One-step synthesis of carbon-supported electrocatalysts

• Sebastian Tigges,
• Nicolas Wöhrl,
• Ivan Radev,
• Ulrich Hagemann,
• Markus Heidelmann,
• Thai Binh Nguyen,
• Stanislav Gorelkov,
• Stephan Schulz and
• Axel Lorke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1419–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.126

• imaging (such as TEM), ultrahigh resolution TEM images prove the formation of embedded Pt-NPs in the carbon matrix by resolving individual carbon layers, which are affected by the Pt-NP. In the left frame of Figure 3, it can be seen that the Pt-NP (blue) interrupts/disturbs some of the carbon layers

• high-resolution micrographs at a sub-nanometer level. An electron acceleration voltage of 200 kV was used. Particle size distributions were measured by using the semi-automatic mode of the software pebbles [42], assuming a spherical particle shape. The electrochemical measurements were performed in a

Impact of fluorination on interface energetics and growth of pentacene on Ag(111)

• Qi Wang,
• Meng-Ting Chen,
• Antoni Franco-Cañellas,
• Bin Shen,
• Thomas Geiger,
• Holger F. Bettinger,
• Frank Schreiber,
• Ingo Salzmann,
• Alexander Gerlach and
• Steffen Duhm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1361–1370, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.120

• interfaces. Results The determination of the vertical adsorption heights of F4PEN in (sub)monolayers on Ag(111) relied on high-resolution core level spectra, which are shown in Figure 1 (additional XPS spectra are shown in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1). Following the assignment of the F4PEN core

• close to monolayer coverage. The high-resolution XPS (HR-XPS) and normal-incidence XSW (NIXSW) experiments were performed at beamline I09 at Diamond Light Source (DLS, UK) using both the soft (110–1100 eV) and hard (2.1–18 keV) X-ray beams [104][105]. Sample preparation and measurements were performed

• ) and the monochromatized Al Kα line (1486.6 eV) for UPS and XPS, respectively. For UPS, the energy resolution was 80 meV, and the angle between the incident beam and the sample surface was fixed to 40°. The spectra were collected at photoelectron take-off angles of 45°, with an acceptance angle of ±12

Atomic defect classification of the H–Si(100) surface through multi-mode scanning probe microscopy

• Jeremiah Croshaw,
• Thomas Dienel,
• Taleana Huff and
• Robert Wolkow

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1346–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.119

• resolution by directly functionalizing the tip apex with a single hydrogen atom, picked up from the H–Si surface through the application of a voltage pulse, as reported in prior works [25][26][36]. Our ability to achieve STHM resolution using an H-functionalized tip aligns with recent STHM theory suggesting

• the most discriminating. It consistently demonstrates the highest spatial resolution, presumably due to the Si-terminated apex’s greater chemical reactivity and reduced apex flexibility. Thus, we employ Si-tip based AFM imaging to further examine select defects. Details of nc-AFM using silicon

Growth of a self-assembled monolayer decoupled from the substrate: nucleation on-command using buffer layers

• Robby Reynaerts,
• Kunal S. Mali and
• Steven De Feyter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1291–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.113

• concentration dependence of self-assembly was examined within the concentration range of 7.7 × 10−4 M to 4.0 × 10−5 M. For concentrations below 4.0 × 10−5 M, no self-assembly was observed. Figure 2 shows large-scale and high-resolution STM images of the different polymorphs of BA-OC14 observed at the 1

• -phenyloctane–HOPG interface together with the proposed molecular models. Polymorph A (Figure 2a,d) is formed exclusively within the concentration range of 7.7 × 10−4 M to 1.9 × 10−4 M. This network has been reported by us earlier [45]. The high-resolution image provided in Figure 2d shows that the lamellar

• surface coverage (≈60%), another network with a significantly different unit cell (Figure 2b,e and Table 1) was observed. This network, referred hereon as polymorph B, lacks the peculiar bright-dark contrast observed in the STM images of polymorph A. Figure 2e,h shows a high-resolution STM image of

