and Supporting

• tension. From animation, the structure consisting of molybdenum and sulfur atoms varies suddenly at the engineering strain of about 18%. Supporting Information File 177: View 1 of structure transition of MoS2. Supporting Information File 178: View 2 of structure transition of MoS2. Acknowledgements This

Mesoporous hollow carbon spheres for lithium–sulfur batteries: distribution of sulfur and electrochemical performance

• Anika C. Juhl,
• Artur Schneider,
• Boris Ufer,
• Torsten Brezesinski,
• Jürgen Janek and
• Michael Fröba

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1229–1240, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.114

• the use in lithium–sulfur batteries because of the large internal void offering space for sulfur and polysulfide storage and confinement. However, there is an ongoing discussion whether the cavity is accessible for sulfur. Yet no valid proof of cavity filling has been presented, mostly due to

• application of unsuitable high-vacuum methods for the analysis of sulfur distribution. Here we describe the distribution of sulfur in hollow carbon spheres by powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy along with results from scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen physisorption. The results of these

• methods lead to the conclusion that the cavity is not accessible for sulfur infiltration. Nevertheless, HCS/sulfur composite cathodes with areal sulfur loadings of 2.0 mg·cm−2 were investigated electrochemically, showing stable cycling performance with specific capacities of about 500 mAh·g−1 based on the

Preparation of alginate–chitosan–cyclodextrin micro- and nanoparticles loaded with anti-tuberculosis compounds

• Albert Ivancic,
• Fliur Macaev,
• Fatma Aksakal,
• Veaceslav Boldescu,
• Serghei Pogrebnoi and
• Gheorghe Duca

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1208–1218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.112

• interactions were predicted between the isoconazole and sulfur-containing methionine amino acid residues of InhA (Met98, Met103, and Met199). Also an arene–H interaction was obtained between the imidazole ring of isoconazole and NAD+ cofactor. The catalytic residues of InhA Tyr158 and Thr196 provided polar

Rigid multipodal platforms for metal surfaces

• Michal Valášek,
• Marcin Lindner and
• Marcel Mayor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 374–405, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.34

• (thiols, disulfides), and related moieties on coinage metals, particularly Au(111), Ag, Cu as well as Pt, Hg, GaAs(100) and InP(100) surfaces [23]. Particularly, the sulfur–gold bond is the most popular and the most extensively investigated junction for anchoring organic molecules on metal surfaces

• with oxygen and can be handled even under ambient conditions in the laboratory before its surface functionalization with organosulfur compounds. The covalent bond between sulfur and gold gives rise to robust and reasonably conductive single-molecular junctions of adsorbed molecules on gold substrates

• -known long range 22 × √3 herringbone reconstruction with both face-centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) domains. But the absorption of sulfur-containing molecules (e.g., thiol, disulfide) on Au(111) forms a strong covalent bond and induces significant changes in the surface

Hemolysin coregulated protein 1 as a molecular gluing unit for the assembly of nanoparticle hybrid structures

• Tuan Anh Pham,
• Andreas Schreiber,
• Elena V. Sturm (née Rosseeva),
• Stefan Schiller and
• Helmut Cölfen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 351–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.32

• stretching bands of cysteine appear at 955 cm−1 [31][32] and 1105 cm−1 [33]. The strong S–H band of cysteine around 2600 cm−1 is missing due to the direct binding of the sulfur atom to the NP surface [32]. Based on the Raman investigation, it can be concluded that Hcp1_cys3 is located in between two Au NPs

• , leading to a signal enhancement of the protein. The secondary protein structure remains intact on the NPs surface and the protein–Au binding takes place via the sulfur in the integrated cysteine group. In order to demonstrate a first application of such protein-based hybrid structures, we use our Au NP

• protein to Au on the sulfur atom of the cysteine. Furthermore, the Au network shows similar catalytic reactivity as the blank Au NP, which makes it more attractive owing to the easier recycling condition of the catalyst. This protein gluing unit approach was then extended to assemble Fe3O4 NPs and CoFe2O4

