Ordering of Zn-centered porphyrin and phthalocyanine on TiO₂(011): STM studies

• Piotr Olszowski,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Szymon Godlewski,
• Bartosz Such,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Res Jöhr,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 99–107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.11

• conditions. Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cells; molecular nanostructures; phthalocyanines; porphyrins; rutile surfaces; STM imaging; Introduction There is an increasing interest in optoelectronic applications of organic molecular heterostructures which utilize inorganic substrates, such as titanium

• oxides. Recently various devices, such as light-emitting diodes [1], organic field effect transistors [2], and dye-sensitized solar cells [3], have been developed and commercialized. It is apparent that in almost all areas of utilization, the electronic properties of complex structures play a crucial

• device functionality. It was reported that a mixture of porphyrins and phthalocyanine has a profound impact on the photovoltaic parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells [9][10]. Therefore, the microscopic investigation on such systems is crucial. One of the most popular nonmetal substrates used for

Structural and tribometric characterization of biomimetically inspired synthetic "insect adhesives"

• Matthias W. Speidel,
• Malte Kleemeier,
• Andreas Hartwig,
• Klaus Rischka,
• Angelika Ellermann,
• Rolf Daniels and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 45–63, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.6

A dioxaborine cyanine dye as a photoluminescence probe for sensing carbon nanotubes

• Mohammed Al Araimi,
• Petro Lutsyk,
• Anatoly Verbitsky,
• Yuri Piryatinski,
• Mykola Shandura and
• Aleksey Rozhin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1991–1999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.190

• , development of efficient method for detection of carbon nanotubes is required. In this work, we have studied the interaction of indopentamethinedioxaborine dye (DOB-719) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. In the mixture of the dye and the SWNTs

• we have revealed new optical features in the spectral range of the intrinsic excitation of the dye due to resonance energy transfer from DOB-719 to SWNTs. Specifically, we have observed an emergence of new PL peaks at the excitation wavelength of 735 nm and a redshift of the intrinsic PL peaks of

• SWNT emission (up to 40 nm) in the near-infrared range. The possible mechanism of the interaction between DOB-719 and SWNTs has been proposed. Thus, it can be concluded that DOB-719 dye has promising applications for designing efficient and tailorable optical probes for the detection of SWNTs

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• immobilized and photoactive. To confirm this, the resulting ZnO/silica-clay heterostructured porous solids have been tested in photocatalytic experiments using water solutions of methylene blue (MB) dye or ibupofren drug, as models of organic pollutants, to prove their efficiency as photocatalysts for

• different applications as a photocatalyst. Hence, their activity has been tested using methylene blue (MB) model dye molecule. Figure 11 shows the concentration of methylene blue solutions (C/C0) as a function of the UV irradiation time in presence of SiO2/ZnO montmorillonite and ZnO/SiO2-sepiolite

• contains more than 95% of pure sepiolite [32]. Methylene blue dye (MB, C16H18N3SCl, RPE) and the ibuprofen sodium salt (C13H17NaO2) were supplied by (Analyticals Carlo Erba) and Sigma-Aldrich, respectively. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB, purum, Aldrich) was used

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

• traditional dyes) can be detected by using excitation light sources of different wavelengths. Thus, the standard optical setting for a luminescent microscope used in Rhodamine dye cell staining and visualization (ex. 546 nm/em. 575 nm) causes O-dots to emit in red (Figure 6A); the set used for DAPI staining

Low temperature co-fired ceramic packaging of CMOS capacitive sensor chip towards cell viability monitoring

• Niina Halonen,
• Joni Kilpijärvi,
• Maciej Sobocinski,
• Timir Datta-Chaudhuri,
• Antti Hassinen,
• Someshekar B. Prakash,
• Peter Möller,
• Pamela Abshire,
• Sakari Kellokumpu and
• Anita Lloyd Spetz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1871–1877, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.179

• attachment of the cells on the chip, as well as LTCC, was monitored by fixing the cells with 4% paraformaldehyde 24 h after inoculation and staining the cells with a DNA binding dye (Hoechst, 33342) and anti-α-tubulin antibody. Based on the cell morphology shown in Figure 5a–f, the cells attached normally

• cells grow on top of the chip. (d–f) The cells grow on top of LTCC. In (a) and (d), the blue color indicates the cell nuclei stained with a DNA binding dye, Hoechst 33342. In (b) and (e), immunofluorescence staining was performed with anti-α-tubulin antibody and Alexa 488 secondary antibody. The green