An atomic force microscope integrated with a helium ion microscope for correlative nanoscale characterization

• Santiago H. Andany,
• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Stefan Hummel,
• Charlène Brillard,
• Mustafa Kangül and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1272–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.111

• machining of nanoscale structures with sub-nanometer resolution, while the AFM is a well-established versatile tool for multiparametric nanoscale characterization. Combining the two techniques opens the way for unprecedented in situ correlative analysis at the nanoscale. Nanomachining and analysis can be

• SEM in terms of lateral resolution, depth of field, surface sensitivity, and ability to image electrically insulating samples [13]. Furthermore, nanoscale structuration with noble gas ions can yield sub-10 nm structures without unwanted metal ion implantation, a sizeable advantage over traditional

• gallium-ion FIBs. The resulting combined AFM–HIM instrument would, therefore, profit from the sub-nanometer lateral resolution of the HIM and the atomic resolution in the vertical axis of the AFM, proving particularly powerful for high-resolution correlative characterization of non-conductive samples

Magnetic-field-assisted synthesis of anisotropic iron oxide particles: Effect of pH

• Andrey V. Shibaev,
• Petr V. Shvets,
• Darya E. Kessel,
• Roman A. Kamyshinsky,
• Anton S. Orekhov,
• Sergey S. Abramchuk,
• Alexei R. Khokhlov and
• Olga E. Philippova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1230–1241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.107

• . Fe3O4 nanorods were examined using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy proving that they are single-crystalline and do not have any preferred crystallographic orientation along the axis of the rods. According to the data obtained a growth mechanism was proposed for the rods that consists of

• obtained at a slightly acidic pH. Thus, we determined the optimum pH for nanorod preparation. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results showed that the synthesized nanorods were single crystals formed by the magnetic-field-assisted growth of small nanocrystals, whereas some amount of

• [57]. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) To prepare the specimens for HRTEM measurements, the samples were manually applied onto the lacey carbon-coated side of the 300 mesh copper grid and air-dried under ambient conditions. The particle morphology was characterized by TEM and

3D superconducting hollow nanowires with tailored diameters grown by focused He⁺ beam direct writing

• Rosa Córdoba,
• Alfonso Ibarra,
• Dominique Mailly,
• Isabel Guillamón,
• Hermann Suderow and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1198–1206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.104

• relatively large Ga+ beam diameter (approx. 5 nm) and a high proximity effect generated by Ga+ ion scattering. Regarding a higher spatial resolution, the helium ion microscope (HIM) [27], based on a gas field-ionization source, has emerged as a tool for direct writing of complex 3D nano-objects taking

• for the growth of these 3D nano-objects. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that its resolution, volume per dose and throughput are very sensitive to the selected growth conditions such as ion beam energy, ion beam current, precursor flux, surface interactions with the beam, and precursor molecules

• [29][30]. Hence, the He+ FIBID technique is highly recommended for direct writing of 3D nano-objects with high resolution and aspect ratio [17][19][31][32][33][34][35]. A successful example of tailored 3D nano-objects grown by He+ FIBID has been reported by Kohama and co-workers [35]. The authors

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• be discussed below. The close-up STM image of a molecular island (Figure 4b) enables the resolution of individual molecules and the unit cell of the molecular superstructure. For negative bias voltages a single C42H28 molecule exhibits four lobes, which are attributed to the four phenyl groups. The

Revealing the local crystallinity of single silicon core–shell nanowires using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Marius van den Berg,
• Ardeshir Moeinian,
• Arne Kobald,
• Yu-Ting Chen,
• Anke Horneber,
• Steffen Strehle,
• Alfred J. Meixner and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1147–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.99

• -catalyzed vapor–liquid–solid growth and silicon overcoating by thermal chemical vapor deposition. Local changes in the fraction of crystallinity in these silicon nanowires are characterized at an optical resolution of about 300 nm. Furthermore, we are able to resolve the variations in the intensity ratios

