9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Monika Ozga,
• Katarzyna Gwozdz,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 766–774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.60

• research groups. This technology was invented in the 1970s by Tuomo Suntola from Finland [4]. Thanks to the unique properties of this technology, materials produced by ALD quickly found a number of applications in PV. For example, ultrathin films of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) are used to passivate silicon

• during manufacture [5]. Moreover, thin films of zinc oxide, aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO), and/or gallium-doped ZnO (GZO) have been successfully used in organic [6], perovskite [7], and CIGS [8] solar cells. Thanks to excellent electrical and optical parameters of AZO and GZO, these films are

• inexpensive alternatives for indium tin oxide (ITO) [9]. In this work, we used ALD to deposit zinc oxide nanoseeds, magnesium-doped zinc oxide (MZO) layers and aluminium-doped zinc oxide films. We thus continue our interest on photovoltaic structures based on thin films of ZnO. Recently, there have been

Gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene precursors for focused electron beam-induced deposition

• Cristiano Glessi,
• Aya Mahgoub,
• Cornelis W. Hagen and
• Mats Tilset

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 257–269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.21

• mounted on a custom-built heater [38] shown in Figure 2 and crystals of the precursor were placed directly on the substrate. The low volatility of the compounds required heating above the maximum allowable temperature of a standard GIS to effectively sublime the material. An aluminium plate covered the

• from the bottom of an aluminium plate (9.5 × 9.5 × 1 mm3). The plate lies directly on the 10 × 10 mm2 silicon substrate, covering some precursor crystals positioned on the substrate, and is kept in place with vacuum-compatible Kapton tape. Only small quantities are needed to test a precursor, and a

ZnO and MXenes as electrode materials for supercapacitor devices

• Ameen Uddin Ammar,
• Ipek Deniz Yildirim,
• Feray Bakan and
• Emre Erdem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 49–57, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.4

• biocompatibility, photothermal efficiency, low Seebeck coefficient, as well as good conductivity. They synthesized tantalum carbide MXene sheets from a tantalum aluminum carbide (Ta4AlC3) MAX phase through etching the intermediate aluminium with the aid of hydrofluoric acid (HF). Analysis of the synthesized

Atomic layer deposited films of Al₂O₃ on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes: stability and barrier properties

• Hana Krýsová,
• Michael Neumann-Spallart,
• Hana Tarábková,
• Pavel Janda,
• Ladislav Kavan and
• Josef Krýsa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 24–34, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.2

• semiconducting electrodes, such as ZnO. Aluminium oxide is another promising candidate for this task. It is amphoteric but insoluble in aqueous media at a neutral pH value [8][9]. ALD oxide layers, including Al2O3, were used as barrier coatings on copper to protect against corrosion in 0.1 M NaCl [10]. As

• identical deposition cycles. Trimethylaluminium (TMA) and water (both from Strem Chemicals, Inc.) were used as precursors. The temperature range for all the organometallic aluminium precursors was 30–300 °C [17]. The deposition of Al2O3 was performed at 300 °C, as recommended [4]. The pulse of the TMA

• precursor was 0.1 s with a purge time of 5 s and the pulse of H2O was 0.1 s with a purge time of 10 s. TMA and water were maintained at 22 °C. Nitrogen (99.999%, Linde) was used as a carrier gas. The deposition of aluminium oxide films on silicon or FTO was carried out by performing 30, 60, 120, and 200

Plant growth regulation by seed coating with films of alginate and auxin-intercalated layered double hydroxides

• Vander A. de Castro,
• Valber G. O. Duarte,
• Danúbia A. C. Nobre,
• Geraldo H. Silva,
• Vera R. L. Constantino,
• Frederico G. Pinto,
• Willian R. Macedo and
• Jairo Tronto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1082–1091, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.93

• growth. This work describes (i) the synthesis and characterization of a zinc–aluminium LDH intercalated with NAA (ZnAl-NAA-LDH); (ii) the preparation a hybrid films for bean seed coating (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) containing a mixture of sodium alginate and ZnAl-NAA-LDH; (iii) bioassays with the coated

• °C (mass loss of 9.6%) and the release of a fragment with m/z 18 suggests sample dehydration. The second step from 155 °C up to about 260 °C (mass loss of 9.1% and m/z 18) is assigned to the dehydroxylation of the zinc–aluminium LDH layers [27]. Between 260 and 500 °C, the sample loses about 38% of

Microwave photon detection by an Al Josephson junction

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Anton A. Yablokov,
• Igor V. Rakut,
• Victor O. Zbrozhek and
• Leonid S. Kuzmin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 960–965, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.80

• Novgorod, Russia Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden 10.3762/bjnano.11.80 Abstract An aluminium Josephson junction (JJ), with a critical current suppressed by a factor of three compared with the maximal

• through the JJ is observed, which resembles the differentiation between N and N + 1 photon absorption. Keywords: aluminium; Josephson junction; microwaves; phase diffusion; photon counter; switching current distribution; Introduction Currently, an important problem is the creation of single-photon

• -photon counter described in [4]. We study the possibility of detecting photons in the gigahertz frequency range using an aluminium Josephson junction with a suppressed critical current. The main requirement to this counter is an extremely large lifetime (thousands of seconds), orders of magnitude larger

A set of empirical equations describing the observed colours of metal–anodic aluminium oxide–Al nanostructures

• Cristina V. Manzano,
• Jakob J. Schwiedrzik,
• Gerhard Bürki,
• Laszlo Pethö,
• Johann Michler and
• Laetitia Philippe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 798–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.64

• .11.64 Abstract Structural colours have received a lot of attention regarding the reproduction of the vivid colours found in nature. In this study, metal–anodic aluminium oxide (AAO)–Al nanostructures were deposited using a two-step anodization and sputtering process to produce self-ordered anodic

• aluminium oxide films and a metal layer (8 nm Cr and 25, 17.5 and 10 nm of Au), respectively. AAO films of different thickness were anodized and the Yxy values (Y is the luminance value, and x and y are the chromaticity values) were obtained via reflectance measurements. An empirical model based on the

• thickness and porosity of the nanostructures was determined, which describes a gamut of colours. The proposed mathematical model can be applied in different fields, such as wavelength absorbers, RGB (red, green, blue) display devices, as well as chemical or optical sensors. Keywords: anodic aluminium oxide

Structural optical and electrical properties of a transparent conductive ITO/Al–Ag/ITO multilayer contact

• Aliyu Kabiru Isiyaku,
• Ahmad Hadi Ali and
• Nafarizal Nayan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 695–702, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.57

• for transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films due to its good optical and electrical properties. Improving the optoelectronic properties of ITO films with reduced thickness is crucial and quite challenging. ITO-based multilayer films with an aluminium–silver (Al–Ag) interlayer (ITO/Al–Ag/ITO) and a

• deposition of ITO films. Aluminium (Al) and silver (Ag) targets of 99.999% purity were purchased and used for the deposition of the Al–Ag interlayer between top and bottom ITO layers. Silicon wafers [Si(100), n-type, phosphorous, 1–10 Ω·cm and 525 ± 25 μm] or commercial soda-lime glass (for optical

Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic performance of heterostructured CuO–ZnO-loaded composite nanofiber membranes

• Wei Fang,
• Liang Yu and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 631–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.50

• needle tip to collector were, respectively, maintained at 20 kV and 18 cm. The electrospinning experiments were carried out at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C) and a relative humidity of (55 ± 5%), and the electrospun Cu(Ac)2/Zn(Ac)2/PVDF/PAN CNFMs were collected and carefully peeled off from the aluminium

Identification of physicochemical properties that modulate nanoparticle aggregation in blood

• Ludovica Soddu,
• Duong N. Trinh,
• Eimear Dunne,
• Dermot Kenny,
• Giorgia Bernardini,
• Ida Kokalari,
• Arianna Marucco,
• Marco P. Monopoli and
• Ivana Fenoglio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 550–567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.44

• microscopy (SEM), using a Zeiss Evo 50XVP (Assing) instrument. CNPs and SNPs suspensions were diluted up to 0.05 mg/mL in ultrapure water. A volume of 20 μL of the diluted suspensions was mounted on aluminium stubs using double-sided adhesive carbon tape and silicon wafers. The samples were dried overnight

Poly(1-vinylimidazole) polyplexes as novel therapeutic gene carriers for lung cancer therapy

