Biomimetics and bioinspired surfaces: from nature to theory and applications

• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Thies H. Büscher,
• Manuela Rebora,
• Poramate Manoonpong,
• Zhendong Dai and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 418–421, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.32

• blade by reducing the drag, which improves the overall performance of the engine. Finally, Sameoto [10] presents a stimulating perspective article on bioinspired adhesives, which advocates for a paradigm shift in biomimetics research. Instead of merely drawing inspiration from nature to discover new

A biomimetic approach towards a universal slippery liquid infused surface coating

• Ryan A. Faase,
• Madeleine H. Hummel,
• AnneMarie V. Hasbrook,
• Andrew P. Carpenter and
• Joe E. Baio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1376–1389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.111

• a 1:1 mixture of ethanol and acetone for 30 min. Si substrates were fabricated via a diamond-tipped blade in a Disco wafer saw (Disco, Tokyo, Japan) from a silicon wafer cut into 1 × 1 cm2 substrates. These Si substrates were left overnight to soak in DI water and then sonicated in 20 min intervals

Functional morphology of cleaning devices in the damselfly Ischnura elegans (Odonata, Coenagrionidae)

• Silvana Piersanti,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Wencke Krings,
• Stanislav Gorb and
• Manuela Rebora

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1260–1272, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.102

• carefully cut off with a scalpel blade under the stereomicroscope. The insects were left to recover for 24 h before carrying out the experiments. In each experiment, with intact or ablated insects, antennae or eyes were covered with pink talc powder (Holi Colors Italia, Calatafimi, Italy) as above described

Investigation on drag reduction on rotating blade surfaces with microtextures

• Qinsong Zhu,
• Chen Zhang,
• Fuhang Yu and
• Yan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 833–853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.70

• microtextures to reduce the flow loss on the blade surfaces were carried out. First, based on the axisymmetric characteristics of the impeller, a new simulation method was proposed to determine the aerodynamic parameters of the blade model through the comparison of flow field characteristics and simulation

• results. Second, the placement position and geometrical parameters (height, width, and spacing) of microtextures with lower energy loss were determined by our simulation of microtextures on the blade surface, and the drag reduction mechanism was analyzed. Triangular ribs with a height of 0.2 mm, a width

• of 0.3 mm, and a spacing of 0.2 mm exhibited the best drag reduction, reducing the energy loss coefficient and drag by 1.45% and 1.31% for a single blade, respectively. Finally, the blades with the optimal microtexture parameters were tested in the wind tunnel. The experimental results showed that

Comparative analysis of the ultrastructure and adhesive secretion pathways of different smooth attachment pads of the stick insect Medauroidea extradentata (Phasmatodea)

• Julian Thomas,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 612–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.52

• euplantulae, the attachment pads were cut with a carbon blade and individually transferred onto a glass slide and mounted with a coverslip (specifications as above). For analysis, a confocal laser scanning microscope (Zeiss LSM 700, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Jena, Germany) and four stable solid-state lasers

Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• of insect attachment organs, beetles were placed on a clean glass plate and their legs were cut off using a sharp razor blade. To get contaminated insect feet, a beetle was first allowed to walk on a fresh waxy plant surface for 1 min and then immediately transferred to the glass plate with the feet

Modulated critical currents of spin-transfer torque-induced resistance changes in NiCu/Cu multilayered nanowires

• Mengqi Fu,
• Roman Hartmann,
• Julian Braun,
• Sergej Andreev,
• Torsten Pietsch and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 360–366, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.32

• the surface area of the AAO template (or Si substrate) is isolated from the bottom electrodes and the magnetic nanowires, thereby largely improving the flexibility for the design of the top electrodes. After removing the overgrowth by a thin blade or milling in argon plasma, a thick Al film of 180 nm

Exploring internal structures and properties of terpolymer fibers via real-space characterizations

• Michael R. Roenbeck and
• Kenneth E. Strawhecker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1004–1017, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.83

• techniques, as previous studies have shown for Kevlar® [9][11][14]. While microtomy can also be used to access internal fiber surfaces, marks from the microtome blade often remain visible [9], which is a disadvantage compared to FIB-notched surfaces. However, each FIB notch must be carefully prepared so that

Near-infrared photoactive Ag-Zn-Ga-S-Se quantum dots for high-performance quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

• Roopakala Kottayi,
• Ilangovan Veerappan and
• Ramadasse Sittaramane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1337–1344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.110

• blade method, which was followed by sintering at 450 °C for 30 min as described earlier [8][9][10]. The glass plate was dipped in 0.12 M of titanium tetrachloride solution at 70 °C for 30 min and was then rinsed with distilled water thoroughly and dried at 60 °C. After that, the electrode was soaked for

Interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis

• Leonie Saccardi,
• Franz Brümmer,
• Jonas Schiebl,
• Oliver Schwarz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 958–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.84

• samples were then fractured within the preparation chamber by cutting off a part of the mandible tip using a cold scalpel blade mounted on a user-controlled handle. Fractured samples were then sputter coated and examined in a frozen state as described above. Where possible, the contact angle of the

Design of a biomimetic, small-scale artificial leaf surface for the study of environmental interactions

• Miriam Anna Huth,
• Axel Huth,
• Lukas Schreiber and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 944–957, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.83

• recrystallized wax layer on the glass was partially removed with a razor blade. The sample was then attached to a microscope slide with double-sided adhesive tape. The AFM recordings were performed in tapping mode (amplitude: 0.05 V; frequency: 302.9 kHz, line rate: 0.3 Hz, set point: 940 mV) with tapping

• scales between them. AFM analysis of recrystallized structures Like the SEM analysis, the AFM analysis showed granule-shaped structures on the artificial surface (1400 µg). By removing the wax with a razor blade, a distinct edge was created, showing a 1.12 ± 0.23 µm thick wax layer (Figure 5). Analysis

Hierachical epicuticular wax coverage on leaves of Deschampsia antarctica as a possible adaptation to severe environmental conditions

• Elena V. Gorb,
• Iryna A. Kozeretska and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 807–816, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.71

• /bjnano.13.71 Abstract Using cryo scanning electron microscopy, the surface micromorphology of vegetative (leaf blade and ligule) and generative (pedicel and outer glume) organs in Deschampsia antarctica, one of the only two flowering plants native to Antarctica, was examined. Whereas the pedicel and

• , planted into a small plastic flower pot filled with topical soil, and transported to the laboratory. The surfaces of the following organs were examined (Figure 1): (i) vegetative organs, namely the inner (adaxial) and outer (abaxial) sides of the leaf blade in mature and young leaves as well as the

• abaxial side of the ligule (a membrane on the adaxial side of the junction of the leaf sheath and leaf blade); and (ii) generative organs, namely the pedicel (a stalk of a single spikelet (collection of flowers (florets) in a grass inflorescence)) and the abaxial surface of the outer, lower glume (a bract

Effect of sample treatment on the elastic modulus of locust cuticle obtained by nanoindentation

• Chuchu Li,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Hamed Rajabi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 404–410, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.33

• medium. Mechanical testing Pieces of about 2.0 × 0.5 × 0.5 mm3 size were separated from the middle part of the hind tibiae using a razor blade. They were then glued (5925 Ergo, Kisling AG, Wetzikon, Switzerland) on a sample holder within 2 min after separation from the tibiae. To avoid desiccation

Solution combustion synthesis of a nanometer-scale Co₃O₄ anode material for Li-ion batteries

• Monika Michalska,
• Huajun Xu,
• Qingmin Shan,
• Shiqiang Zhang,
• Yohan Dall'Agnese,
• Yu Gao,
• Amrita Jain and
• Marcin Krajewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 424–431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.34

• working electrode, a slurry composed of previously prepared Co3O4 material, super P carbon (Saibo), and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF; Arkema) (weight ratio of 8:1:1) mixed in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone was prepared and then coated on copper foil by using a doctor blade. After that, the electrode was dried

Gas sorption porosimetry for the evaluation of hard carbons as anodes for Li- and Na-ion batteries

• Yuko Matsukawa,
• Fabian Linsenmann,
• Maximilian A. Plass,
• George Hasegawa,
• Katsuro Hayashi and
• Tim-Patrick Fellinger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1217–1229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.106

• (MTI corporation, USA) on an automatic table-top coating machine (Coatema, Germany) using the doctor blade method, resulting in a wet film thickness of 90 µm. The HC loading of the electrodes was 3 ± 0.1 mg cm−2. After drying the films in an oven at 50 °C for 3 h, electrodes with a diameter of 10.95 mm

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

• area. Hence, a variety of scalable perovskite deposition processes, including blade coating, slot-die coating and spray coating, are proposed [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. The photovoltaic parameters of recently reported large-area PSCs are listed in Table 1. The improvement of their efficiency

• precursor materials. Blade coating Blade coating is a broadly adopted method of fabricating scalable perovskite films, which has shown the greatest potential among all the different coating methods, particularly for PSCs with an area larger than 10 cm2. Blade coating is a relatively simple method, where the

• perovskite precursor solution is usually swiped over a preheated substrate by a blade to obtain perovskite films after solvent evaporation. Many studies have demonstrated that the quality of the resulting perovskite films can be improved by controlling the substrate temperature [46][47]. In recent years

Fully amino acid-based hydrogel as potential scaffold for cell culturing and drug delivery

