Sidewall angle tuning in focused electron beam-induced processing

• Sangeetha Hari,
• Willem F. van Dorp,
• Johannes J. L. Mulders,
• Piet H. F. Trompenaars,
• Pieter Kruit and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 447–456, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.40

• diffusion rate of adsorbed contamination is known to be enhanced by the presence of water layers [21]. But since the relevant quantities are hard to measure, the diffusion rate has not been included in the model, nor have some other factors such as scattering, porosity, and secondary etch product reactions

• FEBID and FEBIE) the pressure was in the range of 2.5 × 10−5 and 4.5 × 10−5 mbar. Following a few hours of deposition, the chamber would take increasingly longer to pump down, and electron beam-induced sample contamination was observed to increase. This was likely due to dodecane sticking to the walls

• of the chamber and other open surfaces. Additionally, on letting in water after deposition, the contamination level was found to be higher. This is consistent with reports of increased diffusion of hydrocarbons in the presence of adsorbed water layers. Therefore, to maintain clean working conditions

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

• Elena V. Gorb Stanislav N. Gorb Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 9, 24118 Kiel, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.15.35 Abstract This study focuses on experimental testing of the contamination hypothesis and examines how the

• contamination of insect adhesive pads with three-dimensional epicuticular waxes of different plant species contributes to the reduction of insect attachment. We measured traction forces of tethered Chrysolina fastuosa male beetles having hairy adhesive pads on nine wax-bearing plant surfaces differing in both

• cases of the plant surfaces covered with wax projections having higher aspect ratios. The data obtained clearly indicated the impact of waxy plant surfaces on the insect ability to subsequently attach to the clean smooth surface. This effect is caused by the contamination of adhesive pads and

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• duration of 1200 s to achieve stability in depositions and contamination-free films. A constant substrate rotation (10 rpm) was maintained to achieve uniform WOx films. Post-growth annealing of all WOx films (grown under the same conditions) was performed at 673 K for 60 min in a vacuum environment (3 × 10

• uniformity. WSxM software was used to carry out AFM image analysis. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) was used to study the local work function of the WOx films. WOx samples were removed from the high-vacuum environment right before the KPFM measurements to avoid any contamination in air. For KPFM

Nanomedicines against Chagas disease: a critical review

• Maria Jose Morilla,
• Kajal Ghosal and
• Eder Lilia Romero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 333–349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.30

• , nanomedicines are highly susceptible to aggregation, hygroscopicity, contamination, phase transition, amorphous-to-crystalline transitions, and degradation. It is critical to maintain batch-to-batch reproducibility (in terms of mean size, polydispersity, ζ-potential, and drug loading) not only during large

Multiscale modelling of biomolecular corona formation on metallic surfaces

• Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini,
• Ian Rouse,
• Julia Subbotina and
• Vladimir Lobaskin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 215–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.21

• and scientific equipment [7]. Figure 1 presents a schematic contamination cycle of dairy products, showcasing potential sources and pathways of aluminum pollution. It illustrates the journey of milk from a cow grazing on grass contaminated with heavy metals, highlighting the crucial role of metallic

• containers, metal-based equipment, and kitchen utensils in maintaining product integrity. The figure further demonstrates the potential to introduce heavy metal contamination, including iron and aluminum, during processing and emphasizes the formation of a milk layer in form of a protein/lactose corona at

• cycle of dairy products, showcasing potential sources and pathways of contamination. It features the stages of grazing, collection, processing, and packaging. The relevant processes include surface fouling and milk contamination during food transformation as well as the formation of a protein corona on

New application of bimetallic Ag/Pt nanoplates in a colorimetric biosensor for specific detection of E. coli in water

• Azam Bagheri Pebdeni,
• Mohammad N. AL-Baiati and
• Morteza Hosseini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 95–103, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.9

• illness cases worldwide each year [1][2]. Water quality testing is based on the presence of E. coli, which is still regarded as the best indication of fecal contamination [3][4]. There are several methods for detecting bacteria (e.g., ELISA and PCR) with colony counting serving as the gold standard

• system offers a rapid, sensitive, and portable biosensor for preventing E. coli contamination and resolving public health concerns in the future. Experimental Materials Silver nitrate (AgNO3), potassium tetrachloroplatinate(II), ascorbic acid, TMB, H2O2 (for determining peroxidase-like activity), and

Study of the reusability and stability of nylon nanofibres as an antibody immobilisation surface

• Inés Peraile,
• Matilde Gil-García,
• Laura González-López,
• Nushin A. Dabbagh-Escalante,
• Juan C. Cabria-Ramos and
• Paloma Lorenzo-Lozano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.8

