Investigating structural and electronic properties of neutral zinc clusters: a G₀W₀ and G₀W₀Г₀⁽¹⁾ benchmark

• Sunila Bakhsh,
• Muhammad Khalid,
• Sameen Aslam,
• Muhammad Sohail,
• Muhammad Aamir Iqbal,
• Mujtaba Ikram and
• Kareem Morsy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 310–316, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.28

• reliably predict new systems and properties. The next step was to perform the G0W0 calculations using the FHI-aims all-electron package [23][24], which was further used to assess the electronic properties of the Zn clusters. We used the pre-relaxed structures to obtain the energy gaps and IPs of the Zn

Ultrasensitive and ultrastretchable metal crack strain sensor based on helical polydimethylsiloxane

• Shangbi Chen,
• Dewen Liu,
• Weiwei Chen,
• Huajiang Chen,
• Jiawei Li and
• Jinfang Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 270–278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.25

• remarkable stability and favorable recoverability. Figure 2d illustrates the response time of the helical sensor when subjected to a quasi-transient step strain of 10%. Notably, the response time was approximately 158 ms, while the relaxation time was approximately 243 ms, indicating a strong response to

• applied strain with helix indices of 1, 2, and 3. Insets: relative resistance change as a function of the applied strain in the flat gold film. (b) The linearity between the relative resistance changes and strain. (c) Change in resistance for a step strain from 0 to 200%. (d) Response time of the strain

Design, fabrication, and characterization of kinetic-inductive force sensors for scanning probe applications

• August K. Roos,
• Ermes Scarano,
• Elisabet K. Arvidsson,
• Erik Holmgren and
• David B. Haviland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 242–255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.23

• (maN1407), baking at 100 °C on a hotplate for 60 s. We expose the pattern with a dose of 450 mJ/cm2, aligning to the markers on the front, and we develop in maD533s for roughly 45 s. A subsequent short soft-ashing step in a Plasmalab 80 ICP65 from Oxford Instruments removes residual resist and improves the

• the same CF4/O2 RIE process as in step (d). In our design, we vary the widths (w = 75, 100, and 200 nm) of the nanowires across the wafer, adjusting the total number of squares (total inductance) and the capacitor to obtain a resonant frequency ωc/2π ∼ 4.5 GHz, see Figure 1d–f. (f) Cantilever pattern

• 60 s. With the front side of the wafer protected, we flip over the wafer and etch through the Si-N using the same CHF3/SF6 process as in step (f) and the etch mask defined in step (c). We then use a Bosch process to etch through most of the Si substrate (approximately 450 μm deep) with an etch rate

Multiscale modelling of biomolecular corona formation on metallic surfaces

• Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini,
• Ian Rouse,
• Julia Subbotina and
• Vladimir Lobaskin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 215–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.21

• orientation of each individual protein, a primary coarse-graining step was performed. In this part, we use the UA model to predict the protein–NP binding energies. This model takes into account various factors, such as the material’s chemical composition, size, shape, surface roughness, charge

• step, we predicted the composition of the milk protein layer at the aluminum surfaces. For this analysis, we consider the Al surface as a spherical NP with the protein layer uniformly adsorbed on its entire surface, forming the protein corona. Competitive adsorption and biomolecular corona Kinetic

Graphene removal by water-assisted focused electron-beam-induced etching – unveiling the dose and dwell time impact on the etch profile and topographical changes in SiO₂ substrates

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Jan M. Michalik,
• Inés Serrano-Esparza,
• Zdeněk Nováček,
• Veronika Novotná,
• Piotr Ozga,
• Czesław Kapusta and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 190–198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.18

• processes using the so-called focused electron-beam-induced etching (FEBIE), with a spatial resolution of ten nanometers. Nanopatterning graphene with such a method in one single step and without using a physical mask or resist is a very appealing approach. During the process, on top of graphene

• an electron beam. In the blue spectra, additional peaks (D’ and 2D’) are visible, and the intensity of the D peak is more pronounced. The Raman spectra were collected at each spot over the area containing the flake and the surrounding substrate. In the next step, based on the characteristic D/G

