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

• , Figure S8). Electrochemical Investigations Cyclic voltammetry A basic electrochemical characterization of the prepared electrodes was carried out using cyclic voltammetry (CV). CVs of GC before and after oxidation in HNO3 as well as after growth of the primary CNTs and additional secondary CNTs are

• transfer resistance with respect to the primary CNTs as determined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Thus, we speculate that the improvement in Pt dispersion is due to a better conductivity within the 3D network and a facilitated electron transfer, which may facilitate Pt nucleation at the CNT

• cycle of each measurements is represented in Figure 10. The current response for electrochemical activity towards MOR was quantified to the Pt mass and the Pt ECSA in Figure 10a and Figure 10b, respectively, where the Pt ESCA was calculated from the COad stripping voltammograms. Figure 10 represents the

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• a Micromeritics ASAP 2020 surface area and porosity measurement system. A Unico UV-2600 spectrophotometer was used to analyze the concentration of RhB in the photocatalytic process. The photoelectrochemical properties were analyzed using electrochemical workstations (Gamry interface 1010 and Chenhua

• good cyclic ability and stability. Photocatalytic mechanism analysis In order to reveal the photocatalytic mechanism, we observe the optical, photochemical and electrochemical properties to study the energy band structure and carrier migration pathway of BTD. Figure 8a presents the UV–vis diffuse

• efficiency of the samples, photoluminescence spectroscopy, photocurrent and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were tested. The recombination rate of photogenerated carriers (electrons and holes) in photocatalysts was characterized by photoluminescence spectra. Generally, the lower the spectral intensity

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

• was subtracted from a voltammogram in an O2-saturated electrolyte giving a net ORR voltammogram. The electrochemical system consisted of a rotation apparatus (RRDE-3A, BAS Japan) and a potentiostat (ALS700 series, BAS Japan). The potential sweep was started from 1 V to 0 V vs RHE, at a potential sweep

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

• photocatalytic activity after three cycles. This decrease of photocatalytic performance is mainly due to the mass of catalysts being inevitably lost in the recycling process [39]. Photocurrent response and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were carried out to obtain some insights into the

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

• biocomposite: HNTs act as nanocontainers for bioactive species, GNPs provide electrical conductivity (enhanced by doping with MWCNTs) and, the CHI polymer matrix introduces mechanical and membrane properties that are of key significance for the development of electrochemical devices. The resulting

• characteristics allow for a possible application of these active elements as integrated multicomponent materials for advanced electrochemical devices such as biosensors and enzymatic biofuel cells. This strategy can be regarded as an “a la carte” menu, where the selection of the nanocomponents exhibiting

• different properties will determine a functional set of predetermined utility with SEP maintaining stable colloidal dispersions of different nanoparticles and polymers in water. Keywords: bionanocomposites; carbon nanostructures; electrochemical devices; halloysite nanotubes; sepiolite; Introduction In

Alloyed Pt₃M (M = Co, Ni) nanoparticles supported on S- and N-doped carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction

• Stéphane Louisia,
• Yohann R. J. Thomas,
• Pierre Lecante,
• Marie Heitzmann,
• M. Rosa Axet,
• Pierre-André Jacques and
• Philippe Serp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1251–1269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.125

• ) alloyed nanoparticles that have a very homogeneous size distribution (in spite of the high metal loading of ≈40 wt % Pt), using an ionic liquid as a stabilizer. The electrochemical surface area, the activity for the oxygen reduction reaction and the amount of H2O2 generated during the oxygen reduction

• reaction (ORR) have been evaluated in a rotating ring disk electrode experiment. The Pt3M/N-CNT catalysts revealed excellent electrochemical properties compared to a commercial Pt3Co/Vulcan XC-72 catalyst. The nature of the carbon support plays a key role in determining the properties of the metal

• from thermochemical instability and corrosion in fuel cell applications. In the cathodic layer, the oxidizing, wet and acidic environment, the high electrochemical potential, and the high platinum loading all lead to the oxidation of the carbon surface, and occasionally to the formation of CO2 [9

Porous N- and S-doped carbon–carbon composite electrodes by soft-templating for redox flow batteries

• Maike Schnucklake,
• László Eifert,
• Jonathan Schneider,
• Roswitha Zeis and
• Christina Roth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1131–1139, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.113

• obtained inside the macroporous carbon felt. For the investigation of electrode structure and porosity X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen sorption (BET) were used. The electrochemical performance of the carbon felts was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry

• (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The N- and S-doped carbon electrodes show promising activity for the positive side reaction and could be seen as a significant advance in the design of carbon felt electrodes for use in redox flow batteries. Keywords: N- and S-doped carbon

