Impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on purification and contamination of nematic liquid crystals

• Dmitrii Pavlovich Shcherbinin and
• Elena A. Konshina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2766–2770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.275

• about 0.1 wt %. LC2 was studied as a sample of LC that was contaminated during the utilization process. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (Plasmotherm, Moscow) were doped into LC1 and LC2. The nanoparticles were a mixture of anatase and rutile with an average particle size of 50 nm. Used NPs were obtained

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• suffers from two main drawbacks. First, due to its wide bandgap (Eg = 3.2 and 3.0 eV for anatase and rutile, respectively), TiO2 can only be activated by light with a wavelength of less than 390 nm to trigger the electron–hole separation. Second, TiO2 exhibits a low quantum efficiency due to the fast

• the (101) plane of anatase TiO2 and to the (100) plane of wurtzite CdSe, respectively. XRD analysis of CdSe, TiO2 and CdSe-NR-sensitized TiO2 is presented in Figure 2. For pure CdSe rods, all peaks could be indexed to the hexagonal wurtzite structure (JCPDS No 77-2307), which is in accordance with the

• previously described HR-TEM results (Figure 2a). For TiO2, the diffraction peaks at 2θ = 25.41, 37.98, 48.18, 54.12, 55.24, 62.93, 69.03, 70.42 and 75.17° can be indexed to the (111), (004), (200) (105), (211), (204), (310), (116) and (220) crystal planes of anatase TiO2 (JCPDS No 21-1272), while those

Synthesis and characterization of noble metal–titania core–shell nanostructures with tunable shell thickness

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Dariusz Zasada and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2083–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.208

• ][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. For many applications, however, the use of titanium dioxide in CSNs would be of much greater interest. Useful physicochemical properties of titanium dioxide in its crystalline forms, rutile and anatase, such as high refractive index and photocatalytic activity have led to its

• nanoparticles with diameter of less than 20 nm and to obtain thinner shells. In addition, studies will be dedicated to converting the titania shell of the synthesized CSNs to either crystalline titania (anatase, rutile or their mix) or perovskites and to testing the performance of such systems in various

Fabrication of hierarchically porous TiO₂ nanofibers by microemulsion electrospinning and their application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

• Jin Zhang,
• Yibing Cai,
• Xuebin Hou,
• Xiaofei Song,
• Pengfei Lv,
• Huimin Zhou and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1297–1306, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.131

• 500 °C for 2 h in air atmosphere. All the peaks can be indexed to anatase TiO2 (JCPDS, No. 21-1272). The diffraction peaks at 2θ = 25.281, 37.800, 48.049, 53.890, 55.060, 62.688, 70.309 and 75.029° correspond to the (101), (004), (200), (105), (211), (204), (220) and (215) reflections, respectively

• . It is notable that there was no peak of any other phase in Figure 3, thus confirming the pure phase of prepared porous TiO2 nanofibers. Considering that all the porous TiO2 nanofibers were calcined at 500 °C, all of them should be expected to be anatase TiO2. More importantly, among the various

• polymorphs of TiO2, the anatase polymorph possesses an open crystal structure resulting from the stacking of zigzag units, which would benefit the intercalation/deintercalation of Li+ ions. Figure 4 displays the surface SEM images of sample A1 (a), sample B1 (c), and sample C1 (e) as well as cross-sectional

High photocatalytic activity of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by photodeposition for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

• Shu Chin Lee,
• Hendrik O. Lintang and
• Leny Yuliati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 915–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.93

• in different opinions regarding the contribution of the Fe2O3. Since the impregnation method usually involves heat treatment, the properties of TiO2 such as the ratio of anatase/rutile, particle size, as well as specific surface area may be altered during this process and could influence the

• impregnation method. TiO2 (NT) exhibited diffraction peaks corresponding to the anatase phase (JCPDS file No. 21-1272), which were observed at 2θ of 25.35, 38.10, 48.05, 54.55, and 62.60°, corresponding to (101), (004), (200), (105), and (204) diffraction planes, respectively (see Supporting Information File 1

