Advancing nanolithography: a comprehensive review of materials for local anodic oxidation with AFM

• Matteo Lorenzoni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 275–291, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.19

• ] and thermal scanning probe lithography [5], each catering to unique fabrication requirements. Among the bias-driven techniques, local anodic oxidation (LAO) stands out due to its precise, resist-free process and the compatibility with a wide range of materials [6][7][8][9]. LAO uniquely provides

• aims to highlight the capability of LAO to pattern two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene [20][21][22], hexagonal boron nitride [23] (hBN), transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) [21][24][25][26][27], metals [18][28][29], as well as traditional semiconductors such as silicon (Si) [6][10][30

• such pattering capabilities is reported in Figure 6 showing a 35 nm constriction fabricated on few-layer WSe2, before and after etching in water. Additionally, the environmental sensitivity of TMDs, such as the anisotropic oxidation of 1T′ MoTe2 under humid conditions, has been exploited to achieve

Durable antimicrobial activity of fabrics functionalized with zeolite ion-exchanged nanomaterials against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

• Perla Sánchez-López,
• Kendra Ramirez Acosta,
• Sergio Fuentes Moyado,
• Ruben Dario Cadena-Nava and
• Elena Smolentseva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 262–274, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.18

• are currently explored for various biomedical applications, including disease prevention, diagnosis, and the improvement of antiviral drug delivery systems [5][6]. In some cases, the antimicrobial properties of NPs lead to creation of new “nano-antimicrobial” materials [7]. The mechanism by which

• repeated washing cycles, and their structural integrity and nanoparticles distribution were studied by SEM. Figure 6 shows the fabrics functionalized with the nanomaterials (Ag/CBV600-bramante, Cu/CBV600-bramante, and Zn/CBV600-bramante) after one, three, and five washing cycles. In all cases, the fabrics

Multilayered hyperbolic Au/TiO₂ nanostructures for enhancing the nonlinear response around the epsilon-near-zero point

• Fernando Arturo Araiza-Sixtos,
• Mauricio Gomez-Robles,
• Rafael Salas-Montiel and
• Raúl Rangel-Rojo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 251–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.17

• refractive index because n2 ∝ 1/n02. Various structures exhibiting hyperbolic dispersion have been fabricated and analyzed. The first experimental realization of a layered hyperbolic material took the form of a hyperlens [6]. In 2012, a significant advancement was made by Subramania et al., who fabricated

• layered Ag/TiO2 and determined via spectroscopy that its ENZ point laid within the visible spectrum [7]. Since then, a wide array of layered metal–dielectric configurations have been demonstrated, including silver-based combinations such as Ag/SiO2 [1], Ag/Al2O3 [6], Ag/LiF [8], Ag/TiO2 [9], Ag/Ge [10

• of 2%, we can calculate an upper limit for the nonlinear refractive index that corresponds to a peak-to-valley transmittance difference of 0.02 (ΔTP−V = 0.02) giving us ≤ 0.024 cm2·GW−1 for gold and ≤ 4.4 × 10−6 cm2·GW−1 for titanium dioxide. First, we performed the OA z-scan measurements. Figure

Comparative study on 3D morphologies of delignified, single tracheids and fibers of five wood species

• Helen Gorges,
• Felicitas von Usslar,
• Cordt Zollfrank,
• Silja Flenner,
• Imke Greving,
• Martin Müller,
• Clemens F. Schaber,
• Chuchu Li and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 239–250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.16

• ) [5]. Overall, vessels and fibers of angiosperms are less uniform with higher ranges of length than those of gymnosperm tracheids, whereas gymnosperm tracheids have similar diameters [3][6]. An important feature of vessel elements and tracheids is the presence of pits in the cell wall, where water

• moves between adjacent fibers and tracheids. Pits are distinguished between simple pits and bordered pits, which are surrounded by a thickened rim of wall material [6][7]. Several plants, such as conifers, have a torus–margo structure with a thin, porous mesh-like region (margo) and a thickened central

