Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• important difference between adhesion in terrestrial and aquatic systems. Nevertheless, there are exceptions. Some terrestrial animals can step in droplets, e.g., on plant surfaces or even be completely submerged under water for a short time due to heavy rainfall. For example, the beetle Gastrophysa

Inorganic Janus particles for biomedical applications

• Isabel Schick,
• Steffen Lorenz,
• Dominik Gehrig,
• Stefan Tenzer,
• Wiebke Storck,
• Karl Fischer,
• Dennis Strand,
• Frédéric Laquai and
• Wolfgang Tremel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2346–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.244

• amphiphilic particle. Kumacheva et al. reported a microfluidic method for fast continuous synthesis of Janus particles as well as three-phase particles with narrow size distribution by emulsification of monomer liquids and in situ photoinitiated polymerization of multiphase droplets (Figure 3e) [27]. Another

Liquid-phase exfoliated graphene: functionalization, characterization, and applications

• Mildred Quintana,
• Jesús Iván Tapia and
• Maurizio Prato

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2328–2338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.242

• [19]. The physical and chemical phenomena associated with ultrasonic waves are cavitation and nebulization. Cavitation induces extreme conditions by collapsing air bubbles which initiates chemical reactions, while nebulization furthers the reaction within the heated droplets. These processes induce

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• : (i) biopolymers as controlling agents of nucleation and growth of inorganic materials; (ii) biopolymers as supports, either as molecular supports or as carrier particles acting as cores of core–shell structures; and (iii) so-called “soft templates”, which include on one hand stabilized droplets

• “soft templates”, two subgroups can be considered: (C1) Biopolymer-stabilized spherical geometries (stabilized droplets, micelles, and vesicles) that confine the inorganic formation. (C2) Biopolymer structures acting as “scaffolds”, with more complex geometries than simple spheres. This is typically the

• as “soft templates” C1. Biopolymer-stabilized simple geometries (droplets, micelles, and vesicles): Surface-active polymers can assemble in solution and in heterophase systems to form defined geometries, most typically spherical, such as micelles, vesicles, or even stabilized droplets. As in the case

Effect of silver nanoparticles on human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation

• Christina Sengstock,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Thomas A. Schildhauer and
• Manfred Köller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2058–2069, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.214

• to cells that were cultivated in the presence of RPMI/FCS (negative control; Figure 3A). Differentiated hMSCs changed their morphology from a fibroblast-like form (Figure 3A) to a spherical one with intracellular lipid droplets (Figure 3C). Cells that were additionally treated with 10 µg·mL−1 Ag-NP

• (Figure 3B) or 1.0 µg·mL−1 Ag+ ions (Figure 3D) revealed no significant morphological changes compared with cells cultured without silver (Figure 3C). However, a large decrease in the number of formed lipid droplets was observed in the presence of a high concentration of Ag-NP or Ag+ ions (Figure 3B and

• Figure 3D). The adipogenic differentiation of hMSCs was quantified by the optical density (520 nm) of the extracted oil red-stained lipid droplets and by phase analysis of cells stained with Bodipy493/503. As shown in Figure 4, the quantification of oil red (Figure 4A) and Bodipy493/503 (Figure 4B

The impact of the confinement of reactants on the metal distribution in bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized in reverse micelles

• Concha Tojo,
• Elena González and
• Nuria Vila-Romeu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1966–1979, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.206

• synthesize nanoparticles by this method, one reactant is solved inside the droplets of a microemulsion, and another reactant is solved inside the droplets of a second microemulsion. After mixing, the microemulsions reactants can cross intermicellar channels and come into contact when they are located inside

• mixing, the micelles move and collide, allowing reactants to come into contact with one another due to material transfer between colliding droplets. It is assumed that this intermicellar exchange occurs when a collision between two micelles results in the merger of the micelles, establishing a water

