Fabrication and photoactivity of ionic liquid–TiO₂ structures for efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in aqueous phase

• Anna Gołąbiewska,
• Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron,
• Aleksandra Sadzińska,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewelina Grabowska,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Justyna Łuczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 580–590, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.54

• titanium dioxide spheres results in a red-shift of absorption edge for the IL–TiO2 semiconductors. In this regard, the direct increase of the photoactivity of IL–TiO2 in comparison to pristine TiO2 was observed. The active species trapping experiments indicated that O2•− is the main active species, created

• by adding BQ, which is capable of trapping O2• [57]. It was observed that the addition of BQ to both samples (TiO2_O(1:3) and TiO2_O(1:3)) caused inhibition of phenol degradation, as presented in Table 4. The degradation rate was largely suppressed to 22 and 11% for the TiO2_T(1:3) and TiO2_O(1:3

Influence of the preparation method on the photocatalytic activity of Nd-modified TiO₂

• Patrycja Parnicka,
• Paweł Mazierski,
• Tomasz Grzyb,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewa Kowalska,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Joanna Nadolna

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 447–459, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.43

• increasing the content of surface oxygen vacancies and defects [31][40]. These electron trapping sites can enhance the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs [24]. Furthermore, both pristine and Nd-TiO2 NPs exhibit obvious excitonic PL signals with a similar curve shape. The observed phenomena can

Facile synthesis of ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalysts for decolourization of organic dyes under solar irradiation

• Arjun Behera,
• Debasmita Kandi,
• Sanjit Manohar Majhi,
• Satyabadi Martha and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 436–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.42

• detected by using trapping reagents such as dimethyl sulfoxide, isopropyl alcohol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, p-benzoquinone for electrons, hydroxyl radicals (•OH), holes (h+), and superoxide (•O2−) radicals, respectively [35]. Figure 11b,c clearly shows that hydroxyl and superoxide radicals play a

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• coverage of CDs could suppress the recombination of photogenerated carriers in g-C3N4. As the CD coverage increased, trap states were created at the CD/g-C3N4 interface, thus increasing the trapping events and decelerating the electron transport [67][68][69]. A similar observation was reported previously

The nanofluidic confinement apparatus: studying confinement-dependent nanoparticle behavior and diffusion

• Stefan Fringes,
• Felix Holzner and
• Armin W. Knoll

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 301–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.30

• have been performed using static surfaces and fixed geometries, which do not allow the degree of confinement to be varied in situ. Recently it was demonstrated that the gap-distance-dependent electrostatic forces can be exploited to achieve geometry-induced trapping and manipulation of charged

• nanoparticles and vesicles in nanofluidic systems [13]. In a follow-up experiment, it was shown that crucial information on the trapping potential can be gained by using an AFM-type system and a micro-capillary to adjust the gap distance [14]. Another example of a strongly gap-dependent behavior is the lateral

Electron-driven and thermal chemistry during water-assisted purification of platinum nanomaterials generated by electron beam induced deposition

• Ziyan Warneke,
• Markus Rohdenburg,
• Jonas Warneke,
• Janina Kopyra and
• Petra Swiderek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 77–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.10

• ion mass spectra suggest that fragmentation does not exclusively produce CH4 but also some CH3 [21]. ESD of CH3 from a condensed layer of MeCpPtMe3 during electron exposure would thus again be anticipated. Considering these electron-induced dissociation reactions of MeCpPtMe3, trapping of fragments in

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• utilized the diatom as the C3N4 formation templet, enlarging the specific surface area for enhanced light trapping and scattering and eventually high photocatalytic efficiency [27]. This research is mostly based on the slurry method. Optofluidics-based coenzyme regeneration appeared only in recent years

The role of ligands in coinage-metal nanoparticles for electronics

• Ioannis Kanelidis and
• Tobias Kraus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2625–2639, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.263