• Dávid Juriga,
• Evelin Sipos,
• Orsolya Hegedűs,
• Gábor Varga,
• Miklós Zrínyi,
• Krisztina S. Nagy and
• Angéla Jedlovszky-Hajdú

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2579–2593, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.249

• Institutional Committee of Science and Research Ethics. The number of the ethical permission is: 17458/2012/EKU. After extraction, the teeth were immediately placed into a sterile cell culture medium. The viable periodontal fibers were removed from the tooth surface, put into a sterile box with a sterile blade

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• an alternative top electrode, which we attached by free vacuum deposition. The FM is composed of 32.5% Bi, 51% In and 16.5% Sn and is characterized by a melting point of around 62 °C. It was deposited on the active layer/PFN by drop casting (or doctor blade) at low temperature (≈95 °C) and

Biocatalytic oligomerization-induced self-assembly of crystalline cellulose oligomers into nanoribbon networks assisted by organic solvents

• Yuuki Hata,
• Yuka Fukaya,
• Toshiki Sawada,
• Masahito Nishiura and
• Takeshi Serizawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1778–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.173

• , 60, 70, 80 and 90 vol % EtOH, EtOH, EtOH/tert-butyl alcohol (1:1, v/v) and then tert-butyl alcohol by immersion. The obtained organogels were freeze-fractured using liquid nitrogen and a razor blade and then lyophilized. The obtained xerogels were mounted on substrates using Dotite and then coated

Stationary beam full-field transmission helium ion microscopy using sub-50 keV He⁺: Projected images and intensity patterns

• Michael Mousley,
• Santhana Eswara,
• Olivier De Castro,
• Olivier Bouton,
• Nico Klingner,
• Christoph T. Koch,
• Gregor Hlawacek and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1648–1657, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.160

• #549649) and NaCl (Plano Product #46-2). A small amount (≈1 mg) of the powder was deposited either from a spatula (BN and MgO) or scratched with a scalpel blade (NaCl) onto TEM grids without any support membrane (finder grids from Ted Pella Product #79750, Maxtaform™ Style H2, 200 mesh Cu grids) moistened

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

• ± 20% and standard tip curvature radius less than 10 nm. The thickness of SSFs was measured on the edge (step) formed through removing of a part of the silver film from the substrate (using a blade). SERS measurements The 4-aminothiophenol was used as a SERS analyte. In order to form a monolayer of 4

A comparison of tarsal morphology and traction force in the two burying beetles Nicrophorus nepalensis and Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera, Silphidae)

• Liesa Schnee,
• Benjamin Sampalla,
• Josef K. Müller and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 47–61, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.5

• individual. To test for the effect of claws, the experiments were conducted first with intact claws and then, a second time, two days later, with the claws removed. Animals were placed in a refrigerator for up to 30 min to slow them down, so that the claws could be removed at the base with a razor blade

Contact splitting in dry adhesion and friction: reducing the influence of roughness

• Jae-Kang Kim and
• Michael Varenberg

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1–8, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.1

• that the wall-shaped microstructures on each sample had a total peeling line length [34] of about 76 mm. To examine the effect of contact splitting, the wall-shaped microstructures were split at 100 μm intervals (Figure 1b) using a razor blade fixed to an LP150 low profile X–Y stage (Reliant Systems

Layered calcium phenylphosphonate: a hybrid material for a new generation of nanofillers

• Kateřina Kopecká,
• Ludvík Beneš,
• Klára Melánová,
• Vítězslav Zima,
• Petr Knotek and
• Kateřina Zetková

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2906–2915, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.269

• blade. Model structure of the CaPhP layer. Calcium atoms are in green, phosphorus atoms in yellow and red and gray spheres correspond to oxygen and hydrogen, respectively. SEM pictures of calcium phenylphosphonate particles prepared by addition of chloride solution using the “drop by drop” (CaPhP_d) and

Hydrothermal-derived carbon as a stabilizing matrix for improved cycling performance of silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion full cells

• Mirco Ruttert,
• Florian Holtstiege,
• Jessica Hüsker,
• Markus Börner,
• Martin Winter and
• Tobias Placke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2381–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.223

• treatment, the solution was transferred into a pressure reactor (Parr Instrument Company), equipped with a 600 mL polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) liner and two six-blade impellers, one near the bottom and one near the surface of the solution. The hydrothermal treatment consisted of a 150 min heating-up phase

• the electrode paste for one hour at 10,000 rpm (VMA-GETZMANN GmbH), it was cast onto a previously purified (ethanol) dendritic copper foil with a speed of 50 mm s−1 using a doctor blade technique (Zehntner GmbH) in combination with an automatic film applicator (Sheen Instruments). A wet coating