Case studies on the formation of chalcogenide self-assembled monolayers on surfaces and dissociative processes

• Yongfeng Tong,
• Tingming Jiang,
• Azzedine Bendounan,
• Makri Nimbegondi Kotresh Harish,
• Angelo Giglia,
• Stefan Kubsky,
• Fausto Sirotti,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Srinivasan Sampath and
• Vladimir A. Esaulov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 263–277, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.24

• determines the binding to the substrate and plays an important role in defining the molecular ordering and electronic coupling, which determines the charge flow between the molecular components and the substrate electrode. Much work on various aspects of assembly and its uses has been performed with sulfur

• conductance pathway than sulfur. Besides the case of self-assembly on bulk metal surfaces, the knowledge of the physics and chemistry of chalcogenide SAMs on metal nanoparticle surfaces is also very important as they are widely used in different areas. In this paper, we focus on recent work where the

• in this case as opposed to the case of the same SAMs on gold [46][47]. Similarly, in some examples of thiol adsorption on Cu, there exists evidence [26] of S–C bond scission with sulfur remaining on the surface. It is clear that such processes strongly affect the interface properties and in

Characterisation of thin films of graphene–surfactant composites produced through a novel semi-automated method

• Nik J. Walch,
• Alexei Nabok,
• Frank Davis and
• Séamus P. J. Higson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 209–219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.19

• towards the left than its equivalent in the SDS-stabilised graphene. The peak representing carbon-1 in SDS (at around 4 ppm) is shifted downfield by complexation with the graphene. This means that the protons are deshielded by the presence of graphene. Since the carbon–sulfur bond is polar the electron

• density around the carbon atom is already lower than it would normally be in a carbon–carbon bond. Repulsion between the graphene and the sulfate group could cause lengthening of the carbon–sulfur bond. This could in turn lead to a lower electron density around the nuclei responsible for this peak [16

3D solid supported inter-polyelectrolyte complexes obtained by the alternate deposition of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)

• Eduardo Guzmán,
• Armando Maestro,
• Sara Llamas,
• Jesús Álvarez-Rodríguez,
• Francisco Ortega,
• Ángel Maroto-Valiente and
• Ramón G. Rubio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 197–208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.18

• element representing each of the polymers, nitrogen for PDADMAC and sulfur for PSS. Thus, XPS can reveal information about a lamellar or disordered structure of the samples. Figure 5a and Figure 5b report the dependence of the element content of nitrogen and sulfur in the films on the ionic strength for

• different emission angles. The atomic content remains almost constant with increasing ionic strength. Indeed, the atomic fractions of nitrogen and sulfur are both independent of the angle of incidence. This confirms the strong interdigitation of the successively adsorbed layers; PDADMAC and PSS form quasi

• by Raposo and co-workers [47]. We have measured the ratio between the total content of positive (sodium and nitrogen) and negative charges (sulfur and chloride) in the multilayers. Values of this ratio close to unity indicate non-stratified films whereas values higher or lower than unity evidence the

Surface-site reactivity in small-molecule adsorption: A theoretical study of thiol binding on multi-coordinated gold clusters

• Elvis C. M. Ting,
• Tatiana Popa and
• Irina Paci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 53–61, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.6

• ; sulfur–gold interactions; thiol adsorption; Introduction The interactions between organic molecules and metallic surfaces have been the subject of significant interest in recent years, because of their fundamental relevance in a broad array of nanoscience applications. One area of interfacial research

• ], and for developing a general understanding of nanoparticle biosafety [21][22], among other issues. The sulfur-containing aminoacids cysteine, homocysteine and methionine are often targeted for such investigations, because of the binding affinity of sulfur-based groups to metal atoms. Much is known of

• the adsorption behavior of sulfur-containing aminoacids on low-Miller-index [(111), (100), (110)] gold and silver surfaces [3][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], though many questions regarding binding modes and condensed phase behavior still remain. Quantum calculations have been