• energy is stored in the form of vanadium containing electrolytes, which consist of V2+/3+ at the negative and V4+/5+ at the positive side. These are flowed through carbon materials, which are usually porous felts or carbon paper electrodes [4]. Carbon electrodes exhibit good stability and electrochemical

Glucose-derived carbon materials with tailored properties as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

• Rafael Gomes Morais,
• Natalia Rey-Raap,
• José Luís Figueiredo and
• Manuel Fernando Ribeiro Pereira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1089–1102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.109

• -doped biomass-derived carbon materials were prepared by hydrothermal carbonization of glucose, and their textural and chemical properties were subsequently tailored to achieve materials with enhanced electrochemical performance towards the oxygen reduction reaction. Carbonization and physical activation

• materials [3][4] have been widely studied as electrocatalysts in ORR due to their attractive physical and electrochemical properties. Among these materials, metal-free carbon materials have received tremendous attention due to their versatility and lower price in comparison with metal-based materials [2

• basic electrolyte at 1600 rpm and the Nyquist plot obtained from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements are shown in Figure 2a and 2b, respectively. To evaluate the performance of the prepared electrocatalysts, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) were performed. LSV

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

• plasmonic nanoparticles dispersed on a substrate [38], inside microcavities [39], or even while monitoring electrochemical reactions [40]. This work reports on the study of SERS tags obtained by laser ablation synthesis in liquid solution (LASiS) of gold (Au) nanoparticles, their coating with three

Concurrent nanoscale surface etching and SnO₂ loading of carbon fibers for vanadium ion redox enhancement

• Jun Maruyama,
• Shohei Maruyama,
• Tomoko Fukuhara,
• Toru Nagaoka and
• Kei Hanafusa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 985–992, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.99

• demonstration of this surface-structure change is difficult through FESEM observation only, Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements can show clear differences as described below. The degree of the surface etching depends on the temperature of the thermal oxidation (Figure 1e and Figure S2

• exposure to air after the CSnPc deposition. The graphitic surface is much less susceptible to the oxidation [27]. Thus, the oxygen surface concentration decreases from TGP-CSnPc to TGP-CSnPc-550Air also suggested the removal of the CSnPc coating. Electrochemical behavior without vanadium ions The cyclic

• voltammograms (CVs) obtained in an acidic electrolyte without vanadium ions are shown in Figure 4. The current in the voltammogram is composed from three components, i.e., the electrochemical double-layer charging current at the carbon–electrolyte interface, and the faradaic currents due to the redox reactions

Structural and optical properties of penicillamine-protected gold nanocluster fractions separated by sequential size-selective fractionation

• Xiupei Yang,
• Zhengli Yang,
• Fenglin Tang,
• Jing Xu,
• Maoxue Zhang and
• Martin M. F. Choi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 955–966, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.96

• common method that has been used to the size fraction nanomaterial dispersions such as CdS and CdSe. However, this method has been mainly carried out to separate water-insoluble nanoparticles from organic solvents. On the other hand, it is also understood that the photophysical, electrochemical and other

In situ AFM visualization of Li–O₂ battery discharge products during redox cycling in an atmospherically controlled sample cell

• Kumar Virwani,
• Younes Ansari,
• Khanh Nguyen,
• Francisco José Alía Moreno-Ortiz,
• Jangwoo Kim,
• Maxwell J. Giammona,
• Ho-Cheol Kim and
• Young-Hye La

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 930–940, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.94

• /bjnano.10.94 Abstract The in situ observation of electrochemical reactions is challenging due to a constantly changing electrode surface under highly sensitive conditions. This study reports the development of an in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique for electrochemical systems, including the

• . The AFM data collected during the discharge–recharge cycles correlated well with the simultaneously recorded electrochemical data. We were able to capture the formation of discharge products from correlated electrical and topographical channels and measure the impact of the presence of water. The cell

• design permitted acquisition of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, contributing information about electrical double layers under the system’s controlled environment. This characterization method can be applied to a wide range of reactive surfaces undergoing transformations under carefully controlled

Synthesis of novel C-doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets coupled with CdIn₂S₄ for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Jingshuai Chen,
• Chang-Jie Mao,
• Helin Niu and
• Ji-Ming Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 912–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.92

• photospectroscopy (Hitachi F-4500). Photocurrent measurements The photocurrent response of the photocatalyts were measured using a standard three-electrode electrochemical station (CHI 660D, Chenhua Instrument Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China). In this system, the Ag/AgCl electrode was chosen as the reference electrode

Novel reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic surfaces induced by charge injection and heating

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Junwen Hou and
• Dongbao Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 840–847, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.84

• by an electrochemical process. The surface wettability could be controlled from superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic. When the sample was dried at room temperature or heated at 100 °C, the wettability could be reversed. Compared with the electrowetting phenomenon caused by electric-field-driven solid