• species that create charge-trapping centers in the sintered films [127][128]. Capping gold nanoparticles with chalcogenides such as Na4SnS4, (NH4)4SnS6, or Na3AsS3 was facilitated by the nucleophilic nature of these ligands and the electrophilicity of insufficiently coordinated metal atoms at the crystal

Refractive index sensing and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy using silver–gold layered bimetallic plasmonic crystals

• Somi Kang,
• Sean E. Lehman,
• Matthew V. Schulmerich,
• An-Phong Le,
• Tae-woo Lee,
• Stephen K. Gray,
• Rohit Bhargava and
• Ralph G. Nuzzo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2492–2503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.249

• which they can be exploited. These applications include, but are not limited to: laser emission, light trapping, optical modulation, and label-free means of chemical or biological sensing [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Surface plasmons are collective oscillations of conduction electrons near metal surfaces that

Advances and challenges in the field of plasma polymer nanoparticles

• Andrei Choukourov,
• Pavel Pleskunov,
• Daniil Nikitin,
• Valerii Titov,
• Artem Shelemin,
• Mykhailo Vaidulych,
• Anna Kuzminova,
• Pavel Solař,
• Jan Hanuš,
• Jaroslav Kousal,
• Ondřej Kylián,
• Danka Slavínská and
• Hynek Biederman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2002–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.200

• chosen to overcome trapping of NPs by electromagnetic fields and to extrude beams of NPs into the separate deposition chamber. Haberland [65] was one of the first to realize that NPs (metallic in his case) ionized in the magnetron plasma can be advantageous in terms of size separation in accord with

• track on the PTFE target. An increase of the intensity of the magnetic field leads to a decrease of the magnetron self-bias from 620 V to 350 V due to more effective trapping of electrons within the magnetic channel. This in turn results in the formation of particles which are an order of magnitude

Growth and characterization of textured well-faceted ZnO on planar Si(100), planar Si(111), and textured Si(100) substrates for solar cell applications

• Chin-Yi Tsai,
• Jyong-Di Lai,
• Shih-Wei Feng,
• Chien-Jung Huang,
• Chien-Hsun Chen,
• Fann-Wei Yang,
• Hsiang-Chen Wang and
• Li-Wei Tu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1939–1945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.194

• deposition (LPCVD) can act as good TCOs for thin film silicon solar cells [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. This is mainly due to its high transparency over the visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range, lower electrical resistivity (down to 1 × 10−3 Ω·cm), and the light-trapping capability due to its

• regarding the subject of granular ZnO thin films grown on crystalline silicon substrates. It is known that due to the formation of nanometer ZnO grains, granular ZnO could increase the light-scattering capability (i.e., the haze) of the film and thus function as a light-trapping structure by enhancing the

• optical path and the photon absorption probability of the incident light, thus increasing the photocurrent of the solar cells [3]. As a result, for thin film solar cells, ZnO not only serve as a TCO, but also a light-trapping structure. In addition, the exposed planes in the crystal growth process depend

Parylene C as a versatile dielectric material for organic field-effect transistors

• Tomasz Marszalek,
• Maciej Gazicki-Lipman and
• Jacek Ulanski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1532–1545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.155

• [17]. Measured variations of the charge-carrier mobility [18] were assigned either to mechanical changes in the semiconductor film or to charge trapping at the dielectric/semiconductor and semiconductor/electrode interfaces. It should be pointed out that the primary element affecting the transistor

• . Secondly, it makes the semiconductor thin film remain in its initial position during the bending process, which prevents a charge trapping effect induced by the mechanical cracking [19]. For this reason, there is substantial interest in polymer materials that can be successfully applied in flexible organic

• , namely charge trapping caused by mechanical bending [33]. In another work, ultra-thin Parylene C insulating layers were fabricated on Au gate electrodes by reducing the parylene film thickness to 18 nm with the help of oxygen plasma etching [33]. This procedure enabled the manufacturing of OFET devices

