Synthesis of rare-earth metal and rare-earth metal-fluoride nanoparticles in ionic liquids and propylene carbonate

• Marvin Siebels,
• Lukas Mai,
• Laura Schmolke,
• Kai Schütte,
• Juri Barthel,
• Junpei Yue,
• Jörg Thomas,
• Bernd M. Smarsly,
• Anjana Devi,
• Roland A. Fischer and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.180

• [23]. Rare-earth metal containing intermetallic nano-phases have been suggested as novel materials for various catalytic applications [24]. For example, Pt3Y and Pt5Gd were predicted to be more active as Pt in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) [25]. Nevertheless, the high reduction potentials of

Improving the catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution of monolayered SnSe_2(1−x)S_2x by mechanical strain

• Sha Dong and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1820–1827, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.173

• electrolysis is a clean and “green” approach [3][4][5][6][7]. Efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with high conversion efficiency are essential for the continuous generation of hydrogen. The platinum (Pt) group materials are regarded as the best electrocatalysts for HER

• hydrogen. Two-dimensional (2D) atomic layer thin materials, such as monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], have demonstrated many fascinating properties, including the substitution of Pt as an electrocatalyst for HER. 2D MoS2 has been widely studied

• trace amounts of Pt nanoparticles interacting with defect-rich SnS2; the results demonstrated that SnS2 may offer new perspectives regarding a utilization in HER. The catalytic activity for HER shows great dependence on the electronic structure of the catalyst. As alloying and strain can be used to tune

Know your full potential: Quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy on nanoscale electrical devices

• Amelie Axt,
• Ilka M. Hermes,
• Victor W. Bergmann,
• Niklas Tausendpfund and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1809–1819, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.172

• crosstalk like reported by Polak et al. [16]. The parameters of the measurements can be found in Table 1. The feedback was optimized for = 0.5 V. The test structure was based on an interdigitated electrode array (IDA-Pt 2 μm by ALS, Japan). The pitch of the 90 nm thick platinum electrodes is 4 μm, the

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

• Katherine Atamanuk,
• Justin Luria and
• Bryan D. Huey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1802–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

• otherwise uncorrelated behavior. The product of ISC* and VOC* is shown in (d) indicative of the theoretical power (PT*, log scale). (e) The simultaneously acquired true surface topography and (f) deflection data (essentially an edge-filtered height image to identify any topographic steps or other

Preparation of micro/nanopatterned gelatins crosslinked with genipin for biocompatible dental implants

• Reika Makita,
• Tsukasa Akasaka,
• Seiichi Tamagawa,
• Yasuhiro Yoshida,
• Saori Miyata,
• Hirofumi Miyaji and
• Tsutomu Sugaya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1735–1754, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.165

Multimodal noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of organolead tribromide perovskite single crystals

• Yann Almadori,
• David Moerman,
• Jaume Llacer Martinez,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Benjamin Grévin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1695–1704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.161

• ) at room temperature (RT) with in situ annealed Pt/Ir-coated silicon cantilevers (EFM, Nanosensors, resonance frequency in the 45–115 kHz range). Topographical imaging was performed in frequency modulation mode (FM-AFM) with negative frequency shifts of a few Hz and vibration amplitudes of a few tens

Toward the use of CVD-grown MoS₂ nanosheets as field-emission source

• Geetanjali Deokar,
• Nitul S. Rajput,
• Junjie Li,
• Francis Leonard Deepak,
• Wei Ou-Yang,
• Nicolas Reckinger,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Jean-Francois Colomer and
• Mustapha Jouiad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1686–1694, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.160

• earlier report [21]. To have a plane view of the deposited material, the sample was locally capped using FIB-assisted Pt deposition and the cut block was lifted out using an OmniprobeTM. The block was tilted at 90° relative to its original position and mounted onto a TEM grid. The TEM investigations were

• nm Mo film at 850 °C on SiO2/Si substrates: (a) HAADF-STEM image at low magnification with different observed materials layers marked; (b) TEM image at the interface between the MoS2 NSs and the Pt layer; (c) higher magnification of layer A showing edge dislocation (marked with “T”) in the MoS2

Friction force microscopy of tribochemistry and interfacial ageing for the SiO_x/Si/Au system

• Christiane Petzold,
• Marcus Koch and
• Roland Bennewitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1647–1658, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.157

• °. TEM images of a cross section through the apex of a Au/Si tip that had been sliding against Au(111). a) Overview showing the Pt protective coating that was added prior to FIB cutting, the Au cantilever coating and the Si bulk. The contact area is worn flat and the asterisk marks an amorphous layer in

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

• Boštjan Žener,
• Lev Matoh,
• Giorgio Carraro,
• Bojan Miljević and
• Romana Cerc Korošec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.155

