Enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficient in PVDF-TrFe/CoFe₂O₄ nanocomposites through DC magnetic poling

• Marco Fortunato,
• Alessio Tamburrano,
• Maria Paola Bracciale,
• Maria Laura Santarelli and
• Maria Sabrina Sarto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1262–1270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.93

• the development of energy harvesters and sensors. Among the piezoelectric materials, special attention has been paid to electroactive polymers such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFe), which is one of the most extensively

• poling; piezoelectric effect; piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM); poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene); PVDF-TrFe; PVDF-TrFe nanocomposites; Introduction In the last years, innovative energy harvesting systems based on the piezoelectric effect, able to convert vibrational mechanical energy

• fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) [15][16][17]. This copolymer shows a higher piezoelectric coefficient than PVDF, while still maintaining a high flexibility, sensitivity, and mechanical durability. It is also, like PVDF, a biocompatible polymer. In order to obtain the best piezoelectric response

Electrical, electrochemical and structural studies of a chlorine-derived ionic liquid-based polymer gel electrolyte

• Ashish Gupta,
• Amrita Jain,
• Manju Kumari and
• Santosh K. Tripathi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1252–1261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.92

• fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) as a host polymer. The electrolyte films were synthesized by using the solution casting technique. The as-prepared films were free-standing and transparent with good dimensional stability. Optimized electrolyte films exhibit a maximum room-temperature ionic

• ][23], fluoropolymers such as poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) have received much attention from the research community as potential polymer hosts for the synthesis of polymer electrolytes [10][11][24][25]. The dielectric constant value of PVdF-HFP is ≈8.4 and it comprises a

Impact of electron–phonon coupling on electron transport through T-shaped arrangements of quantum dots in the Kondo regime

• Patryk Florków and
• Stanisław Lipiński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1209–1225, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.89

• for strong interdot interactions (U’ >> U) electrons prefer occupy the same dot, that is, the states (2,0) and (0,2) dominate and the charge-ordered (CO) state with one of the dots being fully occupied becomes the ground state in n = 2 region. For U→∞ the dots decouple from the leads, leaving a pair

• of free conduction bands and a dot with degenerate charge configurations (0,2) and (2,0) [92]. It has been also predicted by the numerical renormalization group analysis performed for the system of capacitively coupled dots that the CO state occurs already for small deviations of the values of intra

• - and interdot interactions [93]. Similarly, one can also expect the same CO ground state with (2,0) or (0,2) states for the DTQD. The SBMFA formalism we use (Equation 2 and Equation 12) with no symmetry breaking perturbation does not point directly to CO as the ground state. Instead we found a

Morphology-driven gas sensing by fabricated fractals: A review

• Vishal Kamathe and
• Rupali Nagar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1187–1208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.88

• comparison to pure SnO2 and different amounts of Pt decoration (viz. 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 2 atom %), the 1 atom % Pt-decorated SnO2 (Pt-SnO2) sample exhibited higher sensitivity, a faster response of 29 s at 350 °C, and was able to sense 0.08 ppm H2. The sensor response was highest for H2 as compared to CO, CH4

• study, Kante et al. prepared SnO2 films with fractal morphology by an electrochemical method with a subsequent oxidation process [68]. Both groups tested the films for CO gas sensing at different temperatures. Figure 8a–d shows the SEM images of SnO2 thin films on a Si(100) substrate obtained by Chen

• and co-workers. Figure 8e shows the CO sensing behavior of the fabricated films in the temperature range of 300–450 °C. Figure 8f and Figure 8g show the values of D and fractal density as functions of the temperature. The authors concluded that the sensitivity to CO was mainly influenced by channel

The effect of cobalt on morphology, structure, and ORR activity of electrospun carbon fibre mats in aqueous alkaline environments

• Markus Gehring,
• Tobias Kutsch,
• Osmane Camara,
• Alexandre Merlen,
• Hermann Tempel,
• Hans Kungl and
• Rüdiger-A. Eichel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1173–1186, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.87