• microscopes, leading to enhanced quality signals. The equipment has an automatic motorized sample positioner in the x-, y- and z-directions that allows 2D and 3D mapping. For our study, we performed 2D mapping with a lateral step size of 1 µm. The WITec software was used to process these spectra selecting

Ferromagnetic resonance spectra of linear magnetosome chains

• Elizaveta M. Gubanova and
• Nikolai A. Usov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 157–167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.15

• stochastic Landau–Lifshitz equation, the numerical time step is kept to be 1/30 of the characteristic precession period of the unit magnetization vectors of the particles, τH ~ 1/γ1Hef. Such a small time step is necessary to accurately describe the precession of unit magnetization vectors in the chain. In

• chains as a function of the angle θ of the external magnetic field with respect to the orientation axis of the chains. The spectra of randomly oriented assemblies of chains were then calculated by the angle averaging of partial FMR spectra calculated with a fairly small step Δθ ~ 5–7.5°. Further, we

• thickness is Ten = 5 nm, and the magnetic damping constant is κ = 0.1. To obtain FMR spectra of randomly oriented chain assemblies, partial FMR spectra were averaged with a step width of Δθ = 5°. As Figure 4a shows, with an increase in the tilt angle of the magnetizing field θ from 0° to 75°, the peak of

Enhanced feedback performance in off-resonance AFM modes through pulse train sampling

• Mustafa Kangül,
• Navid Asmari,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Marcos Penedo and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 134–143, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.13

• force (setpoint) is the process variable that the feedback controller uses to calculate the error (Figure 1D). Figure 1E shows that a step-up in sample topography (Figure 1E-i.) gives rise to an increase in the maximum force value (Figure 1E-ii.). The feedback controller within the traditional control

• faster feedback iterations compared to the conventional ORT controller that only samples once per interaction period. Figure 2B illustrates the operation principle of the proposed method for a step-up in the sample topography (i.). The feedback controller samples all the deflection values within the

• ORT cycle, this method provides faster and more accurate topography tracking. Deciding the Tw width of the reference interaction window is a critical step while using the proposed method. When imaging a sample made of a single material, an interaction window covering the full positive force gradient

In situ optical sub-wavelength thickness control of porous anodic aluminum oxide

• Aleksandrs Dutovs,
• Raimonds Popļausks,
• Oskars Putāns,
• Vladislavs Perkanuks,
• Aušrinė Jurkevičiūtė,
• Tomas Tamulevičius,
• Uldis Malinovskis,
• Iryna Olyshevets,
• Donats Erts and
• Juris Prikulis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 126–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.12

• ) converter and digitized using an analog-to-digital converter (ADS1115, Texas Instruments). The electronics design files (KiCAD) and microcontroller software source code are accessible on GitHub [43]. The two-step anodization procedure in 0.3 M oxalic acid electrolyte at 40 V potential has been described in

Development and characterization of potential larvicidal nanoemulsions against Aedes aegypti

• Jonatas L. Duarte,
• Leonardo Delello Di Filippo,
• Anna Eliza Maciel de Faria Mota Oliveira,
• Rafael Miguel Sábio,
• Gabriel Davi Marena,
• Tais Maria Bauab,
• Cristiane Duque,
• Vincent Corbel and
• Marlus Chorilli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 104–114, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.10

• techniques [16][17]. Griffin established the hydrophile–lipophile balance (HLB) as a tool for classifying and selecting non-ionic emulsifiers [18]. The determination of the required HLB (rHLB) of essential oils appears as a critical step for the development of stable emulsions [19]. Determining the required

• against Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. Results and Discussion Preparation and characterization of the nanoemulsions The determination of the required HLB (rHLB) is an important step in the development of NEs containing volatile oils [19][25]. From the determination of the rHLB, it is possible to determine

• evaluation of the biocompatibility in human cells is an important step in the development and commercialization of any drug [46]. Here, the toxicity of the terpene-based formulations was evaluated in the HaCAT cell line (Table 6). The results show that the IC50 values of the free terpenes were lower those of