• of the Raman peaks of crystalline Si and amorphous Si by applying tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, at sample positions being 8 nm apart. The local crystallinity revealed using confocal Raman spectroscopy and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy agrees well with the high-resolution transmission electron

• regarding the sensitivity and the diffraction-limited optical resolution. Thus, a high-resolution technique that reveals both, the structural and the optical properties at the nanometer scale is needed to study the fraction of crystalline phases and defects within the SiNWs. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in drug and therapeutic delivery, and biotechnological advancements

• Maria Suciu,
• Corina M. Ionescu,
• Alexandra Ciorita,
• Septimiu C. Tripon,
• Dragos Nica,
• Hani Al-Salami and
• Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1092–1109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.94

• very important for medical applications. These properties depend on the methods used, targeted organs/tissues, image resolution, administration way and dosage, and toxicity [116]. Fakhar-e-Alam and collaborators [117] observed that above a certain dose cancer cells develop a resistance to ligand

• -coated SPIONs capped with epidermal growth factor and green fluorescent protein to target atherosclerotic plaques for MRI detection in vivo with good biocompatibility and good targeting resolution, showing that for this application retention time and dimension of the PEG-coated SPIONs were ideal [131

Monolayers of MoS₂ on Ag(111) as decoupling layers for organic molecules: resolution of electronic and vibronic states of TCNQ

• Asieh Yousofnejad,
• Gaël Reecht,
• Nils Krane,
• Christian Lotze and
• Katharina J. Franke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1062–1071, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.91

• screening by the substrate electrons. As a result, the energy levels are significantly broadened and molecular properties, such as vibrations are hidden within the spectral line shapes. Insertion of thin decoupling layers reduces the line widths and may give access to the resolution of electronic and

• molecule is freely hanging between the electrodes [7][8][9][10]. While these configurations give access to important transport properties [11][12][13], they do not allow for imaging molecular properties with intramolecular resolution [14]. The latter requires the molecules to be flat lying on a surface. To

• of decoupling layers made use of the in situ fabrication of single layers of transition metal dichalcogenides on metal surfaces. A monolayer of MoS2 on Au(111) provided very narrow molecular resonances, close to the thermal resolution limit at 4.6 K [26]. The exquisite decoupling efficiency has been

A few-layer graphene/chlorin e6 hybrid nanomaterial and its application in photodynamic therapy against Candida albicans

• Selene Acosta,
• Carlos Moreno-Aguilar,
• Dania Hernández-Sánchez,
• Beatriz Morales-Cruzado,
• Erick Sarmiento-Gomez,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Luis Octavio Sánchez-Vargas and
• Mildred Quintana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1054–1061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.90

• power impinging on the sample was between 5 and 10 mW, the spatial resolution was 2 cm−1 and the spot size was ≈1 µm2. The samples were recorded from drops of the dispersions deposited on clean silicon wafers and left to dry under vacuum. The chemical composition of the samples was investigated using X

• -ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with a VERSAPROBE PHI 5000 instrument from Physical Electronics, equipped with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. The energy resolution was 0.7 eV. For the compensation of built-up charge on the sample surface during the

Excitonic and electronic transitions in Me–Sb₂Se₃ structures

• Nicolae N. Syrbu,
• Victor V. Zalamai,
• Ivan G. Stamov and
• Stepan I. Beril

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1045–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.89

• with a 1:2 aperture and 7 Å/mm linear dispersion. The crystals were placed in a closed helium cryostat LTS-22 C 330 perpendicular to the b axis and their spectra were obtained at low temperatures with ≈0.5 meV resolution since both the spectrometer entrance and exit slits did not exceed 70 µm. The

Highly sensitive detection of estradiol by a SERS sensor based on TiO₂ covered with gold nanoparticles

