Air–water interface of submerged superhydrophobic surfaces imaged by atomic force microscopy

• Markus Moosmann,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Wilhelm Barthlott and
• Matthias Mail

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1671–1679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.167

• transferred to epoxy resin by a two-step molding process [21]. In the first step, a negative of the silicon master is generated by creating a mold with a poly(vinyl siloxane) dental wax (President Light Body Gel, ISO 4823, PLB; Coltene Whaldent, Hamburg, Germany). In the second step, this mold was filled with

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• known as chemical-modified graphene [51]. The schematic illustration of RGO preparation from graphite is shown in Figure 2. The composite formation of graphene with semiconductor materials has been reported by various methods, such as hydrothermal/solvothermal [52], sol−gel [53], self-assembly [54

• concentration, temperature, reaction time, etc., nanocomposites with various exposed crystal facets can be obtained by hydrothermal/solvothermal methods. The sol–gel method is another widely explored method for the synthesis of graphene-based nanocomposites [53]. The precursor material undergoes a series of

• reactions, mainly controlled hydrolysis and condensation, to form the desired photocatalyst. The major advantage of using the sol–gel method is the in situ growth of nanostructures so that the various functional groups on the surface of GO sheets are available to provide reactive and anchoring sites for the

Luminescent supramolecular hydrogels from a tripeptide and nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots

• Maria C. Cringoli,
• Slavko Kralj,
• Marina Kurbasic,
• Massimo Urban and
• Silvia Marchesan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1553–1562, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.157

• so rapid that the monitoring of the sol-to-gel transition was not possible. Time sweep experiments (Figure 2a,c,e) revealed that relative to the peptide alone, which reached an elastic modulus G’ of 20 kPa within 1 h (Figure 2a), the addition of NCNDs to the peptide prior to self-assembly (Figure 2c

• locally before the system could be homogenized by mixing. As a result, all samples displayed a heterogeneous nature, with gel mass and liquid phase around it until gelation was complete. Such a heterogeneous nature was also present at the nanoscale, as revealed by TEM, with wide distribution of fiber

• reveal major differences in the gel-to-sol transition temperature amongst samples. In all cases a first, a wide and asymmetric endotherm was observed, whose minimum relative to Tm was displayed at approximately 77–82 °C. A second, narrow endotherm with a minimum just above 100 °C could be ascribed to the

Low-temperature CO oxidation over Cu/Pt co-doped ZrO₂ nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion

• Amit Singhania and
• Shipra Mital Gupta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1546–1552, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.156

• reported a high activity of Cu-containing ZrO2-based nanocomposites (T50 = 70 °C) for CO oxidation. So, the combination of Cu, Pt and ZrO2 appears to be very interesting and promising. In literature, different methods have been used for the synthesis of doped ZrO2 nanoparticles. These include sol–gel, ball

• milling, precipitation, combustion, and reverse microemulsion [30][31][32][33]. Vahidshad et al. [34] synthesized sol–gel-derived Cu–ZrO2 nanoparticles. Similarly, Saha et al. [35] prepared CuO-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles via ball milling. Among the described methods, solution combustion is used frequently

A nanocomplex of C₆₀ fullerene with cisplatin: design, characterization and toxicity

• Svitlana Prylutska,
• Svitlana Politenkova,
• Kateryna Afanasieva,
• Volodymyr Korolovych,
• Kateryna Bogutska,
• Andriy Sivolob,
• Larysa Skivka,
• Maxim Evstigneev,
• Viktor Kostjukov,
• Yuriy Prylutskyy and
• Uwe Ritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1494–1501, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.149

• correlation between the genotoxic response and the concentration of an aqueous suspension of nC60 (178 nm in size) was observed at 2.2 µg/L in human lymphocytes using a single-cell gel electrophoresis assay [27]. In contrast, with stable C60 fullerene suspensions in 0.1% carboxymethylcellulose sodium or 0.1

• Bacillus subtilis Rec-assay and umu test, up to concentrations of 0.048 mg/L and 0.43 mg/L, respectively. In [29], bulky DNA adducts could not be found by 32P-postlabeling/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay, suggesting that an aqueous suspension of C60 fullerenes has the potential to damage DNA. By