• droplets of the microemulsion can be conceived as tiny compartments or nano-reactors. The isolation of each nanoparticle inside a micelle avoids nanoparticle aggregation with particles located in nearby micelles. In this way, microemulsion droplets act as ideal templates, providing a compartmentalized

Towards bottom-up nanopatterning of Prussian blue analogues

• Virgile Trannoy,
• Marco Faustini,
• David Grosso,
• Sandra Mazerat,
• François Brisset,
• Alexandre Dazzi and
• Anne Bleuzen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1933–1943, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.204

• nanoperforated layer. This suggests a dewetting of the gold layer from the silicon surface to form gold droplets between the silicon wafer and the nanoperforated oxide layer corresponding to the light areas. The bottom of the nanoperforations in the dark areas would therefore be made of silicon rather than of

Silica nanoparticles are less toxic to human lung cells when deposited at the air–liquid interface compared to conventional submerged exposure

• Alicja Panas,
• Andreas Comouth,
• Harald Saathoff,
• Thomas Leisner,
• Marco Al-Rawi,
• Michael Simon,
• Gunnar Seemann,
• Olaf Dössel,
• Sonja Mülhopt,
• Hanns-Rudolf Paur,
• Susanne Fritsch-Decker,
• Carsten Weiss and
• Silvia Diabaté

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1590–1602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.171

• particle interactions prevent the monomers from restructuring within the atomized droplets. Hence Aerosil200 agglomerates are rather composed of irregular shaped aggregates [30] than of spherical monomers behaving like hard spheres. For this reason the actual effective density decreases with increasing

• . This value is close to the 1.8–2.2 g·cm−3 stated by the manufacturer (Postnova Analytics) and to literature data for amorphous silica particles of 2.2 g·cm−3 [43]. For agglomerates remaining from droplets containing more than one particle an effective density cannot easily be defined. For hard spheres

The study of surface wetting, nanobubbles and boundary slip with an applied voltage: A review

• Yunlu Pan,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1042–1065, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.117

• voltage are used to describe the oscillation: one is the droplet with the maximum CA, the other is the droplet with the minimum CA. Figure 8 shows the images of the droplet with different frequencies of the applied AC voltage with a peak-to-peak voltage value of 30 V. The maximum CA of the droplets are

• labeled high, and the minimum CA of the droplets are labeled low. Figure 9 shows the measured CA as a function of the frequency of the applied AC voltage. Both the high CA and the low CA remain constant, followed by a steady increase above a frequency of about 1 Hz [76]. The CAH as a function of the

Controlling mechanical properties of bio-inspired hydrogels by modulating nano-scale, inter-polymeric junctions

• Seonki Hong,
• Hyukjin Lee and
• Haeshin Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 887–894, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.101

• gelation time through vial inversion method was typically 10–20 s. For a naccurate determination of the gelation time, we used PTFE plate setup with 45 degree slope and droplets of PEG solutions (10 µL) allowed to flow until the solutions stopped when became hydrogels. Oscillatory rheometry Oscillatory

Scale effects of nanomechanical properties and deformation behavior of Au nanoparticle and thin film using depth sensing nanoindentation

• Dave Maharaj and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 822–836, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.94

• ) image (S-4300 SEM, Hitachi HTA Inc., Pleasanton, CA) of the nanoparticles. For the nanoparticle experiments conducted, several droplets of Au nanoparticles suspended in DI water were deposited onto the clean Si(100) substrates by using a syringe. A solution concentration of 0.01 mg/mL was used. The

Measuring air layer volumes retained by submerged floating-ferns Salvinia and biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces

• Matthias J. Mayser,
• Holger F. Bohn,
• Meike Reker and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 812–821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.93

• of the surface structures (Cassie–Baxter wetting state) [13]. The contact angle of water droplets can be equally high in both wetting states [14][15]. However, in the Wenzel wetting state the water is in full contact with the surface and individual droplets adhere firmly [16]. In contrast to this in

• the Cassie wetting state the solid–water interface is strongly reduced while the majority of the interface is between water and air, thereby trapping an air layer between water and surface. As a result the adhesion of the water to the surface is minimised and individual droplets often roll off at very

