Effect of SiN_x diffusion barrier thickness on the structural properties and photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ films obtained by sol–gel dip coating and reactive magnetron sputtering

• Mohamed Nawfal Ghazzal,
• Eric Aubry,
• Nouari Chaoui and
• Didier Robert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2039–2045, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.207

• the adsorption/bleaching of the azo molecule [18]. This means that even the dye molecule OII could absorb visible light to produce the excited singlet and/or triplet state of the OII molecule [19], the OII may be able to sensitize the TiO2 photocatalyst. However, the degradation of the OII dye via the

High photocatalytic activity of V-doped SrTiO₃ porous nanofibers produced from a combined electrospinning and thermal diffusion process

• Panpan Jing,
• Wei Lan,
• Qing Su and
• Erqing Xie

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1281–1286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.132

• the two photocatalysts absorb the MO fluorescence well. Figure 3c presents the UV–vis spectra of pure and V-doped SrTiO3 photocatalyst, revealing that pure SrTiO3 responds to UV light with absorption edge at about 388 nm but V-doped SrTiO3 nanofibers have a shifted absorption edge towards visible

• light. This means that V5+ ion doping improves the impurity level and narrows the band gap of SrTiO3, leading to the enhanced light absorption. Additionally, based on earlier research regarding 3d ion doping for SrTiO3, V5+ doping may also improve the conductivity of SrTiO3. Hence, the higher

Polymer blend lithography for metal films: large-area patterning with over 1 billion holes/inch²

• Cheng Huang,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1205–1211, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.123

• perforated Al films The size of the holes in the fabricated perforated metal films is in the range of the wavelength of visible light. Therefore it is interesting to investigate their optical transmission properties. It has been published in 2003 by Barnes et al. that ordered hole arrays fabricated by e-beam

Patterning technique for gold nanoparticles on substrates using a focused electron beam

• Takahiro Noriki,
• Shogo Abe,
• Kotaro Kajikawa and
• Masayuki Shimojo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1010–1015, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.104

• or through rows of particles due to the LSPR effect. Gold and silver nanowires or particles can be used for such waveguides, as these materials interact with visible light. Plasmon propagation through nanowires has been experimentally investigated. Sanders et al. [3] showed the propagation of

Characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films deposited through vacuum evaporation

• Jose Alberto Alvarado,
• Arturo Maldonado,
• Héctor Juarez,
• Mauricio Pacio and
• Rene Perez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 971–975, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.100

• can check that the emission is in the blue and the red part of the visible light, due to the contribution of the VO, VZn and VZn− defects. XRD pattern of nanostructured thin films on a glass substrate. HRSEM micrographs of the thin films a) un-annealed, b) 200, c) 400, d) 600, e) 800 and f) 1000 °C

Effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites prepared by carbothermal evaporation method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• D. K. Avasthi and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 928–937, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.96

• formation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and superoxide radicals (•O2−) during visible-light-induced photocatalytic degradation of acid orange and 4-nitrophenol. The formation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) was detected by photoluminescence studies using terephthalic acid as a probe molecule, while 1,4-benzoquinone

• visible-light-induced photocatalytic degradation. In our study, it can be clearly seen that all the irradiated ZnO–CuO nanocomposites show enhanced photocatalytic activity during the sun light driven degradation of MB and MO dyes. Our results show that swift heavy ion irradiation leads to significant

Transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO₂ nanoribbons and the influence of the transformation strategies on the photocatalytic performance

• Melita Rutar,
• Nejc Rozman,
• Matej Pregelj,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Romana Cerc Korošec,
• Andrijana Sever Škapin,
• Aleš Mrzel,
• Srečo D. Škapin and
• Polona Umek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 831–844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.86

• TiO2 [22] in which the nitrogen atoms occupy substitutional and interstitial sites in the TiO2 and thus affect the photocatalytic activity of titania for reactions performed under visible-light irradiation [3][5][23][24]. On the other hand, transformation under wet-chemical or hydrothermal conditions

• increasing calcination temperature (Figure 2). The observed effect is in agreement with the findings reported by Irie et al. [36], and Miyauchi et al. [45]. In a similar system, i.e., the photo-oxidation of iPrOH, they noticed that with an increasing N content, longer exposure times to UV and visible light

• concentration began to rise. The system was kept at a temperature of 25 ± 3 °C and a relative humidity of 22 ± 3%. The light source was a 300 W Xe lamp (Newport Oriel Instrument, USA). The lamp imitates the solar spectrum and emits both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light (vis). The radiance intensity on the