Calcium fluoride based multifunctional nanoparticles for multimodal imaging

• Marion Straßer,
• Joachim H. X. Schrauth,
• Sofia Dembski,
• Daniel Haddad,
• Bernd Ahrens,
• Stefan Schweizer,
• Bastian Christ,
• Alevtina Cubukova,
• Marco Metzger,
• Heike Walles,
• Peter M. Jakob and
• Gerhard Sextl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1484–1493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.148

• fluorolytic sol–gel process [33]. The stability and biocompatibility of CaF2 makes it an attractive material for biomedical applications [28][29]. In addition, due to the high capacity to accept lanthanide ions, CaF2 is suitable for the preparation of CAs for multimodal imaging [24]. In this study, we report

Low uptake of silica nanoparticles in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial barriers

• Dong Ye,
• Mattia Bramini,
• Delyan R. Hristov,
• Sha Wan,
• Anna Salvati,
• Christoffer Åberg and
• Kenneth A. Dawson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1396–1406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.141

• stocks were cleaned (by pelleting and resuspending in fresh buffer) prior to experiments with cells. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) confirmed that for both nanoparticles, no labile dye was present in the nanoparticle dispersions (Supporting Information File 1

Miniemulsion copolymerization of (meth)acrylates in the presence of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes for reinforced coating applications

• Bertha T. Pérez-Martínez,
• Lorena Farías-Cepeda,
• Víctor M. Ovando-Medina,
• José M. Asua,
• Lucero Rosales-Marines and
• Radmila Tomovska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1328–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.134

• below the detection limit of the apparatus so their presence did not affect the measurements. An insoluble fraction in tetrahydrofuran (THF) of the composite (gel content) was determined by the Soxhlet extraction. The fractured composite films were prepared under liquid nitrogen and scanning electron

• of insoluble polymer in THF (often called gel) increased with the concentration of MWCNTs, reaching values as high as 85% for 1 wt % CNTs. In this regard, it is worth pointing out that this fraction was measured in films, not in individual particles. On the other hand, the blank experiment (first row

• in Table 2) shows that, in agreement with previous results [39], no gel was obtained for the monomer composition used. The substantial increase in the fraction of insoluble polymer with slight increase of MWCNT load could be explained by two different processes. On one hand, polymer chains may be

Bright fluorescent silica-nanoparticle probes for high-resolution STED and confocal microscopy

• Isabella Tavernaro,
• Christian Cavelius,
• Henrike Peuschel and
• Annette Kraegeloh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.130

• silica matrix, which is mostly based on non-polar aromatic or conjugated π-electron systems [33], is not easy to achieve due to the hydrophobic character of the organic dye molecules. Commonly, fluorescent silica nanoparticles are obtained by hydrolysis and condensation of a silica precursor via sol–gel

• or reverse microemulsion synthesis [34]. Using the traditional sol–gel synthesis of silica particles described by Stöber et al. [35], particles are available in the size range of a few tens of nanometres up to the micrometre range. Although the Stöber method can be utilised to obtain particles with a

• increased the hydrophilic character of the dye avoiding agglomeration and gel formation during the synthesis. By using the Atto647N–cysteic acid–APTES conjugate (Atto647N-CS-APTES) and a precise adjustment of the reaction parameters, monodisperse silica nanoparticles with a mean particle diameter of 15 nm

A top-down approach for fabricating three-dimensional closed hollow nanostructures with permeable thin metal walls

• Carlos Angulo Barrios and
• Víctor Canalejas-Tejero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1231–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.124

• –gel chemical reactions [1][2][3][4][5]. These procedures allow the synthesis of disperse, hollow nanostructures with precise control of their physical and chemical properties, such as size, shape, material composition and structural characteristics of the shell (thickness, permeability and surface

Preparation of thick silica coatings on carbon fibers with fine-structured silica nanotubes induced by a self-assembly process

• Benjamin Baumgärtner,
• Hendrik Möller,
• Thomas Neumann and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1145–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.116

