Recent advances in green carbon dots (2015–2022): synthesis, metal ion sensing, and biological applications

• Aisha Kanwal,
• Naheed Bibi,
• Sajjad Hyder,
• Arif Muhammad,
• Hao Ren,
• Jiangtao Liu and
• Zhongli Lei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1068–1107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.93

• sensing, bioimaging, catalysis, medicine, optoelectronics, and drug delivery due to their unique properties, that is, low cytotoxicity, cytocompatibility, water-solubility, multicolor wavelength tuned emission, photo-stability, easy modification, strong chemical inertness, etc. This review article

• CDs, the solubility and QY can be improved. The size of CDs and chemical functionality present on their surface can be discreetly tuned to change the electronic structure for their luminous features. Various molecular precursors have been used earlier for the production of CDs, including ethylene

• two types were obtained based on the difference in solubility in ethanol. The ones that were soluble in ethanol were called “CDs-A” and the insoluble ones were called “CDs-B”. Different characterizations were carried out that revealed that the surfaces of these two CDs have different functional groups

Bioselectivity of silk protein-based materials and their bio-inspired applications

• Hendrik Bargel,
• Vanessa T. Trossmann,
• Christoph Sommer and
• Thomas Scheibel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 902–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.81

• species [119]. These globular domains fulfill important control functions concerning protein solubility in the gland reservoir and in the assembly of spidroins into silk threads. The various spidroins of spiders differ in their amino acid sequences to yield the specific properties and functions of the

Solar-light-driven LaFe_xNi_1−xO₃ perovskite oxides for photocatalytic Fenton-like reaction to degrade organic pollutants

• Chao-Wei Huang,
• Shu-Yu Hsu,
• Jun-Han Lin,
• Yun Jhou,
• Wei-Yu Chen,
• Kun-Yi Andrew Lin,
• Yu-Tang Lin and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 882–895, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.79

• ferrous sulfate (FeSO4), which can provide a uniform reaction system due to its high solubility. Unfortunately, it might cause two severe shortcomings in the Fenton reaction process. First, ferric ions (Fe3+) formed in the Fenton reaction will interact with the excess hydroxide ion (OH−) to produce Fe(OH

Temperature and chemical effects on the interfacial energy between a Ga–In–Sn eutectic liquid alloy and nanoscopic asperities

• Yujin Han,
• Pierre-Marie Thebault,
• Corentin Audes,
• Xuelin Wang,
• Haiwoong Park,
• Jian-Zhong Jiang and
• Arnaud Caron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 817–827, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.72

• gold and the constituting elements of the metallic melt are not expected. Solid gallium has very poor solubility for gold, and Ga forms a eutectic with AuGa2 with a melting temperature of 491 °C. We thus exclude its formation during our experiment. However, the Ga-rich melt has a large solubility for

• –In–Sn. The phase diagram of the Au–In alloy system is similar to that of Au–Ga. However, the difference is that the eutectic formed between In and AuIn2 lays at 156 °C, higher than the maximum temperature applied during our measurements. Finally, the Au–Sn system shows no solubility of Au in Sn and

• solubility or reaction of the tip material with the metallic melt. We have already explained the high interfacial energy between SiOx and the Ga–In–Sn eutectic melt based on the reaction of oxygen atoms from SiOx with gallium atoms. This reaction is likely to be thermally activated, which would also explain

Efficient liquid exfoliation of KP₁₅ nanowires aided by Hansen's empirical theory

• Zhaoxuan Huang,
• Zhikang Jiang,
• Nan Tian,
• Disheng Yao,
• Fei Long,
• Yanhan Yang and
• Danmin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 788–795, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.69

• Abstract The KP15 nanowires with one-dimensional properties has a defect-free surface, high anisotropy, and carrier mobility which is desirable for the development of novel nanodevices. However, the preparation of nanoscale KP15 is still inefficient. In this work, the Hansen solubility parameters of KP15

• previous study, we exfoliated KP15 in alcohol; however, this method was still inefficient [13]. Herein, the Hansen's empirical theory was firstly introduced to improve the liquid-phase exfoliation efficiency of KP15 nanowires. In addition, Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) for KP15 were also obtained in

• coefficient and the Hansen solubility parameters for KP15 According to the Hansen’s theory [19], the dispersed concentration C of a KP15 dispersion prepared by liquid exfoliation can be expressed by Equation 1 as follows. where δD is the intermolecular dispersion force, δH is the intermolecular hydrogen bond