Simple approach for the fabrication of PEDOT-coated Si nanowires

• Mingxuan Zhu,
• Marielle Eyraud,
• Judikael Le Rouzo,
• Nadia Ait Ahmed,
• Florence Boulc’h,
• Claude Alfonso,
• Philippe Knauth and
• François Flory

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 640–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.65

• research topic for many applications such as photovoltaics [1], lithium batteries [2], hydrogen storage [3] and optoelectronic devices [4] due to their unique properties with respect to visible light management [5][6][7]. Using an electroless etching method, a reflectivity as low as 1.3% over the entire

Novel ZnO:Ag nanocomposites induce significant oxidative stress in human fibroblast malignant melanoma (Ht144) cells

• Syeda Arooj,
• Samina Nazir,
• Akhtar Nadhman,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Bakhtiar Muhammad,
• Ishaq Ahmad,
• Kehkashan Mazhar and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 570–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.59

• significantly improves the activity of ZnO nanoparticles in visible light range thus avoiding the use of UV or infrared light. Our findings suggest that the major mechanism by which ZnO:Ag nanocomposites mediate cell death is generation of ROS and induction of oxidative stress. ROS are involved in the

Palladium nanoparticles anchored to anatase TiO₂ for enhanced surface plasmon resonance-stimulated, visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Hong Ye Chu,
• Shaliza Ibrahim and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 428–437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.43

• evaluated by degrading the endocrine disrupting compound (EDC) amoxicillin (AMX) excited under an artificial visible light source. In the preliminary run, almost complete degradation (97.5%) was achieved in 5 h with 0.5 wt % Pd loading and the degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The

• reusability trend proved the photostability of the prepared photocatalysts. Hence, the study provides a new insight about the modification of TiO2 with noble metals in order to enhance the absorption in the visible-light region for superior photocatalytic performance. Keywords: endocrine disrupting compound

• most promising strategy to defeat the limitations of TiO2. This is due to the characteristics of noble metals, which can drastically enhance the absorption of visible light through localized surface plasmon resonance effects (LSPRs) [23][24]. The LSPR absorption in noble metal NPs arise from the

Overview about the localization of nanoparticles in tissue and cellular context by different imaging techniques

• Anja Ostrowski,
• Daniel Nordmeyer,
• Alexander Boreham,
• Cornelia Holzhausen,
• Lars Mundhenk,
• Christina Graf,
• Martina C. Meinke,
• Annika Vogt,
• Sabrina Hadam,
• Jürgen Lademann,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Ulrike Alexiev and
• Achim D. Gruber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 263–280, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.25

• magnification. Thus, only NP that cluster or form aggregates of more than 200 nm in size in the tissue of interest can be visualized directly. In addition, these aggregates have to be able to attenuate visible light to be detectable by using light microscopy. For example, carbon nanotubes (CNT) used in medical

Interaction of dermatologically relevant nanoparticles with skin cells and skin

• Annika Vogt,
• Fiorenza Rancan,
• Sebastian Ahlberg,
• Berouz Nazemi,
• Chun Sik Choe,
• Maxim E. Darvin,
• Sabrina Hadam,
• Ulrike Blume-Peytavi,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Christina Graf,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Martina C. Meinke and
• Jürgen Lademann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2363–2373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.245

• DNA damage and apoptosis were detected in human skin epidermal cells after exposure to nickel nanoparticles [42]. Phototoxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles induced the generation of oxidative DNA damage during UVA and visible light irradiation in keratinocytes [43]. Oxidative stress and skin cell

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

• conjugation to Ag nanoparticles when combined to form Ag@Fe3O4 dumbbell-like hetero-nanoparticles [47]. Moreover, plasmonic photocatalysts combine two prominent features: a Schottky junction enhancing charge separation and surface plasmon resonance, which is responsible for strong absorption of visible light

• nanoparticles is shifted to more negative potentials, thus, enabling the engineering of the Fermi level of photocatalysts dependent on the size of the conjugated metal domain [49]. Recently, Au@TiO2 Janus particles were proven useful for visible-light hydrogen generation due to the strong coupling of plasmons

• -light irradiation [50]. b) Volume of hydrogen generated (VH2) under visible-light irradiation from a tungsten halogen lamp using Janus and core-shell Au50nm@TiO2 nanostructures, as well as amorphous TiO2 and bare gold particles [50]. c) Schematic illustration of plasmonic dye-sensitized solar cells

Photodetectors based on carbon nanotubes deposited by using a spray technique on semi-insulating gallium arsenide

• Domenico Melisi,
• Maria Angela Nitti,
• Marco Valentini,
• Antonio Valentini,
• Teresa Ligonzo,
• Giuseppe De Pascali and
• Marianna Ambrico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1999–2006, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.208

