Electrostatic force microscopy for the accurate characterization of interphases in nanocomposites

• Diana El Khoury,
• Richard Arinero,
• Jean-Charles Laurentie,
• Mikhaël Bechelany,
• Michel Ramonda and
• Jérôme Castellon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2999–3012, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.279

• explain the apparent SiO2 permittivity variations among the samples. Our experimental data indicate that the SiO2 permittivity is higher than the standard value when SiO2 is placed on the sample surface, but not when it is used as an interphase. As the experiments were performed under ambient conditions

In situ characterization of nanoscale contaminations adsorbed in air using atomic force microscopy

• Jesús S. Lacasa,
• Lisa Almonte and
• Jaime Colchero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2925–2935, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.271

• 46556, USA 10.3762/bjnano.9.271 Abstract Under ambient conditions, surfaces are rapidly modified and contaminated by absorbance of molecules and a variety of nanoparticles that drastically change their chemical and physical properties. The atomic force microscope tip–sample system can be considered a

• to access the state of contamination of real surfaces under ambient conditions using advanced atomic force microscopy techniques. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; cantilever; contact potential; electrostatic forces; force spectroscopy; Hamaker constant; Kelvin probe microscopy; surface

• surfaces allow for a detailed comparison between theory and experiments triggering an immense advance of surface chemistry. While UHV conditions are experimentally and theoretically appealing, most processes occur under ambient conditions, where it is much more difficult to prepare well-defined surfaces

Charged particle single nanometre manufacturing

• Philip D. Prewett,
• Cornelis W. Hagen,
• Claudia Lenk,
• Steve Lenk,
• Marcus Kaestner,
• Tzvetan Ivanov,
• Ahmad Ahmad,
• Ivo W. Rangelow,
• Xiaoqing Shi,
• Stuart A. Boden,
• Alex P. G. Robinson,
• Dongxu Yang,
• Sangeetha Hari,
• Marijke Scotuzzi and
• Ejaz Huq

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2855–2882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.266

• intense electron irradiation if the lithography takes place under ambient conditions. Unlike tSPL, FE-eSPL structuring is a cold process due to the low power density which has advantages when patterning over thin active device regions, which is common in R&D applications. In this respect, FE-eSPL avoids

Controlling surface morphology and sensitivity of granular and porous silver films for surface-enhanced Raman scattering, SERS

• Sherif Okeil and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2813–2831, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.263

• , it enables a quick chemical modification under ambient conditions in the gas phase [64][66][67][68][69][70][71]. Thus, plasma treatment could present a straightforward and affordable alternative to the electrochemical roughening of silver and can be even used as a technological reliable alternative

Low cost tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fabricated by two-step electrochemical etching of 125 µm diameter gold wires

• Antonino Foti,
• Francesco Barreca,
• Enza Fazio,
• Cristiano D’Andrea,
• Paolo Matteini,
• Onofrio Maria Maragò and
• Pietro Giuseppe Gucciardi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2718–2729, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.254

• ] and shear-force microscopy (ShFM) [15] allow for chemical imaging of nanostructured materials, surfaces and (bio)molecular layers with a spatial resolution of 4–10 nm in ambient conditions [15][16], and can even reach atomic-level sensitivity in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) [17][18][19]. Excellent reviews

• require sample pretreatment, (ii) it can be operated in ambient conditions, liquid environments, as well as in UHV and at low temperatures, (iii) it combines the surface morphology information with the chemical information, (iv) optical excitation powers are virtually unlimited, and (v) it can attain

Enhancement of X-ray emission from nanocolloidal gold suspensions under double-pulse excitation

• Wei-Hung Hsu,
• Frances Camille P. Masim,
• Armandas Balčytis,
• Hsin-Hui Huang,
• Tetsu Yonezawa,
• Aleksandr A. Kuchmizhak,
• Saulius Juodkazis and
• Koji Hatanaka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2609–2617, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.242

• strong light-field enhancement of about four-times is expected at the gold–water interface, where the ENZ region is created. New possibilities can be explored in applications by using the proposed hard X-ray generation under ambient conditions. Creation and localization in time and space of the high