Design and selection of peptides to block the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain by molecular docking

• Kendra Ramirez-Acosta,
• Ivan A. Rosales-Fuerte,
• J. Eduardo Perez-Sanchez,
• Alfredo Nuñez-Rivera,
• Josue Juarez and
• Ruben D. Cadena-Nava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 699–711, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.62

• , and their interaction with the RDB is discussed in the following section. Physicochemical parameters and peptide–RBD interaction Solubility, net charge, and size are important physical parameters that need to be considered in the design of novel drugs since these play a role in the distribution in the

• , and water solubility for peptides were determined by the on-line software INNOVAGEN’s peptide calculator (PEPCALC). Almost all OAPs are soluble in aqueous media, independently on their isoelectric point, due to the high ratio between hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acid residues, except the peptides

• peptides) and faster design of peptides (41 peptides) based on the peptide binding site on the RBD, the number of hydrogen bonds, and the binding affinity. The peptide candidates have a nearly neutral charge at physiological pH and good solubility, which can benefit the diffusion of the molecules, allowing

Antibacterial activity of a berberine nanoformulation

• Hue Thi Nguyen,
• Tuyet Nhung Pham,
• Anh-Tuan Le,
• Nguyen Thanh Thuy,
• Tran Quang Huy and
• Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 641–652, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.56

• the preparation of berberine (BBR) in nanoformulation to enhance its solubility and increase its antibacterial effectiveness against hospital-acquired infections. BBR nanoparticles (BBR NPs) were formed by antisolvent precipitation (ASP) using glycerol as a safe organic solvent. UV–vis absorption

• spectra demonstrated that the solubility of BBR NPs was greatly enhanced compared to that of pure BBR. Glycerol played a role as a stabilizer for BBR NPs through the formation of hydrogen bonds between glycerol and BBR NPs. The prepared BBR NPs have a narrow size distribution with an average diameter of

• bacterial cells and severely damaged the cell walls. Therefore, BBR NPs prepared by ASP appear to be a potential candidate for the treatment of bacterial pathogens. Keywords: antibacterial activity; antisolvent precipitation (ASP); berberine nanoparticles (BBR NPs); glycerol; solubility; Introduction

Influence of thickness and morphology of MoS₂ on the performance of counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Lam Thuy Thi Mai,
• Hai Viet Le,
• Ngan Kim Thi Nguyen,
• Van La Tran Pham,
• Thu Anh Thi Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thanh Le Huynh and
• Hoang Thai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 528–537, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.44

• similar to that of (NH4)2MoS4 reported by Falola and co-workers [28]. The formation of MoS42− ions in the mixture solution is detailed in Equations 1–4 [27][28][29][30]: It should be noted that (NH4)2MoS4 is poorly soluble in water. Hence, the in situ synthesis of MoS42− from (NH4)6Mo7O24 (high solubility

Ethosomal (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate as a novel approach to enhance antioxidant, anti-collagenase and anti-elastase effects

• Çiğdem Yücel,
• Gökçe Şeker Karatoprak,
• Sena Yalçıntaş and
• Tuğba Eren Böncü

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 491–502, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.41

• effective due to its unstable structure and low solubility. In addition, toxicity may occur with an increasing dose [10]. Therefore, overcoming these problems with nanocarrier systems provides significant advantages to researchers. ETHs protect a given compound against environmental factors and also enhance

Zinc oxide nanostructures for fluorescence and Raman signal enhancement: a review

• Ioana Marica,
• Fran Nekvapil,
• Maria Ștefan,
• Cosmin Farcău and
• Alexandra Falamaș

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 472–490, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.40

• polyols, such as high boiling point (up to 320 °C) and dielectric constant, the solubility of simple metal salt precursors, and coordinating properties for surface functionalization preventing agglomeration [27]. The ZnO NPs obtained from polyol synthesis showed excellent crystalline quality and

Interfacial nanoarchitectonics for ZIF-8 membranes with enhanced gas separation

• Season S. Chen,
• Zhen-Jie Yang,
• Chia-Hao Chang,
• Hoong-Uei Koh,
• Sameerah I. Al-Saeedi,
• Kuo-Lun Tung and
• Kevin C.-W. Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 313–324, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.26

• reaction temperature led to higher crystallinity. A further increase of the reaction temperature to 120 °C caused a decrease of the separation factor to 1.77, which was due to the unstable liquid–liquid interface under boiling. In addition, the elevated temperature increased water/1-octanol solubility and