• deposition technique for depositing CNTs on silicon, starting from a powder, at low temperatures, without catalyst and an intermediate layer [7]. By using this spray technique, CNT films on silicon-based photodetectors were prepared, achieving quantum efficiency (QE) values in the visible light range

• . Specifically, a Thorlabs OSL1 white light source with optical fiber and a focusing lens were used to obtain a light spot on the photodetector while single wavelengths (400, 500, 600 and 700 nm) in the visible light range were selected by means of a filter set. For the UV characterization in the spectral range

• reported for SFS and DFS in Figure 5 and Figure 6 for the visible and the UV range, respectively. The higher QE of SFS with respect to DFS at lower wavelengths in the visible light range (Figure 5) can be attributed to the contribution to the photo-generated charges from the near-band-gap light absorption

A reproducible number-based sizing method for pigment-grade titanium dioxide

• Ralf Theissmann,
• Manfred Kluwig and
• Thomas Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1815–1822, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.192

• , the size (distribution) of the final products is optimised for the optical pigment properties, which are described by using Mie's theory. Mie's theory states that the optimum particle size for refracting light is just about half the wavelength it is meant to interact with. Speaking of visible light, a

Controlling the optical and structural properties of ZnS–AgInS₂ nanocrystals by using a photo-induced process

• Takashi Yatsui,
• Fumihiro Morigaki and
• Tadashi Kawazoe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1767–1773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.187

• during synthesis. Detailed analysis of transmission electron microscope images confirmed that the photo-induced synthesis yielded a high crystallinity of the ZAIS nanocrystals with small variations in size and content. Keywords: low toxicity; self-assembly; visible-light-emitting nanocrystals; ZnS

Non-covalent and reversible functionalization of carbon nanotubes

• Antonello Di Crescenzo,
• Valeria Ettorre and
• Antonella Fontana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1675–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.178

• aggregation of nanotubes controlled by simple irradiating the sample under UV–visible light. Chen et al. pointed out that the UV photoirradiation of well-dispersed SWCNTs coated with a poly(ethylene glycol)-terminated malachite green derivative is responsible for the CNTs reaggregation [97]. Indeed, UV light

Near-field photochemical and radiation-induced chemical fabrication of nanopatterns of a self-assembled silane monolayer

• Ulrich C. Fischer,
• Carsten Hentschel,
• Florian Fontein,
• Linda Stegemann,
• Christiane Hoeppener,
• Harald Fuchs and
• Stefanie Hoeppener

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1441–1449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.156

• lithography (CL), which is either exposed to visible light, oxygen plasma or an UV–ozone atmosphere. The gold mask has the function to inhibit the photochemical reactions by highly localized near-field interactions between metal mask and SAM and to inhibit the radiation-induced chemical reactions by casting a

• functional groups, in which metal nanostructures, fabricated by CL, served as replaceable barrier nanostructures to guide localized self-assembly processes [23]. Earlier, submicroscopic pattern replication with visible light was introduced [20][24] as a near-field photochemical process to generate chemical

• photochemical reactions through UV radiation or visible light. In this way we intend to create additional means for a more flexible formation of chemically functional nanostructures with the potential for a high spatial resolution in the range of 10 nm. Three fabrication processes are demonstrated. In process 1

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by combining water soluble graphene with cobalt salts

• Jing Wang,
• Ke Feng,
• Hui-Hui Zhang,
• Bin Chen,
• Zhi-Jun Li,
• Qing-Yuan Meng,
• Li-Ping Zhang,
• Chen-Ho Tung and
• Li-Zhu Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1167–1174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.128

• , Co(TEOA)22+ is formed in situ and adsorbed at the surface or around the G-SO3 when cobalt salts and G-SO3 are introduced into the hydrogen evolution system. Upon irradiation by visible light (525 nm LEDs as light source) for 4 h, the system is able to produce hydrogen with a TON up to 148 with the

Photocatalysis

• Rong Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1071–1072, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.119

• , two review articles present an excellent overview of the significance of nanostructures in visible light photocatalysis in a timely manner. Many materials aspects of photocatalysts influence the photocatalytic performance, such as the electronic, structural, and morphological features of the

• bismuth vanadium oxide cluster exemplifies these characteristics. Besides solar fuel production, photocatalysis has a long history in water treatment. In this Thematic Series, there is also a report on the latest development in the utilization of mesoporous cerium oxide for visible light-driven dye

DFT study of binding and electron transfer from colorless aromatic pollutants to a TiO₂ nanocluster: Application to photocatalytic degradation under visible light irradiation

• Corneliu I. Oprea,
• Petre Panait and
• Mihai A. Gîrţu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1016–1030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.115