• , first using distilled water and acetone (1:6, v/v, ≥99.5%, Carl Roth, Karlsruhe, Germany), followed by toluene (≥99.5%, Carl Roth) for 24 h each. Afterwards, toluene was washed out by extraction with ethanol for 2 h, and the samples were dried at reduced pressure overnight (15 mbar, 40 °C). For

Gold nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide as a highly effective catalyst for the selective α,β-dehydrogenation of N-alkyl-4-piperidones

• Brenda Flore Kenyim,
• Mihir Tzalis,
• Marilyn Kaul,
• Robert Oestreich,
• Aysenur Limon,
• Chancellin Pecheu Nkepdep and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 218–238, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.15

• tunability, making AuNPs highly versatile in catalytic applications [5][6]. Traditional ligands such as thiols and citrates are commonly used in the synthesis of AuNPs due to their ability to control particle size, prevent aggregation, and enhance stability in solution [7]. Also, polyoxometalates (POMs) have

• environments, their tunable surface area and surface chemistry, and electrical conductivity [18][19]. To deposit metal NPs onto a carbon support, procedures such as adsorption or reduction–deposition (RD), co-precipitation, impregnation, and deposition precipitation (DP) are commonly employed [6][19]. Carbon

• synthesized composites, Au-SiW9/AC (Figure 7a), Au-SiW9/rGO (Figure 7b), and Au-SiW9/CB (Figure 7c), revealed small, spherical, and well-dispersed particles. The particle size was between 2 and 8 nm with an average of 5–6 nm and a standard deviation of ±1 nm, as determined from their corresponding

Micro- and nanoscale effects in biological and bioinspired materials and surfaces

• Thies H. Büscher,
• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Manuela Rebora and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 214–217, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.14

• ][6][7], functions of animal surfaces [2][8], and timely reviews on bioinspired nanotechnology [9][10][11], it was decided to continue with a second thematic issue. This second thematic issue was initiated to address the great interest across readers and authors that took note of the previous issue as

Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging of contaminant species in chemical vapour deposited graphene on copper

• Barry Brennan,
• Vlad-Petru Veigang-Radulescu,
• Philipp Braeuninger-Weimer,
• Stephan Hofmann and
• Andrew J. Pollard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 200–213, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.13

• ]. While nanocomposites incorporating graphene are expected to be disruptive in their own right [5][6], it is the potential for large area, single crystal graphene sheets, which CVD growth can realise [7][8][9][10] which may have the greatest impact. Such sheets are expected to harness the full potential

•  6 (using the same graphene-covered areas from Figure 3). This reveals that the F− and Cl− signals appear primarily at the surface of the sample. The PO3− signal appears in all samples but is only observed to decrease to the background noise level in the BO sample and remains detectable in the other

• Information File 6: Additional figures. Acknowledgements BB, VV and AJP would like to acknowledge Rasmus Havelund for useful discussions. Funding BB, VV and AJP would like to acknowledge the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for funding (NPL Project number 121452: Nanostructures

Structure-dependent thermochromism of PAZO thin films: theory and experiment

• Georgi Mateev,
• Dean Dimov,
• Nataliya Berberova-Buhova,
• Nikoleta Kircheva,
• Todor Dudev,
• Ludmila Nikolova,
• Elena Stoykova,
• Keehoon Hong,
• Dimana Nazarova,
• Silvia Angelova and
• Lian Nedelchev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 186–199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.12

• extends the functionality of polymer thin films. A specific group of photoreactive polymers comprises polymers with azo chromophores embedded in their structure [5][6]. These polymers exhibit photoresponsivity due to the trans–cis (E–Z) isomerization of the azo chromophores upon light irradiation. The