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

• to display better gas selectivity and sensitivity [1][2]. Additionally, open nanostructures facilitate the penetration of gas, and as a consequence, reduces the response time. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is effectively used in environmental and energy production applications such as dye-sensitized solar

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• characterized using different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by studying the degradation of a model dye (methyl orange, MO) under visible light (only) irradiation and under natural sunlight. The results reveal that the RGO-supported CdS–ZnO photocatalyst

• radiation [17]. Due to this high band gap value, ZnO can only absorb ultraviolet (UV) light and this limits its practical applications [18]. Thus, in order to design more efficient photocatalysts, which are active in visible light, many research groups have devoted their studies towards dye sensitization

• nanocomposites are presented and their photocatalytic activity have been demonstrated with respect to the degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye, both under visible light (only) irradiation from a solar simulator and natural sun light. The obtained results have been discussed in detail, and the role of RGO

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

• organic adsorbate are necessary. The method of choice for investigating the local environment of a single dye molecule is high-resolution scanning probe microscopy. Microscopic results combined with the outcome of common spectroscopic methods provide a better understanding of the mechanism taking place at

• the titania–sensitizer interface. In the following paper, we review the recent scanning probe microscopic research of a certain group of molecular assemblies on rutile titania surfaces as it pertains to dye-sensitized solar cell applications. We focus on experiments on adsorption of three types of

• prototypical dye molecules, i.e., perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), phtalocyanines and porphyrins. Two interesting heteromolecular systems comprising molecules that are aligned with the given review are discussed as well. Keywords: dye molecules; perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic

The effect of dry shear aligning of nanotube thin films on the photovoltaic performance of carbon nanotube–silicon solar cells

• Benedikt W. Stolz,
• Daniel D. Tune and
• Benjamin S. Flavel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1486–1491, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.141

• explored from both a fundamental theory point of view [1][2], as well as experimentally in a host of different device architectures, including as additives in dye solar cells [3][4], organic photovoltaics [5][6], and perovskites [7][8] and as the active light absorbing component in conjunction with

An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants

• Clément Monteil,
• Nathalie Bar,
• Agnès Bee and
• Didier Villemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1447–1453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.136

• washed successively with acetone and diethylether and then dried in an oven at 120 °C for 24 h. Preparation of stock solutions MO or MB powders were dissolved in distilled water (5·10−4 mol·L−1) in order to prepare dye stock solutions. Extraction of methyl orange and methylene blue with NP-PEIP A

• samples was prepared by introducing 10 mL of NP-PEIP stock solution in 10 mL of the dye solution. For all of them, the pH was adjusted between 1 and 14 with either diluted nitric acid or sodium hydroxide solution. After 3 h of stirring, particles were collected with a magnet, and the supernatant was

• NP-PEIP80. 15 replicate tests were prepared for each dye, using the same protocol as previously, but with a constant pH value (7 for MO, 14 for MB corresponding to the pH value of maximum adsorption). Evolution of absorbance was monitored by spectrophotometry and recorded at different times, changing

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, BET, DRS and Raman spectroscopy. 5% Ce-doped ZnO rods with an average length of 130 nm and a diameter of 23 nm exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of the Orange II dye under solar light irradiation. The high photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the

• , electronic and photocatalytic properties have been investigated. Our results demonstrate that Ce-doping improves the optical absorption ability toward visible light wavelengths and thus the photocatalytic performances. ZnO:Ce rods allow the complete degradation of the Orange II dye in ca. 80 min under solar

• photodegradation rate constant (min−1) and C0 and C are the concentrations of Orange II at time 0 and t, respectively. The rate constants k determined for the bleaching of 30 mL of a 10 mg/L dye solution were found to be 0.029, 0.032, 0.039, 0.063, 0.043 and 0.055 min−1 for ZnO and ZnO:Ce rods doped with 1, 3, 5

The influence of phthalocyanine aggregation in complexes with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on the photophysical properties of the complexes

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov,
• Kevin Berwick and
• Alexander V. Baranov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.94

• –tetrapyrrole complexes is not confirmed by experiment to date. The second mechanism can be only possible in complexes with direct attachment of acceptor molecules to the QD surface, i.e., adjacent capping ligand molecules are replaced with organic dye molecules [24][25]. Therefore, a physical mechanism that