Spin-chemistry concepts for spintronics scientists

• Konstantin L. Ivanov,
• Alexander Wagenpfahl,
• Carsten Deibel and
• Jörg Matysik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1427–1445, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.143

Adsorption and electronic properties of pentacene on thin dielectric decoupling layers

• Sebastian Koslowski,
• Daniel Rosenblatt,
• Alexander Kabakchiev,
• Klaus Kuhnke,
• Klaus Kern and
• Uta Schlickum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.140

• for the system of pentacene on h-BN/Rh(111) the effective decoupling properties of h-BN. The h-BN layer offers a desirable capacity to immobilize molecules inside the valleys on the surface, even at room temperature. The trapping capacity stems from an interaction with in-plane electric fields present

• can be observed in the relation between orbital energies and work function, which reveals the physical properties of the molecule and the substrates that are relevant to adsorption. In addition, a deviation from this trend for hBN/Rh(111) helps rationalize its enhanced trapping capacity and its

Synthesis of [Fe(L_eq)(L_ax)]_n coordination polymer nanoparticles using blockcopolymer micelles

• Christoph Göbel,
• Ottokar Klimm,
• Florian Puchtler,
• Sabine Rosenfeldt,
• Stephan Förster and
• Birgit Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1318–1327, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.133

• trapping effect, often observed in this temperature region when the thermal spin transition temperature (T1/2) and the transition temperature for the thermally trapped exited spin state (TTIESST) are in close proximity [44][52][53][54]. In such a case the completeness of the spin crossover, in this case

AgCl-doped CdSe quantum dots with near-IR photoluminescence

• Pavel A. Kotin,
• Sergey S. Bubenov,
• Natalia E. Mordvinova and
• Sergey G. Dorofeev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1156–1166, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.117

• particularly relevant [12]. The most common way to obtain IR-PL in CdSe QDs is to add some optically active defects that reduce the energy of electron–hole recombination by trapping [13][14]. Charge carriers could be trapped by both surface defects [15][16] and volume defects [17][18][19][20][21]. It is known

Stable Au–C bonds to the substrate for fullerene-based nanostructures

• Taras Chutora,
• Jesús Redondo,
• Bruno de la Torre,
• Martin Švec,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Héctor Vázquez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1073–1079, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.109

• spread of electronic coupling and conductance values [9][10][11][12]. For an archetypal electrode material in single molecule transport studies such as Au, however, their high mobility at room temperature can lead to a large spread in conductance or to problems in trapping the molecule at the interface

Study of the surface properties of ZnO nanocolumns used for thin-film solar cells

• Neda Neykova,
• Jiri Stuchlik,
• Karel Hruska,
• Ales Poruba,
• Zdenek Remes and
• Ognen Pop-Georgievski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 446–451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.48

• layer arrangement, the light scattering and the consequent light trapping, caused by the interfaces with nano-scale roughness (front TCO–active layer and active layer–back reflector), increase the optical path inside in the thin silicon layer. These effects are observed in the weakly absorbing spectral

• developed solar cells based on a three dimensional (3-D) design, in which periodically ordered zinc oxide nanocolumns (ZnO NCs) are used as a front electrode, have been of great interest, because they would exceed in the ultimate light trapping and provide excellent charge separation [5][6][7]. Due to the

Fabrication of black-gold coatings by glancing angle deposition with sputtering

• Alan Vitrey,
• Rafael Alvarez,
• Alberto Palmero,
• María Ujué González and
• José Miguel García-Martín

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 434–439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.46

• properties of gold nanostructures are dominated by the existence of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), and that these LSPRs induce enhanced scattering, it is reasonable to assume that such low reflectance is due to the combined effect of the LSPRs and the light trapping associated with multiple

• scattering that arises when those nanostructures are closely packed forming a non-periodic, non-uniformly sized array [15][16]. In particular, the high number of nanostructures and their broad height distribution favors multiple scattering processes, improving light trapping and increasing absorption