• dimers of the chromophore containing azobenzene and comparing them with experimental ones. The time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) scheme was used to calculate at PBE1PBE/6-311+G(2d,p) level of theory the absorption spectra of the simplified models of nonaggregated/aggregated PAZO side chains starting from the

• ωB97XD/6-31G(d,p) optimized structures in solvent chloroform (used to mimic the polarity of the polymer layer). Simulated (using the vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths) UV spectra are given in Figure 9. One strong monomer band at 383 nm is predicted. The spectra of the model dimers

Safe and sustainable by design with ML/AI: A transformative approach to advancing nanotechnology

• Georgia Melagraki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 176–185, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.11

• , engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have been employed for environmental applications, such as water purification and pollutant removal, addressing some of the most pressing ecological challenges [4][5]. Nanotechnology has significant applications in defence [6], particularly in the development of lightweight

From shield to spear: Charge-reversible nanocarriers in overcoming cancer therapy barriers

• Madhuri Yeduvaka,
• Pooja Mittal,
• Ameer Boyalakuntla,
• Usman Bee Shaik,
• Himanshu Sharma,
• Thakur Gurjeet Singh,
• Siva Nageswara Rao Gajula and
• Lakshmi Vineela Nalla

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 159–175, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.10

• , primarily aim to eliminate rapidly dividing cancer cells. However, these conventional approaches often face limitations in specificity and long-term efficacy [4][5][6]. In recent years, significant advancements have transformed the therapeutic landscape with the introduction of gene therapy, stem cell

• that zwitterionic and neutral nanoparticles possess highly hydrated, charge-balanced surfaces that minimize serum protein adsorption, complement activation, and cytokine release (IL-6, TNF-α). In murine models, these particles exhibited reduced systemic inflammation and enhanced circulation stability

• , comprehensive environmental impact assessments are vital to promote safe, ethical, and sustainable applications of CRNs in clinical practice. 6 Future perspectives Future development of charge-reversible nanocarriers must prioritize translating proof-of-concept systems into clinically viable drug delivery

Influence of surface characteristics on the in vitro stability and cell uptake of nanoliposomes for brain delivery

• Dushko Shalabalija,
• Ljubica Mihailova,
• Nikola Geskovski,
• Andreas Zimmer,
• Otmar Geiss,
• Sabrina Gioria,
• Diletta Scaccabarozzi and
• Marija Glavas Dodov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 139–158, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.9

• NLs interact with biomolecules, thus forming a protein corona (PC), altering functional proteins, and engaging in redox reactions with reactive species [6]. These interactions can affect the functionality, biodistribution, targeting, and cell internalization of NLs. Serum components can disrupt the

Capabilities of the 3D-MLSI software tool in superconducting neuron design

• Irina E. Tarasova,
• Nikita S. Shuravin,
• Liubov N. Karelina,
• Fedor A. Razorenov,
• Evgeny N. Zhardetsky,
• Aleksandr S. Ionin,
• Mikhail M. Khapaev and
• Vitaly V. Bol’ginov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 122–138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.8

• continuous ground plane [4][5] and other primitive geometries [6]. A variety of two-dimensional (2D) programs for inductance extraction were proposed in the period of 1990–2000 (see, for example, [7][8]), which allow one to estimate self- and mutual inductances per unit length of a system of infinitely long

• ). This cannot be the case in experiment; but, in fact, all points in Figure 3 lie within the 6% divergence angle (indicated by dashed lines) between simulated and experimental values. Such agreement should be considered good as a parameter spread of around 5% is typical even for leading RSFQ device

• control line in the overlapping region (see Figure 2c,d). Regarding the self-inductance values (Figure 4a,b), all points fall well within the 6% divergence angle. Regarding the mutual inductances (see Figure 4c,d), the accuracy is slightly worse. Several groups of points lie on the angle boundary, and one

Development and in vitro evaluation of liposomes and immunoliposomes containing 5-fluorouracil and R-phycoerythrin as a potential phototheranostic system for colorectal cancer