• order to explain experimental results regarding the photocatalytic degradation of these pollutants under visible light irradiation. Based on our modeling, we are able to clarify why transparent pollutants can degrade under visible light in the presence of a catalyst that absorbs only in the UV, to

• ; density functional theory; photocatalytic degradation; titanium dioxide; visible light irradiation; Introduction Titania, TiO2, has been widely used as photocatalyst for environmental applications [1][2][3][4][5][6], particularly for waste water purification. Due to its large band gap TiO2 absorbs only

• UV radiation, a fact that limits the efficiency and keeps the costs of the photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants high. To be used under visible light irradiation, in the range of wavelengths where the solar spectrum has its maximum, the electronic band structure of the photocatalyst

Functionalized nanostructures for enhanced photocatalytic performance under solar light

• Liejin Guo,
• Dengwei Jing,
• Maochang Liu,
• Yubin Chen,
• Shaohua Shen,
• Jinwen Shi and
• Kai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 994–1004, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.113

• : visible-light activity, chemical stability, appropriate band-edge characteristics, and potential for low-cost fabrication. Our aim is to present a short review of our recent attempts that center on the above requirements. We begin with a brief introduction of photocatalysts coupling two or more

• band (CB) must be more negative than the reduction potential of water, while the top level of the valance band (VB) should be more positive than the oxidation potential of water. In order to utilize the abundant visible light from the sun, the band gap of photocatalysts has to be less than 3.0 eV

• should be pointed out that TiO2 can only respond to UV light, even metal ion doping can hardly enhance its visible light activity. Sensitization with dyes or nanocrystals is one possible approach to extend the light absorption of TiO2. Sreethawong et al. found that eosin Y-sensitized mesoporous-assembled

Growth and characterization of CNT–TiO₂ heterostructures

• Yucheng Zhang,
• Ivo Utke,
• Johann Michler,
• Gabriele Ilari,
• Marta D. Rossell and
• Rolf Erni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 946–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.108

• -effectively and environmentally friendly, is a good candidate for electrochemical photocatalysis [6], recent research shows that its limited absorption of only the UV part of the sunlight spectrum can be extended to visible light when forming a nanocomposite with CNTs [7][8][9]. This can significantly

• discovery that with the addition of CNTs, the light absorption of TiO2 can be extended to the visible-light region [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. This can significantly increase the photocatalytic efficiency. In literature several photocatalysis enhancement mechanisms based on TiO2–CNT have been proposed, as

Enhancement of photocatalytic H₂ evolution of eosin Y-sensitized reduced graphene oxide through a simple photoreaction

• Weiying Zhang,
• Yuexiang Li,
• Shaoqin Peng and
• Xiang Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 801–811, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.92

• -RGO24/Pt for hydrogen evolution rises up to 12.9% under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), and 23.4% under monochromatic light irradiation at 520 nm. Fluorescence spectra and transient absorption decay spectra of the EY-sensitized RGO confirm that the electron transfer ability of RGO increases with

• under visible light irradiation. Eosin Y (EY), a xanthene dye, is a very good sensitizer [13][14][15][16][17][18]. EY has been used to sensitize various matrixes such as TiO2 [13], Na2Ti2O4(OH)2 nanotubes [14], g-C3N4 [15], and α-[AlSiW11(H2O)O39]5− [18], and the sensitized photocatalysts are

• characterized by a high activity for H2 evolution under visible light irradiation. Recently, to improve the photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution in the visible light region, EY has been employed to sensitize RGO, and the sensitized photocatalyst displays an increased photoactivity for hydrogen

Biomolecule-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride and sulfur-doped carbon nitride heterojunction nanosheets: An efficient heterojunction photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical applications

• Hua Bing Tao,
• Hong Bin Yang,
• Jiazang Chen,
• Jianwei Miao and
• Bin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 770–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.89

• : graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4); heterojunction; photoelectrochemical; photocatalysis; sulfur doping; Introduction Over the past few years, graphitic carbon nitride (CN) has attracted significant research attention in visible-light-driven photocatalysis because of its unique physical and chemical

• different light source and the EQE spectra. Figure 6c exhibits the photoresponse of CN, CNS and CN/CNS under different light sources. It can be observed that the photocurrent can be reproducibly produced under AM 1.5G simulated sunlight or visible light (λ > 420 nm) with the same trend following the order

• bias vs Ag/AgCl under simulated sunlight (AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm2) and visible light (λ > 420 nm). (d) External quantum efficiency (EQE) of CN, CNS and CN/CNS photoelectrodes. Supporting Information Supporting Information File 50: Additional experimental data. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge