Applications of three-dimensional carbon nanotube networks

• Manuela Scarselli,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Francesco De Nicola,
• Ilaria Cacciotti,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Emanuela Gatto,
• Mariano Venanzi and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 792–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.82

• wettability is well described by a Cassie–Baxter model [20] for which a quite rough surface allows air trapping and ensures the high contact angle measured. In particular, in such a system pores in the random network (i.e., void fraction) favor air trapping due to the strong capillary force that the surface

Self-assembled anchor layers/polysaccharide coatings on titanium surfaces: a study of functionalization and stability

• Ognen Pop-Georgievski,
• Dana Kubies,
• Josef Zemek,
• Neda Neykova,
• Roman Demianchuk,
• Eliška Mázl Chánová,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Milan Houska and
• František Rypáček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 617–631, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.63

• wettability of the surface, yielding enhanced osteoblast differentiation [19]. The success of these modifications is highly dependent on the chemical state, reactivity and surface concentration of the hydroxy groups, as well as the presence of contaminants [12]. Therefore, one of the main objectives of this

• angle measurement: The wettability of the organic surfaces on flat, titanium reference surfaces was examined by a static sessile water drop method using a DataPhysics OCA 20 contact angle system. Each sample was characterized using four 3 μL drops of material. The data were evaluated using the Young

• –Laplace method. The wettability of the commercially available, rough titanium substrates upon different treatments was estimated by measuring the advancing and receding water contact angles utilizing the dynamic Wilhelmy plate method. The measurements were performed on a Kruss K12 (Germany) tensiometer

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

• , which affects film wettability, and the sol dilution. This change in the contact angle is probably due to the modification of the silica microstructure induced by an increase of the ethanol concentration, which is also supported by the decrease of the refractive index values for films prepared from

• , the fresh films deposited on the glass substrate were cut with a scalpel. After 48 h at room temperature, this cut on the film was observed by AFM for the thickness estimation. The evaluation of the surface roughness and thickness was performed by using WSxM 5.0 Develop3.2 software. The wettability of

Conformal SiO₂ coating of sub-100 nm diameter channels of polycarbonate etched ion-track channels by atomic layer deposition

• Nicolas Sobel,
• Christian Hess,
• Manuela Lukas,
• Anne Spende,
• Bernd Stühn,
• M. E. Toimil-Molares and
• Christina Trautmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 472–479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.48

• aspect ratio nanochannels with SiO2 films of a few nanometres thickness in a tailored manner. This information is of great relevance for ALD applications on high-aspect-ratio nanochannels in general as well as for the development of further chemical modifications on the SiO2 coating. Wettability The

• wettability of uncoated and SiO2-coated track-etched membranes was investigated by contact angle measurements. Figure 6 shows the contact angle as a function of the number of ALD cycles. The contact angle decreases with increasing thickness of the SiO2 layer, evidencing that the membrane surface changes its

• character from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Above a layer thickness of about 7 nm, the surface shows excellent wettability. Conclusion Cylindrical nanochannels in polycarbonate track-etched membranes with diameter of about 50 nm were conformally coated with SiO2 layers of thickness 5, 10, 15, and 18 nm by

In situ scanning tunneling microscopy study of Ca-modified rutile TiO₂(110) in bulk water

• Giulia Serrano,
• Beatrice Bonanni,
• Tomasz Kosmala,
• Marco Di Giovannantonio,
• Ulrike Diebold,
• Klaus Wandelt and
• Claudio Goletti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 438–443, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.44

• application of Ti-based biomaterials, since the augmented wettability would enhance the interaction between the implant surface and the biological environment. In this paper we present an in situ STM investigation of a Ca overlayer thermally grown in UHV on the TiO2(110) rutile surface and then immersed in

Exploiting the hierarchical morphology of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotube films for highly hydrophobic coatings

• Francesco De Nicola,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Manuela Scarselli,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Ilaria Cacciotti and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 353–360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.34

