Nitrogen-doped graphene films from chemical vapor deposition of pyridine: influence of process parameters on the electrical and optical properties

• Andrea Capasso,
• Theodoros Dikonimos,
• Francesca Sarto,
• Alessio Tamburrano,
• Giovanni De Bellis,
• Maria Sabrina Sarto,
• Giuliana Faggio,
• Angela Malara,
• Giacomo Messina and
• Nicola Lisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2028–2038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.206

• ± 0.5 °C) and humidity (35 ± 5%). The test system consisted of a probe with four collinear WC tips (spaced overall by 3 mm), fixed on a stand (Signatone S301) and connected to a current source and a low-voltage meter. The measurements were repeated multiple times over an area of at least 1 × 1 cm2 on

Nanofibers for drug delivery – incorporation and release of model molecules, influence of molecular weight and polymer structure

• Jakub Hrib,
• Jakub Sirc,
• Radka Hobzova,
• Zuzana Hampejsova,
• Zuzana Bosakova,
• Marcela Munzarova and
• Jiri Michalek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1939–1945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.198

• detected. The properties and behavior of each polymer during electrospinning were unique. The process parameters, such as the polymer mixture composition, voltage, electrode distance, temperature or humidity, were individually and precisely adjusted in order to produce structures that were as similar as

• the polymer mixtures at a concentration of 3 wt %. PCL was dissolved in a 1:1 (w/w) mixture of tetrahydrofuran and N,N-dimethylformamide at a concentration of 10 wt %. The electrospinning parameters were 6 rpm, 15 cm and 5.5 kV/cm. The maximum temperature was 30 °C, and the maximum relative humidity

• . PVA was dissolved in water/phosphoric acid at a concentration of 11 wt %. The electrospinning parameters were 2 rpm, 13 cm and 45–55 kV/cm. The relative humidity was 25–30%, and the temperature was 22 °C. The PVA layers were crosslinked thermally in a drying oven at 145 °C for 15 min to reach their

Template-controlled mineralization: Determining film granularity and structure by surface functionality patterns

• Nina J. Blumenstein,
• Jonathan Berson,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Petia Atanasova,
• Johannes Baier,
• Joachim Bill and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1763–1768, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.180

• were previously cleaned by CO2 snow-jet treatment (at least 20 s for a 2 × 2 cm substrate). The relative humidity, measured by a Testo 635 Hygrometer, was adjusted to 40–45% during the spin-coating process. For the adjustment of the humidity, a mixture of water-saturated and pure nitrogen were led into

Nanomechanical humidity detection through porous alumina cantilevers

• Olga Boytsova,
• Alexey Klimenko,
• Vasiliy Lebedev,
• Alexey Lukashin and
• Andrey Eliseev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1332–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.137

• behavior of the resonance frequency of porous anodic alumina cantilever arrays during water vapor adsorption and emphasize their possible use in the micromechanical sensing of humidity levels at least in the range of 10–22%. The sensitivity of porous anodic aluminium oxide cantilevers (Δf/Δm) and the

• humidity sensitivity equal about 56 Hz/pg and about 100 Hz/%, respectively. The approach presented here for the design of anodic alumina cantilever arrays by the combination of anodic oxidation and photolithography enables easy control over porosity, surface area, geometric and mechanical characteristics

• of the cantilever arrays for micromechanical sensing. Keywords: anodic aluminium oxide; atomic force microscopy (AFM); cantilever arrays; humidity; mechanical sensor; porous alumina; Introduction The last two decades have seen a surge in resonant micro- and nanomechanical engineering raised by the

Polymer blend lithography for metal films: large-area patterning with over 1 billion holes/inch²

• Cheng Huang,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1205–1211, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.123

• polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), dissolved in methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) is used. This system forms a purely lateral structure on the substrate at controlled humidity, which means that PS droplets are formed in a PMMA matrix, whereby both phases have direct contact both to the substrate

• polystyrene (PS)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blend film from a blend solution ends with a purely lateral phase separation between the two immiscible polymers under controlled spin-coating parameters (see Figure 1a). As reported in our earlier publication, the ambient atmosphere (humidity), the molar mass

• ][39]. Conclusion Polymer blend lithography (PBL) makes use of the purely lateral phase separation of two immiscible polymers during spin-casting at controlled humidity. A metal copy of either of the polymer components can be fabricated by the selective dissolution of one component, followed by metal

From lithium to sodium: cell chemistry of room temperature sodium–air and sodium–sulfur batteries