• determined by XPS measurements. The platinum in sample S3_N0.5+0.015 M Pt was added as the final layer in the form of chloroplatinic acid by dip-coating. The last number describes molar concentrations of the deposited solution. Thermal analysis The purpose of thermal analysis measurements (TGA-DSC-MS) was to

• this to the formation of titanium oxysulfate (TiOSO4) which inhibits crystallization. The addition of NH4NO3 also decreases the crystallite size of the samples. The addition of Pt did not have any effect on the crystallite size. Crystallization of sample S4: Figure 2c shows XRD patterns for sample S4

• nm at 650 °C). Specific surface area (BET) Table 2 summarizes the BET specific surface area measured for selected samples. The samples synthesized with H2SO4 (samples S3–S3_N0.5+1% Pt) have a higher specific surface than samples synthesized with HCl (REF–Thiourea_15). We can explain this with the

Nanoscale electrochemical response of lithium-ion cathodes: a combined study using C-AFM and SIMS

• Jonathan Op de Beeck,
• Nouha Labyedh,
• Alfonso Sepúlveda,
• Valentina Spampinato,
• Alexis Franquet,
• Thierry Conard,
• Philippe M. Vereecken,
• Wilfried Vandervorst and
• Umberto Celano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1623–1628, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.154

•  1a. The three samples mentioned above are all deposited on a metallic current collector (Ni or Pt) on top of a silicon wafer. Spatially resolved electrical properties are observed with nanometer resolution by scanning a biased conductive AFM tip across the top surface. Unless specified otherwise, we

• apply always the bias to the sample (i.e., the metallic Ni/Pt layer) while the C-AFM tip is grounded. By measuring the current (using the tip as a nanoscale electrode) and the tip deflection as a function of the AFM tip position, two-dimensional maps of the local conductivity and the topography can be

Correlative electrochemical strain and scanning electron microscopy for local characterization of the solid state electrolyte Li_1.3Al_0.3Ti_1.7(PO₄)₃

• Nino Schön,
• Deniz Cihan Gunduz,
• Shicheng Yu,
• Hermann Tempel,
• Roland Schierholz and
• Florian Hausen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1564–1572, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.148

• master polish. Afterwards, the pellets were rinsed thoroughly with isopropanol. Focused-ion beam polishing For comparison, a second sample was additionally polished using a focused-ion beam (FEI (now Thermo-Fisher) Helios 460F1) [33]. For this, a polished SEM sample was used. A protective Pt-layer the

• size of the final polished surface (90 µm × 90 µm) was deposited by the ion beam. Around this protective layer, wedge-shaped trenches were cut and from the edge of the polished pellet material was removed with the cleaning cross-section pattern until the protective Pt-layer was reached. Then, the

• sample was rotated and tilted for perpendicular ion polishing. For this purpose again, a protective Pt-layer was deposited on the new cross-section before removing the initially deposited protective Pt-layer of 90 µm × 90 µm size as well as parts of the material beneath it, to form the ion-polished

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

Nanoporous silicon nitride-based membranes of controlled pore size, shape and areal density: Fabrication as well as electrophoretic and molecular filtering characterization

• Axel Seidenstücker,
• Stefan Beirle,
• Fabian Enderle,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Othmar Marti and
• Alfred Plettl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1390–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.131

• . Acknowledgements For all production steps, it was a long road to achieve the high precision, reproducibility, and small parameter variations needed. So the authors have to thank many people, especially M. Keitsch, who was the first to drill nanopores into self-made SiOx membranes, A. Manzke, who applied Pt NPs

Chemistry for electron-induced nanofabrication

• Petra Swiderek,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1317–1320, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.124

• [27]. However, purification processes in FEBID are also studied with regards to their fundamental chemical processes. For instance, as halide ligands appear promising for future development of FEBID precursors, purification protocols that help to remove them are needed. Using deposits prepared from Pt

• that includes multilayer precursor coverage to describe FEBID processes at lower temperatures or with less volatile precursors [30]. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, new light was also shed on an experimentally well investigated precursor, namely (CH3–C5H4)Pt(CH3)3. The interaction

• of the precursor with a SiO2 substrate was modeled to reveal the peculiar role of surface hydroxyl groups. In particular, the partially hydroxylated surface as formed during electron exposure of a fully hydroxylated substrate appears to initiate dissociation of the adsorbed (CH3–C5H4)Pt(CH3)3

Electrodeposition of reduced graphene oxide with chitosan based on the coordination deposition method

• Mingyang Liu,
• Yanjun Chen,
• Chaoran Qin,
• Zheng Zhang,
• Shuai Ma,
• Xiuru Cai,
• Xueqian Li and
• Yifeng Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1200–1210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.111