• to be both stable and adequately performing at a current density of 80 mA·cm−2. They attributed the enhanced ORR activity (compared to the cobalt-free fibres) to the presence of Co(II) species, graphitic nitrogen, and Co–Nx species. They concluded that Co3O4-enhanced carbon fibres from

• recorded with a resolution of 0.1 eV using Al Kα radiation (1.486 keV) at 50 W and a spot size of 200 μm. Fitting the cobalt XPS spectra follows the suggestions from Biesinger et al. [24] based on the complex multiplet structure of cobalt [25]. Based on these reports the Co 2p range was examined in detail

• -noise ratio (co-addition mode). The resulting spectra were analysed by fitting a Lorentz distribution and a Breit–Wigner–Fano distribution, as explained in detail in [12]. For the elemental analysis 2 mg of sample was burned in the elemental analyser (VarioelCube, Elementar) for both CHN and O analyses

Irradiation-driven molecular dynamics simulation of the FEBID process for Pt(PF₃)₄

• Alexey Prosvetov,
• Alexey V. Verkhovtsev,
• Gennady Sushko and
• Andrey V. Solov’yov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1151–1172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.86

• the output of MD simulations [20]. In a pioneering study [13], IDMD was successfully applied for the simulation of FEBID of W(CO)6 precursors on a SiO2 surface and enabled to predict the morphology, molecular composition, and growth rate of tungsten-based nanostructures emerging on the surface during

• electrons emitted from a SiO2 substrate were used to simulate electron-induced formation and growth of metal nanostructures after deposition of W(CO)6 precursors on SiO2. Investigation of the physicochemical phenomena that govern the formation and growth of nanostructures coupled to radiation is a complex

• Pt(PF3)4, a widely studied precursor molecule [21][22][23][24][25][26], on a fully hydroxylated SiO2 surface. As such, this work extends the earlier IDMD-based studies [13][15] of the FEBID of W(CO)6 towards another precursor molecule that has been commonly used to fabricate platinum-containing

Self-assembly of amino acids toward functional biomaterials

• Huan Ren,
• Lifang Wu,
• Lina Tan,
• Yanni Bao,
• Yuchen Ma,
• Yong Jin and
• Qianli Zou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1140–1150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.85

• acid and functional molecule self-assembly (drug, photosensitizer) (Figure 1). In this paper, the self-assembly of single amino acids is discussed first. We then discuss the co-assembly of amino acids and their derivatives with functional components including metal ions, photosensitizers (PS), and

• strategy can provide different functions for amino acid assembly. Fmoc-phenylalanine and Fmoc-leucine were co-assembled, with Fmoc-phenylalanine as the hydrocoagulant and Fmoc-leucine as the antimicrobial unit. The resulting hydrogel selectively killed Staphylococcus aureus by breaking the cell wall and

• Fmoc groups, Fmoc-lysine and Fmoc-aspartic acid, by two-step self-assembly, which had an ultra-low critical gelling concentration and good mechanical properties and can be used for 2D/3D cell scaffolds and the production of conductive soft composites. In addition, Fmoc-amino acids can be co-assembled

pH-driven enhancement of anti-tubercular drug loading on iron oxide nanoparticles for drug delivery in macrophages

• Karishma Berta Cotta,
• Sarika Mehra and
• Rajdip Bandyopadhyaya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1127–1139, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.84

• shown resistance towards these drugs, too. Use of iron oxide nanoparticles as drug delivery agents could assist the uptake of drugs and thus, overcome drug resistance [8][9][10]. Fluoroquinolones are known to form complexes with metal ions through bidentate or unidentate co-ordination bonds [22]. Thus

• synthesized by co-precipitation of ferrous and ferric chloride salts [47]. An aqueous solution of Fe2+:Fe3+, taken in the molar ratio of 1:2, was stirred at 700 rpm with nitrogen purging, for 10 min, at 80 °C. The reduction to Fe3O4 was carried out with the addition of 15 mL of 25% ammonia solution. Stirring