• Philipp Adelhelm,
• Pascal Hartmann,
• Conrad L. Bender,
• Martin Busche,
• Christine Eufinger and
• Juergen Janek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1016–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.105

Stiffness of sphere–plate contacts at MHz frequencies: dependence on normal load, oscillation amplitude, and ambient medium

• Jana Vlachová,
• Rebekka König and
• Diethelm Johannsmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 845–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.87

• the holder one day before the experiment and by controlling temperature, but they cannot be avoided altogether. Experiments were undertaken in ambient air with no additional control of temperature or humidity. For further details on the experiment (on the processing of raw data and on the calculation

Transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO₂ nanoribbons and the influence of the transformation strategies on the photocatalytic performance

• Melita Rutar,
• Nejc Rozman,
• Matej Pregelj,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Romana Cerc Korošec,
• Andrijana Sever Škapin,
• Aleš Mrzel,
• Srečo D. Škapin and
• Polona Umek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 831–844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.86

• concentration began to rise. The system was kept at a temperature of 25 ± 3 °C and a relative humidity of 22 ± 3%. The light source was a 300 W Xe lamp (Newport Oriel Instrument, USA). The lamp imitates the solar spectrum and emits both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light (vis). The radiance intensity on the

Capillary and van der Waals interactions on CaF₂ crystals from amplitude modulation AFM force reconstruction profiles under ambient conditions

• Annalisa Calò,
• Oriol Vidal Robles,
• Sergio Santos and
• Albert Verdaguer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 809–819, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.84

• [24] from amplitude and phase distance (APD) curves collected on CaF2 crystals containing water patches on their surface. We then compared the obtained profiles with those observed under low humidity conditions, i.e., when water is not present on the crystals. The Sader–Jarvis–Katan method has been

• recently applied to reconstruct the force on mica and graphite samples and changes in the shape of the resulting profiles were studied under different environmental conditions. An evolution in the force curves was observed keeping these surfaces at high humidity levels for long times [9][10]. At high

• humidity and long times of exposure plateau-like features where force was approximately constant for 1–2 nm before contact were observed. This kind of force profile, approximating a square well [14], has been already proposed to explain, from the phenomenological point of view, typical APD curves observed

Conformal SiO₂ coating of sub-100 nm diameter channels of polycarbonate etched ion-track channels by atomic layer deposition

• Nicolas Sobel,
• Christian Hess,
• Manuela Lukas,
• Anne Spende,
• Bernd Stühn,
• M. E. Toimil-Molares and
• Christina Trautmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 472–479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.48

• were measured on a OCA35 apparatus from Dataphysics Instruments GmbH. Distilled water with a volume of 2 µL was dropped onto the membrane surface at 21 °C and 50% relative humidity of air. Besides ALD coating, the samples were not treated otherwise prior to measurements. Results and Discussion

A scanning probe microscope for magnetoresistive cantilevers utilizing a nested scanner design for large-area scans

• Tobias Meier,
• Alexander Förste,
• Ali Tavassolizadeh,
• Karsten Rott,
• Dirk Meyners,
• Roland Gröger,
• Günter Reiss,
• Eckhard Quandt,
• Thomas Schimmel and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 451–461, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.46

• ]. If exposed to ambient conditions with a relative humidity of around 40%, the topographic contrast on those two materials disappears in amplitude modulation imaging. The height difference, however, can be observed if the sample is scanned in a liquid [63]. Therefore, we conclude that the vanishing

Boosting the local anodic oxidation of silicon through carbon nanofiber atomic force microscopy probes

• Gemma Rius,
• Matteo Lorenzoni,
• Soichiro Matsui,
• Masaki Tanemura and
• Francesc Perez-Murano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 215–222, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.20

• resolution and tip preservation than the contact mode [11][12]. The improvement of the water meniscus comes from the control of the water meniscus dimensions, which depends on several parameters, including tip–sample distance, humidity and electrical field. Remarkably, LAO-AFM can be performed in dynamic

• captured and subtracted. All tests are performed at room conditions, with a temperature of 25 °C and under a controlled relative humidity ranging from 20 to 40%. The Si substrates consist of chips cut from Si(100) wafers. Organic contamination on the chips was removed by oxygen plasma etching before the

