Amorphous Ni_xCo_yP-supported TiO₂ nanotube arrays as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst in acidic solution

• Yong Li,
• Peng Yang,
• Bin Wang and
• Zhongqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 62–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.6

• by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. We show that after incorporating Co into Ni–P, the resulting NixCoyP/TNAs present enhanced electrocatalytic activity due to the improved electron transfer and increased electrochemically active surface area

• bottleneck for HER is the high overpotential associated with the process that takes place at a significant rate due to the high activation barrier and the sluggish multiple-proton-coupled electron transfer [4][5][6]. Noble metal Pt-based catalysts are widely used for HER to circumvent the overpotential

• , respectively. It should be noted that the hydrogen doping may occur due to the small radius of the hydrogen atom when measuring the electrocatalytic activity of NixCoyP/TNAs. Generally speaking, hydrogen doping increases electrical conductivity and enhances electron transfer. Thus the electrocatalytic activity

Graphene-enhanced metal oxide gas sensors at room temperature: a review

• Dongjin Sun,
• Yifan Luo,
• Marc Debliquy and
• Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2832–2844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.264

• ]. The oxygen functional groups that locate on the surface of rGO lead to an electron transfer from rGO to oxygen functional groups, and holes become the main charge carriers, indicating that rGO acts as a p-type semiconductor [14][15][16]. Zhang et al. [17] prepared rGO room-temperature gas sensor with

• demonstrated that the response and recovery of this sensor were much faster than that of SnO2–rGO sensor, which could only work at 50–55 °C. The doping of Ag nanoparticles not only improved the electron transfer rate of the sensor, but also increased the number of active sites on the surface of the sensor

• permission from [80], copyright 2014 American Chemical Society. Proposed NO2-sensing mechanism of GR–WO3 composites at room temperature and electron transfer between WO3 nanospheres and graphene sheets. Gas-sensing performance of graphene/metal-oxides sensors for reducing gases at room temperature. NO2

Accurate control of the covalent functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes for the electro-enzymatically controlled oxidation of biomolecules

• Naoual Allali,
• Veronika Urbanova,
• Mathieu Etienne,
• Xavier Devaux,
• Martine Mallet,
• Brigitte Vigolo,
• Jean-Joseph Adjizian,
• Chris P. Ewels,
• Sven Oberg,
• Alexander V. Soldatov,
• Edward McRae,
• Yves Fort,
• Manuel Dossot and
• Victor Mamane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2750–2762, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.257

• modify electrodes (e.g., glassy carbon electrodes, GCEs) in order to decrease the overpotential value, increase sensitivity and reduce the occurrence of electrode fouling by degradation of the analyzed (bio)molecules [4]. They can increase the electron transfer rate between electrode and target molecules

• , the role of the PEG linker in the good electrochemical response was studied by molecular dynamics, which show that favorable interaction between the ETG units and water molecules prevents π-stacking of the ferrocene unit on the surface of the CNTs, therefore allowing for a good electron transfer

• not the case in our experiments. Moreover, this experiment confirms that no direct electron transfer can be achieved between diaphorase and the electrode, even in the presence of SWCNTs. The functionalization of SWCNTs with ferrocene groups allowed for observing by cyclic voltammetry a quasi

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• construction of solar cells with a TiO2 ETL and Spiro-OMeTAD HTL. The CB shift results in an increase in the efficiency of electron transfer to the titania scaffold. This tendency is, however, counter-balanced by a reduction of the spectral sensitivity range due to an increased Eg. Summarily, both trends

• the electron transfer to the TiO2 scaffold and the spectral sensitivity range defined by Eg. The Sn4I13 “isomer” with a “close-to-ideal” Eg of 1.42 eV was suggested as an optimal light harvester, displaying a promising PCE of 2.5% (Table 1) [75]. Along with the photovoltaic cells with an HP layer

• from micrometers to a few hundred nanometers [167]. A combination of MABI with a TiO2 scaffold resulted in a depopulation of bound excitons and electron transfer to the titania. These observations indicate that, in contrast to Pb-based HPs, for MABI, a bulk-heterojunction solar cell architecture is

Electrospun one-dimensional nanostructures: a new horizon for gas sensing materials