Criteria ruling particle agglomeration

• Dieter Vollath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1093–1100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.81

• ). In the latter case, one realizes some scatter of the entropy values. In an experiment, only fluctuations are observable after the system has reached the maximum. Distribution function of particle sizes according to Kätelhön and co-workers [18]. Figure 5a displays the results as published by the

Assessment of the optical and electrical properties of light-emitting diodes containing carbon-based nanostructures and plasmonic nanoparticles: a review

• Keshav Nagpal,
• Erwan Rauwel,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Protima Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1078–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.80

• Architecture”, Adv. Funct. Mater., with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This content is not subject to CC BY 4.0. List of abbreviations mentioned in this review. List of polymers and their acronyms mentioned in this review. EQE, turn-on voltage

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• that respond to external stimuli (i.e., magnetic nanoparticles and photodynamic therapy). Previous studies showed that the effects of CUR were improved when loaded into nanosystems as compared to the free compound, as well as synergist effects when it is co-administrated alongside with other molecules

• ]. In addition to the previous data, it should be stated that coadministration of CUR with another anticancer molecule may also serve to complement or potentiate its effects. The use of a single delivery system will also normalize any differences in the pharmacokinetics of co-encapsulated drugs that are

• nanoemulsion (25 µM-7 µM) inhibited cell proliferation by 50% via cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and induced apoptosis. In addition, a CUR nanoemulsion exerted a four-fold increase in caspase-3, in contrast to a six-fold increase exerted by co-administered CUR–PIP. Curcumin is also commonly co-loaded in

An overview of microneedle applications, materials, and fabrication methods

• Zahra Faraji Rad,
• Philip D. Prewett and
• Graham J. Davies

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1034–1046, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.77

• microneedles of soluble poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and PLGA–polyvinylpyrrolidone (PLGA–PVP) layered combinations have been used to provide controlled drug delivery of bovine serum albumin (BSA), rather than instantaneous release [60]. There are only a few published studies demonstrating the

Revealing the formation mechanism and band gap tuning of Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles

• Maximilian Joschko,
• Franck Yvan Fotue Wafo,
• Christina Malsi,
• Danilo Kisić,
• Ivana Validžić and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1021–1033, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.76

• TiO2 [23], ZnO [24], and Co [25]. For ZnO, Bamiduro et al. had also found a merging process after stacks of several nanoplatelets formed [24]. Samples obtained after 2 h and 5 h, respectively (see Figure S1b and S1c in Supporting Information File 1), showed no visible difference to the sample obtained

Progress and innovation of nanostructured sulfur cathodes and metal-free anodes for room-temperature Na–S batteries

• Marina Tabuyo-Martínez,
• Bernd Wicklein and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 995–1020, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.75

• commercially available for room-temperature applications [10]. The first commercialized Na–S battery was a high-temperature sodium–sulfur battery, which has an operational temperature in the range of 270–350 °C [13]. It was launched to the market by NGK Insulator Co. in Japan in 2002. However, these devices

• that exhibited a capacity of 906 mAh·g−1 at 0.1C and a long cycling life. Another carbon–Co structure was reported by Ma et al. [34] who developed a cathode made of a flexible graphene aerogel matrix that shows an extremely low capacity fading of 0.01% per cycle from 200 to 1000 cycles (Figure 6B

• in a carbon cloth as sulfur host and Na2S6 catholyte as active material, that showed a reversible capacity of 610 mAh·g−1 after 500 cycles at 0.2 A·g−1. Likewise, a cathode where sulfur is used as the core layer and MoO3 is used as the catalytic shell layer was designed by Vijaya Kumar Saroja and co

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• substrate. Hurdax et al. reported that both charged and neutral species of sexiphenyl can co-exist on thin dielectric MgO films on Ag(100) [89]. Due to the changed work function of the substrate, charging of the adsorbates is enabled by electron tunneling. The charge transfer strongly influences the