• efficient light trapping (Figure 4b). It can be seen that the reflectance values shown by these samples are not as low as those obtained in the samples prepared with 87° and 85° tilt angle. Finally, the only common feature for all the nanostructured samples and the continuous film is a decrease in the

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• recombination of electrons and holes by capturing photogenerated carriers. Also, the Fe3+ cation can separate the photo-excited electrons and holes and can extend their lifetime by acting as a temporary trapping site for photo-induced electrons and as a shallow capturing site for photo-induced holes [27][38

Impact of contact resistance on the electrical properties of MoS₂ transistors at practical operating temperatures

• Filippo Giannazzo,
• Gabriele Fisichella,
• Aurora Piazza,
• Salvatore Di Franco,
• Giuseppe Greco,
• Simonpietro Agnello and
• Fabrizio Roccaforte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 254–263, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.28

• 373 K, which was explained in terms of electron trapping at MoS2/SiO2 interface states. Keywords: contact resistance; mobility; MoS2; temperature dependence; threshold voltage; Introduction Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are compound materials formed by the Van der Waals stacking of MX2

• interface traps exhibit a donor like behavior, i.e., they are positively charged above the Fermi level (when they are empty) and neutral below the Fermi level (when they are filled by electrons) [13]. Hence, electron trapping results in a neutralization of the interface states, resulting in a positive shift

• at 298, 323, and 348 K, respectively, whereas a detrapped electron density Nit = 1.3 × 1011 cm−2 is obtained at 373 K (see Figure 5c). Electron trapping and detrapping at MoS2/SiO2 interface have been shown to be thermally activated processes [13]. Hence, for a given interface trap distribution Dit

Flexible photonic crystal membranes with nanoparticle high refractive index layers

• Torben Karrock,
• Moritz Paulsen and
• Martina Gerken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 203–209, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.22

• molecule trapping [6], and surface emitting lasers [7]. Recently, flexible photonic crystal structures with elastomers as substrates have been investigated as strain sensors [8], for enhanced light out-coupling in flexible organic light emitting diodes [9][10], for photonic paper [11], and for pressure

Laser irradiation in water for the novel, scalable synthesis of black TiO_x photocatalyst for environmental remediation

• Massimo Zimbone,
• Giuseppe Cacciato,
• Mohamed Boutinguiza,
• Vittorio Privitera and
• Maria Grazia Grimaldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 196–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.21

• of the TiOx/Ti substrate, producing a monolithic electrochemical cell [22]. The device consists of a stacked, layered structure: TiOx/Ti/PtNps. The photo-activity of the material is related to the trapping and scavenging of holes due to the amorphous black layer and to the scavenging of electrons

• (realised during the synthesis of the material). These defects on the surface favour the trapping of holes in specific superficial sites and facilitate the interaction with adhered molecules. Conclusion In conclusion, we have proposed a new, simple, scalable and environmentally friendly methodology for

Optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanoplumes

• Viviana Scuderi,
• Massimo Zimbone,
• Maria Miritello,
• Giuseppe Nicotra,
• Giuliana Impellizzeri and
• Vittorio Privitera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 190–195, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.20

• for the photocatalytic reaction is different for each type of sample. Moreover the dynamic mechanisms of liquid circulation around [22] and inside nanostructures are not obvious [23]. However, the possible enhancement in the light trapping efficiency could provide additional photogenerated carriers

Effect of Anderson localization on light emission from gold nanoparticle aggregates

• Mohamed H. Abdellatif,
• Marco Salerno,
• Gaser N. Abdelrasoul,
• Ioannis Liakos,
• Alice Scarpellini,
• Sergio Marras and
• Alberto Diaspro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2013–2022, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.192

• for surface plasmon polaritons at the interface between metallic and dielectric films [2][3]. Light trapping in amorphous aggregates of metal nanoparticles known as Anderson localization [3][4] can lead to pronounced optoelectronic effects. The photon interaction with a dense collection of states can