• -naphthol concentration from 0.5 to 10 μM. It is shown that the detection limit for 1-naphthol is approximately 0.5 μM. In contrast, Wang et al. reported that GCE modified with carbon nanotube networks joined by Pt nanoparticles has the detection limit of 0.5 μM for 1-naphthol detection, which is similar to

Understanding the performance and mechanism of Mg-containing oxides as support catalysts in the thermal dry reforming of methane

• Nor Fazila Khairudin,
• Mohd Farid Fahmi Sukri,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1162–1183, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.108

• support and active metal particles [16][17][18]. The loss of catalytic activity or selectivity over time of production affects the cost of catalyst replacement, process shutdown, and product quality and quantity. Numerous researchers have reported that noble metal-based catalysts, such as Pt, Rh, Pd, Ru

• dissociation process. In one proposal, CH4 activation was found to take place on the active sites. Niu et al. [66] proposed the mechanism of DRM over a Pt catalyst as shown in Equation 5. Equation 5 shows the adsorption of methane on the metal catalyst followed by dehydrogenation to produce hydrogen and a

• formation of filamentous and encapsulating carbon. Deactivation of the catalyst occurs over the Ni/SBA-15 sample since a large amount of graphitic carbon species were formed. Application of Mg as a promoter of active metal Elsayed et al. [51] demonstrated DRM over Pt–Ni–Mg/ceria–zirconia synthesized via

Electrostatic force spectroscopy revealing the degree of reduction of individual graphene oxide sheets

• Yue Shen,
• Ying Wang,
• Yuan Zhou,
• Chunxi Hai,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1146–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.106

• carried out under room temperature at 23 °C and at a relative humidity of 15% in order to ensure constant substrate surface properties (especially regarding the dielectric constant of the mica surface) [20]. In all the SPM operations, the NSC18/Ti-Pt (MikroMasch Co.) tip was used, which employed a silicon

• cantilever coating with a 10 nm Pt layer on a 20 nm Ti sublayer with a nominal spring constant of ≈3.5 Nm−1 and oscillating frequencies of 60–90 kHz. The lift start height and lift scan height in EFM imaging were 20 nm and 15 nm, respectively. Characterizing the degree of reduction of GO sheets reduced using

Nanoscale mapping of dielectric properties based on surface adhesion force measurements

• Ying Wang,
• Yue Shen,
• Xingya Wang,
• Zhiwei Shen,
• Bin Li,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 900–906, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.84

• deposited. Characterization The samples were characterized by using a MultiMode 8 AFM (Bruker) equipped with a J scanner. Silicon cantilevers coated with a 30 nm Pt layer with a nominal spring constant of 2.8 N·m−1 and oscillating frequencies of 60–90 kHz (NSC18/ Pt, MikroMasch Co.) were used. Height and

Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• found that the synthesis of very diverse ZnO structures was easily controllable by different methods, for example, using hydrothermal routes. Thus, ZnO nano- or even microstructures decorated by some noble metals (Au, Ag and Pt) to form plasmonic metal/semiconductor structures are very attractive and

• investigated for photocatalytic activity as reported previously [8][20]. The photocatalytic activity of the Pt/ZnO hybrid nanocomposite under photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) was higher compared to commercial TiO2 [21]. Here, it is quite reasonable to note that the plasmonic metal NP/metal-oxide

• sensors using two Pt electrodes, which were deposited on the surface of the ZnO and Au NP/ZnO films. The gas sources included NO2, CO, and C3H8 (Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte., Ltd) and were used for analyzing the gas sensing characteristics. The sensors were investigated in a chamber of 50 mL in

A review of carbon-based and non-carbon-based catalyst supports for the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide

• Shahreen Binti Izwan Anthonysamy,
• Syahidah Binti Afandi,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Bin Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 740–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.68

• temperature window of 150–500 °C in a diesel engine as well as the low energy consumption and economy of NH3-SCR [9]. In the literature, abundant catalysts at low temperature have been explored such as transitional metals (Mn, Cu, Ce, Fe, Co, Mo) [10][11][12][13], novel metals (Pt, Pd) [14], and metal ion

• -thermal (PT) route compared to other methods such as impregnation (IM) and physical mixture (PM). The CeO2/CNT-PT has smaller and narrower ceria particle size distribution (2 to 14 nm) than CeO2/CNT-IM (6 to 20 nm) based on the TEM and HRTEM analysis. In addition, NH3-TPD analysis was carried out in order

• to determine the surface acid amount and strength in the prepared catalysts. It was found that CeO2/CNT-PT had much stronger acid sites since the desorption peaks shifted to a higher temperature range, as compared to CeO2/CNT-IM and CeO2/CNT-PM catalysts [80]. In this moment, the largest area of the

Dynamics and fragmentation mechanism of (C₅H₄CH₃)Pt(CH₃)₃ on SiO₂ surfaces

• Kaliappan Muthukumar,
• Harald O. Jeschke and
• Roser Valentí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 711–720, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.66

• /bjnano.9.66 Abstract The interaction of trimethyl(methylcyclopentadienyl)platinum(IV) ((C5H4CH3)Pt(CH3)3) molecules on fully and partially hydroxylated SiO2 surfaces, as well as the dynamics of this interaction were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and finite temperature DFT-based

• molecular dynamics simulations. Fully and partially hydroxylated surfaces represent substrates before and after electron beam treatment and this study examines the role of electron beam pretreatment on the substrates in the initial stages of precursor dissociation and formation of Pt deposits. Our

• simulations show that on fully hydroxylated surfaces or untreated surfaces, the precursor molecules remain inactivated while we observe fragmentation of (C5H4CH3)Pt(CH3)3 on partially hydroxylated surfaces. The behavior of precursor molecules on the partially hydroxylated surfaces has been found to depend on

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• of plasmonics are portrayed in Figure 1. Noble metals such as Au, Ag, Pt, Pd in the form of nanoparticles are a novel candidate for high absorption of visible light owing to their strong optical absorption in the entire solar region [8][9]. The unique characteristics of the LSPR effect in noble metal

• visible and UV range [93][94][95][96]. Additionally, other noble metals such as Pt and Pd also exhibited a similar photocatalytic performance [97][98]. Ag, Au, Pt and Pd nanoparticles Ag and Au are the most preferred noble metals for interaction with various types of semiconductors due to the strong LSPR

• broad LSPR absorption band at ≈630 nm [93]. The Ag@C nanocomposite exhibited excellent removal of aqueous rhodamine B and gaseous acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) under visible light irradiation. There have been some research reports on the combination of either Pd or Pt (considered to induce a reduced plasmonic

Sensing behavior of flower-shaped MoS₂ nanoflakes: case study with methanol and xylene

• Maryam Barzegar,
• Masoud Berahman and
• Azam Iraji zad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 608–615, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.57

• . The substrates were immersed in acetone and isopropyl alcohol and sonicated for 15 min to remove any undesired surface ions. A 200 nm Pt film as a snake-shaped heater was sputtered on the back of the substrate using a sputter coater from Nanostructured Coatings Co. To fabricate the sensor device

• nanoflakes. It was found that the nanoflakes form a flower-shaped structure with a large surface-to-volume ratio. The sensor device was successfully fabricated by spin coating of MoS2 flakes on an alumina substrate, on the back side of which a Pt heater circuit for thermal annealing was deposited. Our

Electron interactions with the heteronuclear carbonyl precursor H₂FeRu₃(CO)₁₃ and comparison with HFeCo₃(CO)₁₂: from fundamental gas phase and surface science studies to focused electron beam induced deposition

• Ragesh Kumar T P,
• Paul Weirich,
• Lukas Hrachowina,
• Marc Hanefeld,
• Ragnar Bjornsson,
• Helgi Rafn Hrodmarsson,
• Sven Barth,
• D. Howard Fairbrother,
• Michael Huth and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 555–579, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.53

• such as Pt and Au by post-growth treatment and in situ injection of water for carbon removal [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. These oxidative processes are suitable for precious metals, while other approaches such as annealing under vacuum [14] and hydrogen atmosphere [15][16] are suitable for metals such

• dependence of the absolute and relative cross sections for low energy electron induced decomposition of a number of potential and currently used FEBID precursors. These include Co(CO)3NO [30][31], Pt(PF3)4 [32][33], W(CO)6 [34], MeCpPtMe3 [35], Fe(CO)5 [36], and more recently (η3-C3H5)Ru(CO)3Br [37][38] and

• effective in elucidating electron triggered decomposition of several FEBID precursors including Pt(PF3)4 [42], W(CO)6 [43], MeCpPtMe3 [44][45], Co(CO)3NO [46], Fe(CO)5 [47] and potential new precursors such as cis-Pt(CO)2Cl2 [48] and (η3-C3H5)Ru(CO)3Br [49]. From these surface science studies, it can be

Facile synthesis of ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalysts for decolourization of organic dyes under solar irradiation

• Arjun Behera,
• Debasmita Kandi,
• Sanjit Manohar Majhi,
• Satyabadi Martha and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 436–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.42

• working photo anode, Ag/AgCl as reference electrode and Pt as counter electrode. The electrolyte chosen for the study was 0.1 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution of pH 6.8. A 400 nm cut-off filter was used for the light irradiation during linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) analysis. Results and Discussion XRD analysis