• Raissa Rodrigues Camelo,
• Vivianne Cortez Sombra Vandesmet,
• Octavio Vital Baccallini,
• José de Brito Vieira Neto,
• Thais da Silva Moreira,
• Luzia Kalyne Almeida Moreira Leal,
• Claudia Pessoa,
• Daniel Giuliano Cerri,
• Maria Vitória Lopes Badra Bentley,
• Josimar O. Eloy,
• Ivanildo José da Silva Júnior and
• Raquel Petrilli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 97–121, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.7

• drug accumulation in tumor tissue through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, thereby reducing cytotoxic exposure to healthy tissues and minimizing side effects [6]. Liposomes have promising characteristics due to their biocompatibility and their ability to carry both hydrophilic and

• concentration was quantified by the BCA assay, according to the specifications of the manufacturer, and the fractions containing thiolated cetuximab (fractions 4–6) were combined. For antibody conjugation, DSPE–PEG–MAL was used as a lipid anchor for cetuximab fixation. Immunoliposomes were prepared by the lipid

• film evaporation method, as previously described. The fractions containing thiolated cetuximab (fractions 4–6) were then combined with the liposomes and the mixture was incubated overnight for 20 h, at room temperature, stirred at 200 rpm. Unconjugated antibodies were removed by chromatography on a

Functional surface engineering for cultural heritage protection: the role of superhydrophobic and superoleophobic coatings – a comprehensive review

• Giuseppe Cesare Lama,
• Marino Lavorgna,
• Letizia Verdolotti,
• Federica Recupido,
• Giovanna Giuliana Buonocore and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 63–96, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.6

• of Historic Monuments, Venice, 1964”, as part of the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites [6], with following statements: “Imbued with a message from the past, the historic monuments of generations of people remain to the present day as living witnesses of

Microscopic study of the intermediate mixed state in intertype superconductors

• Vyacheslav D. Neverov,
• Alexander V. Kalashnikov,
• Andrey V. Krasavin and
• Alexei Vagov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 57–62, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.5

• complex, irregular patterns that cannot be attributed to type-I or type-II behavior [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. These patterns are referred to as intermediate mixed state (IMS) and are characterized by the coexistence of Meissner domains and vortex clusters, chains, or fragmented lattices

• . The current density j, defined on the links between neighboring sites i and j, is given by where the Peierls phase in tij ensures coupling to the magnetic field. The coupled system of Equation 3–Equation 6 is solved self-consistently using an iterative algorithm developed in [28][30]. The calculations

Subdigital integumentary microstructure in Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkota): do those lineages with incipiently expressed toepads exclusively exhibit adhesive setae?

• Philipp Ginal,
• Yannick Ecker,
• Timothy Higham,
• L. Lee Grismer,
• Benjamin Wipfler,
• Dennis Rödder,
• Anthony Russell and
• Jendrian Riedel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 38–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.4

• surfaces, either by employing dry adhesion via microstructures, or wet adhesion, which is additionally supported by secretions [1][2][3][4][5]. In lizards, subdigital adhesive microstructures facilitating dry adhesion evolved independently in anoles, some skinks, and multiple times in geckos [3][6][7][8

• carefully removed from the subdigital inflection point in a distal to proximal direction, resulting in a linear sample encompassing 4–6 subdigital scales. The integumentary sample was stored in 95% ethanol. The epidermal

Reduced graphene oxide paper electrode for lithium-ion cells – towards optimized thermal reduction

• Agata Pawłowska,
• Magdalena Baran,
• Stefan Marynowicz,
• Aleksandra Izabela Banasiak,
• Adrian Racki,
• Adrian Chlanda,
• Tymoteusz Ciuk,
• Marta Wolczko and
• Andrzej Budziak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 24–37, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.3