Effects of the preparation method on the structure and the visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag₂CrO₄

• Difa Xu,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Jinfeng Zhang,
• Bei Cheng and
• Jiaguo Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 658–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.77

• homogeneous morphology and smaller particle size of Ag2CrO4 can be achieved since the precipitation reaction is restricted in nanosized water droplets, which are dispersed as liquid entities in a continuous oil media and act as nanoreactors for the synthesis of nanoparticles [52][53][54][55]. Furthermore

Constant-distance mode SECM as a tool to visualize local electrocatalytic activity of oxygen reduction catalysts

• Michaela Nebel,
• Thomas Erichsen and
• Wolfgang Schuhmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 141–151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.14

• (Sigradur G, 1 mm thickness, HTW, Thierhaupten, Germany). 1 mL of the catalyst suspension consisted of 2.5 mg catalyst powder in a solution of 49.5% ethanol, 49.5% water and 1% Nafion (solution of 5 wt % Nafion from Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany). The spot was prepared by 3200 droplets dispensing 45 pL

Manipulation of nanoparticles of different shapes inside a scanning electron microscope

• Boris Polyakov,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Leonid M. Dorogin,
• Jelena Butikova,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Sven Oras,
• Rünno Lõhmus and
• Ilmar Kink

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.13

• contacting the substrate again [21]. In this case the particle shape can be close to ideal sphere. According to another scenario Ag nanostructures melt under the laser irradiation for a short period of time (ns) and then solidify again forming “frozen” droplets on a substrate surface. The frozen droplet

• contact area ADMT of the sphere on a flat surface is: The DMT-M approach can also be applied for the frozen droplets displaced and rolled from their initial position. For convenience different types of particle geometries and corresponding models are schematically represented in Figure 4. Real time

Mapping of plasmonic resonances in nanotriangles

• Simon Dickreuter,
• Julia Gleixner,
• Andreas Kolloch,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Elke Scheer and
• Paul Leiderer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 588–602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.66

• achieve by conventional lithography. On the other hand, in contrast to e-beam lithography samples, the edges of colloid-lithography structures have somewhat inclined walls, and they are surrounded by an ensemble of small solid droplets, both as a result of the evaporation process. These features are

• clearly visible in Figure 4 as well as in Figure 3b. While the inclined walls may have some influence on the details of the optical near fields, the droplets are negligible in this respect, and they can serve as useful marks for the original position of the triangles when the triangles themselves have

• droplets of apparently molten and resolidified material [38]. For even higher intensities, the ablated region increases, with the size of the accompanying droplets increasing accordingly. Eventually, the substrate is modified everywhere also between the positions of the plasmonic structures. We will focus

Porous polymer coatings as substrates for the formation of high-fidelity micropatterns by quill-like pens

• Michael Hirtz,
• Marcus Lyon,
• Wenqian Feng,
• Andrea E. Holmes,
• Harald Fuchs and
• Pavel A. Levkin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 377–384, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.44

• spectra obtained on the samples prior to and after incubation are shown in Figure 6b. Additionally, Figure 6a gives the corresponding fluorescence spectra of macroscopic droplets of the dye solutions with and without the addition of BSA for comparison. All spectra were normalized to have equal intensity

• at the filter cut-off wavelength of 510 nm. The spectra of the patterns in Figure 6b were multiplied by a factor of 2 to demonstrate the spectroscopic changes more clearly. Figure 6a shows the fluorescence spectra of macroscopic droplets as shown in the inset. The fluorescence spectrum of the

• microscope through an AHF F36-QLP filter (excitation: 415–455 nm, dichroic mirror: 510 nm, emission: long-pass 500 nm) with an Avaspec-2048 Spectrometer (Avantes). Recording time for the spectra of the macroscopic droplets and the pristine microarray patterns was 1 s; the spectra of the incubated patterns

A highly pH-sensitive nanowire field-effect transistor based on silicon on insulator

