Reasons and remedies for the agglomeration of multilayered graphene and carbon nanotubes in polymers

• Rasheed Atif and
• Fawad Inam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1174–1196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.109

• in a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix [136]. They observed an increase in yield strength and draw ratio of the composite fiber. The yield strength was doubled and the draw ratio was increased from 40 to 300 in 5 wt % SWNT–PMMA system [35]. Kumar et al. also used fiber spinning to align SWNTs

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• prior modification of the particle surface) significantly improves the mechanical properties and thermal strength of the resulting composite relative to the pure polymer. In addition, polymer composites (based on, inter alia, poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(lactic

Experimental and simulation-based investigation of He, Ne and Ar irradiation of polymers for ion microscopy

• Lukasz Rzeznik,
• Yves Fleming,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1113–1128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.104

• composition can be found. Methods Experimental setup For this study, different polymer samples were spin-coated on silicon (111). The homopolymers of polystyrene (PS) with molecular mass Mw = 1 900 (Mw/Mn = 1.10) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with molecular mass Mn = 22 200 (Mw/Mn = 1.07) were obtained

• evolution of the He, Ne and Ar positions in the system at atomic level. Four different polymers have been selected: polyethylene (PE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), atactic polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Different polymer samples have been created, each sample containing 10

• (methyl methacrylate). Comparison to more conventional SIMS conditions is obtained by using argon bombardment in addition to helium and neon bombardment. The impact energies of 1 keV to 30 keV have been chosen to cover the conditions for depth profiling and imaging. Changing topography of PMMA bombarded

Direct formation of gold nanorods on surfaces using polymer-immobilised gold seeds

• Majid K. Abyaneh,
• Pietro Parisse and
• Loredana Casalis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 809–816, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.72

• , we present the formation of gold nanorods (GNRs) on novel gold–poly(methyl methacrylate) (Au–PMMA) nanocomposite substrates with unprecedented growth control through the polymer molecular weight (Mw) and gold-salt-to-polymer weight ratio. For the first time, GNRs have been produced by seed-mediated

• techniques such as AFM and SEM have been used to support concept of the proposed growth method. Keywords: atomic force microscopy (AFM); direct surface growth; gold nanorods; nanocomposites; poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA); Introduction Gold nanorods (GNRs) are among the most interesting noble metal one

Correlative infrared nanospectroscopic and nanomechanical imaging of block copolymer microdomains

• Benjamin Pollard and
• Markus B. Raschke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 605–612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.53

• properties between and within polymer microdomains. Methods We study a high molecular weight block copolymer of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA), with a relative chain length of 270.0-b-289.0 Mn × 103 (P4443-SMMA, Polymer Source), spin-coated from a 1% w/v solution in toluene onto

Free vibration of functionally graded carbon-nanotube-reinforced composite plates with cutout

• Mostafa Mirzaei and
• Yaser Kiani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 511–523, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.45

• and is used in the rest of this work. For instance, an SCFS plate indicates a plate which is simply supported at x = −0.5a and y = +0.5b, clamped at y = −0.5b, and free at x = +0.5b. In the numerical results of the present research, isotropic poly(methyl methacrylate), referred to as PMMA, is selected

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of hybrid metallic–dielectric plasmonic nanoantennas

• Mario Hentschel,
• Bernd Metzger,
• Bastian Knabe,
• Karsten Buse and
• Harald Giessen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 111–120, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.13

• lithography in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resist on a fused silica substrate (suprasil, Heraeus), followed by evaporation of a chromium adhesion and a gold layer, and a subsequent lift-off procedure. The sample is again coated afterward with PMMA. Using the alignment marks, openings are created in the

Fabrication and characterization of novel multilayered structures by stereocomplexion of poly(D-lactic acid)/poly(L-lactic acid) and self-assembly of polyelectrolytes

• Elena Dellacasa,
• Li Zhao,
• Gesheng Yang,
• Laura Pastorino and
• Gleb B. Sukhorukov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 81–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.10