The hydraulic mechanism in the hind wing veins of Cybister japonicus Sharp (order: Coleoptera)

• Jiyu Sun,
• Wei Wu,
• Mingze Ling,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Jin Tong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 904–913, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.82

• ). After that, ultrathin sections of 50–100 nm thickness were cut out by an ultrathin slicing machine. In order to easily view the sample structure, dye (hematoxylin eosin) was used to stain the specimens. To confirm which veins of the hind wings were involved in the hydraulic mechanism during unfolding, a

• hypothesis that the hemolymph in some Coleoptera wings’ veins circulates in relation to periodic heartbeat reversal and intermittent pulse activity of the wing-hearts. Wasserthal [27] showed that injection of dye into the wings of Pieris rapae demonstrated that the movement of hemolymph into the wings along

Reconstitution of the membrane protein OmpF into biomimetic block copolymer–phospholipid hybrid membranes

• Matthias Bieligmeyer,
• Franjo Artukovic,
• Stephan Nussberger,
• Thomas Hirth,
• Thomas Schiestel and
• Michaela Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 881–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.80

• giant vesicles (Figure 2A). Nile red was used as a general hydrophobic dye to visualize the membranes; TopFluorPC was used to assess possible phase separation between lipids and polymers. The molecular weight of PIPEO appeared to have no observable effect on the formation of vesicles despite the

Optical absorption signature of a self-assembled dye monolayer on graphene

• Tessnim Sghaier,
• Sylvain Le Liepvre,
• Céline Fiorini,
• Ludovic Douillard and
• Fabrice Charra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 862–868, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.78

• strengths of the vibronic structures are preserved. These changes are attributed to non-resonant interactions with the graphene layer and the neighbouring molecules. Keywords: absorption spectroscopy; dye aggregates; graphene; molecular monolayer; optical spectroscopy; perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic

• -3,4,9,10-diimide (PTCDI); scanning tunnelling microscopy; self-assembly; self-organization; Introduction Close-packed assemblies of dye molecules exhibit drastically altered photonic properties as compared with the isolated or diluted species [1]. These changes find their origin in near-field optical

• then be reached [6][7]. These collective excitations can also lead to remarkable light emission processes such as superradiance [8]. Interactions between a dye and its surroundings at the molecular scale may also induce drastic changes in its photonic properties. Structural planarization of the

Assembling semiconducting molecules by covalent attachment to a lamellar crystalline polymer substrate

• Rainhard Machatschek,
• Patrick Ortmann,
• Renate Reiter,
• Stefan Mecking and
• Günter Reiter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 784–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.70

• . Their softness can be explained by a rather low number of attached dye molecules per island: When packing was not sufficiently dense, molecules could bend or be pushed sideways under the load applied through the cantilever, allowing the AFM tip to penetrate the semiconducting layer. Initially, the

• under a layer of amorphous chain segments at the fold surface of the nanocrystals. Only a limited number of carboxyl groups within this amorphous layer were accessible for grafting 1 molecules. Hence, at such low surface density of carboxyl groups, the attached dye molecules were widely separated from

• each other. Therefore, dye molecules could not form aggregates, which can account for the observed emission spectrum (Figure 5A). While we were able to enhance the density of carboxyl-groups on the fold surfaces of large solution-grown CPE45 single crystals by an appropriate annealing procedure, such a

Early breast cancer screening using iron/iron oxide-based nanoplatforms with sub-femtomolar limits of detection

• Dinusha N. Udukala,
• Hongwang Wang,
• Sebastian O. Wendel,
• Aruni P. Malalasekera,
• Thilani N. Samarakoon,
• Asanka S. Yapa,
• Gayani Abayaweera,
• Matthew T. Basel,
• Pamela Maynez,
• Raquel Ortega,
• Yubisela Toledo,
• Leonie Bossmann,
• Colette Robinson,
• Katharine E. Janik,
• Olga B. Koper,
• Ping Li,
• Massoud Motamedi,
• Daniel A. Higgins,
• Gary Gadbury,
• Gaohong Zhu,
• Deryl L. Troyer and
• Stefan H. Bossmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 364–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.33

• is a vital strategy for early cancer detection. Water-dispersable Fe/Fe3O4-core/shell based nanoplatforms for protease detection are capable of detecting protease activity down to sub-femtomolar limits of detection. They feature one dye (tetrakis(carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP)) that is tethered to

