Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles exhibit distinct and useful properties [35]. Other examples include a self-assembled MoS2-based composite that was developed for energy conversion and storage purposes [36], a silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite that was applied for surface-enhanced Raman

Atomic-resolution imaging of rutile TiO₂(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Daiki Katsube,
• Shoki Ojima,
• Eiichi Inami and
• Masayuki Abe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 443–449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.35

• Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, 185 Miyanokuchi, Tosayamada, Kami, Kochi 782-8502, Japan 10.3762/bjnano.11.35 Abstract The structure of the rutile TiO2(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface is a phase induced by oxygen reduction. There is ongoing debate about the (1 × 2) reconstruction

• characterize the surface. Ti2O3 rows appeared as bright spots in both NC-AFM and STM images observed in the same area. High-resolution NC-AFM images revealed that the rutile TiO2(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface is composed of two domains with different types of asymmetric rows. Keywords: non-contact atomic

• force microscopy; (1 × 2) reconstruction; rutile; surface structure; titanium dioxide (TiO2); Introduction Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a well-known photocatalyst and has been studied for applications in water splitting and the coating of materials [1]. To optimize the photocatalytic function, it is

Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

• Changqiang Yu,
• Min Wen,
• Zhen Tong,
• Shuhua Li,
• Yanhong Yin,
• Xianbin Liu,
• Yesheng Li,
• Tongxiang Liang,
• Ziping Wu and
• Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 407–416, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.31

• the treatment of organic contaminants in wastewater is in urgent need owing to the deterioration of the ecological environment [1]. Metal oxides, such as ZnO [2], TiO2 [3], Fe2O3 [4], and CuO [5], have been demonstrated to be promising photocatalysts. In particular, the band gap energy (Eg) of the p

• construction of CuO-based heterostructures (e.g., 0D/2D CuO/TiO2, 0D/3D CuO/ZnO, 2D/2D CuO/Fe2O3, 0D/2D CuO/C3N4, 2D/0D CuO/Ag3PO4) [6][12][15][16][17] and the dispersion of CuO on supporting materials (e.g., graphene, carbon nanotube) [7][18] are considered to be the most effective ways to address these

Fabrication of Ag-modified hollow titania spheres via controlled silver diffusion in Ag–TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Krzysztof Kopczyński and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 141–146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.12

• metal nanoparticles. A simple method employing sol–gel coating of nanoparticles with titania followed by controlled silver diffusion was developed and applied for the synthesis of Ag-modified hollow TiO2 spheres. The morphology of the synthesized structures and their chemical composition was

• investigated using SEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The optical properties of the synthesized structures were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy. Ag–TiO2 hollow nanostructures with different optical properties were prepared simply by a change of the annealing time in the last

• (HSs) have received increasing attention due to their potential application in a variety of areas [1][2][3][4] such as solar energy conversion or photocatalysis [2][5][6][7]. Among them, of great interest are TiO2 HSs modified with plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs), which allow for the combination of the

Recent progress in perovskite solar cells: the perovskite layer

• Xianfeng Dai,
• Ke Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 51–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.5

• and spray coating PSC fabrication processes. Jiang et al. [34] solved this problem by successfully applying inkjet printing to deposit a flat and uniform CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) perovskite layer on a TiO2 film. Inkjet printing is a noncontact printing technique with direct control of material deposition

Synthesis of amorphous and graphitized porous nitrogen-doped carbon spheres as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts

• Maximilian Wassner,
• Markus Eckardt,
• Andreas Reyer,
• Thomas Diemant,
• Michael S. Elsaesser,
• R. Jürgen Behm and
• Nicola Hüsing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1–15, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.1

• Figure 10), where they were covered by a layer of N-doped TiO2 (TiON@NCS) [34] or N-doped TaxOy (TaON@NCS) [33]. The covering was supposed to serve two purposes, first, to yield ORR activity and, second, to protect the (nitrided) carbon core against corrosion. In this study we used the same procedure for

Advanced hybrid nanomaterials

• Andreas Taubert,
• Fabrice Leroux,
• Pierre Rabu and
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2563–2567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.247

• the polyol process” [19], the synthetic process was found to be of prime importance to shape the nanoparticles and to optimize their surface/volume ratio in relation to the magnetic behavior. A one-step non-hydrolytic sol–gel synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 phosphonate hybrid materials was applied to

Synthesis and acetone sensing properties of ZnFe₂O₄/rGO gas sensors

• Kaidi Wu,
• Yifan Luo,
• Ying Li and
• Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2516–2526, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.242

• concentration. Due to their excellent properties and cost efficiency, gas sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors, such as ZnO [5], SnO2 [6], WO3 [7], TiO2 [8], Er-SnO2 [9], Au-In2O3 [10], GO-WO3 [11] and Ni-SnO2/G [12] have been widely studied until now. However, their sensing properties regarding low