• , Figure S1). After heat treatment, the TiO2 (IM_T) sample showed improved crystallinity without any changes in the structural phase, which was found to be pure anatase. After addition of Fe species, the crystallinity of the Fe2O3/TiO2 (IM) nanocomposites did not change and was confirmed to be similar to

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• oriented attachment of nanoparticles and specific adsorption of the aminosilane on crystallographic faces of anatase nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were functionalized in situ and became hydrophobic as silanes reacted to form covalent bonds on the surface of TiO2. The versatility of the aqueous synthesis

• stable polymorph), brookite, and anatase [4]. Due to the differences in surface energy, anatase and brookite are more stable than rutile at nanosize, and anatase is more stable than brookite at even smaller sizes (generally below 15–30 nm) [5][6][7]. Surface modification of TiO2 nanoparticles, via core

• ]. Typically used precursors are titanium alkoxides where the formation of anatase nanocrystals occurs through hydrolysis and condensation [22]. To our knowledge there is only one work where in situ functionalization of TiO2 nanoparticles using solvothermal synthesis is reported. Koziej et al. used trimethoxy

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• ), (004), (200), (105), (211), (204), and (215) planes, respectively, confirming the formation of nanocrystalline anatase. This characteristic is essential from the point of view of application since the crystal structure of TiO2 significantly affects the photocatalytic activity [47]. The average

• crystallite size of anatase, calculated by applying the Scherrer equation to the major diffraction peak was found to be 21.8 nm. Besides, the TEM image of TiO2 nanoparticles (Figure 1a, inset) sustains that spherical TiO2 NPs with a relatively uniform size distribution (particle dimensions in the range of 25

• of the other inorganic components on the crystalline phase of TiO2. The presence of amorphous Si–O–Si linkages in titania nanoparticles lead to a decrease in the intensity and a broadening of the peak corresponding to the (101) plane of anatase. This finding suggests the formation of smaller anatase

Colorimetric gas detection by the varying thickness of a thin film of ultrasmall PTSA-coated TiO₂ nanoparticles on a Si substrate

• Urmas Joost,
• Andris Šutka,
• Meeri Visnapuu,
• Aile Tamm,
• Meeri Lembinen,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Kathriin Utt,
• Krisjanis Smits,
• Ergo Nõmmiste and
• Vambola Kisand

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 229–236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.25

• demonstrated that the NPs bound into the film were in the anatase crystal phase (see Figure 3b) and had good crystallinity. The main anatase Raman band (Eg) had slightly shifted from 144 cm−1 (the typical value for anatase TiO2 powders) to 151 cm−1. Such a shift has been explained by a small diameter (some

• bound with PTSA. (a) TEM images of TiO2 nanoparticles; (b) Raman spectrum of the NP-based thin film showing the existence of the anatase crystal phase (Eg band at 151 cm−1); (c) XPS overview spectrum demonstrating the presence of titanium, oxygen, carbon and sulfur in the NP-based thin film; (d) Ti 2p

Flexible photonic crystal membranes with nanoparticle high refractive index layers

• Torben Karrock,
• Moritz Paulsen and
• Martina Gerken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 203–209, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.22

• (IV) oxide, mixture of rutile and anatase, 33–37 wt % in H2O from Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; diameter < 150 nm; ≈21 nm primary particle size of starting nanopowder). It has a high refractive index of 2.8 (rutile) to 2.5 (anatase) in the visible spectrum at 632 nm. While a continuous

Laser irradiation in water for the novel, scalable synthesis of black TiO_x photocatalyst for environmental remediation

• Massimo Zimbone,
• Giuseppe Cacciato,
• Mohamed Boutinguiza,
• Vittorio Privitera and
• Maria Grazia Grimaldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 196–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.21

• decrease of the photo-activity. Despite some controversial debates in the literature in the past years (mainly regarding the potential activity of the amorphous phase), it has been recently reported that both the presence of an amorphous phase or different crystalline phases (i.e., anatase and rutile, as