• voltage is 20 V, relative humidity (RH) is 36%. Results of LAO-AFM on Si with CNF (a) and Si (b) probes as a function of the bias voltage (in V). Writing speed is 1 μm/s, RH is 36%. Monitoring chemical and mechanical stability of CNF probes for LAO-AFM. SEM images before (a) and after (c) the definition

Functionalization of α-synuclein fibrils

• Simona Povilonienė,
• Vida Časaitė,
• Virginijus Bukauskas,
• Arūnas Šetkus,
• Juozas Staniulis and
• Rolandas Meškys

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 124–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.12

• immobilization was allowed to proceed for 5 to 20 min, at 23 °C at a relative humidity of about 45%. The density of fibrillar structures on mica was increased or decreased by the immobilization time or the dilution rate. After adsorption, the surfaces were rinsed with distilled water, dried and visualized using

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes and their applications

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz,
• Ozlem Sen,
• Melis Emanet,
• Emine Kazanc and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 84–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.9

• combined with the properties of other nanomaterials to construct novel sensor devices for humidity, carbon dioxide detection, and clinical diagnostics. A highly sensitive humidity sensor using BNNTs and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for the rapid detection of humidity was fabricated [90]. Figure 8 shows the

• humidity sensor system. The adsorption–desorption tests showed that the AgNP–BNNT material had a potentially fast response/recovery time of 100/15 s for the detection of relative humidity at room temperature [90]. The use of Ni-encapsulated BNNTs in optomagnetic-based sensors with respect to their magnetic

Materials and characterization techniques for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Roswitha Zeis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 68–83, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.8

• phosphoric acid. The proton conductivity of the fully doped PBI membrane at 200 °C (0.07 S·cm−1) [23] is almost as high as that of fully hydrated perfluorinated membranes and far less dependent on the relative humidity, thus allowing its use in HT-PEMFCs without humidifying the gas reactants. A HT-PEMFC

• by an activation mechanism that obeys the Arrhenius law [29]. In contrast, the proton conductivity of Nafion is attributed to the vehicle mechanism, which has a weaker temperature dependence. Moreover, the conductivity of acid-doped PBI is less dependent on the relative humidity, although there is a

• polymer chains, resulting in very low conductivity values. The reported conductivity is approximately 10−7 S·cm−1 for dry PBI at 30 °C [29]. Increasing the temperature or the humidity level improves the conductivity only marginally. At high acid-doping levels between four and six acid molecules per

The capillary adhesion technique: a versatile method for determining the liquid adhesion force and sample stiffness

• Daniel Gandyra,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Stanislav Gorb,
• Wilhelm Barthlott and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 11–18, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.2

• humidity during the measurements was roughly RH = 50% and the temperature was 22 °C. Literature values citing Young’s modulus of human head hair are scarce. For example, in [27] a value of 3.89 × 105 N/cm2 (RH = 60%) was indicated. In [28], a range between 1.5 and 4.6 × 105 N/cm2 (RH = 65%) was indicated

Proinflammatory and cytotoxic response to nanoparticles in precision-cut lung slices

• Stephanie Hirn,
• Nadine Haberl,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Matthias Epple,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Markus Rehberg and
• Fritz Krombach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2440–2449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.253

• , Munford, AL, USA). Always four PCLS per well (24-well plate) were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium/nutrient mixture F-12 Ham (DMEM/F-12 Ham) containing 100 units/mL penicillin and 100 µg/mL streptomycin. The 24-well plates were placed on a plate shaker in the incubator (5% CO2, 100% humidity

Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• attachment forces in these disparate arenas. The difference between a submerged attachment event and one that is dry is neither clear-cut nor simple. Consider the classic example of a toe of a gecko adhered to a leaf. On its face, this is a case of terrestrial adhesion, but depending on humidity there could

• actually the force needed to shear the junctions formed between the surfaces in contact. In contrast, in wet friction a film of water or another liquid is involved. This liquid can originate from humidity in the air or from secretion by the animal. Under such boundary lubrication conditions there is a

Nanoparticle interactions with live cells: Quantitative fluorescence microscopy of nanoparticle size effects

• Li Shang,
• Karin Nienhaus,
• Xiue Jiang,
• Linxiao Yang,
• Katharina Landfester,
• Volker Mailänder,
• Thomas Simmet and
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2388–2397, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.248

• (Sigma-Aldrich) in a humidified incubator (Heraeus, Hanau, Germany) at 37 °C. For confocal imaging, cells were seeded at a density of ≈10,000 cells/cm2. Confocal imaging of NP uptake Cells were grown on eight-well chambered coverglasses (Nunc, Langenselbold, Germany) overnight (37 °C, 96% humidity and 5