Semitransparent Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for use in solar windows

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Lothar Weinhardt,
• Monika Blum,
• Clemens Heske,
• Wanli Yang,
• Ilona Oja Acik and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.230

• spectroscopy, semitransparent Sb2S3 thin films can be rapidly grown in air by the area-scalable ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. Integrated into a ITO/TiO2/Sb2S3/P3HT/Au solar cell, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.5% at air mass 1.5 global (AM1.5G) is achieved, which is a record among spray

• -deposited Sb2S3 solar cells. An average visible transparency (AVT) of 26% of the back-contact-less ITO/TiO2/Sb2S3 solar cell stack in the wavelength range of 380–740 nm is attained by tuning the Sb2S3 absorber thickness to 100 nm. In scale-up from mm2 to cm2 areas, the Sb2S3 hybrid solar cells show a

• pioneered by the teams of Nair, Nezu, and Hodes in the mid-2000s [19][23][24]. The record PCE of 7.5%, achieved with solar cells based on Sb2S3 grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD) into mesoporous TiO2, shows the excellent potential of Sb2S3 as a PV absorber, and the suitability of its fabrication by

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• remarkable light absorption capacity [5] and the tunable band gap [6] of inorganic–organic lead halide perovskite crystals make them suitable for the production of organic semiconductors [7], photodetectors [8], and photovoltaics [5]. In 2009, Kojima et al. achieved a breakthrough in using mesoporous TiO2 as

A novel all-fiber-based LiFePO₄/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ battery with self-standing nanofiber membrane electrodes

• Li-li Chen,
• Hua Yang,
• Mao-xiang Jing,
• Chong Han,
• Fei Chen,
• Xin-yu Hu,
• Wei-yong Yuan,
• Shan-shan Yao and
• Xiang-qian Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2229–2237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.215

• small amount of TiO2 was found in the diffraction peaks of Li4Ti5O12 fibers, which may be related to the sintering atmosphere of Li4Ti5O12 fibers. Because the sintering of Li4Ti5O12 fibers was carried out under the pressure of a graphite plate in N2 atmosphere, the sintering atmosphere is a partially

• reductive inert atmosphere. However, TiO2 itself is a relatively stable anode material [42], so the appearance of such impurities would not affect the performance of the electrode. The Raman spectra of the two fiber materials in Figure 6 show two characteristic peaks at 1350 cm−1 and 1580 cm−1 corresponding

• process of Ti4+/Ti3+ [25]. The two small redox peaks at 2.06 V and 1.72 V correspond to the Li+ removal from and intercalation in TiO2. From the charge–discharge curves in Figure 8 (the second cycle), it can be seen that both electrodes have obvious charge–discharge plateaus at about 3.5 V and 1.5 V

Improved adsorption and degradation performance by S-doping of (001)-TiO₂

• Xiao-Yu Sun,
• Xian Zhang,
• Xiao Sun,
• Ni-Xian Qian,
• Min Wang and
• Yong-Qing Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2116–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.206

• of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230039, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.206 Abstract In this work, sulfur-doped (S-doped) TiO2 with the (001) face exposed was synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition at 180 or 250 °C using S/Ti molar ratios RS/Ti of 0, 0.5, 1

• % to 68.5% due to the synergistic effects of the oxygen vacancies, increased number of surface chemical adsorption centers as a result of SO42− adsorption on the TiO2 surface and the larger pore size. (3) S-doping increases the MB degradation rate from 6.9 × 10−2 min−1 to 18.2 × 10−2 min−1 due to an

• increase in the amount of •OH and •O2− radicals. Keywords: anatase; chemical state; degradation; photocatalytic properties; S-doping; thermal chemical vapor deposition; titanium dioxide (TiO2); Introduction Anatase TiO2 with a tetragonal symmetry has widely been used for the degradation of organic

Synthesis of highly active ETS-10-based titanosilicate for heterogeneously catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides

• Muhammad A. Zaheer,
• David Poppitz,
• Khavar Feyzullayeva,
• Marianne Wenzel,
• Jörg Matysik,
• Radomir Ljupkovic,
• Aleksandra Zarubica,
• Alexander A. Karavaev,
• Andreas Pöppl,
• Roger Gläser and
• Muslim Dvoyashkin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2039–2061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.200

• solution was further added into 87.5 mL of the titania/silica-containing solution. The resulting molar composition of the obtained 90 mL solution is the following SiO2/TiO2/HCl/Na2O/NaCl/KF/H2O = 5.56:1:1.94:2.64:3.22:0.09:216. The solution was then further aged for 16 h in a flask at room temperature for

Fabrication and characterization of Si_1−xGe_x nanocrystals in as-grown and annealed structures: a comparative study

