Development of a new hybrid approach combining AFM and SEM for the nanoparticle dimensional metrology

• Loïc Crouzier,
• Alexandra Delvallée,
• Sébastien Ducourtieux,
• Laurent Devoille,
• Guillaume Noircler,
• Christian Ulysse,
• Olivier Taché,
• Elodie Barruet,
• Christophe Tromas and
• Nicolas Feltin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1523–1536, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.150

• measurands defined for both techniques are distinct. AFM is a technique used for mapping physical properties at the nanoscale. The measuring principle is based on the detection of the interaction (attractive or repulsive forces) between a sharp tip attached to the end of a flexible cantilever and a sample

Flexible freestanding MoS₂-based composite paper for energy conversion and storage

• Florian Zoller,
• Jan Luxa,
• Thomas Bein,
• Dina Fattakhova-Rohlfing,
• Daniel Bouša and
• Zdeněk Sofer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1488–1496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.147

• -1) Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425 Jülich, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.10.147 Abstract The construction of flexible electrochemical devices for energy storage and generation is of utmost importance in modern society. In this article, we report on the synthesis of

• flexible MoS2-based composite paper by high-energy shear force milling and simple vacuum filtration. This composite material combines high flexibility, mechanical strength and good chemical stability. Chronopotentiometric charge–discharge measurements were used to determine the capacitance of our paper

• devices where high flexibility and mechanical strength are desired. Keywords: flexible composites; hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); lithium ion batteries (LIBs); molybdenum disulfide; nanoarchitectonics; supercapacitors; Introduction The world’s growing population has a nearly ever-increasing demand

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• sedimentation. These dispersions remained stable for more than five months (Figure 2B) and proved to be suitable for preparing self-supported, flexible films by solvent-casting (Figure 3B) as well as foams by freeze-casting (Figure 3C). The lamellar arrangement of the bionanocomposite films is schematized in

A silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite as a highly effective substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Yongxin Lu,
• Yan Luo,
• Zehao Lin and
• Jianguo Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1270–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.126

• , physically flexible and hydrophilic, which allows for a facile and efficient collection of the analytes from solution media. Hence, a number of works have been reported concerning the fabrication of SERS substrates by deposition of silver particles onto cellulose filter paper by means of the silver mirror

Porous N- and S-doped carbon–carbon composite electrodes by soft-templating for redox flow batteries

• Maike Schnucklake,
• László Eifert,
• Jonathan Schneider,
• Roswitha Zeis and
• Christina Roth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1131–1139, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.113

• rate of 2.5 °C/min. The tube furnace was allowed to cool down to room temperature after the maximum temperature was kept for 1 h. The composite electrodes were obtained with different mechanical stabilities. In comparison to the flexible pristine felt they appear rigid. With respect to their

Quantitative analysis of annealing-induced instabilities of photo-leakage current and negative-bias-illumination-stress in a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors

• Dapeng Wang and
• Mamoru Furuta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1125–1130, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.112

• commercialization has accelerated the development of consumption electronics and micromachining technology. One of the most successful modern-day microelectronic products are metal-oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) that guarantee large-scale integrated circuits for applications in transparent and flexible flat

Electronic properties of several two dimensional halides from ab initio calculations

• Mohamed Barhoumi,
• Ali Abboud,
• Lamjed Debbichi,
• Moncef Said,
• Torbjörn Björkman,
• Dario Rocca and
• Sébastien Lebègue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 823–832, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.82

• studied here offer a wide range of electronic direct or indirect bandgaps, from 3.0 eV for a monolayer of BiOI or of ScOI up to 7.5 eV for a monolayer of AlOCl. Such a bandgap tunability is particularly interesting for the fabrication of flexible and ultrathin optical devices, since it is known from

Features and advantages of flexible silicon nanowires for SERS applications

• Hrvoje Gebavi,
• Vlatko Gašparić,
• Dubravko Risović,
• Nikola Baran,
• Paweł Henryk Albrycht and
• Mile Ivanda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 725–734, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.72