• need to reduce the risk of pandemic contamination. Early, reliable, and accurate diagnosis is therefore essential for health and food safety [4][5]. In this context, immunodetection seems to be a very good option [6]. There are many applications of immunoassay devices in health, food industry, and

• contamination and for the clinical diagnosis of infectious agents and biomarkers. FITC fluorescence of anti-BSA antibody. For each group, the FITC fluorescence data of the immobilised anti-BSA antibody, measured in RFU, are given as percentages relative to the reference group 1, n = 5–6. Stripping treatment

A combined gas-phase dissociative ionization, dissociative electron attachment and deposition study on the potential FEBID precursor [Au(CH₃)₂Cl]₂

• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Ali Kamali,
• Thomas Xaver Gentner,
• Gerd Ballmann,
• Sjoerd Harder,
• Hans-Peter Steinrück,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1178–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.98

• present. These are assigned to the AuNOO, ClLMM, CKLL, and SnMNN Auger transitions [34], respectively (Figure 1b, green spectrum). The broad and small peak at approximately 367 eV is attributed to an Sn signal [34]. The contamination with Sn is from the synthesis process of the [Au(CH3)2Cl]2 precursor

• fabricated in the UHV chamber primarily contained halogen contamination and comparatively low carbon content, carbon was the main component in the deposits under HV, while the halogen content was as low as 7.5–8 atom %. It was pointed out that this might be due to a reductive removal of the halogen through

A multi-resistance wide-range calibration sample for conductive probe atomic force microscopy measurements

• François Piquemal,
• Khaled Kaja,
• Pascal Chrétien,
• José Morán-Meza,
• Frédéric Houzé,
• Christian Ulysse and
• Abdelmounaim Harouri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1141–1148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.94

• , repeatability, and exactness [41][42]. The formation of a humidity-induced water meniscus at the tip–sample interface, the presence of surface contamination, and thermal drifts induce significant instabilities in C-AFM measurements [42][43]. Moreover, local overheating and anodic oxidation phenomena are

• still observed of the order of 8%. Resistance values from C-AFM I–V curves To comprehend the origin of this remaining error, we proceeded into removing any possible contamination of the tip apex by repeatedly scanning over a fixed line (typically a few tens of nanometers) on the sample surface (i.e., by

• disabling the slow-scan axis). The effective contamination removal was associated with a stable measurement of a minimal resistance value. Then, we positioned the tip at a fixed location in contact with the electrode’s surface with an applied force of 900 nN to extract I–V curves by sweeping the applied

Sulfur nanocomposites with insecticidal effect for the control of Bactericera cockerelli

• Lany S. Araujo-Yépez,
• Juan O. Tigrero-Salas,
• Vicente A. Delgado-Rodríguez,
• Vladimir A. Aguirre-Yela and
• Josué N. Villota-Méndez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1106–1115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.91

• , contamination of water bodies, degradation of agroecosystems, and damages to human health after direct or indirect exposure [11][12][13]. Therefore, new methods need to be considered to control the pest. Nanotechnology has emerged as a technological advance that can enhance modern agriculture by helping in the

Properties of tin oxide films grown by atomic layer deposition from tin tetraiodide and ozone

• Kristjan Kalam,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Tanel Käämbre,
• Aile Tamm and
• Kaupo Kukli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1085–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.89

• -free process is possible, which means less contamination and residuals in the films. Another advantage of the O2 process is a maximum growth per cycle (GPC) three times higher than in the H2O2 process [10]. The drawback of the O2 process is a relatively high deposition temperature, starting from 400 °C

Low temperature atomic layer deposition of cobalt using dicobalt hexacarbonyl-1-heptyne as precursor

• Mathias Franz,
• Mahnaz Safian Jouzdani,
• Lysann Kaßner,
• Marcus Daniel,
• Frank Stahr and
• Stefan E. Schulz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 951–963, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.78

• contamination [16]. Thermal ALD processes operate usually at temperatures higher than 150 °C [17][18][19][20][21]. Characteristic for ALD processes, the growth rate is mainly independent of the substrate temperature in a specific temperature range, often denominated as ALD window. Within this range, the

• and with the lowest amount of remaining oxygen contamination. In order to determine an upper limit of the ALD window of the chosen precursor, a number of CVD experiments were performed at different temperatures using only the cobalt precursor without further reactants. The aim was to find a

Prediction of cytotoxicity of heavy metals adsorbed on nano-TiO₂ with periodic table descriptors using machine learning approaches

• Joyita Roy,
• Souvik Pore and
• Kunal Roy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 939–950, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.77