An efficient electrode material for high performance solid-state hybrid supercapacitors based on a Cu/CuO/porous carbon nanofiber/TiO₂ hybrid composite

• Mamta Sham Lal,
• Thirugnanam Lavanya and
• Sundara Ramaprabhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 781–793, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.78

• pseudo-capacitance behavior. Electrochemical measurements were performed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The highest specific capacitance value of 530 F g−1 at a current density of 1.5 A g−1 was obtained for the Cu/CuO/PCNF/TiO2 composite

• density of 45.83 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 1.27 kW kg−1 was also realized. The developed electrode material provides new insight into ways to enhance the electrochemical properties of solid-state supercapacitors, based on the synergistic effect of porous carbon nanofibers, metal and metal oxide

• nanoparticles, which together open up new opportunities for energy storage and conversion applications. Keywords: composite; electrochemical performance; porous carbon nanofiber; solid-state hybrid supercapacitor; supercapacitor; TiO2 nanoparticles; Introduction To meet the rapidly growing demand for energy

Trapping polysulfide on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide for Li–S batteries through phase selection with optimized binding

• Sha Dong,
• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 774–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.77

• as an efficient approach to improve the electrochemical performance. Due to the polarity of LPSs species, the interaction between LPSs and anchoring materials can be enhanced through polar–polar interactions. Graphene-based materials have been considered as anchoring materials due to their high

• composed of 1T'-phases and 2H-phases [33]. The composites of 1T'-MoS2 with other active materials, such as graphene [34], carbon nanotubes [35], Mxene [36], and SnO2 [37], have received much attention regarding the use as cathodes for Li–S batteries. The electrochemical performance including the capacity

• , rate capability and stability can be greatly improved by using these cathodes. The phase structure has a profound influence on physical and chemical properties such as electron conductivity and catalytic behavior [38]. The mechanism of 1T MoS2 enhancing the electrochemical behavior is not well

Renewable energy conversion using nano- and microstructured materials

• Harry Mönig and
• Martina Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 771–773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.76

• : materials and devices” covers the photo-electrochemical growth of platinum catalysts at plasmonic hot spots [6], the laser-assisted local growth of chalcopyrite absorbers [4], the preferential reactive ion etching of silicon by morphological anisotropies [5], the oxidation of copper nanoparticles resulting

An iridescent film of porous anodic aluminum oxide with alternatingly electrodeposited Cu and SiO₂ nanoparticles

• Menglei Chang,
• Huawen Hu,
• Haiyan Quan,
• Hongyang Wei,
• Zhangyi Xiong,
• Jiacong Lu,
• Pin Luo,
• Yaoheng Liang,
• Jianzhen Ou and
• Dongchu Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 735–745, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.73

• sealing the pores with hot water was to close the pores in the anodic oxide film and hence to avoid impurities entering the film. Electrochemical properties Electrochemical impedance testing was carried out by applying a small-amplitude AC voltage to the system and measuring the ratio of the signal

• voltage to the current (this ratio was defined as the system impedance) with the change of the sinusoidal-wave frequency, or the variation of the phase angle of the impedance with the change in frequency. Nyquist and Bode diagrams can be obtained by the electrochemical impedance measurements. The

• approximately 5.7 cm2. After being allowed to stand for 24 h, the sample was exposed to the electrochemical impedance measurements. A three-electrode system was adopted for the measurements, and a Pt wire and a saturated calomel electrode (SCE) were employed as the auxiliary electrode and reference electrode

Ultrathin hydrophobic films based on the metal organic framework UiO-66-COOH(Zr)

• Miguel A. Andrés,
• Clemence Sicard,
• Christian Serre,
• Olivier Roubeau and
• Ignacio Gascón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 654–665, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.65

• homogeneity [11]. Therefore, several strategies have been used for the deposition of MOF films [12], including direct growth [13][14], electrochemical deposition [15], inkjet-printing [16], dip-coating [17], layer-by-layer [18][19][20], Langmuir–Blodgett [21][22], chemical vapor deposition [23], spin-coating

Review of time-resolved non-contact electrostatic force microscopy techniques with applications to ionic transport measurements

• Aaron Mascaro,
• Yoichi Miyahara,
• Tyler Enright,
• Omur E. Dagdeviren and
• Peter Grütter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 617–633, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.62

• -domain EFM to measure ionic transport [7][12], time-resolved electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) to measure ionic transport [8][13], various time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) techniques that utilize either optical pump-probe or advanced signal processing to measure time-resolved

Mo-doped boron nitride monolayer as a promising single-atom electrocatalyst for CO₂ conversion

• Qianyi Cui,
• Gangqiang Qin,
• Weihua Wang,
• Lixiang Sun,
• Aijun Du and
• Qiao Sun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 540–548, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.55

