CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as a booster in the active layer of distributed ternary organic photovoltaics

• Gabriela Lewińska,
• Piotr Jeleń,
• Zofia Kucia,
• Maciej Sitarz,
• Łukasz Walczak,
• Bartłomiej Szafraniak,
• Jerzy Sanetra and
• Konstanty W. Marszalek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 144–156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.14

• efficiencies is ternary organic cells [3][4][5][6]. The idea of ternary organic cells is to introduce additional material (donor or acceptor) into a typical donor–acceptor active layer in the bulk heterojunction (BHJ). This arrangement is supposed to combine the absorption of the three components to obtain

• . The donor–acceptor mixture is dominant in the system. Therefore, the peaks of the QD dopant are not visible. At the same time, it should be noted that in mixtures with quantum dots (except QD480), the clarity of the peaks increases, which may suggest an increase in the degree of crystallinity

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

• File 1 (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S5). Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy under optical pumping on an organic solar cell To further validate the DHe-KPFM implementation, a second set of measurements was performed under optical pumping on an organic photovoltaic donor–acceptor

• organic blends, charge photogeneration can be understood, in a first approach, as the result of exciton dissociation into Coulomb bound charge transfer (CT) states at the donor–acceptor interfaces. This event is finally followed by the dissociation of the CT states into delocalized carriers of opposite

• nanoscale phase segregated donor-acceptor networks. However, it is not possible to perform a phase identification on the sole basis of the harmonic amplitude signal (Figure 3b). Taken alone, that channel gives indeed no information about the polarity of the SPV signal. In principle, one could use the phase

Conjugated photothermal materials and structure design for solar steam generation

• Chia-Yang Lin and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 454–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.36

• conjugated structures are often adapted. For example, it is known that chromophores, such as rylene-based dyes and donor–acceptor conjugated frameworks, can extend the absorption band range and enhance the photostability [26]. DPP dyes have a strong optical absorption and offer easy alteration of their

• constructing electron donor–acceptor pairs. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations indicated donor–acceptor interactions between arginine and PDA subunits, including the formation of 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and indole-5,6-quinone (IQ). Dopamine and arginine were copolymerized in an aqueous solution at

From a free electron gas to confined states: A mixed island of PTCDA and copper phthalocyanine on Ag(111)

• Alfred J. Weymouth,
• Emily Roche and
• Franz J. Giessibl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1572–1577, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.131

• helpful discussions and O. Gretz for determining the preparation procedure for the mixed phase. Funding We would like to thank the German Research Foundation (”Locally mapping conductance and potential energy of a donor-acceptor system”, project number 397771090) for funding.

Modification of a SERS-active Ag surface to promote adsorption of charged analytes: effect of Cu²⁺ ions

• Bahdan V. Ranishenka,
• Andrei Yu. Panarin,
• Irina A. Chelnokova,
• Sergei N. Terekhov,
• Peter Mojzes and
• Vadim V. Shmanai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 902–912, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.67

• modification (Figure 5, number 2). This result proves a sufficient charge reduction due to the introduction of the weakly basic amine groups to the Ag surface. The presence of a SERS signal for both analytes can be explained by additional donor–acceptor interactions between the Cu atom and electronic pairs of

• remaining polymer molecules are not able to generate a strong positive charge at the surface but they improve the adsorption of the analyte molecules due to hydrogen bonding and donor–acceptor and lipophilic interactions. SERS analysis of dye-labeled oligonucleotides Biomolecules such as nucleotides and

Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• tuning the bandgap, enlarging the surface area, enabling more efficient separation of electron–hole pairs, and enhancing the charge carrier mobility. In particular, donor–acceptor (D–A) polymers were demonstrated as a promising platform to develop high-performance photocatalysts due to their easily

• units. The challenges and prospects associated with D–A polymer-based photocatalysts are described as well. Keywords: π-conjugated polymeric photocatalysts; donor–acceptor junctions; nanostructure semiconductors; photocatalytic hydrogen production; Introduction To date, fossil fuels still are the

• highlighted in red and blue, respectively. Review Donor–acceptor conjugated polymers Triazine-based conjugated polymers s-Triazine and tri-s-triazine (heptazine), as the building blocks of carbon nitride, represent two of the most widely studied acceptor units [43][44]. In contrast to the conventional

Determining amplitude and tilt of a lateral force microscopy sensor

• Oliver Gretz,
• Alfred J. Weymouth,
• Thomas Holzmann,
• Korbinian Pürckhauer and
• Franz J. Giessibl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 517–524, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.42

• Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number 397771090, “Locally mapping conductance and potential energy of a donor-acceptor system”) for funding.