• considerably high exposure TiO2 NPs may enter the food chain. Because of current industrialization processes, organisms are also exposed to heavy metal pollutants [7]. Emitted NPs may interact with the pollutants, and this may subsequently lead to bioaccumulation. The contamination of water and soil with heavy

• metals has increased with anthropogenic and industrial activities [8][9]. TiO2 NPs commonly co-exist with different heavy metals as they are released from wastewater treatment facilities to freshwater bodies, affecting the mode of action and the fate of the contamination. Studies have reported the

• increased the accumulation of Cd2+ in the ciliate Tetrahymen thermophila. Further, Tan et al. [12] showed increased uptake and retention of Cd2+ and Zn2+ adsorbed on TiO2 NPs in Daphnia magna. Heavy metal contamination affects plant growth and indirectly affects human health via the food chain. Heavy metals

Ultralow-energy amorphization of contaminated silicon samples investigated by molecular dynamics

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 834–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.68

• . Keywords: angle dependency; argon; contamination; energy dependency; ion bombardment; low energy; molecular dynamics; silicon; simulations; water; Introduction Low-energy ion beams offer substantial improvements and possibilities to reduce the damage production on the surface of samples [1][2]. In recent

• will be based on methodologies developed in a previous paper [26], which focused on a silicon sample contaminated with a water layer, and in which we showed the influence of the contamination layer on the sputtering process. In the presence of water on the sample surface, we showed that while the

• amorphization. We will also show that favorable angles to minimize the implantation of the species of the contamination layer are in the range of 60° to 75°. Computational Methods Force fields The force fields used to simulate the Ar bombardment of a contaminated silicon sample have already been described in a

Cross-sectional Kelvin probe force microscopy on III–V epitaxial multilayer stacks: challenges and perspectives

• Mattia da Lisca,
• José Alvarez,
• James P. Connolly,
• Nicolas Vaissiere,
• Karim Mekhazni,
• Jean Decobert and
• Jean-Paul Kleider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 725–737, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.59

• (radius < 25 nm) with a conductive Pt/Ir coating at a resonance frequency of 75 kHz were used. During KPFM measurements under ambient conditions, tip contamination is likely to occur because of pollutants that may be present on the sample surface causing a variation of ϕtip [18]. Hence, ϕtip was evaluated

• considered. In particular, contamination of the tip is likely to occur due to pollutants (e.g., nano- and/or micrometre-size dust grains), which may be present on the sample surface leading to a variation of the tip surface potential. The tip-averaging effect represents an important aspect of KPFM under

A graphene quantum dots–glassy carbon electrode-based electrochemical sensor for monitoring malathion

• Sanju Tanwar,
• Aditi Sharma and
• Dhirendra Mathur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 701–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.56

• -based nanosensor described here could be used in future to develop portable monitoring systems for water contamination. Fabrication of the GQDs/GCE electrochemical nanosensor for the detection of malathion. (a) UV–vis absorption spectrum and (b) photoluminescence spectra of GQDs. (a) TEM image, (b) size

Antimicrobial and mechanical properties of functionalized textile by nanoarchitectured photoinduced Ag@polymer coating

• Jessica Plé,
• Marine Dabert,
• Helene Lecoq,
• Sophie Hellé,
• Lydie Ploux and
• Lavinia Balan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 95–109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.11

• , and textiles need to be cleaned on a daily basis. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) possess well-documented antimicrobial properties and by combining them with a physical matrix, they can be applied to various surfaces to limit microbial contamination. With this in mind, a rapid and easy way to implement a

Combining physical vapor deposition structuration with dealloying for the creation of a highly efficient SERS platform

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Walter Puglisi,
• Damien Thiry,
• Cristina Satriano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.10

• resulting signal intensity tends to strongly vary due to surface contamination [30]. In this paper, a simple synthesis method to design bimodal porous silver substrate for SERS is reported. Magnetron co-sputtering of a silver and aluminum target was used for the deposition of the precursor alloy thin film

• on a metal surface induces hydrophobicity which can also affect the bonding with RhB molecules [30]. The carbon observed on the surface of the different samples is the result of the contamination of the substrate during wet etching and by the environment during storage [46]. Overall, the good

• performance of the AlAg30 sample dealloyed for 60 min in HCl results from a compromise between a small size of ligaments and the lowest amount of contamination together with the highest amount of silver on the surface. Influence of the dealloying media Finally, the influence of the dealloying media was

Electrical and optical enhancement of ITO/Mo bilayer thin films via laser annealing