• Muhammad Imran,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Mahnaz Shafiei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2128–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.202

• sensitivity by a high proportion of oxygen vacancies and efficient electron transfer [221]. For example, ZnO–SnO2 composite HFs exhibited excellent response (83) to 20 ppm of ethanol at 260 °C with a response time of 4–7 s and recovery time of 4–5 s [222]. One of the problems with ethanol gas sensors is their

Metal-free catalysis based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials: a photoelectron spectroscopy point of view

• Mattia Scardamaglia and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2015–2031, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.191

• higher intrinsic reactivity of the graphene edge sites, oxygen adsorption at those positions has a much lower energy barrier than at “planar bulk” sites, independently from the eventual functionalization [113]. Nitrogen doping increases the activity of the edges and enhances the electron transfer rate

• experiments are contradicting each other. In general, it can be concluded that both nitrogen configurations play a role: graphitic nitrogen determines the limiting current density facilitating the electron transfer from graphene to the antibonding orbitals of the oxygen molecule [104][105][106][114], while

The role of the Ge mole fraction in improving the performance of a nanoscale junctionless tunneling FET: concept and scaling capability

• Hichem Ferhati,
• Fayçal Djeffal and
• Toufik Bentrcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1856–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.177

• exhibits better electrostatic behavior and less parasitic ambipolar conduction than the other designs. In fact, this behavior can be attributed to two essential effects: Firstly, the enhanced tunneling current resulting from the low tunneling barrier giving rise to a higher probability of electron transfer

Controllable one-pot synthesis of uniform colloidal TiO₂ particles in a mixed solvent solution for photocatalysis

• Jong Tae Moon,
• Seung Ki Lee and
• Ji Bong Joo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1715–1727, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.163

• light [34]. Another hypothesis regarding the exceptional activity of anatase and rutile P25 is that the presence of rutile crystallites generates a favorable structure in which rapid electron transfer from rutile to lower energy lattice trapping centers of anatase phase occurs under visible-light

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

• Boštjan Žener,
• Lev Matoh,
• Giorgio Carraro,
• Bojan Miljević and
• Romana Cerc Korošec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.155

• degradation rate for these samples increased significantly, which can be explained by Pt acting as an efficient free electron trap, thereby reducing the undesirable electron–hole recombination while also improving the free-electron transfer to the adsorbed PB [25][50]. The best photocatalytic activity was

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• behind a small fraction of the excited carriers to be transferred to the surface of TiO2. This low electron transfer rate on the interface and fast recombination of photoinduced charge carriers causes its poor photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical efficiency [80][81][82][83]. (iii) The tendency of

• shifted to longer wavelengths when TiO2 is combined with SnS2 [93]. Moreover, it is seen that modification with sulfates induces a redox couple which facilitates the electron transfer, and hence, better photocatalytic activity. Naik et al. have shown S and N modified titania where electron shuffle takes

• as co-catalysts because of their intriguing properties such as small size, high dispersion, abundant surface functional groups, unique photoluminescence and good electron transfer ability [141][142]. Carbon dot–TiO2 (CD–TiO2) nanosheet composites synthesized by a hydrothermal route were studied for

Understanding the performance and mechanism of Mg-containing oxides as support catalysts in the thermal dry reforming of methane

• Nor Fazila Khairudin,
• Mohd Farid Fahmi Sukri,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1162–1183, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.108

• attracted to the base center (–Mg–OH group) and then dissociate on Ce2O3 via electron transfer to CO2 through oxygen vacancies to form CO2 and CeO2. Thus, the base center is most suitable for adsorbing the largest amount of CO2. The catalyst was stable for up to 50 h of reaction at 700 °C with an equal feed

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• acetylacetone), concentration (0.05 and 0.2 M) and subsequent post-calcination at 500 °C. The photo-electrochemical properties were evaluated in aqueous electrolyte solution under UV irradiation. The blocking properties were tested by cyclic voltammetry with a model redox probe with a simple one-electron

• -transfer reaction. Semi-automatic spraying resulted in the formation of transparent, homogeneous, TiO2 films, and the technique allows for easy upscaling to large electrode areas. The deposition temperature of 450 °C was necessary for the fabrication of highly photoactive TiO2 films. The blocking