• Gayathri Kandasamy,
• Elena N. Danilovtseva,
• Vadim V. Annenkov and
• Uma Maheswari Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 354–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.26

• nanoparticles and of the PVI–siRNA polyplex were recorded using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC, Polyma 214, Netzsch, Germany) in the temperature range of 0–300 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere at a scan rate of 5 °C·min−1. The samples were placed in an aluminium pan with lid, which also served as the

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

• PEO-PAsp micelles [146]. A typical recent example describes the introduction of benzylglycidyl ether groups on the hydrophobic backbone of polylactide, in order to improve the loading of aluminium phthalocyanine AlClPc [45]. Using a peptide backbone is another elegant and powerful means to optimize

Self-assembly of a terbium(III) 1D coordination polymer on mica

• Quentin Evrard,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Felix Houard,
• Guillaume Calvez,
• Yan Suffren,
• Carole Daiguebonne,
• Olivier Guillou,
• Andrea Caneschi,
• Matteo Mannini and
• Kevin Bernot

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2440–2448, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.234

• tetrahedrons with iron oxides or by the substitution of the aluminium ions in the octahedral positions of the mica 2D network [26]. Consequently, the free substrate may have a significant magnetic response that could be of the same order of magnitude as that of the deposited material. This is the reason why

• on the mica surface that can lead to the formation of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) when mica is air-cleaved. Recent findings [32][33][34][35] show that the mechanism of K+ depletion from air-cleaved mica is not fully known but resembles the one observed on aluminium oxide [36], iron oxide [37] or

Targeted therapeutic effect against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with a CuFe₂O₄/silica/cisplatin nanocomposite formulation

• B. Rabindran Jermy,
• Vijaya Ravinayagam,
• Widyan A. Alamoudi,
• Dana Almohazey,
• Hatim Dafalla,
• Lina Hussain Allehaibi,
• Abdulhadi Baykal,
• Muhammet S. Toprak and
• Thirunavukkarasu Somanathan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2217–2228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.214

• and Methods HYPS was purchased from Superior Silica, USA. Cu(NO3)2·3H2O, Fe(NO3)3·9H2O, cisplatin and aluminium mesocellular foam with a high surface area of 539 m2/g and large aperture pore size of 14.7 nm was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. Silicalite with a surface area of 313 m2/g was prepared in

Ultrathin Ni_1−xCo_xS₂ nanoflakes as high energy density electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors

• Xiaoxiang Wang,
• Teng Wang,
• Rusen Zhou,
• Lijuan Fan,
• Shengli Zhang,
• Feng Yu,
• Tuquabo Tesfamichael,
• Liwei Su and
• Hongxia Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2207–2216, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.213

• supported by aluminium SEM sample stages. Chemical composition and valence states of each element in the material are further confirmed by using XPS. The high-resolution XPS spectra confirm the existence of nickel, cobalt, and sulfur. After fitting the XPS with the Gaussian method, the HRXPS spectrum of Ni

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

• confirmed by steady-state optical spectroscopy. Photovoltaic cells with one-dimensional C60 nanorods as active layer sandwiched by an indium tin oxide anode and an aluminium cathode exhibited enhanced photovoltaic capabilities. It also led to a significant enhancement of photogenerated charge carriers as

A biomimetic nanofluidic diode based on surface-modified polymeric carbon nitride nanotubes

• Kai Xiao,
• Baris Kumru,
• Lu Chen,
• Lei Jiang,
• Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt and
• Markus Antonietti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1316–1323, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.130

• systems and the generation of blue energy from salinity gradients [23][24]. We fabricated a carbon nitride nanotube membrane (CNNM) via an anodic aluminium oxide (AAO)-templated vapor deposition–polymerization process. Subsequently, the CNNMs were modified with 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonic acid

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

• ), montmorillonite (B), sepiolite (C), halloysite nanotubes (HNT) (D), and the metal oxides, anatase (E) and wurtzite (F), obtained by applying the VESTA software using the following color codes: silicon oxide tetrahedron – blue: Si, red: O. In kaolinite and halloysite – aluminium oxide-hydroxide octahedron: green

• , red: O; magnesium oxide octahedron: brown, red: O. In montmorillonite – Al,Mg octahedron: pale blue; Ti: pink; Zn: gray. Panel D shows the nanotubular morphology of HNT resulting from the rolling of layers of 1:1 aluminium phyllosilicate with the same structural arrangement as kaolinite. TEM images of