• carbon fibers with a silica shell is presented in this work. By immobilizing linear polyamines on the carbon fiber surface, the high catalytic activity of polyamines in the sol–gel-processing of silica precursors is used to deposit a silica coating directly on the fiber’s surface. The surface

• fiber by fibrillar and interconnected silica fine-structures. The high surface area of the nanostructured composite fiber may be exploited for catalytic applications and adsorption purposes. Keywords: biomimetic silicification; carbon fiber; self-assembly; silica nanotubes; sol–gel process

• –gel techniques [6]. Even though the CVD method leads typically to a uniform and dense surface coating, low deposition rates can make this process time-consuming and expensive. The sol–gel method is advantageous owing to the low processing temperature, inexpensive and commercially available precursors

Assembly of metallic nanoparticle arrays on glass via nanoimprinting and thin-film dewetting

• Sun-Kyu Lee,
• Sori Hwang,
• Yoon-Kee Kim and
• Yong-Jun Oh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1049–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.106

• noble metal nanoparticles on glass substrates via nanoimprinting and dewetting of metallic thin films. Glass templates were made via pattern transfer from a topographic Si mold to an inorganically cross-linked sol–gel (IGSG) resist on glass using a two-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp followed by

• metallic thin films at high temperatures. Hybrid sol–gel thin films prepared from methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS) may fulfill these requirements due to the complete hydrolyzation of the ethoxy groups and decomposition of the methyl groups [16][17]. MTEOS films have attracted attention as self-sustainable

• 184 PDMS. In the next imprinting step, an inorganically cross-linked sol–gel (ICSG) resist with a thickness (tf) of 400 nm was spin-coated on a Pyrex glass substrate. To improve the wettability of the resist, the glass surface was pretreated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) using He and O2

High photocatalytic activity of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by photodeposition for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

• Shu Chin Lee,
• Hendrik O. Lintang and
• Leny Yuliati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 915–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.93

• ][15]. Commonly, the reported methods for the preparation of Fe2O3/TiO2 include impregnation [5][6][16][17][18], sol–gel [7][19], and hydrothermal methods [8][9][10]. A combination of several processes has also been employed, such as the electrospinning method combined with a hydrothermal approach [11

• the Fe(III) complex at 400 °C [5]. This is in contrast to the one prepared by the sol–gel method that showed an obviously reduced Eg value as the Fe ions were incorporated into the TiO2 lattice [7][19]. Diffuse reflectance (DR) UV–vis spectra and Tauc plots of the nanocomposites prepared by the

Bio-inspired micro-to-nanoporous polymers with tunable stiffness

• Julia Syurik,
• Ruth Schwaiger,
• Prerna Sudera,
• Stephan Weyand,
• Siegbert Johnsen,
• Gabriele Wiegand and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 906–914, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.92

• peak-maximum (Mp) average molar mass of untreated and foamed samples were determined by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC, also known as gel-permeation chromatography, GPC) using an Agilent 1200 Series GPC-SEC system equipped with columns from Polymer Standards Service (PSS SDV Lux 5μm, 1000 Å and 105

Recombinant DNA technology and click chemistry: a powerful combination for generating a hybrid elastin-like-statherin hydrogel to control calcium phosphate mineralization

• Mohamed Hamed Misbah,
• Mercedes Santos,
• Luis Quintanilla,
• Christina Günter,
• Matilde Alonso,
• Andreas Taubert and
• José Carlos Rodríguez-Cabello

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 772–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.80

• example in the case of a templating approach or in a cross-linked state [15][16][17]. Following this approach, the most common templates used are Langmuir monolayers and self-assembled monolayers. Mineralization in gel phases has also attracted interest because these gels are easily prepared and provide a

• NMR spectroscopy. 4 ELR-gel formation ELR-cyclooctyne and ELR-azide samples were dissolved separately in ultrapure water at 4 °C and 50 mg/mL each. Then, 500 µL of each solution was mixed in a cylindrical mold for one hour at 4 °C (since the chains are more soluble at this temperature, and therefore

• broad and rather non-descript signals that are also observed in many samples are presumably due to the presence of the ELR gel phase, which is still present in these materials. Figure 4 shows the IR spectra of the IK24- and H3AH3-based hydrogels, with the bands at around 1628, 1518, and 1233 cm−1 being