• Andrea Brognara,
• Ili F. Mohamad Ali Nasri,
• Beatrice R. Bricchi,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay,
• Matteo Ghidelli and
• Nathalie Lidgi-Guigui

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1026–1035, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.87

• spectra were recorded with a micro-Raman spectrophotometer (Jobin-Yvon Labram 300), using a 100× magnification objective (NA = 0.90) in back-scattering geometry, with a spectral resolution of 3 cm−1 and a spatial resolution of about 1 µm. The employed excitation wavelength was 633 nm, with a power of 1 mW

Microwave-induced electric discharges on metal particles for the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials under solvent-free conditions

• Vijay Tripathi,
• Harit Kumar,
• Anubhav Agarwal and
• Leela S. Panchakarla

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1019–1025, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.86

• the phase purity of ZnF2. Figure S6 in Supporting Information File 1 shows the SEM and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of ZnF2 nanorods produced in the presence of sulfur. The SEM images indicate the high yield of ZnF2 nanorods. The high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image in Figure S6d

Uniform Fe₃O₄/Gd₂O₃-DHCA nanocubes for dual-mode magnetic resonance imaging

• Miao Qin,
• Yueyou Peng,
• Mengjie Xu,
• Hui Yan,
• Yizhu Cheng,
• Xiumei Zhang,
• Di Huang,
• Weiyi Chen and
• Yanfeng Meng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1000–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.84

• diagnostics due to its high spatial resolution and capability to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy soft tissues [1][2][3][4][5]. However, due to the substantial increase in the number and complexity of diseases, and also to the fact that MRI has low sensitivity in the absence of contrast, many

• iron and gadolinium distribute uniformly across the FGDA nanocubes (Figure 2f,g). In addition, the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image (Figure 2c, inset in red) shows that the interplanar spacing within the nanocubes is 0.296 ± 0.02 nm, which corresponds to the (220) crystal

• . Characterization of nanocubes and nanoparticles A high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM, JEM-2010F, Japan), operated at an acceleration voltage of 200 kV, was used to investigate the morphology and size of the nanocubes. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, Oxford, X-MaxN, UK) was used to

Electrochemical nanostructuring of (111) oriented GaAs crystals: from porous structures to nanowires

• Elena I. Monaico,
• Eduard V. Monaico,
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki,
• Shashank Honnali,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Karin Leistner,
• Kornelius Nielsch and
• Ion M. Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 966–975, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.81

• Sigma and TESCAN Vega TS 5130 MM equipped with an Oxford Instruments INCA Energy EDX system operated at 20 kV). The photoluminescence spectra were measured with a double spectrometer with resolution better than 1 meV under excitation by the 514 nm line of an Ar+ SpectraPhysics laser. The samples were

Extracting viscoelastic material parameters using an atomic force microscope and static force spectroscopy

• Cameron H. Parvini,
• M. A. S. R. Saadi and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 922–937, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.77

• due to a lack of resolution (for small time scales) or limitations on the experiment length (long time scales) these additional terms will introduce significant error in the parameters extracted. Furthermore if the parameter set obtained is extrapolated for new loading conditions, it will incorrectly

Measurement of electrostatic tip–sample interactions by time-domain Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Christian Ritz,
• Tino Wagner and
• Andreas Stemmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 911–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.76

• values for the surface potential Ulcpd. In both cases, the resolution depends on the controller settings and the same physical limitations apply. The results of the surface potential measurements are shown in Figure 4b and Figure 4f. The potential difference between the single- and the bilayer graphene

Band tail state related photoluminescence and photoresponse of ZnMgO solid solution nanostructured films

• Vadim Morari,
• Aida Pantazi,
• Nicolai Curmei,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Emil V. Rusu,
• Marius Enachescu,
• Ion M. Tiginyanu and
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 899–910, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.75

• software. The continuous wave (cw) PL was excited by the 325 nm line of a He–Cd Kimmon laser and analyzed with a double spectrometer, ensuring a spectral resolution better than 1 meV. The samples were mounted on the cold station of a LTS-22-C-330 optical cryogenic system. The current–voltage