• flexible silicon nanowires (SiNWs) substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) applications. The novel SERS substrates are described in detail considering three main aspects. First, the key synthesis parameters for the flexible nanostructure SERS substrates were optimized. It is shown that

• allowed hot spots occurrence. Finally, the test with 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid showed excellent SERS performance of the flexible, horizontally oriented SiNWs in comparison with several other commercially available substrates. Keywords: flexible hot spots; horizontal silicon nanowires; 4

• substrates offer high measurement reproducibility, stability, the possibility of precise spot-determined analyte detection and the measurement of water-insoluble substances [12]. Nowadays, the scientific focus is on a subcategory of solid substrates, i.e., “flexible SERS substrates”, which unlike the

Topochemical engineering of composite hybrid fibers using layered double hydroxides and abietic acid

• Liji Sobhana,
• Lokesh Kesavan,
• Jan Gustafsson and
• Pedro Fardim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 589–605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.60

• which pulp fibers are treated with strong oxidative chemicals such as peroxides or perchloric acid. This process removes most of the lignin and some hemicelluloses from the pulp, making it soft and flexible. These co-materials are detrimental to functionalizing cellulose and its utilization as technical

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Aβ₄₂, Aβ₄₀, and α-synuclein fibrils: a coarse-grained method to complement experimental studies

• Adolfo B. Poma,
• Horacio V. Guzman,
• Mai Suan Li and
• Panagiotis E. Theodorakis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 500–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.51

• , Figure 7c presents the RMSF results for all fibrils. We observe that the disordered domains (N- and C-terminus) in α-syn are very flexible in comparison with Aβ fibrils. Conclusion We have carried out molecular dynamics simulations to study the elastic properties of two families of biological fibrils

Wearable, stable, highly sensitive hydrogel–graphene strain sensors

• Jian Lv,
• Chuncai Kong,
• Chao Yang,
• Lu Yin,
• Itthipon Jeerapan,
• Fangzhao Pu,
• Xiaojing Zhang,
• Sen Yang and
• Zhimao Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 475–480, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.47

• hydrogel strain sensor is considered to have great potential in the field of wearable sensors. Keywords: graphene; high sensitivity; hydrogel; strain sensor; wearable sensor; Introduction Wearable, flexible sensors to monitor human body pressure, temperature, strain, and chemicals hold great potential in

• soft robotics [3][4]. The current, state of the art strategy to fabricate flexible strain sensors involves the integration of a conductive film on an elastomeric polymer and the embedding of conductive materials into the polymer matrix [5][6]. However, the lack of seamless conformation to curvatures in

• hydrogel to fabricate soft, flexible strain sensors is rarely reported. Another issue to be solved is related to increasing the sensitivity of the hydrogel strain sensor as the ionically conductive hydrogel exhibits low resistance changes with applied strain [13]. In this study, a flexible, stable, high

Gold nanoparticles embedded in a polymer as a 3D-printable dichroic nanocomposite material

• Lars Kool,
• Anton Bunschoten,
• Aldrik H. Velders and
• Vittorio Saggiomo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 442–447, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.43

• cup for drinking water as it will dissolve after a few minutes. To overcome this problem, we coated the 3D-printed cup with a layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a flexible, nontoxic and food-safe transparent elastomer [22]. The cup was brushed with liquid PDMS and it was cured at 70 °C for a few

Nanocomposite–parylene C thin films with high dielectric constant and low losses for future organic electronic devices

• Marwa Mokni,
• Gianluigi Maggioni,
• Abdelkader Kahouli,
• Sara M. Carturan,
• Walter Raniero and
• Alain Sylvestre

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 428–441, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.42

• devices as a gate dielectric, coating insulator film, or flexible substrate [3][4][5] due to its numerous advantageous properties. PPXC films are biocompatible and environmentally friendly [6][7][8][9]. Its deposition process makes it accessible as a coating for many semiconductor polymers [10] for

• organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) [11], organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) [12][13], and flexible organic electronic devices (FEDs) [14][15]. It presents an easy deposition process at low temperatures with a conformal and uniform layer [16]. Parylene C is a well-controlled material when used as

