Applications of three-dimensional carbon nanotube networks

• Manuela Scarselli,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Francesco De Nicola,
• Ilaria Cacciotti,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Emanuela Gatto,
• Mariano Venanzi and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 792–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.82

• constructing three-dimensional random meshes from their overlapping. Recently, Gui and co-workers [6] fabricated CNT-sponges through a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process during which a catalyst precursor (ferrocene) dissolved in dichlorobenzene, which acted as carbon precursor, was injected in the reactor

• furnace. Prior to the experiment, argon gas was flushed into the growth chamber, to restore an ambient inert pressure (760 Torr). Ferrocene (2.3 wt %) and tiophene (1.5 wt %) were dissolved in ethanol to be used as catalyst and sulfur precursors, respectively. The obtained solution was placed in a 10 mL

A versatile strategy towards non-covalent functionalization of graphene by surface-confined supramolecular self-assembly of Janus tectons

• Ping Du,
• David Bléger,
• Fabrice Charra,
• Vincent Bouchiat,
• David Kreher,
• Fabrice Mathevet and
• André-Jean Attias

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 632–639, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.64

• , –CHO, and –COOH. Second, after appropriate post-functionalization, the Janus precursors formed the target Janus tectons (JA), exposing as an upper face different functional moieties such as triazine-4,5-diamine, 2,6-bis(2-pyridyl)pyridine and ferrocene units. The self-assembly properties of the JAPs

• × 16 nm, IT = 25 pA, VB = −1500 mV, and (D) JA functionalized with ferrocene, 25 × 25 nm, IT = 20 pA, VB = −1330 mV. One of the unit cells corresponding to the lattice formed by the non-functionalized pedestal, a = 3.84 nm, b = 2.08 nm and α = 64°, is highlighted in each image (green arrows) to

Filling of carbon nanotubes and nanofibres

• Reece D. Gately and
• Marc in het Panhuis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 508–516, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.53

• later be released under high temperature conditions [108][109]. One method to produce nitrogen-doped MWCNTs is a modified, floating catalyst, CVD technique, which is most commonly used to produce VGCNFs. The catalyst (ferrocene) was placed into the CVD chamber under an argon/ethylene flow, and melamine

• was used as an efficient source for N-doping [110]. The chamber was then heated to 950 °C, with an effective heating of the ferrocene and melamine to 350 °C. At this temperature both compounds undergo sublimation. After the purification steps, it was found that the resulting MWCNTs were highly doped

Liquid-phase exfoliated graphene: functionalization, characterization, and applications

• Mildred Quintana,
• Jesús Iván Tapia and
• Maurizio Prato

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2328–2338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.242

• graphene sheet [30]. This process is possible due to the ultrasonication of graphene upon addition of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde (Fc–CHO) in DMF, Figure 3. Fc–CHO is a reducing agent that prevents oxidation and radical reactions. Additionally, ferrocene derivatives are used in the synthesis of CNTs as carbon

• upon the addition of ferrocene aldehyde. Reprinted with permission from [30], copyright 2012 American Chemical Society. Slow-motion roll up of a graphene layer. Fc–CHO molecules template the rolling of the graphene sheet. Reprinted with permission from [31], copyright 2013 Wiley-VCH. Schematic

Carbon nano-onions (multi-layer fullerenes): chemistry and applications

• Juergen Bartelmess and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1980–1998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.207

• solvents and give rise to potential future applications in various fields of technology. The synthesis of ferrocene (Fc)-decorated CNOs was reported by Prato et al. [34]. CNOs were functionalized in a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with a BOC-protected amin/amino acid [35] and paraformaldehyde

High speed e-beam lithography for gold nanoarray fabrication and use in nanotechnology

• Jorge Trasobares,
• François Vaurette,
• Marc François,
• Hans Romijn,
• Jean-Louis Codron,
• Dominique Vuillaume,
• Didier Théron and
• Nicolas Clément

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1918–1925, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.202

• technique is however restricted to rectangle patterns. Here, we demonstrate that gold nanoarrays of sub-15 nm diameter, 50 nm pitch can be successfully fabricated either by the DOTF technique or by a new technique called “sequence method” allowing us XPS characterization of ferrocene-thiolated gold NPs

• ) for XPS characterization. Details for XPS measurements can be found in the Experimental section. We have selected the Ferrocene-thiol electroactive molecule, an important model system for the formation of electronic devices based self-assembly and biological sensors. XPS spectra have been well studied

• conditions prior to SAM formation corresponds to clean Au surface. XPS spectrum corresponding to the SAM with ferrocene (FcC11) show a Fe 2p3/2 and Fe 2p1/2 doublet located at 707.8 eV and 720.7 eV. The position of the doublet is in excellent agreement with previously reported values for adsorbed ferrocene

Donor–acceptor graphene-based hybrid materials facilitating photo-induced electron-transfer reactions

• Anastasios Stergiou,
• Georgia Pagona and
• Nikos Tagmatarchis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1580–1589, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.170