Nanocrystalline TiO₂/SnO₂ heterostructures for gas sensing

• Barbara Lyson-Sypien,
• Anna Kusior,
• Mieczylaw Rekas,
• Jan Zukrowski,
• Marta Gajewska,
• Katarzyna Michalow-Mauke,
• Thomas Graule,
• Marta Radecka and
• Katarzyna Zakrzewska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 108–122, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.12

• experiments have been performed for H2 concentrations of 1–3000 ppm at 200–400 °C. The nanomaterials are well-crystallized, anatase TiO2, rutile TiO2 and cassiterite SnO2 polymorphic forms are present depending on the chemical composition of the powders. The crystallite sizes from XRD peak analysis are within

• diffractometer. Based on Rietveld refinement it was possible to determine the weight fractions of cassiterite SnO2, rutile TiO2 and anatase TiO2, the lattice constants and the crystallite sizes, dXRD. The 119Sn Mössbauer effect measurements were performed in transmission geometry using an MS-4 RENON spectrometer

• were found to be within a range of 54–62 m2·g−1, independent of the chemical composition. As it can be concluded from Table 3 and Figure 2, pure SnO2 exhibits the crystallographic structure of cassiterite, whereas in the case of pure TiO2 two polymorphic forms, anatase and rutile, are present with a

Diffusion of dilute gas in arrays of randomly distributed, vertically aligned, high-aspect-ratio cylinders

• Wojciech Szmyt,
• Carlos Guerra and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 64–73, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.7

• the coating of nanotubes or nanowires with thin films employing techniques such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD) [11] or atomic layer deposition (ALD) [12][13]. Our recent study constitutes an example of the coating of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) with monocrystalline anatase using

Nanostructured TiO₂-based gas sensors with enhanced sensitivity to reducing gases

• Wojciech Maziarz,
• Anna Kusior and
• Anita Trenczek-Zajac

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1718–1726, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.164

• TiO2-based sensing materials were investigated. 2D TiO2 thin films crystallized mainly in the form of rutile, while the flower-like 3D nanostructures as anatase. The sensor based on the 2D TiO2 showed the best performance for H2 detection, while the flower-like 3D nanostructures exhibited enhanced

• XRD patterns of nanostructured TiO2 layers are demonstrated in Figure 2. It can be observed that flower-like nanostructures crystallize in the form of anatase, with rutile as a secondary phase. Due to the extremely small tin dioxide nanoparticles, no cassiterite (SnO2) diffraction peaks can be

• oxygen-deficient Ti6O phase. The patterns related to the titanium substrate are also shown. The average crystallite size ≈40 nm for 2D nanomaterials (T30) was larger than that of the 3D structure: 11 and 13 nm for anatase and rutile, NS0 and NS1, respectively. The SEM images of the top- and side-views of

Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• Raman peaks at 145, 393 and 515 cm−1, which were attributed to the anatase phase of TiO2 [31], and two prominent peaks at around 282 and 303/310 cm−1, which can be attributed to crystalline Sb2S3 [32][33][34], see Figure 1, spectrum A and B. Also, the lower intensity peaks at 128 cm−1 [32], 155 cm−1 [32

• temperature of 340 °C, followed by annealing at 450 °C for 30 min in air to assure the formation of the anatase phase. The thickness of the TiO2 layer remained between 80 and 100 nm as estimated from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. For growing Sb2S3, the precursor solution was prepared inside a

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Piotr Olszowski,
• Res Jöhr,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Bartosz Such,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1642–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.156

• prototypical and commercial applications, TiO2 is used in powder form (the most common is Degussa P25). In such a nanopowder, both rutile and anatase forms are present. There is a huge discrepancy in the state of knowledge on different crystal forms of titanium dioxide. With respect to real applications, it is

• imperative to investigate the adsorption of organic dyes on different faces of anatase titania. Scanning probe microscopic studies provide excellent insight into the local environment of a single dye molecule, thereby illuminating the fundamental processes governing dye-sensitized photovoltaic devices. In

High antiviral effect of TiO₂·PL–DNA nanocomposites targeted to conservative regions of (−)RNA and (+)RNA of influenza A virus in cell culture