• Abdelbaki Hacini,
• Ahmad Hadi Ali,
• Nurul Nadia Adnan and
• Nafarizal Nayan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1589–1595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.133

• and a repetition rate of 1 Hz. Different energies from 80 to 240 mJ with a step of 40 mJ were used. The samples were placed in a closed metal cube under nitrogen during annealing to avoid contamination and interaction with particles. A converging lens was placed between the laser and the sample, and

Non-stoichiometric magnetite as catalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of phenol and 2,6-dibromo-4-methylphenol – a new approach in water treatment

• Joanna Kisała,
• Anna Tomaszewska and
• Przemysław Kolek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1531–1540, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.126

• , BFRs), wood preservatives, and components in the polymer industry [4][5]. Bromophenols from various industries can cause severe contamination of soil, sediment, and water [6][7]. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has listed BPs as hazardous waste with strict environmental

Rapid and sensitive detection of box turtles using an electrochemical DNA biosensor based on a gold/graphene nanocomposite

• Abu Hashem,
• M. A. Motalib Hossain,
• Ab Rahman Marlinda,
• Mohammad Al Mamun,
• Khanom Simarani and
• Mohd Rafie Johan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1458–1472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.120

• ], are cost-intensive [16], and cannot be used onsite. In addition, hazardous chemicals are frequently employed to PCR-based assays [25]. There is also a concern about PCR product carryover contamination due to the 108-fold amplification of the target [26]. Finally, shorter DNA targets would be

• environmentally friendly, contamination-free, and shorter DNA-target-based devices are demanded for species screening. That is why the emphasis has been attributed to developing a DNA-based electrochemical biosensor comprising all the qualities mentioned above [29][30]. There are few reports available concerning

Effects of focused electron beam irradiation parameters on direct nanostructure formation on Ag surfaces

• Jānis Sniķeris,
• Vjačeslavs Gerbreders,
• Andrejs Bulanovs and
• Ēriks Sļedevskis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1004–1010, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.87

• residual hydrocarbons by electron irradiation in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) vacuum chambers have been reported in several studies [12][13][14][15]. Hydrocarbon contamination from samples and vacuum pump oils is known to be ever present in vacuum chambers of electron microscopes [16][17][18]. The

• and prevent a buildup of carbon in the irradiated area. Baking can be used to desorb light molecules with a high vapour pressure at the baking temperature; however, it is a slow process. Plasma cleaning procedures can rapidly remove contamination; however, they can damage some sensitive samples [24

• values of α along the x axis. The EB was refocused on the surface of the sample every time α was changed. For this experiment, I, d, and t were respectively set to 42 pA, 14 nm, and 60 s. The fourth and last experiment considered the effects of hydrocarbon contamination in the vacuum chamber on the

Influence of water contamination on the sputtering of silicon with low-energy argon ions investigated by molecular dynamics simulations

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 986–1003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.86

• simulation conditions used in this work, the adsorption of water favours the formation of defects in silicon by mixing hydrogen and oxygen atoms into the substrate. The sputtering yield of silicon is not significantly changed by the contamination, but the fraction of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that is

• sputtered largely depends on the incidence angle. This fraction is the largest for incidence angles between 70 and 80° defined with respect to the sample surface. Overall, it changes from 25% to 65%. Keywords: angle dependency; argon ions; contamination; focused ion beams; ion bombardment; low energy

• simulations to study the sputtering of a surface with water contamination by sub-500 eV ions. The information of interest is the chemical reactions occurring at and below the sample surface, as well as the mixing of the contaminant layer into the sample. The ReaxFF reactive force field is used in this work

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

• understand the interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis. The hypothesis is that beneficial anti-adhesive properties have evolved to handle propolis without being hindered by resin contamination. Possibly, these anti-adhesive properties could serve as an inspiration to help solve problems such as

• extract [21]. To prevent contamination, propolis was only handled wearing gloves cleaned with ethanol (Rotipuran®, ≥99.8%, p.a., Carl Roth GmbH & Co. KG, Karlsruhe, Germany). Insects Adult worker bees (Apis mellifera) were collected in gardens in Kiel (Germany) in July 2019 and immediately used for

• collected bees were prepared under binoculars by carefully separating them from the insect’s head with a scalpel (Figure 2). General morphology, structures, and contamination of every prepared mandible were studied with a binocular microscope (Leica M205 A, Leica Microsystems GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany

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

• not roll off even at a TA of 90°. In such samples, the wax layer was probably damaged or contaminated. Both wax alteration and contamination can lead to a change in wettability [75][79]. No damage or contamination was visible to the naked eye in the leaves used. SEM images of the leaves from the field