ZnO-nanostructure-based electrochemical sensor: Effect of nanostructure morphology on the sensing of heavy metal ions

• Marina Krasovska,
• Vjaceslavs Gerbreders,
• Irena Mihailova,
• Andrejs Ogurcovs,
• Eriks Sledevskis,
• Andrejs Gerbreders and
• Pavels Sarajevs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2421–2431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.227

• to 7.6. In the time interval between the end of the growth process of nanostructures and the performance of electrochemical measurements, the electrodes were stored under ambient conditions. Characterization The surface morphology of the processed samples was investigated using a scanning electron

Directional light beams by design from electrically driven elliptical slit antennas

• Shuiyan Cao,
• Eric Le Moal,
• Quanbo Jiang,
• Aurélien Drezet,
• Serge Huant,
• Jean-Paul Hugonin,
• Gérald Dujardin and
• Elizabeth Boer-Duchemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2361–2371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.221

• microscope (Nikon Instruments, Eclipse Ti-U) equipped with a nanopositioning stage and an oil-immersion, high numerical aperture (NA = 1.49), 100× objective lens (Nikon CFI Apochromat TIRF objective). The STM is operated in air under ambient conditions [52]. STM tips are electrochemically etched tungsten

Nanoscale characterization of the temporary adhesive of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

• Ana S. Viana and
• Romana Santos

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2277–2286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.212

• at a scan rate of ≈1.0 Hz, in ambient conditions (≈21 °C), using a ScanAsyst-air probe (Bruker) with a spring constant of 0.44 N/m. Images obtained in filtered artificial seawater were carried out in a fluid cell using either a ScanAsyst-fluid probe (Bruker) with a spring constant of 1.12 N/m or a

The role of adatoms in chloride-activated colloidal silver nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman scattering enhancement

• Nicolae Leopold,
• Andrei Stefancu,
• Krisztian Herman,
• István Sz. Tódor,
• Stefania D. Iancu,
• Vlad Moisoiu and
• Loredana F. Leopold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2236–2247, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.208

• described below. After synthesis, all colloids were stored in ambient conditions. Silver nanoparticles obtained by citrate reduction (cit-AgNPs) To obtain the cit-AgNPs, 17 mg of silver nitrate was solved in 98 mL ultrapure water and heated to boiling. Then, 0.020 g of citrate solved in 2 mL ultrapure water

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• stability, the cells retaining their characteristics after 30 days of exposure to ambient conditions (relative humidity of 50–60%) [160]. The structure and characteristics of (MA)2KBiCl6 perovskite [166] are very similar to MAPbCl3, however, the high bandgap of this material (3.04 eV) is more suitable for

• UV photodetectors than for the photovoltaic applications. The organo–inorganic iodobismuthates C5H6NBiI4, C6H8NBiI4 and (C6H13N)2BiI5 displayed bandgaps of around 2 eV and stability under the ambient conditions [171][172]. Aromatic cations were found to contribute to the conduction band of these

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• 600 mV. The light source for sample irradiation was a green laser diode (wavelength = 500 nm, power density = 1.45 mW/mm2). Photo-assisted KPFM measurements were also performed in ambient conditions, with a Bruker multimode microscope controlled by a Nanoscope III unit coupled to a Nanonis control

• TiO2/P3HT-COOH compared to bare TiO2 confirms this mechanism. Figure 5a shows a KPFM height image obtained on a TiO2/P3HT-COOH deposit in ambient conditions in the dark. While the top of the TiO2 columns is visible, topographical features cannot be assigned to the presence of P3HT, probably because the

The structural and chemical basis of temporary adhesion in the sea star Asterina gibbosa

• Birgit Lengerer,
• Marie Bonneel,
• Mathilde Lefevre,
• Elise Hennebert,
• Philippe Leclère,
• Emmanuel Gosselin,
• Peter Ladurner and
• Patrick Flammang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2071–2086, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.196

• Metrology A/S) was used to determine the roughness parameters from the confocal images. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) Footprints were collected on clean microscope glass slides, rinsed with MilliQ water and air dried. The footprints were then imaged in air and under ambient conditions with a Dimension Icon