Study of the reusability and stability of nylon nanofibres as an antibody immobilisation surface

• Inés Peraile,
• Matilde Gil-García,
• Laura González-López,
• Nushin A. Dabbagh-Escalante,
• Juan C. Cabria-Ramos and
• Paloma Lorenzo-Lozano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.8

• microplate, previously blocked with PBS–casein. In order to achieve a well-oriented antibody immobilisation, protein A/G (10 μL 100 μg/mL in PBS) was added to each NF sample and incubated overnight at 4 °C, followed by a blocking step with PBS–casein. Then, a FITC-labelled antibody against BSA was

• immobilized on the surface of the NFs containing protein A/G through 1 h of incubation. Then, RPE-labelled BSA (10 µL 100 µg/mL in blocking buffer) was immunocaptured by the anchored antibodies over a period of 1 h. Washing steps were carried out between each step in order to remove non-linked excess reagents

• surface and incubated over night at 4 °C, followed by a blocking step with PBS–casein. The control planar surface group was incubated with protein A/G overnight and then blocked with PBS–casein. Since only the immunocapture capability was measured in this study, nonlabelled in-house antibody (10 µL 500 µg

Berberine-loaded polylactic acid nanofiber scaffold as a drug delivery system: The relationship between chemical characteristics, drug-release behavior, and antibacterial efficiency

• Le Thi Le,
• Hue Thi Nguyen,
• Liem Thanh Nguyen,
• Huy Quang Tran and
• Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 71–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.7

• exhibited excellent performance in repairing bone defects [3][26], healing diabetic foot ulcers [27], promoting hemostasis [28], acting as anti-leishmanial drugs [29], and inhibiting microbial agents [27][30]. Zhou et al. [31] developed hybrids of nanofibers and microparticles for dual-step controlled

• release of BBR, combining a fast-release step of BBR from hydrophilic polypyrrolidone nanofibers (47.9 wt % in the first hour) and a sustained-release step of BBR from the insoluble cellulose acetate microparticles (98.6 wt % for 60 h). In comparison with the aforementioned hybrid nanofibers, the release

• embedded on the surface of nanofibers, and then the dissolved BBR molecules were diffused into the medium. This step took a long time due to the high hydrophobicity of BBR/PLA nanofibers, causing a lag time in the initial stage of release. (2) When the PLA nanofibers were wetted, water molecules penetrated

Influence of conductive carbon and MnCo₂O₄ on morphological and electrical properties of hydrogels for electrochemical energy conversion

• Sylwia Pawłowska,
• Karolina Cysewska,
• Yasamin Ziai,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 57–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.6

• elevated temperatures at the synthesis stage, which is an essential step in most of the conventional synthesis paths of conductive hydrogels described in the literature [23][24][26][27][28]. These two features, the one-stage process, and the low-temperature needed, are used for synthesising the polymer

• presented in this work indicate a promising direction for further work aimed at obtaining electrocatalytic layers participating in the OER process and characterized by high efficiency, while using a simple one-step method for synthesizing a conductive hydrogel containing electrochemically active particles

• ). Hydrogel sample preparation Hydrogels with conductive and catalyst particles dispersed throughout were synthesised via a one-step polymerisation procedure – all components were dissolved or suspended in a hydrogel precursor solution (Figure 6). The hydrogel precursor solution was a composition of NIPAAm

Josephson dynamics and Shapiro steps at high transmissions: current bias regime

• Artem V. Galaktionov and
• Andrei D. Zaikin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 51–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.5

• step is defined by the formula which obviously yields δIk = 2I1βk. For comparison, let us also consider the limit of Ohmic dissipation, that is, we now set q = 1. In this case, we have and from Equation 22, we immediately recover the result [11] for δIk(ϑ), which in the limit a − 1 ≪ 1 reduces to The

• magnitudes of the Shapiro steps are again defined by combining Equation 27 and Equation 25. Conclusion Comparing the magnitudes of Shapiro steps in the sub-Ohmic and Ohmic limits for different values of k, we observe that the first Shapiro step 2I1β1 in the sub-Ohmic limit turns out to be smaller than that