• Asya S. Levina,
• Marina N. Repkova,
• Elena V. Bessudnova,
• Ekaterina I. Filippova,
• Natalia A. Mazurkova and
• Valentina F. Zarytova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1166–1173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.108

• noncovalently immobilized on TiO2 nanoparticles (≈5 nm in diameter) in the anatase form [17] due to the affinity of polylysine to the TiO2 surface. This affinity can be explained in all likelihood by the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged amino groups of PL and the negatively charged TiO2

• : RPMI-1640 medium; antibiotics (BioloT, Russia); trypsin, L-glutamine; PBS buffer (Sigma, USA); and fetal calf serum (Gibco, USA). TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized in the crystal form (anatase) as described in [17]. Сhicken erythrocytes, MDCK cells, and influenza A virus strains Aichi/2/68 (H3N2), A

• )-containing oligonucleotides (PL–DNA) were synthesized as described in [17]. The TiO2·PL–DNA nanocomposites were prepared by mixing PL–DNA and anatase nanoparticles (≈5 nm diameter) at room temperature for 20–30 min. The yield of the immobilization was ≈95%, with the capacity of the nanocomposites for

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• -008-2083 card) and nanocrystalline anatase (space group I41/amd, 98-015-4604 card), were confirmed. For Bi2O3 nanoparticles, the diffraction lines indicated the tetragonal structure of β-Bi2O3 (space group P−421c, 98-005-2732 card). In the case of SiO2 nanoparticles, a wide and blurred diffraction

Fast diffusion of silver in TiO₂ nanotube arrays

• Wanggang Zhang,
• Yiming Liu,
• Diaoyu Zhou,
• Hui Wang,
• Wei Liang and
• Fuqian Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1129–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.105

• structures, TiO2 nanotubes (TNT) seem to be an ideal candidate for the applications in energy storage and photovoltaics. The intrinsic poor electric conductivity and large bandgaps (approx. 3.4 eV for anatase TiO2 [18] and approx. 3.0 eV for rutile TiO2 [19][20]) have limited the applications of TiO2 of low

• treatment. From the HRTEM (high-resolution TEM) analysis shown in Figure 3c, a width of 3.52 Å between neighboring lattice fringes is observed in agreement with the (101) lattice spacing of anatase TiO2 [30][31]. This result reveals the highly crystalline nature of the TiO2 nanotubes in accord with the SAED

• correspond to the spacings of the (101), (004), (200), (105), and (215) crystal lattice planes of the anatase phase of TiO2 in accord with the values in the standard card (JCPDS NO.21-1272). No diffraction peaks for the rutile phase of TiO2 are detectable. The diffraction peaks with the 2θ values of ca. 38.1

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• conducted with commercial titanium(IV) oxide powder (Aeroxide® P25, Evonik, CAS-No. 13463-67-7), which consists of an approximately 80/20 w/w rutile/anatase mixture. MB (Merck, KGaA), a model substance in dye wastewater research [4][7], was chosen as the organic compound in the photocatalysis. The

Influence of wide band gap oxide substrates on the photoelectrochemical properties and structural disorder of CdS nanoparticles grown by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

• Mikalai V. Malashchonak,
• Alexander V. Mazanik,
• Olga V. Korolik,
• Еugene А. Streltsov and
• Anatoly I. Kulak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2252–2262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.231

• 105 ± 12 m2/g for ZnO. The specific surface area estimated from SEM images for the TiO2 nanotube array is about 20 m2/g. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis demonstrates that In2O3, ZnO, and TiO2 crystallize in the cubic, hexagonal, and anatase modifications, respectively, after the heat treatment

Electrochemical coating of dental implants with anodic porous titania for enhanced osteointegration

• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Alberto Rebaudi,
• Pierpaolo Cortella,
• Alberto Diaspro and
• Marco Salerno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2183–2192, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.224

• anodic porous titania can be obtained not only on ultrapure and flat titanium but also as a conformal coating on curved surfaces of real objects made of industrial titanium alloys. Raman spectroscopy showed that the titania phase obtained is anatase. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that by carrying out