Band tail state related photoluminescence and photoresponse of ZnMgO solid solution nanostructured films

• Vadim Morari,
• Aida Pantazi,
• Nicolai Curmei,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Emil V. Rusu,
• Marius Enachescu,
• Ion M. Tiginyanu and
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 899–910, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.75

• fluctuations. The observed PL band also cannot be attributed to low concentration impurities or intrinsic defects since the PL bands related to such impurities in the region of the absorption edge are narrow (they are due to either free-to-bound transitions or donor-acceptor transitions) [41]. Wider PL bands

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

• K. Priya Madhuri,
• Abhay A. Sagade,
• Pralay K. Santra and
• Neena S. John

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 814–820, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.66

• oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) or SiO2, it has been reported that CuPc attains different orientations resulting in substantial differences in donor–acceptor energy level alignment at the interface. Thus, ordering and orientation of these molecules significantly affect charge carrier injection and

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• -processed organic donor–acceptor blends called bulk heterojunctions (BHJ), for polycrystalline direct bandgap semiconductors such as CdTe, CuInxGa(1−x)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 and for hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells. Whatever material used, improving the performance of the solar cell requires a

• the photocharging time is not negligible compared to the light pulse duration. In this case, numerical simulations are necessary to properly analyze the spectroscopic SP(fmod) curves [18]. When investigating organic donor–acceptor (D–A) blends, both capacitive effects and photocharging dynamics shall

• approximation, this effect can be understood by assuming that there are no permanent charges in the “dark” (i.e., unilluminated) state of the organic layer considered as an undoped semiconductor. In “real” samples trapped carriers and electrostatic dipoles at the donor–acceptor interfaces contribute to the

Molecular architectonics of DNA for functional nanoarchitectures

• Debasis Ghosh,
• Lakshmi P. Datta and
• Thimmaiah Govindaraju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 124–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.11

• complementary base pairs. Cy3 and Cy5 dyes acted as donor–acceptor FRET pair systems that were ligated at the 5' and 3' end of the duplex stem structure, respectively. Under normal physiological conditions, the closed hairpin structure of the LMB probe facilitated juxtaposition of the two dyes, followed by

• (II)-bis(cyclen)–NDI and Zn(II)-bis(cyclen)–DPP, were decorated using oligothymidine (dT40) as a scaffold via interaction of Zn(II)-bis(cyclen) with thymidine residues. The ensemble behaved as a donor–acceptor heterojunction system where DPP acted as a donor moiety and NDI as an acceptor moiety. One

Design of a nanostructured mucoadhesive system containing curcumin for buccal application: from physicochemical to biological aspects

• Sabrina Barbosa de Souza Ferreira,
• Gustavo Braga,
• Évelin Lemos Oliveira,
• Jéssica Bassi da Silva,
• Hélen Cássia Rosseto,
• Lidiane Vizioli de Castro Hoshino,
• Mauro Luciano Baesso,
• Wilker Caetano,
• Craig Murdoch,
• Helen Elizabeth Colley and
• Marcos Luciano Bruschi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2304–2328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.222

• ± 3.33 µg/cm3), which demonstrates that the drug was retained in the mucosa but did not reach the blood flow. These results were influenced by the absence of the water in the donor acceptor. This condition promoted the relation with permeation by the PAS technique. These results were favorable for local

Charge-transfer interactions between fullerenes and a mesoporous tetrathiafulvalene-based metal–organic framework

• Manuel Souto,
• Joaquín Calbo,
• Samuel Mañas-Valero,
• Aron Walsh and
• Guillermo Mínguez Espallargas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1883–1893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.183

• increased by two orders of magnitude due to the CT interactions between C60 and the TTF-based framework. Keywords: charge transfer; donor–acceptor; fullerene; metal–organic frameworks (MOFs); tetrathiafulvalene (TTF); Introduction Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which are crystalline porous materials

• ], or to incorporate additional functionalities within the MOF [33][34][35]. Very recently, Farha and co-workers have demonstrated that encapsulation of C60 in a zirconium-based MOF can lead to an enhancement of electrical conductivity due to donor–acceptor interactions between the pyrene-based ligand