• wettability. It is indeed well-established [12][13] that on composite rough surfaces a hierarchical morphology may induce a wetting transition from Wenzel [1] to Cassie–Baxter [9] state owing to air trapping. Moreover, this transition may occur by passing through thermodynamically metastable states [13][14

• film [44] that enhances the wettability of the carbon nanotube surface, when the interaction with the liquid is lipophilic. Furthermore, we studied the stability of our carbon nanotube films over time by performing suction experiments. Figure 5 reports the variations of the contact angle value as a

Oxygen-plasma-modified biomimetic nanofibrous scaffolds for enhanced compatibility of cardiovascular implants

• Anna Maria Pappa,
• Varvara Karagkiozaki,
• Silke Krol,
• Spyros Kassavetis,
• Dimitris Konstantinou,
• Charalampos Pitsalidis,
• Lazaros Tzounis,
• Nikos Pliatsikas and
• Stergios Logothetidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 254–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.24

• highly porous structures. Thus, in our case, contact angle measurements are not a reliable technique to gain results concerning the wettability and the surface energy of each system independently [28]. In order to determine the chemical composition of the O2-plasma-treated samples as well as the chemical

Boosting the local anodic oxidation of silicon through carbon nanofiber atomic force microscopy probes

• Gemma Rius,
• Matteo Lorenzoni,
• Soichiro Matsui,
• Masaki Tanemura and
• Francesc Perez-Murano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 215–222, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.20

• comparing CNF against Si tips. However, in the tested voltage range we could observe a strong widening of the features when the voltage exceeds 14 V. This is probably due to a different wettability of the CNF tips which results in a wider water neck when the voltage exceeds a certain critical value

• shows an increased oxide growth rate, compared to bare-Si probes which we attribute to the shape and chemistry of the CNF tip. Particularly, concentration of the electric field due to the high aspect ratio provided by the CNF apex and changes in wettability, affecting water meniscus shape, with respect

Materials and characterization techniques for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Roswitha Zeis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 68–83, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.8

• PTFE could serve as a suitable binder [12][24]. PTFE not only glues the catalyst particles together and, hence, keeps the catalyst layer mechanically intact with its hydrophobic nature; it also controls the wettability of the GDE, which affects the infiltration of phosphoric acid into the GDE. Both the

• “skin” on the electrode surface. This PTFE-rich layer affects not only the surface conductivity but also the wettability of the catalyst layer. The high PTFE content created a hydrophobic electrode surface, which slowed down the phosphoric acid uptake during the start-up period of the MEA. Mack et al

• wettability of the GDE and, in particular, the triple phase boundary between gas reactant, electrolyte and catalyst. Atomic force microscopy was proven suitable for investigating the PTFE distribution in the catalyst layer, which has a profound effect on the start-up and steady state performance of the cell

Formation of stable Si–O–C submonolayers on hydrogen-terminated silicon(111) under low-temperature conditions

• Yit Lung Khung,
• Siti Hawa Ngalim,
• Andrea Scaccabarozzi and
• Dario Narducci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 19–26, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.3

• sensible explanation for this was that both Si–O–C and Si–C linkages were formed on the surface, thus creating a patchy surface with an intimate mixture of moieties exposing hydroxy or alkyne groups. This would certainly reduce the surface wettability as reported in previous reports on heterogeneous

Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• surface texture, from smooth to very rough and smooth to hairy or covered with waxes [18][19]. Also the surface energy and with it the wettability of surfaces as well as the elasticity of the substrates are important properties, which can influence attachment [17]. Another important point needs to be

• change the surface topography [26]. Moreover, microorganisms can change the wettability of the substrates surface, which is probably the reason for a different response of some larvae to these surfaces [28]. Some examples of attachment forces for different animals and attachment devices are given in

Inorganic Janus particles for biomedical applications

• Isabel Schick,
• Steffen Lorenz,
• Dominik Gehrig,
• Stefan Tenzer,
• Wiebke Storck,
• Karl Fischer,
• Dennis Strand,
• Frédéric Laquai and
• Wolfgang Tremel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2346–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.244