• CRR. This work not only provides insight into the mechanism of CRR on the single-atom catalyst (Mo-doped BN monolayer) at the atomic level, but also offers guidance in the search for appropriate earth-abundant TMs as electrochemical catalysts for the efficient conversion of CO2 to useful fuels under

• and commodity chemicals [6]. For example, CO2 can be converted to methane, methanol and formic acid, and all of which can be used as energy sources and chemical materials at the global scale [7][8][9][10][11]. In this sense, the CO2 reduction reaction (CRR) by electrochemical methods is promising

A porous 3D-RGO@MWCNT hybrid material as Li–S battery cathode

• Yongguang Zhang,
• Jun Ren,
• Yan Zhao,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Fuxing Yin and
• Yichao Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.52

• network and the porous spherical RGO. Moreover, such a 3D structure can buffer the volume expansion/shrinkage of the sulfur cathode during charge and discharge cycles. Lastly, the electrochemical performance of the resulting S-3D-RGO@MWCNT cathode was evaluated in Li–S batteries. Results and Discussion

• the shuttle effect by acting as a lithium polysulfide reservoir, and iii) additional empty spaces to buffer the volume expansion/shrinkage in the charge and discharge processes enhancing the cycling performance of the battery. The electrochemical performance of the S-3D-RGO@MWCNT composite will be

• discussed later in the electrochemical analysis. Figure 4a presents the XRD patterns for pure S, 3D-RGO@MWCNT and the S-3D-RGO@MWCNT composite. The XRD pattern of 3D-RGO@MWCNT exhibits two broad characteristic peaks of RGO at around 22° and 43°. Moreover, a diffraction peak around 26° for 3D-RGO@MWCNT

Widening of the electroactivity potential range by composite formation – capacitive properties of TiO₂/BiVO₄/PEDOT:PSS electrodes in contact with an aqueous electrolyte

• Konrad Trzciński,
• Mariusz Szkoda,
• Andrzej P. Nowak,
• Marcin Łapiński and
• Anna Lisowska-Oleksiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 483–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.49

• counter ions. Each stage of modification and deposition affected the overall capacitance and allowed for an expansion of the potential range of electroactivity. Multiple charge/discharge cycles were performed to characterize the electrochemical stability of the inorganic–organic hybrid electrode

• . Capacitance values higher than 10 mF·cm−2 were maintained even after 10000 galvanostatic cycles (ic = ia = 0.5 mA·cm−2). Keywords: bismuth vanadate (BiVO4); electrochemical activity; PEDOT:PSS; supercapacitors; titania nanotubes; Introduction Energy-storage technologies and sustainable energy production are

• currently important challenges. There are many ways for energy storage, among them, electrical, chemical and electrochemical storage technologies are of great interest [1][2]. Among the various energy storage devices, such as batteries [3] and supercapacitors [4], supercapacitors are the most promising

Integration of LaMnO_3+δ films on platinized silicon substrates for resistive switching applications by PI-MOCVD

• Raquel Rodriguez-Lamas,
• Dolors Pla,
• Odette Chaix-Pluchery,
• Benjamin Meunier,
• Fabrice Wilhelm,
• Andrei Rogalev,
• Laetitia Rapenne,
• Xavier Mescot,
• Quentin Rafhay,
• Hervé Roussel,
• Michel Boudard,
• Carmen Jiménez and
• Mónica Burriel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 389–398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.38

• , by modifying a number of controlled parameters on the process, such as pulse frequency, oxygen partial pressure and temperature, the structure of the LMO thin films can be tuned during growth. In memristors, the electrodes play a crucial role in the RS response. For example, in electrochemical

A Ni(OH)₂ nanopetals network for high-performance supercapacitors synthesized by immersing Ni nanofoam in water

• Donghui Zheng,
• Man Li,
• Yongyan Li,
• Chunling Qin,
• Yichao Wang and
• Zhifeng Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 281–293, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.27

• characterized. It is found that the Ni(OH)2 nanopetals interweave with each other and grow vertically on the surface of Ni nanofoam to form an “ion reservoir”, which facilitates the ion diffusion in the electrode reaction. Electrochemical measurements show that the Ni(OH)2/Ni-NF/MG electrode, after immersion in

• ) [16][17][18][19]. However, this fabrication strategy is complicated and unsafely [20]. In addition, the presence of non-conductive binders not only increases the internal resistance but also the total mass of electrode, thus reducing the electrochemical performance. Therefore, the in situ synthesis of

• diffusion distance and facilitates the electrolyte transport. The as-synthesized Ni(OH)2/Ni-NF/MG electrodes demonstrate an excellent flexibility due to the ductile MG matrix and a good electrochemical performance. Moreover, the influence of immersion time in deionized water on the evolution of the Ni(OH)2