• Muhammad Taha Sultan,
• Adrian Valentin Maraloiu,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Jón Tómas Gudmundsson,
• Andrei Manolescu,
• Valentin Serban Teodorescu,
• Magdalena Lidia Ciurea and
• Halldór Gudfinnur Svavarsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1873–1882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.182

• of the SiGe ellipsoid plus the thickness of the SiGeO oxide cover-layer, i.e., each SiGe crystallite is covered by 2–3 nm of SiGeO oxide, looking like a core–shell particle. An elemental mapping over a structure (TiO2/SiGe/TiO2)3 annealed at 600 °C in our previous study [37], showed a similar

• columnar self-assembly of NCs. The analysis showed a well-defined mapping of Si, Ge and Ti (/TiO2) with a small fraction of oxygen observed in the SiGe layer. The NCs columns are arranged periodically, having a width of NCs of 10–15 nm, with a gap of 5–6 nm amorphous SiGeO. We note that the small SiGe

TiO₂/GO-coated functional separator to suppress polysulfide migration in lithium–sulfur batteries

• Ning Liu,
• Lu Wang,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Yan Zhao and
• Yongguang Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1726–1736, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.168

• but suffer from poor cyclic performance due to the dissolution of intermediate polysulfides. Herein, a lightweight nanoporous TiO2 and graphene oxide (GO) composite is prepared and utilized as an interlayer between a Li anode and a sulfur cathode to suppress the polysulfide migration and improve the

• electrochemical performance of Li/S batteries. The interlayer can capture the polysulfides due to the presence of oxygen functional groups and formation of chemical bonds. The hierarchically porous TiO2 nanoparticles are tightly wrapped in GO sheets and facilitate the polysulfide storage and chemical absorption

• . The excellent adhesion between TiO2 nanoparticles and GO sheets resulted in enhanced conductivity, which is highly desirable for an efficient electron transfer process. The Li/S battery with a TiO2/GO-coated separator exhibited a high initial discharge capacity of 1102.8 mAh g−1 and a 100th cycle

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• bacteria, including resistant E. coli and S. aureus strains, and when compared to commercial TiO2 nanoparticles, CSTiO2 nanospheres exhibited superior performance. In addition, the positive effect of UV irradiation on the antimicrobial activity was demonstrated. Keywords: antimicrobial nanoparticles

• -positive and Gram-negative bacteria [2]. In recent years, metal and metal oxide NPs, such as silver, gold, titanium and zinc oxide NPs, have been extensively studied due to their interesting antimicrobial character [3][4][5]. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs have also attracted significant attention due to

• their high stability, low cost, reusability, and high photocatalytic activity [6][7][8]. These excellent properties have been applied in many products such as foods, catalyst support, air purification, water disinfection, antibacterial, cosmetics and solar cells [9][10]. Photocatalytic TiO2 favors the

Layered double hydroxide/sepiolite hybrid nanoarchitectures for the controlled release of herbicides

• Ediana Paula Rebitski,
• Margarita Darder and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1679–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.163

• used strategies included wet impregnation and layer-by-layer approaches to produce diverse type of multilayer heterostructures, e.g., ZnCr-LDH/TiO2 films [30], in situ formation of the LDH in presence of other nanoparticles, e.g., sepiolite [31], and reconstruction of the LDH from parent “layered

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• show the properties of a bulk-like crystalline rock-salt TiO phase, unlike previous studies on the crystallography and electronic structure of TiO, which were based on defective thin films formed on various surfaces, e.g., TiC(100) [23] or TiO2(110) [24]. γ-TiO is the high-temperature phase with a NaCl

• the differences between TiO2 and SrO terminations of SrTiO3(100). The last part of the study is dedicated to the discussion of the work function response of both TiO and SrTiO3 surfaces upon oxidation via ambient air exposure, in order to provide insight into the effect of oxygen, water, and carbon

• TiO2, which both are present on the pristine surface, although TiO2 is more stable [39]. When annealed under reducing conditions, the TiO2 termination is promoted. Upon heavy reduction, there is further oxygen depletion which results in the formation of the (√5×√5)R26.6° reconstruction, which we

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

• Abstract A BiOCl/TiO2/diatomite (BTD) composite was synthesized via a modified sol–gel method and precipitation/calcination method for application as a photocatalyst and shows promise for degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater upon visible-light irradiation. In the composite, diatomite was used as

• a carrier to support a layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) nanosheets. The results show that TiO2 nanoparticles and BiOCl nanosheets uniformly cover the surface of diatomite and bring TiO2 and BiOCl into close proximity. Rhodamine B was used as the target

• degradation product and visible light (λ > 400 nm) was used as the light source for the evaluation of the photocatalytic properties of the prepared BTD composite. The results show that the catalytic performance of the BTD composite under visible-light irradiation is much higher than that of TiO2 or BiOCl

