Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• formation of silica/alumina-clay heterostructures providing acid-catalyst behavior [18][19]. Similarly, silica–titania delaminated clays have been also prepared via the generation of TiO2/SiO2 NP in the interlayer space of smectites and vermiculites modified with long-chain alkylammonium species, promoting

• did not cause any relevant structural change, as it was already reported for related titania-clay heterostructures [21]. The further assembly of ZnO NP to produce the final ZnO/SiO2-SEP heterostructure is confirmed by the presence of new peaks in the corresponding XRD patterns of the heterostructure

Nanostructured TiO₂-based gas sensors with enhanced sensitivity to reducing gases

• Wojciech Maziarz,
• Anna Kusior and
• Anita Trenczek-Zajac

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1718–1726, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.164

• , decomposition of titanium hydrogenperoxy gel and amorphous titania hydrate dissolution [26]. Due to these features, acceptor intrinsic defects may occur and lead to n→p transitions [36][37]. Secondly, according to Nicoloso [38], p-type conductivity is an attribute of the surface rather than the material bulk

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Piotr Olszowski,
• Res Jöhr,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Bartosz Such,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1642–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.156

• , Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, 30-348 Krakow, Poland Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstr. 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.7.156 Abstract Titanium dioxide, or titania, sensitized with organic dyes is a very attractive platform for photovoltaic applications. In this

• context, the knowledge of properties of the titania–sensitizer junction is essential for designing efficient devices. Consequently, studies on the adsorption of organic dyes on titania surfaces and on the influence of the adsorption geometry on the energy level alignment between the substrate and an

• the titania–sensitizer interface. In the following paper, we review the recent scanning probe microscopic research of a certain group of molecular assemblies on rutile titania surfaces as it pertains to dye-sensitized solar cell applications. We focus on experiments on adsorption of three types of

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

• improve the physical properties of hybrid nanocomposites. Sumfleth et al. doped titania into MWNT–epoxy [57]. They found enhanced CNT dispersion and synergistic effects in these multiphase nanocomposites. Ma et al. doped nanoclay into CNT–acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) system and found enhanced CNT

• dispersion [139]. Nanoclay also improved the CNT dispersion state in CNT–polyamide nanocomposites. Titania can improve the mechanical properties of polymers. So, titania is a better option to improve the dispersion of CNTs than block copolymers. Also, large amounts of CNTs can be uniformly dispersed using

• titania. The addition of nanoparticles in nanocomposites can also improve their thermal stability (Tg), which is an important requirement for structural applications [57]. Properties of composites Out of 2009 research articles about graphene published in 2014, 830 articles were related to the synthesis of

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• path of the molecules to be treated. This paper investigates the effect of aggregate size on the photocatalytic activity of pyrogenic titania (Aeroxide® P25, Evonik), which is widely used in fundamental photocatalysis research. Well-defined and reproducible aggregate sizes were achieved by ultrasonic

Electrochemical coating of dental implants with anodic porous titania for enhanced osteointegration

• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Alberto Rebaudi,
• Pierpaolo Cortella,
• Alberto Diaspro and
• Marco Salerno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2183–2192, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.224

• , following the success of nanostructured anodic porous alumina, anodic porous titania has also attracted the interest of academic researchers. This material, investigated mainly for its photocatalytic properties and for applications in solar cells, is usually obtained from the anodization of ultrapure

• anodic porous titania can be obtained not only on ultrapure and flat titanium but also as a conformal coating on curved surfaces of real objects made of industrial titanium alloys. Raman spectroscopy showed that the titania phase obtained is anatase. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that by carrying out

• additive nanoscale patterning. Additional advantages are provided by this material when considering the possible loading of bioactive drugs in the porous cavities. Keywords: anodization; dental implants; nanopores; surface treatment; titania; Introduction Titanium (Ti) is the standard material used for

Distribution of Pd clusters on ultrathin, epitaxial TiO_x films on Pt₃Ti(111)

• Christian Breinlich,
• Maria Buchholz,
• Marco Moors,
• Tobias Pertram,
• Conrad Becker and
• Klaus Wandelt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2007–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.204

• Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) was used to investigate the nucleation and growth of palladium clusters on two different, ultrathin, epitaxial, titania films grown on a Pt3Ti(111) surface. The first oxide phase, z'-TiOx, is anisotropic and consists of parallel stripes separated by trenches. Defects

• reactivity properties of the Pd clusters. In this regard, the influence of the two different titania films on these properties of clusters of the same metal is of particular interest [21]. STM image of the z'-TiOx phase: (a) 53.3 × 53.3 nm2, bias voltage UB = 0.91 V, IT = 50 pA, (b) 22.8 × 22.8 nm2, UB

Transformations of PTCDA structures on rutile TiO₂ induced by thermal annealing and intermolecular forces

• Szymon Godlewski,
• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymoński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1498–1507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.155

• analyse structures composed of PTCDA molecules with various experimental techniques [19][20][27]. With respect to the substrate of interest, the (110) face of the rutile titania is the most often studied surface of TiO2 [14][15][16]. Thus, it is quite often recognized as the exemplary transition metal

• experiments on adsorption of PTCDA molecules on the two stable rutile titania surfaces, i.e., the (110) and (011) faces, pointing to differences in molecular behaviour with respect to these two substrates. Results and Discussion The TiO2(110)-(1 × 1) surface The TiO2(110)-(1 × 1) surface model has been well

• molecules on the (110) surface with the other stable face of rutile titania, namely, the (011) surface. On the latter surface, post-deposition annealing does not lead at all to the formation of any ordered structures. The ordering is observed only if the molecules are deposited at the surface kept at a

Experimental determination of the light-trapping-induced absorption enhancement factor in DSSC photoanodes

• Serena Gagliardi and
• Mauro Falconieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 886–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.91

• produced by the concurrent phenomena of light absorption by dye molecules and light trapping in the mesoporous, titania photoanode structure. The decoupling of these two phenomena is important for device characterization and the design of novel photoelectrode geometries with increased optical performance

• photoanode with the light absorbed by the dye without the mesoporous titania structure. In order to gain more insight from this result, the fraction of light absorbed in the photoanode (on the basis of the dye loading capacity of the titania nanospheres) was also calculated by an optical model for the two

• optical functionality of novel photoanode structures. Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cells; light trapping; optical characterization; photoanode modeling; titania nanostructures; Introduction The exploitation of solar irradiation, in particular by the use of photovoltaic (PV) technologies, is a widely

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

• TiO2 [22] in which the nitrogen atoms occupy substitutional and interstitial sites in the TiO2 and thus affect the photocatalytic activity of titania for reactions performed under visible-light irradiation [3][5][23][24]. On the other hand, transformation under wet-chemical or hydrothermal conditions

Pulmonary surfactant augments cytotoxicity of silica nanoparticles: Studies on an in vitro air–blood barrier model

• Jennifer Y. Kasper,
• Lisa Feiden,
• Maria I. Hermanns,
• Christoph Bantz,
• Michael Maskos,
• Ronald E. Unger and
• C. James Kirkpatrick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 517–528, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.54

• al., not only silica, but also ZnO, hollow silica-titania, and gold particles with a positive surface charge caused a higher cytotoxicity than the respective negative or uncharged NPs [24]. Likewise, carboxylic-modified silica nanoparticles, which have a negative surface charge, are of great interest

Palladium nanoparticles anchored to anatase TiO₂ for enhanced surface plasmon resonance-stimulated, visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Hong Ye Chu,
• Shaliza Ibrahim and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 428–437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.43

• Lumpur, Malaysia 10.3762/bjnano.6.43 Abstract Freely assembled palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) on titania (TiO2) nano photocatalysts were successfully synthesized through a photodeposition method using natural sunlight. This synthesized heterogeneous photocatalyst (Pd/TiO2) was characterized through

Synthesis and characterization of fluorescence-labelled silica core-shell and noble metal-decorated ceria nanoparticles

• Rudolf Herrmann,
• Markus Rennhak and
• Armin Reller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2413–2423, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.251

• , ceria, titania and zinc oxide. This review article concentrates on synthesis and characterization of fluorescent silica and ceria NP, the latter also decorated with noble metals as models for decomposition products of automobile catalysts. We have recently reported on fluorescence-labelled coated