• well as other biocompatible polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) [39][40][41], poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) [42] and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) [43][44], is extremely interesting for the fabrication of innovative multilayer structures to be used in drug delivery applications. In

Nanoscale rippling on polymer surfaces induced by AFM manipulation

• Mario D’Acunto,
• Franco Dinelli and
• Pasqualantonio Pingue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2278–2289, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.234

• wide spectrum of polymers has been investigated including polystyrene (PS) [13][20], poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) [25], poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) [23], poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) [26] and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) [23]. Recently, we have reviewed wear occurring on polymeric surfaces and

• one to several hundreds of nanometers can be reproduced on the surface of polycarbonate (PC), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and polystyrene (PS) films. Authors have clearly shown that the ripple formation varies with T and polymer type (Figure 8a). The dependence on T has been characterized and

• precursor of polyterthiophene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (P3T/PMMA) copolymer can be cross-linked by the application of a voltage via the AFM tip. Specifically, the patterning was performed by means of an ultrasharp conductive tip with a radius of 20 nm applying voltages up to 10 V under ambient conditions

Mapping bound plasmon propagation on a nanoscale stripe waveguide using quantum dots: influence of spacer layer thickness

• Chamanei S. Perera,
• Alison M. Funston,
• Han-Hao Cheng and
• Kristy C. Vernon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2046–2051, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.208

• beneficial in studying light matter interaction in nanoscale devices and all-optical circuitry. Theory COMSOL Multiphysics was used to run simulations on silver stripe waveguides supported on an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrate with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cladding. The width of the

Temperature-dependent breakdown of hydrogen peroxide-treated ZnO and TiO₂ nanoparticle agglomerates

• Sinan Sabuncu and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1897–1903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.193

• common ways of increasing the NP dispersion in aqueous media. Polymers such as polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(acrylic acid) are also widely used to obtain dispersed NPs in aqueous environments [7][8][9]. Although the use of surfactants can provide better dispersion, they

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

• a templating substrate – properties which, in turn, are key properties for nanodevices. Experimental Template preparation by polymer-blend lithography Polymer solution: Polystyrene (PS, Mw = 96 kg/mol, PDI 1.04) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA, Mw = 9.59 kg/mol, PDI 1.05) were purchased from

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

• plasmonic resonance; metal islands; metal nanostructures; metal polymer blend lithography (metal PBL); nano-patterned template; nanoscale discs; optical transmission; perforated metal film; polymer phase separation; poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA); polystyrene (PS); self-assembly; spin-coating; surface

• 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

Fabrication of high-resolution nanostructures of complex geometry by the single-spot nanolithography method

• Alexander Samardak,
• Margarita Anisimova,
• Aleksei Samardak and
• Alexey Ognev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 976–986, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.101

• of complex shape. The effect of high-dose electron irradiation on the chemical properties of polymers (resulting in hardening or overexposure) was observed in different types of positive resists: DQN [7], AZ-PF514 [8], and PMMA [9][10]. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is the most prevalent EBL

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

• frequency, tangential excitation of variable amplitude (0–20 nm). The contacts were established between glass spheres and the surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), where the resonator surface had been coated with either sputtered SiO2 or a spin-cast layer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The

Synergic combination of the sol–gel method with dip coating for plasmonic devices

• Cristiana Figus,
• Maddalena Patrini,
• Francesco Floris,
• Lucia Fornasari,
• Paola Pellacani,
• Gerardo Marchesini,
• Andrea Valsesia,
• Flavia Artizzu,
• Daniela Marongiu,
• Michele Saba,
• Franco Marabelli,
• Andrea Mura,
• Giovanni Bongiovanni and
• Francesco Quochi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 500–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.52

• conical poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) pillars [32][33][34]. Such a plasmonic platform has been shown to work efficiently as an SPR-sensitive surface for biosensing applications in medical diagnostics [35]. A sketch of the pillar profile along a normal cross section is provided in Figure 4, where the

• consisted of a 2D array of truncated, conical poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) pillars (with a height of about 150 nm and a diameter of 350 nm) embedded into a gold layer that was used to fill the space between the pillars, resulting in a perforated-like film [32][33][34][35] . An ND-R rotatory coater