A Ni(OH)₂ nanopetals network for high-performance supercapacitors synthesized by immersing Ni nanofoam in water

• Donghui Zheng,
• Man Li,
• Yongyan Li,
• Chunling Qin,
• Yichao Wang and
• Zhifeng Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 281–293, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.27

• provides a new idea for the synthesis of nanostructured Ni(OH)2 by a simple approach and ultra-low cost, which largely extends the prospect of commercial application in flexible or wearable devices. Keywords: dealloying; Ni nanofoam; Ni(OH)2 nanopetals; metallic glass; supercapacitor; Introduction

Magnetic-field sensor with self-reference characteristic based on a magnetic fluid and independent plasmonic dual resonances

• Kun Ren,
• Xiaobin Ren,
• Yumeng He and
• Qun Han

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 247–255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.23

• influenced by the two stubs. This indicates that peak II is related to the stub 1 and stub 2. The simulated results confirm the theoretical prediction. Figure 4 shows that flexible modulations of the resonance wavelengths can be realized. Two resonance peaks can be easily tuned to certain wavelengths by

Raman study of flash-lamp annealed aqueous Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanocrystals

• Yevhenii Havryliuk,
• Oleksandr Selyshchev,
• Mykhailo Valakh,
• Alexandra Raevskaya,
• Oleksandr Stroyuk,
• Constance Schmidt,
• Volodymyr Dzhagan and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 222–227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.20

• dependence of the formation on the film thickness are also investigated. Importantly, no inert atmosphere for the FLA treatment of the NCs is required, which makes this technology even more suitable for mass production, in particular for printed thin films on flexible substrates. Keywords: copper zinc tin

Bidirectional biomimetic flow sensing with antiparallel and curved artificial hair sensors

• Claudio Abels,
• Antonio Qualtieri,
• Toni Lober,
• Alessandro Mariotti,
• Lily D. Chambers,
• Massimo De Vittorio,
• William M. Megill and
• Francesco Rizzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 32–46, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.4

• . The electrical measurement procedure depends on two piezo-resistive strain gauges fixed to flexible cantilevers bent out-of-plane, which are deflected by the mechanical force of the moving fluid. Each micro strain gauge runs across the entire surface of the cantilever and accordingly changes its

• is minimal and aerodynamic forces are hardly exerted on the cantilever beam, the cantilevers oscillated around their resting position. Even under laminar conditions, the bent cantilever is a flexible bluff body that generates periodic turbulence, which causes oscillation around its resting position

• state, because it is less flexible in the compressed state. Discussion In this work, antiparallel artificial hair sensors, coupled as a flow sensor with bidirectional sensitivity, were fabricated and fully characterized. The novel sensor design and arrangement was calibrated and stimulated by air flow

A novel polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-modified layered double hydroxide: preparation, characterization and properties

• Xianwei Zhang,
• Zhongzhu Ma,
• Hong Fan,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Jintao Wan and
• Philippe Dubois

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3053–3068, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.284

• –Al LDH in this work. Herein, OCPS was chosen as the candidate POSS intercalator because of the following advantages: (i) The long alkyl chains anchoring on the rigid POSS cage are flexible, reducing the resistance against the formation of layered structure. (ii) The OCPS molecule is rich in

• as ca. 1.30 nm, larger than the resulting intergallery spacing of OLDH, suggesting that OCPS anions in OLDH interlayers are probably in a restricted state. One possible explanation for this could be that the linear linkages present in the POSS structure are relatively flexible compared to the rigid

• together compactly and the char after degradation in air consists of dense blocks. It is proposed here that the flexible nature of polysiloxane and its weak intermolecular forces give rise to low surface energy and a high spreading coefficient. When heated, the siloxane moiety migrates to the surface and

The effect of flexible joint-like elements on the adhesive performance of nature-inspired bent mushroom-like fibers

• Elliot Geikowsky,
• Serdar Gorumlu and
• Burak Aksak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2893–2905, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.268