Interaction of dermatologically relevant nanoparticles with skin cells and skin

• Annika Vogt,
• Fiorenza Rancan,
• Sebastian Ahlberg,
• Berouz Nazemi,
• Chun Sik Choe,
• Maxim E. Darvin,
• Sabrina Hadam,
• Ulrike Blume-Peytavi,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Christina Graf,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Martina C. Meinke and
• Jürgen Lademann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2363–2373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.245

• /streptomycin, 2% glutamine and 10% fetal calf serum. The cells grown in an incubator with 5% CO2, 100% humidity at 37 °C and incubated with the different silica particles (10 μg/mL) for 2 h. Analysis was performed by using flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Figure 3 was modified with

• microscope as well as the obtained spectra were described in detail elsewhere [47][48]. Skin areas of 2 × 2 cm were incubated with 40 µL of AgNP (1.19 mg/mL). Samples were stored for 16 h in a wet chamber in the incubator (37 °C, 5% CO2, 100% humidity). After the incubation time, the samples were carefully

• supplemented with 1% penicillin/streptomycin, 2% glutamine and 10% fetal calf serum. The cells were grown in an incubator with 5% CO2, 100% humidity at 37 °C. For the XTT assay 1·105 HaCaT cells/mL were seeded on a 96-well plate and incubated with the particles after 24 h [50]. Cells were washed with PBS to

Effect of channel length on the electrical response of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors to deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization

• Hari Krishna Salila Vijayalal Mohan,
• Jianing An,
• Yani Zhang,
• Chee How Wong and
• Lianxi Zheng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2081–2091, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.217

• the channel was exposed were tested with 5 µL of cDNA and 1 µM ncDNA. Electrical characterization All electrical measurements were recorded using an Agilent 4156B semiconductor device analyzer under ambient laboratory conditions (25 ºC and <70% humidity). The drain current (ID) versus gate voltage (VG

Towards bottom-up nanopatterning of Prussian blue analogues

• Virgile Trannoy,
• Marco Faustini,
• David Grosso,
• Sandra Mazerat,
• François Brisset,
• Alexandre Dazzi and
• Anne Bleuzen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1933–1943, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.204

• °C for 2 h. It was added then 0.27 g of an ethanolic solution of TiCl4 (molar ratio 1:5) [12][19]. The deposition of the film was performed under controlled conditions of temperature of the chamber (80 °C), of ascent speed (2 mm/s) and of humidity rate (<2%). The third step is a thermal treatment

Silica nanoparticles are less toxic to human lung cells when deposited at the air–liquid interface compared to conventional submerged exposure

• Alicja Panas,
• Andreas Comouth,
• Harald Saathoff,
• Thomas Leisner,
• Marco Al-Rawi,
• Michael Simon,
• Gunnar Seemann,
• Olaf Dössel,
• Sonja Mülhopt,
• Hanns-Rudolf Paur,
• Susanne Fritsch-Decker,
• Carsten Weiss and
• Silvia Diabaté

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1590–1602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.171

• ALIDA exposure system described in detail by Comouth et al. [18]. For cell exposure the aerosol was humidified to 80–90% relative humidity at 37.5 °C. The humidified aerosol was then carried with identical flows of 100 mL·min−1 (sccm) through six tubes of equal dimensions to the inlets of six exposure

• without HEPES at 37 °C and 95% humidity and analysed after 24 h. Post-incubation was performed submerged in order to allow optimal release of cytokines into the apical compartment. For comparison, cells grown in Transwell inserts were simultaneously treated under submerged conditions in serum-free RPMI

Liquid fuel cells

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1399–1418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.153

• sulfonated fluoropolymers such as Nafion® 117 [7] that are stable and conductive up to 85–90 °C. Composite membranes based on both fluorinated and non-fluorinated materials, e.g., polysulfone polymers and inorganic proton conductors are used to achieve higher operating temperatures and a lower humidity [8

Influence of the PDMS substrate stiffness on the adhesion of Acanthamoeba castellanii

• Sören B. Gutekunst,
• Carsten Grabosch,
• Alexander Kovalev,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1393–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.152

• . For all substrates, elastic moduli were determined from the unloading part of the curve to consider only the elastic behavior and not the plastic deformation of the sample. The measurements were performed under ambient conditions (25–26 °C temperature and 40–50% relative humidity). Analysis of the