Three-dimensional solvation structure of ethanol on carbonate minerals

• Hagen Söngen,
• Ygor Morais Jaques,
• Peter Spijker,
• Christoph Marutschke,
• Stefanie Klassen,
• Ilka Hermes,
• Ralf Bechstein,
• Lidija Zivanovic,
• John Tracey,
• Adam S. Foster and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 891–898, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.74

• resolution. However, the majority of 3D AFM studies have been focused on the arrangement of water at carbonate surfaces. Here, we present an analysis of the assembly of ethanol – an organic molecule with a single hydroxy group – at the calcite and magnesite (10.4) surfaces by using high-resolution 3D AFM and

• -resolution 3D atomic force microscopy (AFM) [1], the hydration structure of many interfaces has been studied, including the aqueous interface of mica [2] calcite [3][4] dolomite [5][6] and organic crystals [7]. However, while the majority of 3D AFM works have concentrated on water, comparatively fewer

• investigated in a combined X-ray reflectivity and MD study [15]. As a result, ethanol was found to form layers above the calcite surface. However, due to the lack of lateral resolution in the X-ray reflectivity measurements, no experimental information on the lateral order within the first layer has been

Transition from freestanding SnO₂ nanowires to laterally aligned nanowires with a simulation-based experimental design

• Jasmin-Clara Bürger,
• Sebastian Gutsch and
• Margit Zacharias

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 843–853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.69

• passively. In the following, this procedure is called the standard procedure. The characterization of the samples was performed using a high-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM, Nova NanoSEM 430) from FEI. Results and Discussion Numerical results The following section is aimed at a better

Integrated photonics multi-waveguide devices for optical trapping and Raman spectroscopy: design, fabrication and performance demonstration

• Gyllion B. Loozen,
• Arnica Karuna,
• Mohammad M. R. Fanood,
• Erik Schreuder and
• Jacob Caro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 829–842, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.68

• the bead (taken from one of the frames) and each frame of the video. The maximum in the respective correlation maps indicates the position of the bead. We find the position of the maxima with a resolution of a few nanometers by fitting a 2D parabola to the correlation maps in a limited range near the

Adsorption behavior of tin phthalocyanine onto the (110) face of rutile TiO₂

• Lukasz Bodek,
• Mads Engelund,
• Aleksandra Cebrat and
• Bartosz Such

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 821–828, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.67

• interactions between SnPc molecules and the rutile surface, while DFT-based simulations combined with high-resolution STM images imply that a Sn-down geometry may be preferred as a consequence of steric adjustment between the molecular shape and the corrugated (110) surface. Experimental The experiment was

• the measurement, which reduces the resolution of the STM images, currents were convoluted with a Gaussian kernel, with σ = 0.7 Å. Similarly, a spatial broadening of 0.01 and 1.20 Å was introduced for the identification of the impact of the broadening. Results and Discussion Isolated SnPc molecules

• comparison of experimental and simulated images of SnPc molecules is presented in Figure 3. To discuss the molecular geometry on the surface, we combined RT-STM images of SnPc molecules forming a monolayer (Figure 3a) with high-resolution LT-STM images of isolated molecules. Experimental data are compared

Epitaxial growth and superconducting properties of thin-film PdFe/VN and VN/PdFe bilayers on MgO(001) substrates

• Wael M. Mohammed,
• Igor V. Yanilkin,
• Amir I. Gumarov,
• Airat G. Kiiamov,
• Roman V. Yusupov and
• Lenar R. Tagirov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 807–813, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.65

• an accuracy of ±0.5%. Neither impurities nor surface contaminations were detected (compare with [40]). All recorded high-resolution XPS spectra of VN and Pd1−xFex films were calibrated to the binding energies of crystalline VN at 513.6 eV and of metallic Pd at 335.0 eV [33][37], respectively