• particular, for male ladybird beetles, research has shown that the adhesive setae feature a material gradient such that the elastic modulus of the material at the junction between the stalk and the divergent distal end is close to minimum. This soft material acts like a flexible joint, improving the bending

• , termed as a joint-like element, is evidenced by the difference in color of this joint from the stalk or the tip (see Figure 1a). The joint-like element is believed to be more flexible and equips the fibers with the necessary articulation to better adapt to the target surface [32]. This joint can consist

• of either a more flexible material than the stalk or a local geometrical constriction, which can provide robust adhesion independent of the direction of the applied load [32][33]. It can reduce the normal stress and alleviate peeling at the interface because the joint flexibility leads to a smaller

Site-controlled formation of single Si nanocrystals in a buried SiO₂ matrix using ion beam mixing

• Xiaomo Xu,
• Thomas Prüfer,
• Daniel Wolf,
• Hans-Jürgen Engelmann,
• Lothar Bischoff,
• René Hübner,
• Karl-Heinz Heinig,
• Wolfhard Möller,
• Stefan Facsko,
• Johannes von Borany and
• Gregor Hlawacek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2883–2892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.267

• , this limit can only be achieved if the beam diameter becomes smaller than the lateral straggling in the collision cascade. One particularly flexible way of doing this is to use a focused ion beam. We employed a focused Ne+ beam from a helium ion microscope [32]. Such equipment allows focusing a 30 keV

Charged particle single nanometre manufacturing

• Philip D. Prewett,
• Cornelis W. Hagen,
• Claudia Lenk,
• Steve Lenk,
• Marcus Kaestner,
• Tzvetan Ivanov,
• Ahmad Ahmad,
• Ivo W. Rangelow,
• Xiaoqing Shi,
• Stuart A. Boden,
• Alex P. G. Robinson,
• Dongxu Yang,
• Sangeetha Hari,
• Marijke Scotuzzi and
• Ejaz Huq

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2855–2882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.266

Optimization of Mo/Cr bilayer back contacts for thin-film solar cells

• Nima Khoshsirat,
• Fawad Ali,
• Vincent Tiing Tiong,
• Mojtaba Amjadipour,
• Hongxia Wang,
• Mahnaz Shafiei and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2700–2707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.252

• adhesion of Mo to the substrates [22][23][24]. The Mo/Cr back contact has been already proposed in flexible thin-film solar cells on metallic foils and stainless steel [25][26][27][28]. However, in these reports Cr was used as a barrier layer to reduce/prevent impurity out-diffusion from the metallic

Au–Si plasmonic platforms: synthesis, structure and FDTD simulations

• Anna Gapska,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Paweł Syty,
• Wojciech Sadowski,
• Józef E. Sienkiewicz and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2599–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.241

• as to analyze the experimental data. The flexible interface allowed for a quite convenient modeling of the studied system. Here, in order to obtain the actual arrangement and size of nanoislands, a supporting software has been written that reads the SEM image, finds contours of nanoislands and

Friction reduction through biologically inspired scale-like laser surface textures

• Johannes Schneider,
• Vergil Djamiykov and
• Christian Greiner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2561–2572, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.238

• techniques [22], the laser-based texturing applied here is expected to be more flexible for generating different surface morphologies as well as allowing for significantly faster processing times, especially for larger contacting bodies. This will be a crucial factor for applying scale-like surface

Cytotoxicity of doxorubicin-conjugated poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide]-modified γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles towards human tumor cells

• Zdeněk Plichta,
• Yulia Kozak,
• Rostyslav Panchuk,
• Viktoria Sokolova,
• Matthias Epple,
• Lesya Kobylinska,
• Pavla Jendelová and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2533–2545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.236

• subsequent chemical conjugation with a specific drug. Dox-conjugated PHPMA was attached via hydrogen bonding between hydroxy groups on the superparamagnetic γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticle surface (citrate stabilization) and the C=O groups of the polymer. Due to the highly hydrophilic and flexible nature of PHPMA