• -defined assemblies, which was found to obey to the same rules as for molecular assembly [30]. The tunability of the surface-active properties of particles with a segregated corona over particles with a uniform wettability enables access to an even greater extent of asymmetry, as known from natural

Electrical contacts to individual SWCNTs: A review

• Wei Liu,
• Christofer Hierold and
• Miroslav Haluska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2202–2215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.229

• air as the gate dielectric) was obtained for a device fabricated on a suspended SWCNT using a 3 µm air gap as the dielectric material between the gate electrode and the transistor channel. Contact metal Work function and wettability: The presence of a Schottky barrier at the metal–SWCNT contact

• [56]. Other than the work function differences between the metals and the SWCNTs, the wettability of metals to SWCNTs is another critical factor affecting the contact properties. Although Au and Pd have comparable work functions (shown in Table 1), Au–CNT contacts possess a higher on-resistance in

• most cases. This can be explained by the relatively poor wettability of gold to SWCNTs. As shown in Figure 7a, discrete Au nanoparticles are formed on suspended SWCNTs [57]. In contrast, Pd forms a nearly continuous coating on the SWCNT [57], which indicates a good adhesion to the sidewall of carbon

Topology assisted self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles: application to 2D large-scale nanomastering

• Hind Kadiri,
• Serguei Kostcheev,
• Daniel Turover,
• Rafael Salas-Montiel,
• Komla Nomenyo,
• Anisha Gokarna and
• Gilles Lerondel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1203–1209, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.132

• . First, we used only water as a solvent, but the drop did not cover the entire surface due to hydrophobicity. Hence, we decided to replace water by ethanol thereby increasing the wettability of the surface. With only ethanol, we were able to cover the entire surface, but the overall structure was not

• governed by the liquid flow. In the case of the patterned substrate, the flux of particles became slower because the wettability of the surface increases with the presence of the patterning. As a consequence, there is a good dispersion of the beads on the patterned substrate, resulting in a regular

The study of surface wetting, nanobubbles and boundary slip with an applied voltage: A review

• Yunlu Pan,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1042–1065, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.117

• this review, the influence of an applied voltage on the surface wettability, nanobubbles, surface charge density and slip length are discussed. The contact angle (CA) and contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of a droplet of deionized (DI) water on a hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) surface were measured with

• liquid, surface wetting, surface charge, nanobubbles and boundary slip are believed to affect the drag of liquid flow [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. By applying a voltage to the system, the surface wettability can be changed, known as electrowetting, and the surface charge density can be changed as well [11

• ]. Nanobubbles and boundary slip are believed to have a strong influence on surface wettability and surface charge [12][13][14][15][16][17]. It can be inferred that when a voltage is applied, the surface wettability, surface charge, nanobubbles and boundary slip will be changed, which causes the change in the

Nanoscale particles in technological processes of beneficiation

• Sergey I. Popel,
• Vitaly V. Adushkin and
• Anatoly P. Golub'

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 458–465, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.53

• vessel walls) result in an appearance of cavitation bubbles of mushroom-like form. The size of the bubbles, the time of their presence on the solid surface, the rate of detachment from the surface, etc. depend on local variations of wettability, roughness of the surface, its bending, and other random

Manipulation of nanoparticles of different shapes inside a scanning electron microscope

• Boris Polyakov,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Leonid M. Dorogin,
• Jelena Butikova,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Sven Oras,
• Rünno Lõhmus and
• Ilmar Kink

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.13

• deviation from a perfect sphere towards an oblate spheroid according to the wettability of the liquid droplet during solidification. An alternative explanation may be the enlargement of the contact area of Ag NPs due to partial melting or enhanced diffusion of atoms caused by the electron beam (e.g

Dynamic nanoindentation by instrumented nanoindentation and force microscopy: a comparative review

• Sidney R. Cohen and
• Estelle Kalfon-Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 815–833, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.93