The role of deep eutectic solvents and carrageenan in synthesizing biocompatible anisotropic metal nanoparticles

• Nabojit Das,
• Akash Kumar and
• Raja Gopal Rayavarapu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 924–938, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.69

• synthesis methods have been developed for environmental applications, such as biohydrogen production and chromium deionization [15][16][17][18]. In addition, polymer-based nanoparticles showed low drug loading and encapsulation efficiency. The acidic nature of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) is not suitable

• ), dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), and benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium chloride (BDAC) have been used as structure-directing agents for synthesizing gold nanorods [41][42][43]. Co-mixtures of these quaternary ammonium surfactants are also being used to synthesize

• the capping agent used) and the cell type used for toxicity assessment. Chan and co-workers reported that cell internalization is optimum for nanoparticles with a size of 40–50 nm [59]. This is due to maximum interaction between antibody and receptor during receptor-mediated endocytosis. In vitro

In situ transport characterization of magnetic states in Nb/Co superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

• Olena M. Kapran,
• Roman Morari,
• Taras Golod,
• Evgenii A. Borodianskyi,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Andrei Prepelita,
• Nikolay Klenov,
• Anatoli S. Sidorenko and
• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 913–923, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.68

• states in complex thin-film multilayers. In this work, we study experimentally in-plane transport properties of microstructured Nb/Co multilayers. We apply various transport characterization techniques, including magnetoresistance, Hall effect, and the first-order-reversal-curves (FORC) analysis. We

• microstructured Nb/Co multilayers (MLs) with a different number of F-layers and layer thicknesses. Our goal is to demonstrate how conventional experimental techniques can be used for in situ assessment of magnetic states of small S/F devices. The key technique that we employ is the first-order-reversal-curves

• the procedure for the controllable operation of devices based on S/F heterostructures. Samples We study two types of Nb/Co MLs with different numbers of F-layers and layer thicknesses. The simplest S1, Nb(50 nm)/Co(1.5 nm)/Nb(8 nm)/Co(2.5 nm)/Nb(8 nm)/Si ML (bottom-to-top), has just two dissimilar Co

The role of convolutional neural networks in scanning probe microscopy: a review

• Ido Azuri,
• Irit Rosenhek-Goldian,
• Neta Regev-Rudzki,
• Georg Fantner and
• Sidney R. Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 878–901, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.66

Comprehensive review on ultrasound-responsive theranostic nanomaterials: mechanisms, structures and medical applications

• Sepand Tehrani Fateh,
• Lida Moradi,
• Elmira Kohan,
• Michael R. Hamblin and
• Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 808–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.64

Silver nanoparticles induce the cardiomyogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells via telomere length extension

• Khosro Adibkia,
• Ali Ehsani,
• Asma Jodaei,
• Ezzatollah Fathi,
• Raheleh Farahzadi and
• Mohammad Barzegar-Jalali

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 786–797, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.62

• and the control group (*p < 0.05). For this reason, a concentration of 2.5 µg/mL of Ag-NPs was selected for cell treatment. Also, this concentration was previously reported by Sengstock and co-workers [11]. Ag-NPs increase the absolute telomere length (aTL) The aTL was measured by the quantitative

• the neuronal differentiation of stem cells with upregulation of the neuronal markers [30]. The effect of Ag-NPs on the differentiation of MSCs into hepatocyte-like cells and cardiomyocytes was recently investigated by Hu and co-workers [31]. It was pointed that the induction effect of Ag-NPs is

• Sengstock and co-workers [11]. Sengstock et al. reported that Ag-NPs with a size of 80 nm do not enter the cell nucleus and that Ag agglomerates appeared primarily within the endo-lysosomes. In the other words, the agglomerated Ag-NPs were visible in a region close to the cell nucleus but not in the cell