Recent highlights in nanoscale and mesoscale friction

• Andrea Vanossi,
• Dirk Dietzel,
• Andre Schirmeisen,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Marcin Kisiel,
• Shigeki Kawai and
• Nicola Manini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1995–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.190

• ]. Only recently, several systems have been discovered in which structural superlubricity can be observed under ambient conditions. For graphene stacks the self-retracting motion was found to remain a robust feature even under ambient conditions, which indicates that contamination cannot enter the

• interface [50][51]. Moreover, recent studies have highlighted that structural lubricity can also be observed for nanoparticle systems under ambient conditions. More specifically, a sublinear dependence of friction on the area was found both for gold [47] (Figure 2) and platinum particles [48] on HOPG. Ab

• contact, with increased friction. It is obvious that this contamination effect is one of the major limitations for large-scale applications of structural superlubricity. However, Cihan et al. achieved structural superlubricity of gold islands (4000–130,000 nm2) on graphite even under ambient conditions

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

• modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) methods under ambient conditions to investigate how these methods can measure quantitative variations in the local contact potential difference (CPD). KPFM is a scanning force microsopcy (SFM) method that correlates the local

• [23]. However, such measurements are difficult to interpret as it is unclear what the expected workfunction contrast is. This is particularly important for measurements under ambient conditions, where adsorption layers can distort the CPD contrast [28]. In our study we follow an idea by Ziegler et al

• techniques under ambient conditions. We compare AM-KPFM in lift mode, on the second eigenmode and off resonance, as well as FM-KPFM with double sideband detection and heterodyne FM-KPFM. Theory KPFM [29] utilizes a conductive SFM tip as Kelvin probe [30] to map electrical surface potential variations on a

SO₂ gas adsorption on carbon nanomaterials: a comparative study

• Deepu J. Babu,
• Divya Puthusseri,
• Frank G. Kühl,
• Sherif Okeil,
• Michael Bruns,
• Manfred Hampe and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1782–1792, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.169

• found in [45]. Under near-ambient conditions, activated carbon Norit R1 Extra exhibits the highest SO2 adsorption capacity. The significantly higher SO2 adsorption capacity for activated carbon compared to other adsorbents can be attributed to the presence of micropores. As indicated by the t-plot

• to its layered structure. Consistent with the theoretical predictions of Furmaniak et al. [42], the influence of oxygen functionalities is found to be more pronounced under near-ambient conditions where the relative pressure P/P0 is less than 0.3. In our TEM measurements of SWNTs, we have seen the

• conclusion, the SO2 adsorption characteristics of different carbon nanomaterials were investigated and compared with an activated standard carbon adsorbent. Under near-ambient conditions, the activated carbon Norit R1 Extra exhibits significantly higher SO2 uptake than all the other adsorbents investigated

Controllable one-pot synthesis of uniform colloidal TiO₂ particles in a mixed solvent solution for photocatalysis

• Jong Tae Moon,
• Seung Ki Lee and
• Ji Bong Joo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1715–1727, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.163

• the reaction mixture was ≈120 mL. The mixture was stirred for 2 h under ambient conditions and the white precipitate was isolated by centrifugation. The white precipitate was washed with ethanol and with DI water a couple of times and dried under vacuum to obtain amorphous spherical TiO2 particles

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

• changes. In Figure 1c–f we show the impact of different (tip-induced) voltage stresses applied under ambient conditions on two electrodeposited cathodes, i.e., MnO2 before (Figure 1c,d) and after lithium insertion (LMO, Figure 1e,f). From the resulting modifications of the current maps (Figure 1d,f) it is

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

• •− and •OOH) decompose the organic pollutants to less harmful compounds like H2O and CO2 (Equation 9). Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) The semiconductor-mediated photocatalytic reduction of aqueous Cr(VI) has also recently gained tremendous importance because of its simple operation under ambient

• conditions, low cost, high efficiency and reusability. It uses renewable and pollution-free solar energy and produces minimal secondary waste without using toxic chemicals that follow the rules of green chemistry [59][60][61]. Various semiconductor photocatalysts such as CdS, ZnO, WO3, SnO2, and TiO2 have