Ultrastructural changes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus induced by positively charged silver nanoparticles

• Dulce G. Romero-Urbina,
• Humberto H. Lara,
• J. Jesús Velázquez-Salazar,
• M. Josefina Arellano-Jiménez,
• Eduardo Larios,
• Anand Srinivasan,
• Jose L. Lopez-Ribot and
• Miguel José Yacamán

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2396–2405, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.246

• permeability [38]. After penetrating the cell membrane, AgNPs can also alter sulfur-containing amino acids and phosphorus (a main constituent of DNA), inhibiting replication via attaching to the bacterial ribosome [39][40]. The proteomic signatures of AgNP-treated E. coli demonstrated an accumulation of

Surfactant-controlled composition and crystal structure of manganese(II) sulfide nanocrystals prepared by solvothermal synthesis

• Elena Capetti,
• Anna M. Ferretti,
• Vladimiro Dal Santo and
• Alessandro Ponti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2319–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.238

• observation that a larger than stoichiometric amount of sulfur is required [Puglisi, A.; Mondini, S.; Cenedese, S.; Ferretti, A. M.; Santo, N.; Ponti A. Chem. Mater. 2010, 22, 2804–2813], we carried out a wide set of reactions using Mn(II) carboxylates and Mn2(CO)10 as precursors with varying amounts of

• sulfur and carboxylic acid. MnS NCs were obtained provided that the S/Mn ratio was larger than the L/Mn ratio, otherwise MnO NCs were produced. Since MnS can crystallize in three distinct phases (rock salt α-MnS, zincblende β-MnS, and wurtzite γ-MnS), we also investigated whether the surfactant affected

• the surfactants adsorbed on the NCs. Keywords: manganese oxide; manganese sulfide; nanocrystal; polymorphism control; solvothermal synthesis; sulfur; surfactant; Introduction Manganese(II) sulfide (MnS) is a wide bandgap (Eg ≈ 3 eV) [1], p-type, antiferromagnetic semiconductor that crystallizes in

Plasma fluorination of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes: functionalization and thermal stability

• Claudia Struzzi,
• Mattia Scardamaglia,
• Axel Hemberg,
• Luca Petaccia,
• Jean-François Colomer,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2263–2271, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.232

• polymerization, the introduction of unwanted atoms on the functionalized system, or the high toxicity level of the gas used. Carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), pure fluorine (F2) or diluted fluorine in an inert atmosphere (Xe/F2, Ar/F2) are the precursor gases most commonly used. In the case

Controlled switching of single-molecule junctions by mechanical motion of a phenyl ring

• Yuya Kitaguchi,
• Satoru Habuka,
• Hiroshi Okuyama,
• Shinichiro Hatta,
• Tetsuya Aruga,
• Thomas Frederiksen,
• Magnus Paulsson and
• Hiromu Ueba

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2088–2095, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.213

• ascribed to the sulfur atom (Figure 3a). The local structure is similar with that of PhO with the phenyl ring oriented along [001] and the sulfur atom bonded to the short-bridge site [13]. The controlled switching of the molecular junction is feasible with PhS as well as PhO, and the conductance values for

• retraction were recorded. The height of the plateau, corresponding to the conductance for each molecule, is robust between repeated measurements and is larger by a factor of ≈2 for PhS. This demonstrates that the conductance is modified by chemical substitution of the anchoring atom from oxygen to sulfur. To

Optimized design of a nanostructured SPCE-based multipurpose biosensing platform formed by ferrocene-tethered electrochemically-deposited cauliflower-shaped gold nanoparticles

• Wicem Argoubi,
• Maroua Saadaoui,
• Sami Ben Aoun and
• Noureddine Raouafi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1840–1852, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.187

• ferrocene methanol using DCC as a condensing agent according to previously published reports [15][27]. Immunosensor preparation It is well known that gold has a high affinity toward sulfur-terminated compounds [28]. Several experiments showed that gold nanostructured electrodes should be incubated for at