First examples of organosilica-based ionogels: synthesis and electrochemical behavior

• Andreas Taubert,
• Ruben Löbbicke,
• Barbara Kirchner and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 736–751, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.77

• . Experimental Preparation of the organosilica monoliths. Silica monoliths were made via sol–gel reaction from bis(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl)amine (BTMSPA) and tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) or methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). Reactions were made such that the total silicon concentration in the reaction mixture

• remain intact. The monoliths synthesized in methanol are clear to translucent as long as they are wet, but turn opaque upon drying. The monoliths grown in acetone are opaque already after the sol–gel reaction and Soxhlet extraction. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM, Figure 2) images obtained from

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• thermochromic transition at 257 °C and this material is used as a catalyst for industrial processes, gas sensors and in LIBs [105]. Various nanostructures of V2O5 such as nanotubes, nanowires, nanofibers, nanobelts, and nanorods have been prepared by sol–gel processes, hydrothermal processes [106

• 3D flower hybrids [113], where this typical morphology results in a high surface area as well as better electrical contact with the graphene leading to better electrochemical performance. Liu et al. have developed a sol–gel method for the incorporation of GSs into V2O5 nanoribbons [114]. These

Carbon nanotube-wrapped Fe₂O₃ anode with improved performance for lithium-ion batteries

• Guoliang Gao,
• Yan Jin,
• Qun Zeng,
• Deyu Wang and
• Cai Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 649–656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.69

• sol–gel method to prepare graphene-wrapped Fe2O3, which demonstrated an excellent capacity retention of 777 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 100 mA·g−1 after 30 cycles. Wang et al. [29] synthesized Fe2O3/GCNTs via a hydrothermal synthesis method and subsequent thermal reduction. The synthesized Fe2O3

Dispersion of single-wall carbon nanotubes with supramolecular Congo red – properties of the complexes and mechanism of the interaction

• Anna Jagusiak,
• Barbara Piekarska,
• Tomasz Pańczyk,
• Małgorzata Jemioła-Rzemińska,
• Elżbieta Bielańska,
• Barbara Stopa,
• Grzegorz Zemanek,
• Janina Rybarska,
• Irena Roterman and
• Leszek Konieczny

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 636–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.68

• can be achieved (Figure 4). Surprisingly, 0.1 mg of nanotubes could bind even 30 mg of CR, leading to the formation of a complex that showed a gel-like consistency and sedimented within a couple of days to the lower part of the test tube but could be easily dispersed by gentle mixing. This suggests

• single nanotubes protruding above its surface (Figure 11.2). This can be explained by gel-like properties of the complex formed at high CR/SWNT ratio (see Figure 5B,C), which is a network of nanotubes and supramolecular CR. Elasticity measured as the stiffness range is specified in arbitrary relative

• CR was trapped in the complex. Interestingly, at high CR concentrations the complex shows gel-like properties, which can be explained through formation of a network containing nanotubes connected by supramolecular CR. Supramolecular ribbon-like assemblies created by CR show a capability to bind

α-((4-Cyanobenzoyl)oxy)-ω-methyl poly(ethylene glycol): a new stabilizer for silver nanoparticles

• Jana Lutze,
• Miguel A. Bañares,
• Marcos Pita,
• Andrea Haase,
• Andreas Luch and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 627–635, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.67

• in tert-butyl methyl ether. The product was dissolved in distilled water and insoluble parts were removed by filtration. Lyophilization afforded the pure product as a colorless powder. Yield: 3.8 g (74%). The number of repeating units of CBAmPEG was calculated from the molar mass derived from gel

• removed from the heating bath for DLS and zeta-potential measurements. Analytical methods Gel permeation chromatography. GPC measurements were done on two 300 × 8 mm2 PSS-GRAM (7 µm particles) columns with porosities of 102–103 Å in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP + 0.5 wt % LiBr at 70 °C and a flow rate of

Investigation of the photocatalytic efficiency of tantalum alkoxy carboxylate-derived Ta₂O₅ nanoparticles in rhodamine B removal