• the central nanoparticle by means of a protease-cleavable consensus sequence and a second dye (Cy 5.5) that is directly linked. Based on the protease activities of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), MMPs 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, and 13, as well as CTS B and L, human breast cancer can be detected at stage I

• of detecting protease activities over a wide activity range down to sub-femtomolar LOD’s. These nanoplatforms consist of dopamine-covered, water-dispersable iron/iron oxide core/shell nanoparticles, to which one fluorescent dye (TCPP, tetrakis(carboxyphenyl)porphyrin) is tethered via a consensus

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

Sonochemical co-deposition of antibacterial nanoparticles and dyes on textiles

• Ilana Perelshtein,
• Anat Lipovsky,
• Nina Perkas,
• Tzanko Tzanov and
• Aharon Gedanken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1–8, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.1

• wide range of applications. Here, we report for the first time on the simultaneous sonochemical dyeing and coating of textiles with antibacterial metal oxide (MO) nanoparticles. In this one-step process the antibacterial nanoparticles are synthesized in situ and deposited together with dye

• properties and the dye fastness was studied for 72 h in saline solution aiming at medical applications. Keywords: antibacterial nanoparticles; coating stability; dyes; sonochemical coating; Introduction The preferred technique for coating with nanoparticles (NPs) in most scientific and industrial examples

• antibacterial CuO or ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) from an aqueous solution. The solution contains both the dye and the corresponding M(CH3COO)2 (M = Zn or Cu) precursor, which undergoes hydrolysis under alkaline conditions (ammonia) to form ZnO or CuO. The cotton was colored with the dye and showed good

Blue and white light emission from zinc oxide nanoforests

• Nafisa Noor,
• Luca Lucera,
• Thomas Capuano,
• Venkata Manthina,
• Alexander G. Agrios,
• Helena Silva and
• Ali Gokirmak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2463–2469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.255

• produce UV [9], blue [10] or white light [11]. Recently there have also been reports on dye-sensitized solar cells [12][13] that utilize ZnO nanostructures. ZnO, with its interesting electronic and optical properties [14] and possibility of synthesis using relatively simple approaches, can become a low

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

• oxidation, discoloration, mineralization, and degradation of organic pollutants [1][2]. Photocatalysis is an example of an AOP that has been effectively applied for the treatment of highly polluted water such as dye sewage [3][4]. Among the materials for this application, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a very

• 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

Green and energy-efficient methods for the production of metallic nanoparticles

• Mitra Naghdi,
• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• M. Verma,
• R. Y. Surampalli and
• J. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2354–2376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.243

Selective porous gates made from colloidal silica nanoparticles

• Roberto Nisticò,
• Paola Avetta,
• Paola Calza,
• Debora Fabbri,
• Giuliana Magnacca and
• Dominique Scalarone

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2105–2112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.215

• dye methylene blue (MB, molecular weight (MW) = 320 Da) and the cationic protein ribonuclease A (RNAse, MW = 13700 Da). Results and Discussion Synthesis, preparation and physicochemical characterization of the colloidal silica nanoparticles and mesoporous coatings Amphiphilic block copolymers in

• percentage ratio between the effective concentration (C) of probe molecules passed through the membrane and the concentration at the equilibrium (Ce) is plotted as a function of time. The resulting diffusion curves demonstrate that dye molecules cross the membrane more easily than the protein which is

• presence of RNAse at the time value of 140 h is ca. 1%, whereas for the neat MB solution it is ca. 9%. Furthermore, it can be observed that the application of an electric field causes a sharp increase of the amount of MB passing through the membrane. However, the amount of dye which migrates in the

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

• structural TiO2 films as a function of the preparation method. Finally, we discuss the effect of the SiNx thickness on the photocatalytic efficiency of the TiO2 films with the degradation of Orange II dye. Experimental All of the reagents used in this work were of analytical grade and were used with no

• at grazing incidence (0.05°). Silicon powder was dispersed on the coating surface in order to calibrate the diffractograms. The photocatalytic activity of the films was evaluated by observing the photobleaching of Orange II (OII) dye with an initial concentration [OII] = 10 mg·L−1 over the course of

• the initial absorbance. The bleaching of the dye was thus quantitatively evaluated by recording the “real time” evolution of the maximum absorbance value of the OII, at 485.5 nm, at neutral pH 7.2, using a quartz circulating cell placed in a UV–vis spectrometer. The photocatalytic activity of the