• electronics as conductors, switches, sensors or rectifiers [37][38]. Several studies have also been devoted to the development of TTF-based macrocyclic systems for their use as molecular machines or for supramolecular host–guest recognition [39][40][41]. In this context, donor–acceptor interactions between

Pure and mixed ordered monolayers of tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane and hexathiapentacene on the Ag(100) surface

• Robert Harbers,
• Timo Heepenstrick,
• Dmitrii F. Perepichka and
• Moritz Sokolowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1188–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.118

• constituents of CT crystals thus form a specific subset. We name a few examples. On the Au(111) surface, ordered monolayers were observed for following donor/acceptor pairs: tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)/7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) [11][12], tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene (TMTTF)/TCNQ [13], α

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

• vertically aligned nanostructuration of TiO2 also makes this system attractive, since it ensures direct percolation paths for the photogenerated electrons from the donor–acceptor interface to the cathode, while providing a simple, controlled and ordered architecture. Furthermore, studies are available in

Nanoconjugates of a calixresorcinarene derivative with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) fragments for drug encapsulation

• Alina M. Ermakova,
• Julia E. Morozova,
• Yana V. Shalaeva,
• Victor V. Syakaev,
• Aidar T. Gubaidullin,
• Alexandra D. Voloshina,
• Vladimir V. Zobov,
• Irek R. Nizameev,
• Olga B. Bazanova,
• Igor S. Antipin and
• Alexander I. Konovalov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2057–2070, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.195

• macrocycle, the hydrophobic effect with its alkyl substituents and hydrogen, and donor–acceptor bonds with its polyethyleneoxy groups. The encapsulation was performed through thin-film hydration (also called evaporation method) or through solubilisation. Thin-film hydration means that ethanol solutions of

• particles (Figure 6c). According to our results, the EE and DL values of Nap are higher than those of IF. Nap is more hydrophilic than IF and has methyloxy group yielding additional donor–acceptor interactions with the hydrophilic groups of the macrocycle. Moreover, the EE and DL values of Nap are higher

The inhibition effect of water on the purification of natural gas with nanoporous graphene membranes

• Krzysztof Nieszporek,
• Tomasz Pańczyk and
• Jolanta Nieszporek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1906–1916, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.182

• of hydrogen bridges [23]: where h(t) denotes the specific binary function: If the hydrogen bond between a particular donor/acceptor exists then h(t) = 1 and otherwise h(t) = 0. The expressions in angle brackets are time-averaged. c(t) can be interpreted as a conditional probability that the hydrogen

• the correlation function c(t), the binary functions h(t) of all possible donor/acceptor pairs (hydroxy groups originating from water and nitrogen atoms located at the nanopore rim) were determined. Next, for individual donor–acceptor pairs the correlation functions were first calculated and then

• were 3600 trajectories. From a technical point of view two cases can be considered during calculations: the first case in which h(t) were considered for all donor–acceptor pairs and the second case in which the number of trajectories was reduced by those in which no binding was observed. In the second

Optimisation of purification techniques for the preparation of large-volume aqueous solar nanoparticle inks for organic photovoltaics

• Furqan Almyahi,
• Thomas R. Andersen,
• Nathan A. Cooling,
• Natalie P. Holmes,
• Matthew J. Griffith,
• Krishna Feron,
• Xiaojing Zhou,
• Warwick J. Belcher and
• Paul C. Dastoor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 649–659, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.60

• precipitation into nanoparticles. OPV prepared from this method have shown great efficiency by reaching 4% [8], however, this method have so far only proven efficient on one donor–acceptor pair. The low versatility of this method as well as with a poor stability of the prepared suspension [9] greatly limits the

Towards molecular spintronics

• Georgeta Salvan and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2464–2466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.245

• guests with topics beyond the molecular systems investigated in our Research Unit, for example: theoretical predictions on metal/C60 interfaces [16], magneto-resistive donor/acceptor transistors [17], spin-crossover complexes [18], ferromagnetic thin films obtained from organic blends [19], and

Ester formation at the liquid–solid interface

• Nguyen T. N. Ha,
• Thiruvancheril G. Gopakumar,
• Nguyen D. C. Yen,
• Carola Mende,
• Lars Smykalla,
• Maik Schlesinger,
• Roy Buschbeck,
• Tobias Rüffer,
• Heinrich Lang,
• Michael Mehring and
• Michael Hietschold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2139–2150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.213