Coordination-assembled myricetin nanoarchitectonics for sustainably scavenging free radicals

• Xiaoyan Ma,
• Haoning Gong,
• Kenji Ogino,
• Xuehai Yan and
• Ruirui Xing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 284–291, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.23

• , and allergens [17]. In spite of the tremendous potential, Myr possesses the same shortcomings as many hydrophobic small molecules, namely low bioavailability, poor water solubility and rapid degradation at pH > 6.8, which limits its clinical therapeutic potential [22]. GSH consists of glycine

• these groups coordinated to Zn2+. The co-assembly approach mitigates the poor water solubility of Myr and improves its bioavailability for further biomedical applications. The stability of the co-assembled nanoparticles is important for antioxidant application. The DLS profiles were used to evaluate the

• scavenge ROS, but also overcome the poor water solubility of Myr, the co-assembly was effective to enhance the bioavailability of both Myr and GSH, especially regarding a sustainable antioxidant efficacy. The stable radical scavenging activity of MZG was further assessed. As shown in Figure 3c, the radical

Systematic studies into uniform synthetic protein nanoparticles

• Nahal Habibi,
• Ava Mauser,
• Jeffery E. Raymond and
• Joerg Lahann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 274–283, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.22

• water and ethanol with a 9:1 (v/v) ratio. The exception was insulin and mucin-based SPNPs. Because insulin has poor solubility at neutral pH, acetic acid at 10% (v/v) was added to the solvent mixture to ensure miscibility. Due to its high molecular weight, mucin was used at 2% (w/v). NHS-PEG-NHS

A comprehensive review on electrospun nanohybrid membranes for wastewater treatment

• Senuri Kumarage,
• Imalka Munaweera and
• Nilwala Kottegoda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 137–159, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.10

• solubility, solvent conductivity, vapor pressure or the volatility of the solvent, and the electrospinnability of the solvents are the foremost parameters to be considered. Lasprilla-Botero et al. reported that the same polymer yielded different fiber when different solvents were used. This was due to the

• different physicochemical properties of the solvents, such as the electrical conductivity, inherent viscosity of the polymers, and the difference of solubility parameters of the solvent and the polymer [36]. Moreover, they have reported that entanglement concentrations of the polymers varied significantly

• with the solvent and a high solubility in the solvents is not the sole factor for obtaining smooth defect-free fibers. Instead, it is both solubility and electrospinnability. They obtained broader fibers with the increase of the solvent viscosity, which directly affects the final solution viscosity

Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity in vitro of surface-functionalized drug-loaded spinel ferrite nanoparticles

• Sadaf Mushtaq,
• Khuram Shahzad,
• Tariq Saeed,
• Anwar Ul-Hamid,
• Bilal Haider Abbasi,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Waqas Khalid,
• Muhammad Atif,
• Zulqurnain Ali and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1339–1364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.99

• penetration and hemocompatibility which can be useful for biomedical applications [12][17]. Furthermore, in order to be exploited in biomedical applications, NPs need to fulfill certain criteria which include water solubility, excellent colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and high saturation magnetization

Irradiation-driven molecular dynamics simulation of the FEBID process for Pt(PF₃)₄

• Alexey Prosvetov,
• Alexey V. Verkhovtsev,
• Gennady Sushko and
• Andrey V. Solov’yov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1151–1172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.86

• , novel techniques exploiting the irradiation of nanosystems with collimated electron and ion beams have been developed [2][3]. One of these techniques is electron beam lithography (EBL), which is similar to conventional optical lithography but relies on the change of solubility after electron exposure of

Self-assembly of amino acids toward functional biomaterials

• Huan Ren,
• Lifang Wu,
• Lina Tan,
• Yanni Bao,
• Yuchen Ma,
• Yong Jin and
• Qianli Zou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1140–1150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.85

• promising natural antitumor drug, which can inhibit the transformation, proliferation, and migration of tumor cells through various ways, and has anti-angiogenic activity and good biocompatibility [72]. However, the poor water solubility and low bioavailability of curcumin hinder its direct application [73

• photosensitization activity and photostability of phthalocyanine. Camptothecin can induce tumor apoptosis by inhibiting the activity of topoisomerase I [90]. However, camptothecin has some major limitations in therapeutic applications, such as poor water solubility and rapid lactone ring hydrolysis at physiological

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• solubility, lack of specificity, high toxicity, poor therapy index, and multidrug resistance are other related drawbacks [6][7]. Orally administered chemotherapy is currently unsuitable due to the low bioavailability of chemotherapeutic agents [8], making intravenous the only viable route of administration