Recent progress in magnetic applications for micro- and nanorobots

• Ke Xu,
• Shuang Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 744–755, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.58

• ) and (b) adapted from [83], X. Wang et al., “MOFBOTS: Metal-Organic‐Framework‐Based Biomedical Microrobots”, Adv. Mater., with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This content is not subject to CC BY 4.0. (a) Tubular, (b) helical, and (c

• Sons. Copyright © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This content is not subject to CC BY 4.0. Magnetic materials for MNRs. Magnetoelectric concepts. Magnetic drive structures of different shapes. Funding This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

• Thies H. Büscher and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 725–743, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.57

• ]. Hence, the evolution of the attachment systems appears to be associated with the coexistence of insects and plants. The coevolution of angiosperms and insects is suggested to have resulted in an extensive adaptive co-radiation [72][73][74]. Besides chemical weapons against herbivorous insects, a large

• Membranifolia admirabilis Sun and Zheng, 2001, found as a common part of the Cretaceous flora of the same formation [204]. Subsequently, phasmids and plants probably co-radiated when stick insects started imitating their floral surroundings to avoid predators [206][207]. During the emergence of angiosperms, and

Prediction of Co and Ru nanocluster morphology on 2D MoS₂ from interaction energies

• Cara-Lena Nies and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 704–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.56

• gap in understanding thin film nucleation on 2D materials. In this paper, we present a density functional theory (DFT) study of the adsorption of small Co and Ru structures, with up to four atoms, on a monolayer of MoS2. We explore how the metal–substrate and metal–metal interactions contribute to the

• stability of metal clusters on MoS2, and how these interactions change in the presence of a sulfur vacancy, to develop insight to allow for a prediction of thin film morphology. The strength of interaction between the metals and MoS2 is in the order Co > Ru. The competition between metal–substrate and metal

• –metal interaction allows us to conclude that 2D structures should be preferred for Co on MoS2, while Ru prefers 3D structures on MoS2. However, the presence of a sulfur vacancy decreases the metal–metal interaction, indicating that with controlled surface modification 2D Ru structures could be achieved

Nanogenerator-based self-powered sensors for data collection

• Yicheng Shao,
• Maoliang Shen,
• Yuankai Zhou,
• Xin Cui,
• Lijie Li and
• Yan Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 680–693, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.54

• 2016 American Chemical Society. Figure 1b is adapted from [22]. Copyright © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Used with permission from Zhen Wen et al., “TA Wrinkled PEDOT:PSS Film Based Stretchable and Transparent Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wearable Energy Harvesters and Active

• pressure and temperature and generates output signals [51]. (h) The output current of smelling electronic skin exposed to air and ethanol at a concentration of 60 ppm [91]. Figure 2h–j was reproduced from [91]. Copyright © 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Used with permission from Xinyu Xue

• the iTENG and ECG signal [28]. Figure 3a,b was reproduced with permission from [28] (for permission, please see the caption of Figure 1a). (c) Correspondence between ECG, FAP, and SEPS output signals [29]. Figure 3c,d was reproduced from [29]. Copyright © 2018 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• junctions by the HIM method has again been demonstrated [48]. Ferromagnetic properties The first demonstration of defect engineering using the HIM was actually for a magnetic device by Franken and co-authors [49]. In this work, ferromagnetic microstrips comprising Pt(4 nm)/Co(0.6 nm)/Pt(2 nm) layers on an

• resolution capability of the helium ion beam enabling the creation of a sharper energy barrier at the domain wall. Later work in this area employed similar helium ion doses (1–4 × 1015 ions/cm2) to locally reduce the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a Co/Pt multilayered thin film [50]. Here, patterns

• disks was achieved by inhomogeneous irradiation using a concentric pattern with a higher dose on the outside, rather than using homogeneous irradiation [32] (Figure 2e). Nanoscale magnetic patterning of Co/Pt multilayers using a checkerboard helium ion irradiation pattern has also recently been