• the formation of a charge-separated state in the ZnPc–GO–C60 hybrid material [49]. Recently, the fabrication of a composite of GO and ferrocene moieties (GO–Fc, see Figure 3) was reported [50]. Although, the study refers to graphene oxide, it is the first report that describes the combination of

• graphene and ferrocene properties through chemical bonding. The photo-responsiveness of the developed composite was investigated by fabricating a Au/GO–Fc/Au device. Interestingly, a significant enhancement in current density under illumination with light was observed, which suggests charge-transfer

• hybrid materials. Tetraphenylporphyrin (TTP) condensed onto graphene oxide (GO) yielding GO–TPP hybrid material [44]. Ferrocene units anchored to graphene oxide (GO) forming a GO–Fc hybrid material [50]. Free and Pd-metallated tetraphenylporphyrin moieties as substituents of pyrrolidine rings covalently

En route to controlled catalytic CVD synthesis of densely packed and vertically aligned nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays

• Slawomir Boncel,
• Sebastian W. Pattinson,
• Valérie Geiser,
• Milo S. P. Shaffer and
• Krzysztof K. K. Koziol

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 219–233, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.24

• nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs). A mixture of toluene (main carbon source), pyrazine (1,4-diazine, nitrogen source) and ferrocene (catalyst precursor) was used as the injection feedstock. To optimize conditions for growing the most dense and aligned N-CNT arrays, we investigated the influence of

• the sp2-hybridisation of graphene C-atoms. As studied by XRD, the temperature and the [pyrazine]/[ferrocene] ratio in the feedstock affected the composition of the catalyst particles, and hence changed the growth mechanism of individual N-CNTs into a ‘mixed base-and-tip’ (primarily of the base-type

• c-CVD method. With the intension to grow the most aligned and dense arrays of N-CNTs, we have studied the parameters of the N-CNTs growth to find the concentration of pyrazine in the toluene/ferrocene solution and temperature as the critical parameters. The most dense and aligned N-CNTs were

3D-nanoarchitectured Pd/Ni catalysts prepared by atomic layer deposition for the electrooxidation of formic acid

• Loïc Assaud,
• Evans Monyoncho,
• Kristina Pitzschel,
• Anis Allagui,
• Matthieu Petit,
• Margrit Hanbücken,
• Elena A. Baranova and
• Lionel Santinacci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 162–172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.16

• surface, which after reaction on the active sites yields a –NiCp group on the surface and one cyclopentadiene molecule is released. Note that Martinson et al. have also detected cyclopentadione as a byproduct in the ferrocene process. During the S2 stage, the desorption of the precursors that have not

Adsorption of the ionic liquid [BMP][TFSA] on Au(111) and Ag(111): substrate effects on the structure formation investigated by STM

• Benedikt Uhl,
• Florian Buchner,
• Dorothea Alwast,
• Nadja Wagner and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 903–918, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.102

• contact with the surface at potentials between −0.4 and −2.2 V vs the ferrocene/ferrocenium (Fc/Fc+) redox couple [28]. Hence, the presence of the IL adsorbate alone is not sufficient to induce a restructuring of the substrate surface. The information derived from STM imaging can be combined with results

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes from unprocessed colemanite

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 843–851, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.95

• without ball milling technique [19][20]. For instance, Yu et al. first milled amorphous boron with NH3, then completed the synthesis by using the CVD method at 1200 °C for 8 hours without the utilization of a catalyst. Zhong et al. obtained BNNTs by using ammonium boron powders and ferrocene with the CVD

Optimization of solution-processed oligothiophene:fullerene based organic solar cells by using solvent additives

• Gisela L. Schulz,
• Marta Urdanpilleta,
• Roland Fitzner,
• Eduard Brier,
• Elena Mena-Osteritz,
• Egon Reinold and
• Peter Bäuerle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 680–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.77

• experiments were performed with a computer-controlled Autolab PGSTAT30 potentiostat and a three-electrode single-compartment cell with a platinum working electrode, a platinum wire counter electrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. All potentials were internally referenced to the ferrocene/ferrocenyl

• properties of DCV5T-Bu4 were probed by using cyclic voltammetry, the results of which are plotted in Figure 1b and summarized in Table 1. Measurements were performed in dichloromethane solutions containing tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6) and referenced against the internal ferrocene

• chloroform and as thin film, spin-coated from chlorobenzene at 80˚C. (b) Cyclic voltammogram of DCV5T-Bu4 in dichloromethane, TBAPF6 (0.1 M) measured versus the ferrocene/ferrocenyl (Fc/Fc+) redox couple. Diagram showing the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of DCV5T-Bu4, PCBM derivatives [34][35], and C60. J–V

Electrospinning preparation and electrical and biological properties of ferrocene/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) composite nanofibers

• Ji-Hong Chai and
• Qing-Sheng Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 189–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.19