• Subia Ambreen,
• Mohammad Danish,
• Narendra D. Pandey and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 604–613, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.65

• Subia Ambreen Mohammad Danish Narendra D. Pandey Ashutosh Pandey Department of Chemistry, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, 211004, India 10.3762/bjnano.8.65 Abstract Ta2O5 nanoparticles have been synthesized from alkoxy carboxylates of tantalum via the sol–gel route

• . Tantalum alkoxides were reacted with chlorocarboxylic acids in order to lower the susceptibility hydrolysis. When these modified alkoxy carboxylates were used in the sol–gel synthesis, they yielded Ta2O5 nanoparticles of better properties than those of the alkoxide-derived Ta2O5 nanoparticles. These

• absorption of these materials [9][10][11]. Tantalum(V) alkoxides are important precursors for materials based on tantalum oxide in sol–gel processes. The reactions involved in sol–gel processes can be written as: An inorganic network is formed during hydrolysis the ends of which are occupied either by –OH

Thin SnO_x films for surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometric gas sensing (SPREE)

• Daniel Fischer,
• Andreas Hertwig,
• Uwe Beck,
• Volkmar Lohse,
• Detlef Negendank,
• Martin Kormunda and
• Norbert Esser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 522–529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.56

• , several different coating methods were developed which include chemical vapor deposition [11], sol–gel [12], spray pyrolysis [13], sputtering [14][15][16] and electron beam evaporation [17]. In our approach, we aim to develop a new sensing concept which combines the adsorption concept of MOS sensors with

Nanostructured carbon materials decorated with organophosphorus moieties: synthesis and application

• Giacomo Biagiotti,
• Vittoria Langè,
• Cristina Ligi,
• Stefano Caporali,
• Maurizio Muniz-Miranda,
• Anna Flis,
• K. Michał Pietrusiewicz,
• Giacomo Ghini,
• Alberto Brandi and
• Stefano Cicchi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 485–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.52

• , were commercially available and have been used without any further purification, if not specified otherwise. Rf values are referred to TLC on silica gel plate (0.25 mm, Merck silica gel 60 F254). NMR spectra were recorded on Varian Gemini 200 MHz or Varian Mercury 400 MHz at room temperature. Chemical

Fiber optic sensors based on hybrid phenyl-silica xerogel films to detect n-hexane: determination of the isosteric enthalpy of adsorption

• Jesús C. Echeverría,
• Ignacio Calleja,
• Paula Moriones and
• Julián J. Garrido

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 475–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.51

• , respectively. The films were synthesized by the sol–gel method and affixed to the end of optical fibers by the dip-coating technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption at 77 K and X-ray diffraction analysis were used to characterize the xerogels. At a given pressure of n-hexane

• ]. Some advantages of FOCSs over electrical methods are immunity to electromagnetic interference and safety while working with flammable and explosive compounds. Although the xerogel films prepared by the sol–gel method are often considered chemically inert, the films and analytes can interact by one or

• more mechanisms, such as electrostatic, hydrophobic or hydrogen bonding. Films made of hybrid silica materials synthesized by the sol–gel process are well suited for the preparation of sensing elements. These films have chemical and thermal stability, transparency over a wide wavelength range

The longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

• Florent Pessina and
• Denis Spitzer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 452–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.49

• diameter of 70 to 100 nm. However, the nanoparticles produced from this elegant solution exhibit an undesired rod-like morphology. Sol–gel Energetic materials processed by the sol–gel method are desensitized by being embedded in a matrix, usually a silica one. Developed by Gash et al. [23] and Tillotson et

• microstructure of sheets, with micrometer-sized particles potentially formed by primary nanoparticles. The lack of desensitization in the loose powder may be explained by the sensitization by the sheet-like shape counteracted by the presence of the gel coating each nanoparticle. Li et al. [29] used a better

• nanocomposites using a technique similar to sol–gel [30]. The matrix is the NC itself solidified by micrometer-sized AP crystals and cross-linked with toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL), whereas RDX is dissolved in acetone inside that template. The gel and the crystallization of RDX is