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

• chemicals Titanium dioxide (TiO2, rutile) with a diameter of ≈25 nm and aluminium dioxide (Al2O3) with a diameter of ≈30 nm were acquired from Shanghai Aladdin Bio-Chem Technology Corporation (Shanghai, China). 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorooctyl(trimethoxy)silane (PFOS) was obtained from Shanghai Macklin

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

• copper(II) nitrate trihydrate [(CuNO3)2·3H2O] was added to this solution and stirred for further 30 min. The blended solution was loaded into a 10 mL disposable syringe with a needle diameter of 0.5 mm, pumped at a speed of 0.3 mL h−1 using a syringe pump. Aluminium foil was used as a collector, and the

Outstanding chain-extension effect and high UV resistance of polybutylene succinate containing amino-acid-modified layered double hydroxides

• Adam A. Marek,
• Vincent Verney,
• Christine Taviot-Gueho,
• Grazia Totaro,
• Laura Sisti,
• Annamaria Celli and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 684–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.68

• study reports the beneficial role of PHE interleaved into LDH as a self-healing agent for polymer coating in corrosion inhibition for aluminium substrates [16]. Due to the presence of benzene (for PHE) or the heterocyclic imidazole ring (for HIS), both organic molecules should absorb in the short to

• to a photodegradation process, showing their resistance to UV irradiation. Experimental Materials and reagents Aluminium nitrate Al(NO3)3·9H2O, magnesium nitrate Mg(NO3)2·6H2O, sodium nitrate NaNO3, sodium hydroxide, the amino acids L-histidine (HIS) and L-phenylalanine (PHE) were purchased from

Topochemical engineering of composite hybrid fibers using layered double hydroxides and abietic acid

• Liji Sobhana,
• Lokesh Kesavan,
• Jan Gustafsson and
• Pedro Fardim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 589–605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.60

• nitrate hexahydrate Mg(NO3)2·6H2O, aluminium nitrate nonahydrate Al(NO3)3·9H2O, ethanol C2H5OH) and sodium carbonate were procured from Sigma-Aldrich. All these chemicals were used as received without any further purification. Methods The present work employed some protocols that were already tried out in

Ceria/polymer nanocontainers for high-performance encapsulation of fluorophores

• Kartheek Katta,
• Dmitry Busko,
• Yuri Avlasevich,
• Katharina Landfester,
• Stanislav Baluschev and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 522–530, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.53

• , Alfa Aesar, 99%), and 2,2'-azobis(2-methylbutyronitrile) (V59, Wako) were used as received. Styrene was passed over an aluminium oxide column to remove the stabilizer before use. Synthesis of the dye and preparation of its stock solution N,N’-(2,6-Diisopropylphenyl)-1,6,9,13-tetrakis[4-(1,1,3,3

Nanocomposite–parylene C thin films with high dielectric constant and low losses for future organic electronic devices

• Marwa Mokni,
• Gianluigi Maggioni,
• Abdelkader Kahouli,
• Sara M. Carturan,
• Walter Raniero and
• Alain Sylvestre

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 428–441, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.42

• of nanometers of parylene C film are deposited firstly as an electrical passivation layer onto the metallic substrate (silicon, gold or aluminium). During this step, the RF-magnetron sputtering source is turned on in order to avoid the deposition of parylene C on the Ag target surface, but a shutter

Advanced scanning probe lithography using anatase-to-rutile transition to create localized TiO₂ nanorods

• Julian Kalb,
• Vanessa Knittel and
• Lukas Schmidt-Mende

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 412–418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.40

• ) 950 A2 was used as an electron resist and spin-coated at 3000 rpm for 90 s with a ramp of 1000 rpm/s. Subsequently, the resist was dried at 120 °C on a hotplate and prebaked at 170 °C in an oven for 30 min. The 30 nm thick resist layer was covered with an 8–10 nm thick aluminium film, which was

• aperture of 10 μm. The aluminium was dissolved in a 0.5 molar NaOH bath within 12 s. The samples were developed in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) for 25 s and cleaned with isopropanol. In case of electron-beam lithography, a polycrystalline rutile TiO2 films was fabricated as a seed layer for the