Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• size distribution of phytosomes seems a little broad. We used the thin-film hydration method followed by sonication to prepare the phytosomes in this study. The mean size and size distribution are significantly influenced by the sonication conditions. Further optimization of the formulation and the

Long-term entrapment and temperature-controlled-release of SF₆ gas in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)

• Hana Bunzen,
• Andreas Kalytta-Mewes,
• Leo van Wüllen and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1851–1859, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.180

• extracted from the previous force field scan trajectory and all atomic positions were allowed to relax during subsequent optimization steps, except for the position of the sulfur atom of SF6, which was fixed at the corresponding c/N coordinate of the transition path. The PW-DFT+D calculations were performed

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• uses. Results and Discussion Synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles For the synthesis of AgNPs and AuNPs, a common bottom-up approach was applied using sodium borohydride as an agent to reduce Ag+ and Au3+, respectively. The optimization of the synthetic protocol was achieved by a series of

TiO₂/GO-coated functional separator to suppress polysulfide migration in lithium–sulfur batteries

• Ning Liu,
• Lu Wang,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Yan Zhao and
• Yongguang Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1726–1736, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.168

• issues, researchers have adopted various techniques, such as optimization of the cathode material [16][17][18], incorporation of electrolyte additives [19], and protection of the anode [20]. Recently, much attention has been directed to the development of a functional separator, which serves as an

Subsurface imaging of flexible circuits via contact resonance atomic force microscopy

• Wenting Wang,
• Chengfu Ma,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Lei Zheng,
• Huarong Liu and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1636–1647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.159

• stiffer cover layer and a softer bottom layer can enable much easier subsurface sensing of the flexible circuits via CR-AFM, and the middle layer material does not have much influence. Optimization of CR-AFM subsurface imaging Based on the systematic investigation of the main variables, a contrast

• optimization for subsurface imaging of the circuit patterns is expected. Typical demonstrations are presented in Figure 8a and Figure 8b, which are CR-AFM frequency images for a specific flexible circuit sample before and after optimization, respectively. The corresponding frequency histograms are demonstrated

• be clearly seen from the histograms in Figure 8c,d. Quantitative evaluations show that the stiffness contrast increases from 0.2 ± 0.2% to 13.8 ± 5.0% after optimization. Generally, the optimization can be achieved by setting the variables so that the system provides the best sensitivity according to

High-temperature resistive gas sensors based on ZnO/SiC nanocomposites

• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Marina N. Rumyantseva,
• Alexander S. Frolov,
• Alexey D. Yapryntsev and
• Alexander M. Gaskov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1537–1547, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.151

• convolution functions with simultaneous optimization of the background parameters. The background was simulated using a combination of a Shirley and a Tougaard background. The binding energies (BE) were corrected for the charge shift using the C 1s peak of graphitic carbon (BE = 284.8 eV) as a reference. Gas

Hierarchically structured 3D carbon nanotube electrodes for electrocatalytic applications

• Pei Wang,
• Katarzyna Kulp and
• Michael Bron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1475–1487, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.146

• to solve these issues are focused on the optimization of the catalyst, such as alloying Pt with a second metal such as Ni, Ru and Pd [20][21][22][23][24] or using Pt-metal oxide composites such as Pt/SnO2 and Pt/CeO2 [24][25][26][27][28]. Additionally, a variety of catalyst preparation methods, e.g

Superconducting switching due to a triplet component in the Pb/Cu/Ni/Cu/Co₂Cr_1−xFe_xAl_y spin-valve structure

• Andrey Andreevich Kamashev,
• Nadir Nurgayazovich Garif’yanov,
• Aidar Azatovich Validov,
• Joachim Schumann,
• Vladislav Kataev,
• Bernd Büchner,
• Yakov Victorovich Fominov and
• Ilgiz Abdulsamatovich Garifullin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1458–1463, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.144

• and optimization of all elements of the SSV heterostructure regarding both the superconducting and the magnetic part. Our observations suggest that the concept of a SSV with a half-metallic ferromagnetic element proposed in [14] is of general character. In particular, finding for this purpose the most

Kelvin probe force microscopy of the nanoscale electrical surface potential barrier of metal/semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere

• Petr Knotek,
• Tomáš Plecháček,
• Jan Smolík,
• Petr Kutálek,
• Filip Dvořák,
• Milan Vlček,
• Jiří Navrátil and
• Čestmír Drašar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1401–1411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.138

• optimization of the efficiency of TE materials. Our efforts to prepare separated Mo NPs on the Bi2Se3 surface was not successful. Because Mo has significantly higher melting/boiling points (bulk Mo 2623/4639 °C, bulk Au 1064/2856 °C [47]) dc sputtering yielded homogeneous layers of Mo instead of separated NPs

Fabrication of phase masks from amorphous carbon thin films for electron-beam shaping

• Lukas Grünewald,
• Dagmar Gerthsen and
• Simon Hettler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1290–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.128

• . Further optimization of the pattern included an increase of the dwell time for the central point by a factor of five to achieve a similar depth as in the rings. Additionally, an offset angle between each repetition was implemented because the beam is not blanked when it moves radially outward between the

On the relaxation time of interacting superparamagnetic nanoparticles and implications for magnetic fluid hyperthermia

• Andrei Kuncser,
• Nicusor Iacob and
• Victor E. Kuncser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1280–1289, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.127

• -transfer equation which is of key interest in the optimization of cancer therapy by magnetic hyperthermia therapy [19]. The second option may be effective in exploiting the theoretical models proposed for linking the experimental SAR dependencies to the physical mechanisms. From the theoretical point-of

Alloyed Pt₃M (M = Co, Ni) nanoparticles supported on S- and N-doped carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction

• Stéphane Louisia,
• Yohann R. J. Thomas,
• Pierre Lecante,
• Marie Heitzmann,
• M. Rosa Axet,
• Pierre-André Jacques and
• Philippe Serp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1251–1269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.125

• contains generally four times more catalyst than the anodic layer, which explains why most of the research is focused on the optimization of the cathodic catalytic layer. Platinum nanoparticles (NPs) supported on carbon black (CB), especially Vulcan XC-72 [3][4], are usually used as the catalyst. To meet

Electroluminescence and current–voltage measurements of single-(In,Ga)N/GaN-nanowire light-emitting diodes in a nanowire ensemble

• David van Treeck,
• Johannes Ledig,
• Gregor Scholz,
• Jonas Lähnemann,
• Mattia Musolino,
• Abbes Tahraoui,
• Oliver Brandt,
• Andreas Waag,
• Henning Riechert and
• Lutz Geelhaar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1177–1187, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.117

• occurs for single-NW and ensemble measurements, we could determine for the ensemble the fraction of active NWs emitting EL and the current density in them. We found a value of only 12% active NWs. This implies that there is still a large potential for the optimization of processing, which would lead to

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• more or less tunable photoactivity. Optimization and streamlining of synthetic processes must be achieved in order to tailor the physical and chemical characteristics of those materials. For instance, efforts have been made to combine TiO2 NPs with clays and clay minerals by a simple mixing to obtain a

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

• properties and long-term stability. Therefore, many researches are devoted to reducing the density of defects during the fabrication, including the optimization of oxygen partial pressure [4], the increase of fabrication temperature, and the reduction of deposition power. In addition, post-annealing is

Synthesis and characterization of quaternary La(Sr)S–TaS₂ misfit-layered nanotubes

• Marco Serra,
• Erumpukuthickal Ashokkumar Anumol,
• Dalit Stolovas,
• Iddo Pinkas,
• Ernesto Joselevich,
• Reshef Tenne,
• Andrey Enyashin and
• Francis Leonard Deepak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1112–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.111

• qualitative change in the chemical bonding between SrxLa1−xS and TaS2 parts of the lattice has been registered, while the MLC lattice was found to preserve its integrity after the geometry optimization. The intuitive charge transfer from the electron-rich LaS layer to the electrophilic TaS2 layer demonstrates

Revisiting semicontinuous silver films as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates

• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Małgorzata Norek,
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz and
• Piotr Nyga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1048–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.105

• , reflectance decreases for wavelengths in the range of about one micrometer) without the need for expensive and time-consuming structural characterization. This could be used as a quick method for initial optimization of SSF thickness for high SERS signal. Calculation of the SERS enhancement factor of a SERS

Tailoring the stability/aggregation of one-dimensional TiO₂(B)/titanate nanowires using surfactants