• case, the pretreatment should not change either the crystalline phase of the formed APT or its thickness. With or without pretreatment, Tanaka et al. [23] observed a combination of anatase and rutile for APT by means of X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. On the other hand, Choi states in his extensive

• work that rutile is formed at an anodization voltage as high as 150 V, while amorphous titania is obtained at lower voltages [25]. The crystalline phase of APT is of some importance since it seems that, with respect to osteointegration, anatase is preferred over rutile [28]. Unfortunately, if rutile is

Effect of SiN_x diffusion barrier thickness on the structural properties and photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ films obtained by sol–gel dip coating and reactive magnetron sputtering

• Mohamed Nawfal Ghazzal,
• Eric Aubry,
• Nouari Chaoui and
• Didier Robert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2039–2045, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.207

• films obtained by each process was discussed. Keywords: diffusion barrier; photocatalysis; reactive sputtering; SiNx; sol–gel; titanium dioxide film; TiO2; Introduction Titanium dioxide thin films in active phase (mostly anatase) have been widely studied due to their ability to produce strong oxidant

• required in order to obtain the photoactive anatase phase. However, Na+ ions have a detrimental effect on the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 [3][4][7]. The poisoning effect of the Na+ ions on the photocatalytic activity occurs in different ways and depends on their concentration, for example: (a) Na

• + ions increase the temperature of anatase formation and increase the particle size [4][7], (b) Na+ ions inhibit the formation of the anatase phase and act as a recombination center of photo-generated electron–hole pairs [3], and (c) Na+ ions induce the formation of brookite or sodium titanate (Na2OxTiO2

Nanostructuring of GeTiO amorphous films by pulsed laser irradiation

• Valentin S. Teodorescu,
• Cornel Ghica,
• Adrian V. Maraloiu,
• Mihai Vlaicu,
• Andrei Kuncser,
• Magdalena L. Ciurea,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Ana M. Lepadatu,
• Nicu D. Scarisoreanu,
• Andreea Andrei,
• Valentin Ion and
• Maria Dinescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 893–900, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.92

• matrix was also evidenced in amorphous GeTiO films annealed in a conventional furnace [23]. The annealing at about 600 °C leads to the formation of Ge nanocrystals in the film matrix, which is formed by a crystallized mixture of two phases, the Ge in TiO2 anatase phase and the rutile phase (Ti in GeO2

Experimental determination of the light-trapping-induced absorption enhancement factor in DSSC photoanodes

• Serena Gagliardi and
• Mauro Falconieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 886–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.91

• index of the anatase phase of titania. When the electrode is under real working conditions in the cell, it is immersed in the electrolyte solution that presumably reduces the absorption enhancement due to the LT, partially matching the titania refractive index. Therefore, the maximum enhancement factor

Transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO₂ nanoribbons and the influence of the transformation strategies on the photocatalytic performance

• Melita Rutar,
• Nejc Rozman,
• Matej Pregelj,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Romana Cerc Korošec,
• Andrijana Sever Škapin,
• Aleš Mrzel,
• Srečo D. Škapin and
• Polona Umek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 831–844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.86

• calcinating in air, the photocatalytic performance of the investigated TiO2 NRs increased with an increased content of anatase. In contrast, the photocatalytic performance of the N-doped TiO2 NRs showed no dependence on the calcination temperature. An additional comparison showed that the N-doping

• titanate 1D nanostructures such as nanotubes [9][12], nanowires [13], nanofibers or nanoribbons [12] (NR) morphologies can be obtained. Transformations from the layered titanate structure to TiO2-B and then to the anatase structure (H2Ti3O7 → TiO2-B → anatase) are considered to be topotactic reactions [14

• low calcination temperatures (ca. 400 °C) results in the formation of a metastable TiO2-B phase [8][16] which at higher temperatures transforms to anatase [17][18][19]. Transformations conducted under reflux or hydrothermal conditions in neutral and acidic environment affect the surface of the