• titania NP and their interaction with human cell lines [1] and pointed out that the determination of the biological effects of zinc oxide NP is problematic since they are sensitive towards phosphate ions [2]. This work will not be included in this article. The fluorescence dyes and the labelling process

• well as to coated titania [1] and zinc oxide nanoparticles [2]. For experiments where several cell organelles are stained and detected in different ranges of fluorescence emission (channels), dyes with single sharp emission peaks are desirable. We therefore changed the dye for our experiments with

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• . Because of the biodegradability and biocompatibility, chitosan can be considered as a “green material”. In addition to the common applications in food and biotechnology, chitosan can also be used as a support for catalysts. Chitosan–silica [69] and chitosan–titania [70] catalysts were prepared by applying

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

• selected genes do not indicate major changes in expression within a few hours of cultivation at the ALI [38]. Recently, the concept of “dose rate” as a critical driver of toxicity was again promoted [42]. In animal experiments, instillation of high doses of titania NPs initiates inflammation whereas

Current state of laser synthesis of metal and alloy nanoparticles as ligand-free reference materials for nano-toxicological assays

• Christoph Rehbock,
• Jurij Jakobi,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Selina van der Meer,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wilfried Kues,
• Detlef Rath and
• Stephan Barcikowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1523–1541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.165

• cytocompatibility of implants due to their surface texture [125]. As titania nanoparticles are generally considered to possess a relatively low toxicity [126][127], possible adverse effects of NiTi alloys are prone to originate from nickel. So in order to evaluate toxic effects from these particles, TEM-EDX and

• shell. This titania shell could inhibit Ni diffusion to the NP surface and might be responsible for a low Ni2+ ion release, which increases the biocompatibility of this material. Deviations in findings between NiTi nanoparticles synthesized in acetone in the presence of polymers and in water might be

Microstructural and plasmonic modifications in Ag–TiO₂ and Au–TiO₂ nanocomposites through ion beam irradiation

• Venkata Sai Kiran Chakravadhanula,
• Yogendra Kumar Mishra,
• Venkata Girish Kotnur,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi,
• Thomas Strunskus,
• Vladimir Zaporotchenko,
• Dietmar Fink,
• Lorenz Kienle and
• Franz Faupel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1419–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.154

• fabrication techniques of plasmonic nanocomposites with specific properties is an ongoing issue in the plasmonic and nanophotonics community. In this paper we report detailed investigations on the modifications of the microstructural and plasmonic properties of metal–titania nanocomposite films induced by

• been investigated in detail by transmission electron microscopy studies, which showed interesting changes in the titania matrix. Additionally, interesting modifications in the plasmonic absorption behavior for both Au–TiO2 and Ag–TiO2 nanocomposites were observed, which have been discussed in terms of

• ion beam induced growth of nanoparticles and structural modifications in the titania matrix. Keywords: noble metal–titania nanocomposite; surface plasmon resonance; swift heavy ions; Introduction Metal nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices in the form of nanocomposites have gained

Organic and inorganic–organic thin film structures by molecular layer deposition: A review

• Pia Sundberg and
• Maarit Karppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1104–1136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.123

DFT study of binding and electron transfer from colorless aromatic pollutants to a TiO₂ nanocluster: Application to photocatalytic degradation under visible light irradiation

• Corneliu I. Oprea,
• Petre Panait and
• Mihai A. Gîrţu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1016–1030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.115

• ; density functional theory; photocatalytic degradation; titanium dioxide; visible light irradiation; Introduction Titania, TiO2, has been widely used as photocatalyst for environmental applications [1][2][3][4][5][6], particularly for waste water purification. Due to its large band gap TiO2 absorbs only

• complexation of colloidal titanium dioxide [18]. This results in the formation of a six-atom ring with a chelating type of bonding to the same Ti(IV) ion. Similarly, the binding of the salicylic acid to titania was thought as bidentate chelate through the oxygen atoms of –OH and of –OCOH [14][20