• 4-fold increase of the surface resistivity because of the total passivation of the gold surface by a sulfur layer. Further modification with the antibody and BSA increases the surface impedance due to the electron transfer from the redox probe present in the solution. Thus, the ferrocene covered by

• surface through two gold–sulfur bonds, greatly limits ferrocene leakage into solution and keeps the sensors active. Higher surface coverage allows higher loading in ferrocene and thus widens the dynamic ranges. Selectivity and specificity of the immune response Selectivity and specificity are among the

Conductance through single biphenyl molecules: symmetric and asymmetric coupling to electrodes

• Karthiga Kanthasamy and
• Herbert Pfnür

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1690–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.171

• Figure 4 shows the enlarged range of conductance above 0.02G0. Both molecules show a pronounced maximum of conductance close to 0.01G0 (marked by arrows in Figure 4). The existence of multiple peaks may be explained by selective adsorption of sulfur atoms at steps sites or at flat gold surfaces, which

Electrical properties and mechanical stability of anchoring groups for single-molecule electronics

• Riccardo Frisenda,
• Simge Tarkuç,
• Elena Galán,
• Mickael L. Perrin,
• Rienk Eelkema,
• Ferdinand C. Grozema and
• Herre S. J. van der Zant

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1558–1567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.159

• is known to deprotect the acetyl-protected thiol groups and promote the formation sulfur-gold bonds [36][37]. Transport measurements. The study of molecular transport has been conducted in air and at room temperature, using the MCBJ gold nano-electrodes to connect individual molecules. In the first

• the two-dimensional histograms one can see that the junctions formed with the four OPE3 molecules show different conductance values, depending on the anchoring group, and a length between 0.8 nm and 1.0 nm. The length of the four molecules, from sulfur to sulfur or from nitrogen to nitrogen, computed

DNA–melamine hybrid molecules: from self-assembly to nanostructures

• Rina Kumari,
• Shib Shankar Banerjee,
• Anil K. Bhowmick and
• Prolay Das

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1432–1438, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.148

• molecules with DNA, in particular, heterocyclic compounds that can offer attractive options to home nitrogen, sulfur or other interesting heteroatoms. Heterocyclic compounds could potentially be used to tune the molecular and electrical properties of a self-assembled system on the nanoscale. Moreover, being

The Kirkendall effect and nanoscience: hollow nanospheres and nanotubes

• Abdel-Aziz El Mel,
• Ryusuke Nakamura and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1348–1361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.139

• observation: symmetrical conversion mechanism The formation of hollow Kirkendall nanospheres was first reported by Yin et al. in 2004 [7]. They observed the formation of hollow nanospheres while exploring the sulfidation of cobalt nanoparticles by injecting a solution of sulfur in 1,2-dichlorobenzene into hot

• interface within the ZnO which, in this case, plays the role of the fast diffusing material. The strategy demonstrated by Li and Penner in 2005 was adopted by many groups for the synthesis of nanotubes by thermal annealing of metal nanowires under a controlled atmosphere such as sulfur, selenium or oxygen

Can molecular projected density of states (PDOS) be systematically used in electronic conductance analysis?

• Tonatiuh Rangel,
• Gian-Marco Rignanese and
• Valerio Olevano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1247–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.128

• concluded that the BDT–gold junction can be stable in several different atomic structures/geometries [16][47][48][49][50][51]. To account for different hybridizations and bonding motifs, three geometries are studied here: the sulfur atom of the benzene-dithiol molecule can adsorb onto an extra gold adatom

• without losing the bound hydrogen atom (BDT-n); the benzene-dithiol molecule can lose the hydrogen atom, thus becoming benzene-dithiolate, and bind its sulfur atom to an extra gold adatom in a pyramidal structure (BDT-p); or the benzene-dithiolate can bind to three equidistant gold atoms in the hollow