Imaging the surface potential at the steps on the rutile TiO₂(110) surface by Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Huan Fei Wen,
• Quanzhen Zhang,
• Yuuki Adachi,
• Jan Brndiar,
• Ivan Štich,
• Yan Jun Li and
• Yasuhiro Sugawara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1228–1236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.122

• , Bratislava, Slovakia 10.3762/bjnano.10.122 Abstract Although step structures have generally been considered to be active sites, their role on a TiO2 surface in catalytic reactions is poorly understood. In this study, we measured the contact potential difference around the steps on a rutile TiO2(110)-(1 × 1

• steps in the catalytic reaction. Keywords: catalyst; Kelvin probe force microscopy; Smoluchowski effect; step; titanium dioxide; Introduction Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has attracted considerable interest for its promising applications as a photocatalyst and as catalyst support, as well as in gas sensors

• [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The catalytic activity can be enhanced by the presence of defects, such as oxygen vacancies (Ov), Ti interstitials (Tiint) [8], and crystal steps. TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor because of these defects. In addition, reactive oxygen species, such as OH and H2O2 (compounds with

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• ; nanoarchitectures; photocatalysts; titanium dioxide; zinc dioxide; Review Introduction: immobilization of nanoscale TiO2 and ZnO on clay minerals Nanoarchitectonics is a term coined by Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), which refers to the nanoscale design of complex materials through a deep

• silicates showing diverse structural arrangements and morphologies (Figure 1) with topologies able to accommodate a variety of NPs of semiconductors such as TiO2 and ZnO. TiO2 and, to a minor extent, ZnO NPs in the form of anatase and wurtzite phases (Figure 1E and 1F, respectively), are semiconducting

• are more efficient as photocatalysts than the corresponding bulk TiO2 and ZnO powders when they are present as NPs. This fact could be simply explained by the fact that the smaller particles normally have a larger surface-to-volume ratio. Many studies have focused on the photocatalytic activities of

Revisiting semicontinuous silver films as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates

• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Małgorzata Norek,
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz and
• Piotr Nyga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1048–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.105

• -structured surfaces made of glass [25][26], GaN [27][28][29], Si [30], TiO2 [31], Al2O3 [32], Ti [33], polymers [34], or planar surfaces coated with nano/microspheres resulting in metal film on nanospheres MFON [35][36], and Au nanocrescents on a monolayer of polystyrene nanospheres [37]. Additionally

Tailoring the stability/aggregation of one-dimensional TiO₂(B)/titanate nanowires using surfactants

• Atiđa Selmani,
• Johannes Lützenkirchen,
• Kristina Kučanda,
• Dario Dabić,
• Engelbert Redel,
• Ida Delač Marion,
• Damir Kralj,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin and
• Maja Dutour Sikirić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1024–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.103

• Zagreb, Croatia 10.3762/bjnano.10.103 Abstract The increased utilization of one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 and titanate nanowires (TNWs) in various applications was the motivation behind studying their stability in this work, given that stability greatly influences both the success of the application and the

• . Keywords: 1D nanomaterials; cationic surfactants; stability; surface complexation model; titanate nanowires; Introduction Among the extensive variety of metal oxide nanomaterials, titanium dioxide nanomaterials (TNMs) (e.g., anatase, rutile, TiO2(B) and titanate) have attracted considerable attention

• different solution and interfacial behavior compared to corresponding conventional monomeric surfactants [32][33][34]. The interaction of gemini surfactants with solid (nano)surfaces such as clay [35], calcium phosphate [36], silica [37][38][39][40], TiO2 [41], ZnO [42] and carbon NTs [43] have been

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• in cells that had been exposed to either PCL- or PLLA-NPs with PLLA-NPs eliciting a slightly more prominent effect. Compared to this, TiO2-NPs caused increases in phosphorylation of Akt and all three MAPKs followed by activation of NF-κB [36]. Guo et al. demonstrated that Si-NP exposure induced

Rapid, ultraviolet-induced, reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic surfaces

• Yunlu Pan,
• Wenting Kong,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 866–873, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.87

• switching and extreme wettability changes upon ultraviolet (UV) illumination were investigated. TiO2 nanoparticles were modified in solutions of trimethoxy(alkyl)silane, and the suspensions were sprayed on glass substrates. For such samples, the water contact angle (WCA) was shown to transition from a

• illumination can be confirmed. It was found that the presence of trimethoxy(alkyl)silane in the TiO2–trimethoxy(alkyl)silane coating served to speed up the super-wettability transition time from superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity, but also limited the number of wettability recycle times. With this

• understanding, the effect of the trimethoxy(alkyl)silane concentration on the number of recycle cycles was investigated. Keywords: superhydrophilic surfaces; superhydrophobic surfaces; switchable wettability; TiO2; trimethoxy(alkyl)silane; UV illumination; Introduction Wettability is an important property of