An implementation of spin–orbit coupling for band structure calculations with Gaussian basis sets: Two-dimensional topological crystals of Sb and Bi

• Sahar Pakdel,
• Mahdi Pourfath and
• J. J. Palacios

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1015–1023, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.94

• those expectations closer to reality [33]. It was demonstrated that it is possible to isolate few or even single stable layers of antimonene, in ambient conditions. Moreover, new procedures such as liquid exfoliation and epitaxial growth methods were reported. Theoretical works on antimonene can be

Electro-optical interfacial effects on a graphene/π-conjugated organic semiconductor hybrid system

• Karolline A. S. Araujo,
• Luiz A. Cury,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Thales F. D. Fernandes,
• Luiz G. Cançado and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 963–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.90

• the sample remained grounded during the experiment. The PRA and PGf points refer to RA monolayer-covered and noncovered regions of the graphite microplate substrate, respectively. All the experiments were performed at ambient conditions. (b) Typical raw EFM image of the photo-assisted experiment. The

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

• qualitatively characterize the local dielectric distribution by adhesion mapping between a dielectric layer and a biased AFM probe is described. With this method we can simultaneously obtain the topographic and dielectric properties of the sample surface under ambient conditions without requiring reference

• fuel cells [41][42]. Results and Discussion A schematic diagram indicating the working principle of dielectric property mapping based on the adhesion force in the PF-QNM mode is shown in Figure 1. A dc voltage can be applied to the AFM tip in the PF-QNM mode under ambient conditions (Figure 1a). The

• AFM tip in PF-QNM mode is shown in Figure 2. The height images of a single-layered GO sheet, which was chemically reduced (thus named as CRGO) by saturated hydrazine vapour on a mica surface, showed little change when the AFM tip bias increased from 0 to 10 V under ambient conditions (room temperature

Facile chemical routes to mesoporous silver substrates for SERS analysis

• Elina A. Tastekova,
• Alexander Y. Polyakov,
• Anastasia E. Goldt,
• Alexander V. Sidorov,
• Alexandra A. Oshmyanskaya,
• Irina V. Sukhorukova,
• Dmitry V. Shtansky,
• Wolgang Grünert and
• Anastasia V. Grigorieva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 880–889, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.82

• due to the low redox potential of most of the metals, leading to fast oxidation or corrosion of metal sponges in ambient conditions. The oxidation stability of noble metals makes them more reliable as functional materials and thus materials such as porous silver, gold and platinum can be kept for a

• -colored product was washed out and dried in air at ambient conditions. A mesoporous Ag film was prepared in two steps using a magnetron sputtered silver film (thickness of 150 nm) as a precursor. The primary Ag film was deposited onto a thoroughly washed glass slide in argon using a magnetron Quorum

• washed with distilled water and dried in ambient conditions for 24 h. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied to characterize microstructure of the individual Ag or Ag2O nanostructures and films. The analysis was performed in using a NVision 40 microscope (Carl Zeiss) at 9 kV accelerating voltage

Comparative study of antibacterial properties of polystyrene films with TiO_x and Cu nanoparticles fabricated using cluster beam technique

• Vladimir N. Popok,
• Cesarino M. Jeppesen,
• Peter Fojan,
• Anna Kuzminova,
• Jan Hanuš and
• Ondřej Kylián

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 861–869, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.80

• antibacterial effect. Furthermore, Cu NPs under ambient conditions can easily lead to the formation of CuO, which also displays a direct toxicity for microorganisms [18]. They already disturb microorganisms when being in contact with the bacterial surface by reacting with proteins forming pores in the membrane

Towards the third dimension in direct electron beam writing of silver

• Katja Höflich,
• Jakub Mateusz Jurczyk,
• Katarzyna Madajska,
• Maximilian Götz,
• Luisa Berger,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Caspar Haverkamp,
• Iwona Szymanska and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 842–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.78

• resonant behavior in the visible range without suffering from losses due to interband transitions [20]. However, the coinage metal silver comes with some technical issues. It tends to react to silver sulfide under ambient conditions [21] and hence requires an encapsulation within the final device