Electro-optical interfacial effects on a graphene/π-conjugated organic semiconductor hybrid system

• Karolline A. S. Araujo,
• Luiz A. Cury,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Thales F. D. Fernandes,
• Luiz G. Cançado and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 963–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.90

• by φ = EF – Evacuum, where EF is the Fermi energy and Evacuum is extracted from the electrostatic potential calculation in the vacuum region near the surface. In the case of electron transfer from graphene to RA molecules (p doping), the graphene Fermi energy moves below the Dirac point, leading to

Cyclodextrin inhibits zinc corrosion by destabilizing point defect formation in the oxide layer

• Abdulrahman Altin,
• Maciej Krzywiecki,
• Adnan Sarfraz,
• Cigdem Toparli,
• Claudius Laska,
• Philipp Kerger,
• Aleksandar Zeradjanin,
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer,
• Michael Rohwerder and
• Andreas Erbe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 936–944, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.86

• interface, closely resembling the energy level alignment in an n–p junction. The energy level shift is too large to permit further electron transfer through the layer, inhibiting corrosion. Adsorption hence changes the defect density in the protecting ZnO layer. This mechanism of corrosion inhibition shows

• because of β-CD adsorption is too high to enable easy electron transfer at active corrosion conditions. This work shows that the energy level alignment across the interface can be significantly affected by the presence of simple organic molecules. The defect chemistry of the oxide plays also an important

Noble metal-modified titania with visible-light activity for the decomposition of microorganisms

• Maya Endo,
• Zhishun Wei,
• Kunlei Wang,
• Baris Karabiyik,
• Kenta Yoshiiri,
• Paulina Rokicka,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Agata Markowska-Szczupak and
• Ewa Kowalska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 829–841, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.77

• LSPR of gold with a probable electron transfer from gold NPs to the conduction band (CB) of titania and subsequent reduction of oxygen resulting in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It is also possible that bacteria could be easier adsorbed on positively charged (electron-deficient) gold

• NPs, and then directly oxidized with simultaneous electron transfer to gold NPs keeping them in the initial zero valent state. A similar mechanism was proposed for decomposition of organic compounds under vis irradiation [53]. The increase in dark activity of titania samples after modification with

• gold could be caused by an extracellular electron transfer between bacteria and gold, i.e., the surface of gold-modified titania could abstract respiration-active electrons from bacteria, inducing bacterial death [59]. In addition, silver and gold could affect proper transport through the plasma

Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• . The inset of Figure 3c shows the band bending, the Fermi energy level of the ZnO and the electron transfer from Au to ZnO. The e–h recombination in Au NP/ZnO structures can be promoted and leads to an enhanced UV emission. The strong electronic interaction between Au NPs and the defect sites of ZnO

Perovskite-structured CaTiO₃ coupled with g-C₃N₄ as a heterojunction photocatalyst for organic pollutant degradation

• Ashish Kumar,
• Christian Schuerings,
• Suneel Kumar,
• Ajay Kumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 671–685, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.62

• and hinders the charge recombination. This electron transfer is thermodynamically highly favored as charge flows from higher negative potential value to the lower negative potential values [34][60]. Thus, the formation of O2−• radicals is facilitated here as the reduction potential of O2/O2− (−0.33 eV

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• electron transfer until a Fermi equilibrium was achieved. The schematic of the mechanism of the bimetallic Au/AgBr-Ag heterostructure and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation reaction as reported by Purbia et al. is depicted in Figure 7 [103]. Another such similar finding was reported on the

• theoretical simulation is necessary for detailed understanding of the circumstances. Advanced characterization and theoretical simulation The electron transfer mechanisms of plasmonic/semiconductor hybrid systems have been reported elsewhere. However, the principal mechanism that governs the plasmon

• realistic application of plasmonic photocatalysts will focus on the scalability, cost and sustainability from the perspective of synthesis route to application. In addition, the theory behind the plasmonic-induced electron transfer mechanism still remains questionable and thus necessitates the advanced

Green synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots from spices for in vitro imaging and tumour cell growth inhibition