• solution. The pattern consists of undecanol lamella (blue lines in Figure 2a [25]) and the TMA dimer tapes, which are represented by the pairs of full-line and dashed circles in Figure 2a. A magnified section of the linear pattern is shown in Figure 2b. The typical donor–acceptor double hydrogen bonds

Ultrasmall magnetic field-effect and sign reversal in transistors based on donor/acceptor systems

• Thomas Reichert and
• Tobat P. I. Saragi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1104–1114, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.112

• framework of the bipolaron model. Keywords: donor/acceptor system; organic magnetoresistance; organic transistors; sign reversal; ultrasmall magnetic field-effects; Introduction In recent years, the development of organic π-conjugated materials have perfectly meet the requirements for low-cost and

• fabrication of highly magnetosensitive devices. With these findings, we were the first to establish donor–acceptor interactions as one powerful way to create magnetosensitive transistors but we could not yet cover all experimental aspects of this materials system. In this paper, we will describe several

• voltage-induced sign reversal can be significantly influenced by the composition of the donor/acceptor system. For a detailed analysis of the MR curves, separate measurement series were performed for small fields (2 mT < B < 85 mT) and ultrasmall fields (0.5 mT < B < 5 mT). First, a typical MR line shape

Analysis and modification of defective surface aggregates on PCDTBT:PCBM solar cell blends using combined Kelvin probe, conductive and bimodal atomic force microscopy

• Hanaul Noh,
• Alfredo J. Diaz and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 579–589, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.62

• performed to optimize the morphology of the active layer by controlling fabrication parameters such as donor/acceptor ratio, casting solvents, additives, and thermal and solvent annealing processes [8][10][11][12]. In addition to device-level investigations, studies on the local morphology changes of

Tandem polymer solar cells: simulation and optimization through a multiscale scheme

• Fanan Wei,
• Ligang Yao,
• Fei Lan,
• Guangyong Li and
• Lianqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 123–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.13

• , donor/acceptor weight ratio as well as the donor–acceptor distribution in both active layers of the two sub-cells. Finally, employing searching algorithms, we optimized the power conversion efficiency of the tandem polymer solar cells and located the optimal device structure parameters. With the

• . Furthermore, existing evidence suggests that the distribution of donor/acceptor (D/A) in the active layer is critical in determining the final device performance [1][6]. What also must be considered is that the weight ratio between donor and acceptor is another important factor impacting the PCE of tandem

• donor–acceptor distribution. Details of the morphology generation process is available in Supporting Information File 1. The simulated morphology agrees well with that acquired from actual experiments (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1). Then, the distribution of donor and acceptor materials in

Facile fabrication of luminescent organic dots by thermolysis of citric acid in urea melt, and their use for cell staining and polyelectrolyte microcapsule labelling

• Nadezhda M. Zholobak,
• Anton L. Popov,
• Alexander B. Shcherbakov,
• Nelly R. Popova,
• Mykhailo M. Guzyk,
• Valeriy P. Antonovich,
• Alla V. Yegorova,
• Yuliya V. Scrypynets,
• Inna I. Leonenko,
• Alexander Ye. Baranchikov and
• Vladimir K. Ivanov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1905–1917, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.182

• urea thermolysis. Thus, the resulting O-dot is a set of primary fluorophores bound by covalent or intermolecular (coordination, donor–acceptor, hydrogen) bonds, for example, forming a polymer-like structure [47], so that the particles formed can be identified as clusters of independent fluorophores [19

Preparation of alginate–chitosan–cyclodextrin micro- and nanoparticles loaded with anti-tuberculosis compounds

• Albert Ivancic,
• Fliur Macaev,
• Fatma Aksakal,
• Veaceslav Boldescu,
• Serghei Pogrebnoi and
• Gheorghe Duca

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1208–1218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.112

• ) in molecular systems. The electron density distribution in the frontier orbitals of the enzyme–ligand complexes under study provides information about the donor–acceptor character of the interactions inside the complexes. The electronic structure calculations were carried out with Gaussian 09 using

• was significant for the LUMO (Figure 13b). Atoms of both isoconazole and amino acid residues (Met199, Thr196, Ala198, Ile202, Met161, and Tyr158) contributed to the donor–acceptor interaction. Conclusion The obtained microparticulate and nanoparticulate systems of alginate–chitosan–β-cyclodextrin with