Curcumin-loaded nanostructured systems for treatment of leishmaniasis: a review

• Douglas Dourado,
• Thayse Silva Medeiros,
• Éverton do Nascimento Alencar,
• Edijane Matos Sales and
• Fábio Rocha Formiga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 37–50, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.4

• of nanostructured curc in vivo. Also, clinical studies that prove the efficacy and safety of nanostructured curc must be conducted to encourage the transfer of these formulations to the therapeutic scenario. Based on the findings, polymeric nanoparticles reveal themselves to be a step ahead in the

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPM RAS), with subsequent measurements of the samples in the sorption 3He refrigerator of our laboratory. The 210/240 GHz receiving system is fabricated using a two-layer technology (two lithography steps). During the first photolithography step, a layer of

• contact pads, DC lines, and antennas is made. The second electronic lithography step is used for the exposition of the bolometric layer. During photolithography, the first exposure was carried out with two photoresists. This is because the DC linewidth was 3 µm, and the use of a single photoresist would

Nanotechnological approaches in the treatment of schistosomiasis: an overview

• Lucas Carvalho,
• Michelle Sarcinelli and
• Beatriz Patrício

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 13–25, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.2

• bring attention to the fact that from the 65 papers found using our research strategy, 25% (16 articles) were found using reference scanning in the previously selected papers, which shows the importance of this step in bibliographic research. That explains why our strategy was able to reunite a great

TEM sample preparation of lithographically patterned permalloy nanostructures on silicon nitride membranes

• Joshua Williams,
• Michael I. Faley,
• Joseph Vimal Vas,
• Peng-Han Lu and
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1–12, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.1

• establish a good thermal contact during metal deposition to prevent the resist mask from melting as the substrate temperature is above the glass transition temperature of the resist. Ion beam etching The IBE process (Figure 6) is as follows: The first step is to deposit Py on the substrate; then a negative

• primary beam is much bigger than the redeposition rate of etched materials. As observed in Figure 7, there was redeposition of etched material along the edge of the resist. This can be avoided by taking an additional step before etching the Py: The resist is heated at 120 °C for 5 min to reflow the resist

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

• Tobias Dickbreder,
• Franziska Sabath,
• Lukas Höltkemeier,
• Ralf Bechstein and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1225–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.101

• specification for the instruments and file formats listed in Table 1. For all other devices, this easy step needs to be done by the user in the preferences of unDrift. Drift correction Next, we will discuss the main feature of unDrift, the offline drift correction of SPM images. Depending on the surface

• velocity is used to calculate the real lattice vectors and drift-correct the SPM images. First, two SPM images with opposing slow scan directions (i.e., one up and one down image) are imported as described before (step 1). Next, unDrift extracts primitive lattice vectors from both images as shown in Figure

•  2 (step 2). unDrift can determine the lattice vectors either based on the Fourier transforms (Figure 2b,e) or autocorrelations (Figure 2c,f). In both cases, our software searches for local maxima in the transformed image first (red dots in Figure 2). Then, it extracts guesses for the lattice vectors

Fluorescent bioinspired albumin/polydopamine nanoparticles and their interactions with Escherichia coli cells

• Eloïse Equy,
• Jordana Hirtzel,
• Sophie Hellé,
• Béatrice Heurtault,
• Eric Mathieu,
• Morgane Rabineau,
• Vincent Ball and
• Lydie Ploux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1208–1224, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.100

• the range of 350–650 nm (photomultiplier voltage from 600 to 1000 V specified in the figure captions if needed; step of 1 or 5 nm). The emission intensity was compared with that of the fluorescent dyes, that is, FITC for FITC-BSA/PDA NPs and RhBITC for Ox-BSA/PDA NPs and RhBITC-BSA/PDA NPs. Solutions

• step was added to the preparation procedure. However, it is important to specify that this step is not required and that bacteria stained by the RhBITC- or FITC-BSA/PDA NPs can be observed alive directly after staining. The samples were fixed with paraformaldehyde (PFA): Samples were centrifuged at