• ]. Theoretically, density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed [21][22][23] that the binding of the carboxy group to titania is bidentate bridging, with the monodentate anchoring being less stable [24][25][26][27]. The higher performance of the dyes with both carboxy and hydroxy anchoring groups [28] has

A nanometric cushion for enhancing scratch and wear resistance of hard films

• Katya Gotlib-Vainshtein,
• Olga Girshevitz,
• Chaim N. Sukenik,
• David Barlam and
• Sidney R. Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1005–1015, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.114

• control the scratch resistance of oxide surfaces. Titania films of several nm thickness are coated onto substrates of silicon, kapton, polycarbonate, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The scratch resistance measured by scanning force microscopy is found to be substrate dependent, diminishing in the order

• PDMS, kapton/polycarbonate, Si/SiO2. Furthermore, when PDMS is applied as an intermediate layer between a harder substrate and titania, marked improvement in the scratch resistance is achieved. This is shown by quantitative wear tests for silicon or kapton, by coating these substrates with PDMS which

• is subsequently capped by a titania layer, resulting in enhanced scratch/wear resistance. The physical basis of this effect is explored by means of Finite Element Analysis, and we suggest a model for friction reduction based on the "cushioning effect” of a soft intermediate layer. Keywords: finite

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• several experimental and theoretical researches. For instance, Du et al. used ab initio calculations to demonstrate that a graphene/titania interface in the ground electronic state forms a charge-transfer complex due to the large difference of work functions between graphene and TiO2 [99]. Most

Extracellular biosynthesis of gadolinium oxide (Gd₂O₃) nanoparticles, their biodistribution and bioconjugation with the chemically modified anticancer drug taxol

• Shadab Ali Khan,
• Sanjay Gambhir and
• Absar Ahmad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 249–257, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.27

• high temperatures, and employ harsh environments, thus rendering it difficult to find any usage of Gd2O3 nanoparticles in biomedical applications. Our group has already reported the biological synthesis of zirconia, titania, silica and CuAlO2 nanoparticles [12][13][14]. In this work, we employed a

Modeling and optimization of atomic layer deposition processes on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Nuri Yazdani,
• Vipin Chawla,
• Eve Edwards,
• Vanessa Wood,
• Hyung Gyu Park and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 234–244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.25

• guidelines; titania, TiO2; Introduction Recent advances in the synthesis and processing of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have enabled the prospect of their integration into existing technologies that exploit the high surface area of mesoporous ceramic films [1]. Over the last 10 years, ceramic coated CNTs have

Study of mesoporous CdS-quantum-dot-sensitized TiO₂ films by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and AFM

• Mohamed N. Ghazzal,
• Robert Wojcieszak,
• Gijo Raj and
• Eric M. Gaigneaux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 68–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.6

• titania films (degradation of the template agent and inorganic network consolidation) were then obtained by calcination in air at 400 °C over 2 h with a rising step of 1 °C min−1. Preparation of QDs-CdS-sensitized TiO2 QDs-CdS were prepared following the procedure previously described by Besson et al. [9

• ]. Briefly, the titania films were dipped for 1 min into a saturated nitrate solution of Cd2+ and washed with water for several times in order to eliminate excess reactive species. The deposition of Cd2+ was performed under controlled pH (≈10), which was adjusted by adding NaOH solution at 1 M. The chemical

• . Similarly as described in [16], diffuse reflectance spectra of CdS/titania films were recorded by using an UV–vis spectrophotometer (Carry 5), which was equipped with an integrating sphere. The baseline was set by BaSO4 in the diffuse reflectance mode. The spectra were recorded at room temperature in the

Modulation of defect-mediated energy transfer from ZnO nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of bilirubin

• Tanujjal Bora,
• Karthik K. Lakshman,
• Soumik Sarkar,
• Abhinandan Makhal,
• Samim Sardar,
• Samir K. Pal and
• Joydeep Dutta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 714–725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.81

• molecular transformation of water-insoluble BR through photocatalysis is limited, a few studies are available on the photocatalytic degradation of BR adsorbed on nanostructured hydroxyapatite coatings [23] or molecularly imprinted titania films [24]. The current study focuses on the efficient utilization of