Electrical properties of single CdTe nanowires

• Elena Matei,
• Camelia Florica,
• Andreea Costas,
• María Eugenia Toimil-Molares and
• Ionut Enculescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 444–450, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.45

• similar behavior for CdTe, as would be expected for objects with similar geometries. In Figure 5 current–voltage characteristics are presented for a nanowire contacted by this approach before and after poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) passivation. A difference of almost an order of magnitude between the

Exploring plasmonic coupling in hole-cap arrays

• Thomas M. Schmidt,
• Maj Frederiksen,
• Vladimir Bochenkov and
• Duncan S. Sutherland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.1

• sulfate latex polystyrene particles with diameter of 0.11 µm were obtained from Invitrogen Denmark. Deionized water with 18.2 MΩ resistivity from a Millipore Milli-Q water system. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (Mw 120,000), Polystyrene (Mw 280,000), PDDA (poly(diallydimethylammonium chloride)) (Mw

High-frequency multimodal atomic force microscopy

• Adrian P. Nievergelt,
• Jonathan D. Adams,
• Pascal D. Odermatt and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2459–2467, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.255

• squeeze-film damping of the cantilever, the latter of which is roughly constant while in feedback. We used a thin-film blend of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a sample (PS–PMMA–15M, Bruker AFM probes); its separation into soft and hard domains makes it a widely used standard for

Influence of stabilising agents and pH on the size of SnO₂ nanoparticles

• Olga Rac,
• Patrycja Suchorska-Woźniak,
• Marta Fiedot and
• Helena Teterycz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2192–2201, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.228

• each measurement was performed for 3 min. A poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cuvette with dimensions of 40 × 10 × 10 mm was used for the measurements. The calculation of the hydrodynamic diameter was performed on the basis of the Stokes–Einstein equation, assuming a measurement temperature of 298 K and

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

• properties of CNO and CNO composites in a wide range of frequencies [68][69][70], the authors prepared CNO–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composite films and studied the terahertz shielding properties in a frequency range of 0.1–3 THz and found a shielding of up to 14 dB [67][71]. Catalysis One of the most

Non-covalent and reversible functionalization of carbon nanotubes

• Antonello Di Crescenzo,
• Valeria Ettorre and
• Antonella Fontana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1675–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.178

• some free polymer is always present in the solution. It has been demonstrated that too much free polymer in the bulk solution can lead to aggregation of the CNTs because of the depletion effect. As an example, Meuer et al. showed [104] that CNTs dispersed by pyrene-substituted poly(methyl methacrylate

Review of nanostructured devices for thermoelectric applications

• Giovanni Pennelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1268–1284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.141

• standard poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resist. An etching with well calibrated buffered HF (BHF) allows for the transferring of the pattern from the PMMA to the SiO2 layer (reactive ion etching can be used as alternative). Once the SiO2 mask is defined, the top silicon layer is etched anisotropically

Fabrication of carbon nanomembranes by helium ion beam lithography

• Xianghui Zhang,
• Henning Vieker,
• André Beyer and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 188–194, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.20

• is formed on a gold substrate; secondly, the SAM is irradiated locally with He+ ions; thirdly, the transfer is assisted by a layer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for mechanical stabilization, which allows the dissolution of underlying Au layer; lastly, the PMMA layer is dissolved and only the

• were transferred onto another substrate for further investigations again with the HIM. For the transfer of NBPT CNMs onto a SiO2/Si substrate the samples were spin-coated with a layer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for stabilization and baked on a hotplate at 90 °C for 5 min. The separation of the

Polynomial force approximations and multifrequency atomic force microscopy

• Daniel Platz,
• Daniel Forchheimer,
• Erik A. Tholén and
• David B. Haviland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 352–360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.41

• reconstruction allows for the extraction of properties such as surface adhesion, sample stiffness or interaction geometry. We demonstrate this extraction of surface properties with high-resolution stiffness maps on a blend of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Polynomial reconstruction, and