• Denis E. Presnov,
• Sergey V. Amitonov,
• Pavel A. Krutitskii,
• Valentina V. Kolybasova,
• Igor A. Devyatov,
• Vladimir A. Krupenin and
• Igor I. Soloviev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 330–335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.38

• liquids [11]. An AgCl electrode dipped in a buffer solution was used as a reference electrode. The pH measurements were carried out statically in droplets without a flux of liquid. Large amounts of buffer solution with the target pH were pumped through the droplet volume to change the pH level. In Figure

Grain boundaries and coincidence site lattices in the corneal nanonipple structure of the Mourning Cloak butterfly

• Ken C. Lee and
• Uwe Erb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 292–299, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.32

• water or oil droplets [28][29]. The importance of 5–7 topological coordination-number defects has further been discussed for the cases of grain growth in polycrystalline materials and the stability of periodic cellular structures [30][31]. All these examples show that, from a topological point of view

Functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Eloise Van Hooijdonk,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Rony Snyders and
• Jean-François Colomer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 129–152, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.14

• also by polymer functionalization. Lau et al. [131] favored a bio-inspired approach to the problem and mimicked designs found in nature. In certain plants such as the lotus leaf, water droplets roll on the surface and remove dust particles; this is a self-cleaning behavior and is called the Lotus

Nanoparticles of novel organotin(IV) complexes bearing phosphoric triamide ligands

• Zahra Shariatinia,
• Ebadullah Asadi,
• Vahid Tavasolinasab and
• Khodayar Gholivand

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 94–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.11

• dissolved samples, a few droplets were placed on a small piece of foil, whereas the powdered compounds were directly placed on the sample holder. Here, the complexes were dissolved in methanol, and after evaporation of the solvent, the SEM images were obtained from the nanoparticles prepared on aluminum

Controlled deposition and combing of DNA across lithographically defined patterns on silicon

• Zeinab Esmail Nazari and
• Leonid Gurevich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 72–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.8

• the hydrophobic silane on top of the SiO2 layer. On these surfaces, water droplets exhibited average contact angles of about 90° as determined by the sessile droplet method. Positively charged silicon surfaces (used for the reference experiment shown in Figure 2a) were produced by the same technique

Growth behaviour and mechanical properties of PLL/HA multilayer films studied by AFM

• Cagri Üzüm,
• Johannes Hellwig,
• Narayanan Madaboosi,
• Dmitry Volodkin and
• Regine von Klitzing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 778–788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.87

• particles and the adhesive were placed on a glass slide. The adhesive was apportioned in fine stitches with a needle of a syringe or a very thin metal wire so that it had small separate droplets, ideally the size of the silica spheres. The cantilever was then moved by using a micro-manipulator. The far end

Effect of spherical Au nanoparticles on nanofriction and wear reduction in dry and liquid environments

• Dave Maharaj and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 759–772, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.85

• experiments involving nanoparticle-coated surfaces under dry conditions, several droplets of Au nanoparticles suspended in DI water (Nanopartz, Inc., Loveland, CO) were deposited onto the clean Si (100) substrate by using a syringe. A 25% concentration of an initial 0.05 mg/mL solution was used for all

• with an average speed of 3.5 mm/s. Friction forces were measured with semiconductor strain gages for 500 cycles. In liquid environments, 2–3 droplets of DI water with and without Au 90 nanoparticles were deposited onto the silicon substrate with a syringe. The sapphire ball was then slid over the

Friction and durability of virgin and damaged skin with and without skin cream treatment using atomic force microscopy

• Bharat Bhushan,
• Si Chen and
• Shirong Ge

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 731–746, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.83

• reciprocating tribometer with a velocity 1 mm/s and at a normal load of 50 mN for 3000 cycles. Contact-angle measurements The apparent contact angles were measured for various samples. Measurements were made with a Rame-Hart automated goniometer model 290-F4, where 5 μL water droplets were deposited onto the