• , cell, or organelle, improving solubility, dissolution rate, and pharmacokinetics [5]. In the case of CUR, the nanosystem size directly influences its biodistribution as demonstrated by Bi et al. [41], who reported differences in the pharmacokinetic profiles when they administered CUR nanosuspension of

• associated with an improved CUR solubility due to the nanosystem. Furthermore, half an hour after pulmonary administration, CUR concentration values higher than 2000 µg/g were observed in the lungs and 6 h after pulmonary administration the concentration was 824 µg/g. Curcumin was also found in other organs

Progress and innovation of nanostructured sulfur cathodes and metal-free anodes for room-temperature Na–S batteries

• Marina Tabuyo-Martínez,
• Bernd Wicklein and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 995–1020, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.75

• phenomenon caused by the migration of long-chain sodium polysulfides (Na2Sn) to the anode, facilitated by their high solubility in carbonate- and ether-based electrolytes [21]. At the anode, Na2Sn is further reduced to insoluble short-chain sodium polysulfides, which precipitate and passivate the electrode

The role of deep eutectic solvents and carrageenan in synthesizing biocompatible anisotropic metal nanoparticles

• Nabojit Das,
• Akash Kumar and
• Raja Gopal Rayavarapu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 924–938, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.69

• cellulose biomass [77]. Although the applications of DESs mentioned above lie at the interface of material and biological science, the following section will only discuss application of DESs in nanomaterial synthesis. As mentioned earlier, the high solubility of metal salts in DESs makes them an ideal

• sulfate groups with repeating galactose units determines the gelation properties of carrageenan [102]. The higher the number of sulfate groups, the lower is the solubility temperature of carrageenan. Therefore, kappa and iota carrageenan do gelate whereas lambda carrageenan does not form gels at room

Modification of a SERS-active Ag surface to promote adsorption of charged analytes: effect of Cu²⁺ ions

• Bahdan V. Ranishenka,
• Andrei Yu. Panarin,
• Irina A. Chelnokova,
• Sergei N. Terekhov,
• Peter Mojzes and
• Vadim V. Shmanai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 902–912, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.67

• of halide ions on the SERS signal. It is due to the high binding energy of Ag with halides, which is also responsible for the low solubility of Ag halides in water. The SERS activation of cationic analytes was observed in a number of studies after treatment of nanoparticles with halide ions [21][22

Comprehensive review on ultrasound-responsive theranostic nanomaterials: mechanisms, structures and medical applications

• Sepand Tehrani Fateh,
• Lida Moradi,
• Elmira Kohan,
• Michael R. Hamblin and
• Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 808–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.64

• ), are great candidates for ADV because they have low cytotoxicity and low solubility in aqueous media. In the last decade, ADV has been employed for vessel occlusion therapy, drug delivery, HIFU, tissue lesion formation, and molecular imaging [128][129]. Previous studies showed that a combination of two

Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• Conjugated polymers (CPs) as photocatalysts have evoked substantial interest. Their geometries and physical (e.g., chemical and thermal stability and solubility), optical (e.g., light absorption range), and electronic properties (e.g., charge carrier mobility, redox potential, and exciton binding energy) can

• energy, high stability, wide light-absorption range, and sufficient catalytically active sites [7]. Conjugated polymers (CPs) are one of the most promising alternatives to the traditional inorganic photocatalysts. Their geometries and physical (e.g., chemical and thermal stability and solubility

• were dispersed in water. The Pdots of P49 rendered one of the highest HER (150 μmol·h−1, 3 mg) among all Pdots, which was attributed to the water solubility, broad light absorption and abundant catalytic sites of BT-based Pdots. In addition, Hu et al. [71] synthesized hyper-branched Pdots by co

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• also for non-passivated samples (B2 vs B3) compared accordingly. In these cases, the acidic bath was applied on the samples before the final passivation. According to the literature, such treatment leaves the As-rich surface with elemental As which has low solubility in acids [52]. Thus, the final

Influence of electrospray deposition on C₆₀ molecular assemblies

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Sebastian Scherb,
• Sara Freund,
• Zhao Liu,
• Thilo Glatzel and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 552–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.45

• requirement for the suitability of molecules for ESD is their solubility in a compatible solvent. A drawback is, therefore, the presence of the solvent itself. Various implementations of electrospray deposition setups were developed to allow for the selection of the molecular species via mass spectrometer