• cantilever to the overall mechanical response. Eastman and Zhu show that the adhesion forces depend strongly on the surface energy of the tip, and on the wettability of the tip surface in a humid environment [97]. In ambient conditions, the surface of a polymer is likely to be covered by a thin layer of

Energy-related nanomaterials

• Paul Ziemann and
• Alexei R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 678–679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.76

• energy savings and a significant decrease of the worldwide CO2 emission [1]. It is noteworthy that the nanopatterning of surfaces and interfaces to reduce friction by tailoring their wettability and anti-fouling behavior is often guided by mimicking nature [2][3]. Contributions of advanced materials

Electrospinning preparation and electrical and biological properties of ferrocene/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) composite nanofibers

• Ji-Hong Chai and
• Qing-Sheng Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 189–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.19

• compatibility, and excellent dissolvability in most organic solvents [16]. In this work, PVP polymer was selected as the carrier for immobilizing ferrocene. By incorporating Fc in PVP, the composite nanofibers would have enhanced wettability due to the presence of PVP. Additionally, the presence of well

Functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Eloise Van Hooijdonk,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Rony Snyders and
• Jean-François Colomer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 129–152, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.14

• revealed that the functionalization incorporates chemical species into the VA-CNTs film and modifies the wettability of the sample as well as the CNTs arrangement (according to the gas used in the plasma chamber). Consequently, the value of the coefficient of friction is modified. By contrast, the effect

• pulsed direct-current (DC) plasma can modify radically the wettability of VA-CNTs. The plasma treatment allows the grafting of oxygen-containing groups onto the VA-CNTs tips, altering the polarity of the sample and leading to a more hydrophilic surface. Ramos et al. showed that a CO2 laser irradiation

• post-treatment can reverse the phenomenon. It totally removes the grafted groups and re-establishes the hydrophobic character of the sample. They reported the ability to control the VA-CNTs wettability (from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity) by combining both techniques. The change in the

Controlled positioning of nanoparticles on a micrometer scale

• Fabian Enderle,
• Oliver Dubbers,
• Alfred Plettl and
• Paul Ziemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 773–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.86

• distances of some tens of nanometers creative ideas have been realized based on even three-dimensional DNA spacers linked to Au NPs [23]. Somewhat more flexible with respect to the type of NPs is their positioning, exploiting wettability contrast of a substrate previously prepared by, e.g., microcontact

Forming nanoparticles of water-soluble ionic molecules and embedding them into polymer and glass substrates

• Stella Kiel,
• Olga Grinberg,
• Nina Perkas,
• Jerome Charmet,
• Herbert Kepner and
• Aharon Gedanken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 267–276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.30

• , exploiting the difference in wettability between the regions of the patterned polymeric substrate [3]. Suh et al. [3] fabricated single nanocrystal arrays of various sizes on sub-microwells of poly (ethylene glycol) copolymer, using selective wetting of the hydrophilic regions of the exposed substrate

Surface functionalization of aluminosilicate nanotubes with organic molecules

• Wei Ma,
• Weng On Yah,
• Hideyuki Otsuka and
• Atsushi Takahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 82–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.10

• the individual imogolite nanotubes, indicating that these are individual tubes rather than bundles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first observation of individual imogolite nanotubes with a hydrophobic external surface. The wettability of this dodecylphosphate modified imogolite nanotube

Impact of cell shape in hierarchically structured plant surfaces on the attachment of male Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

• Bettina Prüm,
• Robin Seidel,
• Holger Florian Bohn and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 57–64, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.7

• the hierarchical level of superimposed microstructuring, both wax crystals and cuticular folds have been shown to influence insect attachment strongly [7][8] and also the wettability of the surface [9][10]. Many plant surfaces possess hierarchical structuring but only a few of them have been analysed

• cuticular folds have been shown to minimise wettability [9][10]; conical epidermal cells in petal surfaces have been reported to aid the pollinators’ grip to increase foraging efficiency [6][27] and to have a visual effect [2]. To understand fully the impact of hierarchical surface structuring on the