• Nagamalai Vasimalai,
• Vânia Vilas-Boas,
• Juan Gallo,
• María de Fátima Cerqueira,
• Mario Menéndez-Miranda,
• José Manuel Costa-Fernández,
• Lorena Diéguez,
• Begoña Espiña and
• María Teresa Fernández-Argüelles

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 530–544, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.51

• depending on the surface structure, interactions with the environment can be very selective and reversible. Changes of the optical properties have been attributed to electron transfer from the C-dots to other species, and it has been suggested that the solvent plays an important role due to solvation

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• degradation of indomethacin from the UV to NIR spectrum because of the superior electron transfer and extension of visible light absorption region after doping with N atoms [39]. Their group further enhanced the efficiency of CD/g-C3N4 through the incorporation of single-atom-dispersed silver. The optimum

• h+ in the VB directly oxidized BPA but cannot react with water (H2O) and hydroxide (OH−) to generate •OH because the VB of g-C3N4 (+1.52 eV vs NHE) was more negative than the redox potential of OH−/•OH (+2.4 eV) [76]. With a lower amount of CDs, the CDs facilitated efficient electron transfer from

• light absorption band while the lattice distortion of g-C3N4 was observed in XRD analysis. The minimal coverage of CDs (<0.5 wt %) mediated the electron transfer from the CB of g-C3N4 to adsorbed O2 to produce O2•−. It is evidenced by the scavenger test that both O2•− and h+ were the major active

Synthesis and characterization of electrospun molybdenum dioxide–carbon nanofibers as sulfur matrix additives for rechargeable lithium–sulfur battery applications

• Ruiyuan Zhuang,
• Shanshan Yao,
• Maoxiang Jing,
• Xiangqian Shen,
• Jun Xiang,
• Tianbao Li,
• Kesong Xiao and
• Shibiao Qin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 262–270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.28

• sulfur and MoO2–CNF materials. This suggested sufficient contact among sulfur and MoO2–CNFs, which lowered the resistance for the electron transfer across the interface between both. For further confirmation, the lithium ion diffusion coefficient was calculated using Equation 2 [40][41]: where DLi

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• photogenerated electrons from PS II directly recombine with the photogenerated holes from PS I, reducing the electron transfer distance and avoiding the backward reaction in the PS-A/D-PS system. Another simpler design using the solid–solid contact (PS-PS system) is illustrated in Figure 3D. On the contact

• nano-system in which water and CO2 were catalyzed to form H2 and CO in this integrated system [66]. Jiang et al. showed a thylakoid-inspired multishell g-C3N4 nanocapsule with orderly stacked nanostructures, which exhibited enhanced visible-light harvesting and electron-transfer properties for high

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

• enhancement in photocatalytic activity likely originates from CdSe sensitization of TiO2 and the heterojunction between these materials which facilitates electron transfer from CdSe to TiO2. Due to its high stability (up to ten reuses without any significant loss in activity), the CdSe/TiO2 heterostructured

• separation. The interfacial electron transfer between two semiconductors has gained significant interest because the heterojunction improves both the optical absorption in the visible range and the charge separation yield and thus the charge carrier lifetime [3][4][5][6][7][8]. The photocatalytic activity is

One-step chemical vapor deposition synthesis and supercapacitor performance of nitrogen-doped porous carbon–carbon nanotube hybrids

• Egor V. Lobiak,
• Lyubov G. Bulusheva,
• Ekaterina O. Fedorovskaya,
• Yury V. Shubin,
• Pavel E. Plyusnin,
• Pierre Lonchambon,
• Boris V. Senkovskiy,
• Zinfer R. Ismagilov,
• Emmanuel Flahaut and
• Alexander V. Okotrub

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2669–2679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.267

• circle radius, Rct, characterizes the charge-transfer resistance, which is inversely proportional to the rate of electron transfer. The initial point of the circle at high frequency, Rf, corresponds to the solid–solution resistance. The vertical line is the Warburg impedance, which arises from

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

• electromagnetic fields increased the efficiency of light interaction with sensitizers (dyes). On the other hand, plasmon resonance energy transfer (PRET) and “hot” electron transfer led to an increased e−/h+ pair generation and amplified number of carriers available for photocurrent generation. An increased