• on the sulfur atom. The LUMO from Method 2 corresponds to the LUMO from Method 1 for the dithiol molecule, but it does not correspond to any MO from Method 1 for the dithiolate molecule. On the other hand, the HOMO from Method 2 is similar to the HOMO from Method 1 for the dithiolate molecule, but it

Superluminescence from an optically pumped molecular tunneling junction by injection of plasmon induced hot electrons

• Kai Braun,
• Xiao Wang,
• Andreas M. Kern,
• Hilmar Adler,
• Heiko Peisert,
• Thomas Chassé,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1100–1106, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.111

• are described in detail in Supporting Information File 1 (Figures S1–S4). For the specimen, we have chosen a Au film covered with a monolayer of 5-chloro-2-mercaptobenzothiazole (Cl-MBT) molecules since (i) they chemically bind to the metal substrate (Figure 1c) via the sulfur atoms with the molecular

From lithium to sodium: cell chemistry of room temperature sodium–air and sodium–sulfur batteries

• Philipp Adelhelm,
• Pascal Hartmann,
• Conrad L. Bender,
• Martin Busche,
• Christine Eufinger and
• Juergen Janek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1016–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.105

• , Germany 10.3762/bjnano.6.105 Abstract Research devoted to room temperature lithium–sulfur (Li/S8) and lithium–oxygen (Li/O2) batteries has significantly increased over the past ten years. The race to develop such cell systems is mainly motivated by the very high theoretical energy density and the

• abundance of sulfur and oxygen. The cell chemistry, however, is complex, and progress toward practical device development remains hampered by some fundamental key issues, which are currently being tackled by numerous approaches. Quite surprisingly, not much is known about the analogous sodium-based battery

• . This review provides a summary of the state-of-the-art knowledge on lithium–sulfur and lithium–oxygen batteries and a direct comparison with the analogous sodium systems. The general properties, major benefits and challenges, recent strategies for performance improvements and general guidelines for

A simple approach to the synthesis of Cu_1.8S dendrites with thiamine hydrochloride as a sulfur source and structure-directing agent

• Xiaoliang Yan,
• Sha Li,
• Yun-xiang Pan,
• Zhi Yang and
• Xuguang Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 881–885, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.90

• nitrate and thiamine hydrochloride were selected as the starting materials in the water phase under hydrothermal conditions. No addition of a surfactant or a complex reagent was required for the synthesis of the Cu1.8S dendrite structures. Thiamine hydrochloride was employed as a sulfur source and

• attention due to its versatile applications in solar cell, electrochemistry, catalysis, and as a gas sensor [1][2][3][4][5]. Many strategies have been developed to prepare Cu1.8S. A solvent-mediated methodology was employed to synthesize highly crystalline Cu1.8S by element copper and sulfur at room

• shapes from sulfur powder [6]. Lim et al. found that copper sulfide dendritic structures could be obtained at high ethylenediamine and low tributylphosphite concentrations by using a copper(I) thiobenzoate (CuTB) precursor [7]. In general, sulfur, Na2S2O3, mercaptan and thiourea are used as sulfur

Applications of three-dimensional carbon nanotube networks

• Manuela Scarselli,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Francesco De Nicola,
• Ilaria Cacciotti,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Emanuela Gatto,
• Mariano Venanzi and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 792–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.82

• Roma, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.6.82 Abstract In this paper, we show that it is possible to synthesize carbon-based three-dimensional networks by adding sulfur, as growth enhancer, during the synthesis process. The obtained material is self-supporting and consists of curved and interconnected carbon

• , with pore sizes from several nanometers to a few micrometers (Figure 2a). The high number of interconnections indicated by the arrows in Figure 2b is caused by the presence of topological defects in the carbon sp2 lattice that originate during the growth process. In particular, the addition of sulfur

• finding is confirmed by EDX spectrum collected on the network of Figure 7a, that shows contributions from: the CNT-nanostructures (C and Fe), some of the constituents the oil used in the experiment (Zn, Mo) and small traces of Ca from water, Figure 7c. No sulfur signal was detected in the network