Determination of the radii of coated and uncoated silicon AFM sharp tips using a height calibration standard grating and a nonlinear regression function

• Perawat Boonpuek and
• Jonathan R. Felts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1200–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.99

• to left across two pristine grating structures within a scan size of 10 µm × 10 µm. The calibration grating was cleaned with DI water and dried with nitrogen gas before the experiments. For each tip, we performed a step-to-step linewidth scan pass (without repeating at the same scanline) in contact

A combined gas-phase dissociative ionization, dissociative electron attachment and deposition study on the potential FEBID precursor [Au(CH₃)₂Cl]₂

• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Ali Kamali,
• Thomas Xaver Gentner,
• Gerd Ballmann,
• Sjoerd Harder,
• Hans-Peter Steinrück,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1178–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.98

• ]. The image after the background subtraction is shown in Figure 1d, where the particles can be more clearly distinguished. After background subtraction, some of the deposited nanoparticles appear facetted; however, the majority are spherical. HAADF-STEM on FEBID (SiO2 (500 nm)/Si(111)) As a next step

• of the halogen. While the first step was in good agreement with the observations in the gas phase under single collision conditions, the second step indicated that pure deposits were achievable through prolonged electron exposure of the deposit formed in the first step. This was further explored in a

Spatial variations of conductivity of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol on Au/mica and Au/Si substrates

• Julian Skolaut,
• Jędrzej Tepper,
• Federica Galli,
• Wulf Wulfhekel and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1169–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.97

• , Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, Netherlands Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.14.97 Abstract Determining the conductivity of molecular layers is a crucial step in advancing towards applications in molecular

• distribution around well-measurable current values, more features are visible in the current map (Figure 3b). First, finer topographic details, namely shallower terraces and boundaries between flat areas of the topography, possibly step edges between single atomic steps of the Au surface, become clearly

Hierarchically patterned polyurethane microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes for neurite elongation and alignment

• Lester Uy Vinzons,
• Guo-Chung Dong and
• Shu-Ping Lin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1157–1168, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.96

• hierarchically structured microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes. Moreover, we found that replica molding using nano-/microstructured photoresist masters is a non-trivial step and requires specific “photoresist reinforcement” strategies to overcome inherent photoresist issues. Overall, our work

• nanopillar array on an SU-8 film (Figure 1A(i) and (ii)). SU-8 generates a strong acid in UV-exposed areas, which, in turn, undergo acid-initiated crosslinking during the post-exposure baking step [18]. However, we found that the subsequent formation of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) inverse mold from the SU

• ), propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, is also the main constituent of the SU-8 developer, rendering AZ1518 incompatible with the subsequent micropatterning step for the hierarchical structures. Therefore, we replicated the AZ1518 nanoholes unto SU-8 using capillary thermal imprinting and then

Properties of tin oxide films grown by atomic layer deposition from tin tetraiodide and ozone

• Kristjan Kalam,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Tanel Käämbre,
• Aile Tamm and
• Kaupo Kukli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1085–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.89

• drop in the QCM signal during O3 pulses accompanies the release of relatively heavy iodine, and the QCM signal stabilised after the completion of the oxidation step (Figure 2). Figure 3 depicts the change in the oscillation frequency as function of the SnI4 pulse length. The latter tests revealed that

• the partial decomposition of precursor molecules during the adsorption step of the first precursor and the concurrently intensified release of ligand, that is, iodine molecules, I2. Earlier, analogous studies have been carried out on TiO2 films grown by ALD using TiI4 and O2 as precursors [21

• ]. Plausibly, the initial increase in the GPC up to 300 °C is caused by the gradually enhancing decomposition of metal iodide on the receiving surface, which is not to be regarded as self-saturating adsorption process. Nevertheless, in the adsorption step, more metal is added to the growing layer upon

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

• equilibrium once a light pulse has been applied to the sample. This supports the idea that, even if we cannot rule out the possibility of a better fit, neglecting in a first step the photocharging dynamics remains (in the current case) a reasonable approximation. Last, we also note that the pp-KPFM data once