• 200433, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.4.19 Abstract Nanofibers containing ferrocene (Fc) have been prepared for the first time by electrospinning. In this paper, Fc was dispersed uniformly throughout the poly(vinypyrrolidone) (PVP) matrix for the purpose of combining the properties of PVP and Fc. The effects

• could be controlled through adjusting solvents and Fc concentration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the diameters of the obtained composite fibers were about 30–200 nm at different Fc concentrations. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results confirmed the presence of ferrocene within the

• compatibility, and excellent dissolvability in most organic solvents [16]. In this work, PVP polymer was selected as the carrier for immobilizing ferrocene. By incorporating Fc in PVP, the composite nanofibers would have enhanced wettability due to the presence of PVP. Additionally, the presence of well

Functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Eloise Van Hooijdonk,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Rony Snyders and
• Jean-François Colomer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 129–152, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.14

• oxidizer [52]. The two leading methods currently used to synthesize vertically aligned carbon nanotubes are the ferrocene-catalyzed growth of aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes reported by Talapatra et al. [33] and the (super)-growth of ultrahigh-aligned single- (double-)walled carbon nanotubes on the

Influence of the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles on the optoelectronic performance of dry-deposited thin films

• Kimmo Mustonen,
• Toma Susi,
• Antti Kaskela,
• Patrik Laiho,
• Ying Tian,
• Albert G. Nasibulin and
• Esko I. Kauppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 692–702, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.79

• ferrocene-based aerosol CVD reactor [21] is included for comparison. The bundle lengths are shown to dominate the optoelectronic performance, while bundle diameters play a secondary role by affecting the absorption. The diameters of the SWCNTs and their graphitization level do not seem to be important

• synthesized both by using a ferrocene [6] and a HWG aerosol CVD [24], while the scattered data represent the current study. The higher the figure of merit K is, the further left are the data situated in the plot. Referring to Equation 2, we may distinguish two distinct populations of SWCNTs when K is plotted

• as a function of Lbundle, both following linear regression but with diverging slopes (Figure 7a). The continuous black line corresponds to SWCNTs from HWG aerosol CVD, while the blue dashed line corresponds to ferrocene aerosol CVD SWCNTs. To elucidate contributions to film performance caused by

Dynamics of capillary infiltration of liquids into a highly aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube film

• Sławomir Boncel,
• Krzysztof Z. Walczak and
• Krzysztof K. K. Koziol

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 311–317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.36

• material can potentially be used in a production of ultra-light hydrophobic composites exhibiting other superb physicochemical properties originating from the as-synthesised nanotubes. Experimental A solution of ferrocene (6 wt %, 98%, Acros Organics) in toluene (spectrophotometric grade, d = 0.86 g/cm3

Studies towards synthesis, evolution and alignment characteristics of dense, millimeter long multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays

• Pitamber Mahanandia,
• Jörg J. Schneider,
• Martin Engel,
• Bernd Stühn,
• Somanahalli V. Subramanyam and
• Karuna Kar Nanda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 293–301, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.34

• , India 10.3762/bjnano.2.34 Abstract We report the synthesis of aligned arrays of millimeter long carbon nanotubes (CNTs), from benzene and ferrocene as the molecular precursor and catalyst respectively, by a one-step chemical vapor deposition technique. The length of the grown CNTs depends on the

• end, it remains an interesting task to provide a straightforward and low-cost production method for obtaining good quality aligned multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) by a straightforward and easy to use technique. Herein we report on the synthesis of ultra long, aligned, MWCNTs using benzene and ferrocene as

• technique for studying the alignment of CNTs up to μm sized dimensions. Results and Discussion Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of aligned CNTs, prepared in the temperature range of 650 to 1100 °C, with ferrocene/benzene as catalyst and precursor, are shown in Figure 1. The length of the grown CNTs

Electrochemical behavior of dye-linked L-proline dehydrogenase on glassy carbon electrodes modified by multi-walled carbon nanotubes

• Haitao Zheng,
• Leyi Lin,
• Yosuke Okezaki,
• Ryushi Kawakami,
• Haruhiko Sakuraba,
• Toshihisa Ohshima,
• Keiichi Takagi and
• Shin-ichiro Suye

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 135–141, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.16

• ) from hyperthermophilic archaeon (Thermococcus profundus) was used to fabricate L-proline sensor based electrodes modified by layer-by-layer self-assembly immobilization of dye-linked L-proDH and ferrocene-labeled redox polyelectrolytes [9][28], which exhibited an amperometric current response to L

• -proline. Because electroactive ferrocene groups were used as the electron mediator, the above sensors should operate at an applied potential of +0.45 V to satisfy the redox reaction of ferrocene. In order to improve the sensitivity of electrochemical L-proline biosensor at lower applied potentials, multi

• interference when the enzymatic reaction was closed to saturation. The amperometric response was about 0.87 μA cm−2 for 1 mM L-proline with a detection limit of 0.05 mM (S/N = 3), which was much higher than that obtained in previous work which used a ferrocene-labeled redox polymer as the electron mediator [9