• Atiđa Selmani,
• Johannes Lützenkirchen,
• Kristina Kučanda,
• Dario Dabić,
• Engelbert Redel,
• Ida Delač Marion,
• Damir Kralj,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin and
• Maja Dutour Sikirić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1024–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.103

• surfactants adsorb onto the TNW surface. Moreover, the SCM in principle enables the prediction and optimization of surfactant adsorption on TNW surfaces, thus defining the conditions for stabilization or aggregation. The obtained results point to a simple way of controlling the TNW stability in dispersions

• . The experiments combined with the modelling approach yield insight into interactions in systems that are often found in the aquatic environment, thus enabling the prediction and the optimization of TNW interaction with surfactants for their successful application but also for their removal

Correlation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the surface density of gold nanoparticles: evaluation of the critical number of SERS tags for a detectable signal

• Vincenzo Amendola

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1016–1023, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.102

• , which can be obtained more easily with low-magnification optics when the surface density of the SERS tags is as low as a few units per micrometer square. These results contribute to the optimization of the experimental conditions for the use of SERS tags in analytical and biomedical analysis with high

Structural and optical properties of penicillamine-protected gold nanocluster fractions separated by sequential size-selective fractionation

• Xiupei Yang,
• Zhengli Yang,
• Fenglin Tang,
• Jing Xu,
• Maoxue Zhang and
• Martin M. F. Choi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 955–966, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.96

• high precision, facilitating easy evaluation of structure–function relationships in their toxicological studies, as well as improving the repeatability in AuNC self-assembly. Further optimization of SSSP fractionation can result in fractionation of AuNCs to specific sizes at gram scales, which is

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

• technologies such as dye-sensitized solar cells. A key optimization parameter for such devices is the choice of the compounds in order to control the direction and the intensity of charge transfer across the interface. Here, the deposition of two different molecular dyes, porphyrin and coumarin, as single

Trapping polysulfide on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide for Li–S batteries through phase selection with optimized binding

• Sha Dong,
• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 774–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.77

• × 1 k-grid for the geometry optimization. All atomic positions and cell parameters were relaxed until the force on each atom is less than 0.02 eV/Å. Cross-section and side views of (a) 2H-MoS2 and (b) 1T'-MoS2 monolayers. Orbital-decomposed band structures along high-symmetry points of (c) 2H-MoS2 and

Renewable energy conversion using nano- and microstructured materials

• Harry Mönig and
• Martina Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 771–773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.76

• increasing the absorption or the area of a chemically reactive surface, a very established approach concerns bandgap engineering by varying the size and shape of nanoparticles, which enables, for instance, the optimization of the optoelectronic material properties to the solar spectrum [13]. Furthermore

• optimization. Due to the significantly increased surface-to-volume ratio of nanostructured materials, the development of interface passivation strategies is one of the major challenges in the case of photovoltaic devices where recombination losses are most harmful at the photoactive interfaces. To a large

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

• intensity on the VLS process temperature The first step in the synthesis optimization of the horizontally oriented SiNW substrates includes the determination of the optimal VLS synthesis temperature. The color of the substrates ranged from pale yellow to dark brown (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1

Ultrathin hydrophobic films based on the metal organic framework UiO-66-COOH(Zr)

• Miguel A. Andrés,
• Clemence Sicard,
• Christian Serre,
• Olivier Roubeau and
• Ignacio Gascón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 654–665, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.65

• Research University, 75005 Paris, France 10.3762/bjnano.10.65 Abstract This work reports on the fabrication, optimization and characterization of ultrathin films containing submicrometer particles (sMPs) of the hydrophilic and water stable UiO-66-COOH(Zr) metal organic framework (MOF). MOF particles of

• . Results and Discussion Optimization of MOF submicrometer particle Langmuir films: solvent mixtures and surfactants Spherical UiO-66-COOH(Zr) submicrometer particles (sMPs) of ≈200 nm diameter were synthesized and characterized (see Experimental section and Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1 for PXRD

• deposited onto Si(100) wafers was done using a high-resolution Empyrean diffractometer (PANalytical) operating at 45 kV (generator voltage) and a tube current of 40 mA (Cu Kα radiation). A Pixcell 1D medipix3 detector operating in the open detector mode was used. An optimization of the grazing incidence