• specific surface area, and low bulk density [3][4]. The role of rGO in electrode materials can be considered in two ways. It can be applied as a conductive additive, improving transport properties and, as a result, enhancing capacity [5]. It can also be the active material itself [6][7]. To mention just a

• the literature, it is the ketone group that is characterized by reactivity and participates in redox reactions [6][24][25]. The suggested redox reaction scheme is depicted in Figure 1b. During discharge, lithium ions are transported through the electrolyte to the cathode material, where they react

• modification, that is, an additional thermal step was applied. For this research, three different additional steps were applied, namely, 400, 600, and 800 °C (the samples were named accordingly T400, T600, and T800). The additional thermal step was conducted for 6 h in an inert atmosphere in a tube furnace

Competitive helical bands and highly efficient diode effect in F/S/TI/S/F hybrid structures

• Tairzhan Karabassov,
• Irina V. Bobkova,
• Pavel M. Marychev,
• Vasiliy S. Stolyarov,
• Vyacheslav M. Silkin and
• Andrey S. Vasenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 15–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.2

• superconducting electronics [2][3][4]. So far, the superconducting diode effect has been reported in many different systems, including Josephson junctions [5][6][7][8][9][10][11], junction-free devices [12][13][14][15][16][17], superconducting microbridges [18][19], and other systems [20][21]. There have been

• comprises several equations, namely, the Usadel equations in the superconducting (S) and normal (N) parts (Equation 6 and Equation 7), two self-consistency equations (Equation 8) in each superconducting region S1 and S2, and the boundary conditions at the S1/N, N/S2 interfaces and at the free edges of the

Quantitative estimation of nanoparticle/substrate adhesion by atomic force microscopy

• Aydan Çiçek,
• Markus Kratzer,
• Christian Teichert and
• Christian Mitterer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 1–14, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.1

• particles between 6 and 12 nm. In addition, an applied positive substrate bias voltage led to more energetic landing conditions and thus to increased adhesion forces. This study underscores the suitability of atomic force microscopy in characterizing adhesion on the nanoscale and offers insights into future

• [5] and physicochemical properties [6]. Among these properties, particle adhesion (which is determined by the interaction between the NP and the substrate) and the interface formed between NPs and substrate [7][8] play a decisive role. Particularly when the contact area between NPs and the substrate

• (QMF), both with a diameter of 125 mm. In this study, only one of the three water-cooled magnetrons, equipped with a Cu target (Kurt J. Lesker, 99.999% purity) with 25.8 mm diameter and 3.2 mm thickness, was used. Prior to deposition, the base pressure in the deposition chamber was pumped down to 6

Internal 3D temperature mapping in biological systems using ratiometric light-sheet imaging and lipid-coated upconversion nanothermometers

• Dannareli Barron-Ortiz,
• Enric Pérez-Parets,
• Rubén D. Cadena-Nava,
• Emilio J. Gualda,
• Jacob Licea-Rodríguez,
• Juan Hernández-Cordero,
• Pablo Loza-Álvarez and
• Israel Rocha-Mendoza

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2306–2316, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.159

• from dysregulated metabolism (i.e., the Warburg effect) [3][4] and chaotic vasculature that impairs heat dissipation [5][6]. These factors can create thermal gradients of 0.5–2.0 °C between tumors and healthy tissue, with even greater differences at the subcellular level [7][8][9]. Consequently, the

Terahertz-range on-chip local oscillator based on Josephson junction arrays for superconducting quantum-limited receivers

• Fedor V. Khan,
• Lyudmila V. Filippenko,
• Andrey B. Ermakov,
• Mikhail Yu. Fominsky and
• Valery P. Koshelets

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2296–2305, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.158

• constants, respectively, and f is the frequency of the incoming radiofrequency (RF) signal [4][5]. Such receivers are used as a sensitive element of the state-of-the-art terahertz (THz) range ground-based (ALMA [6], APEX [7]) and space-based (Hershel [8], Millimetron [9]) telescopes. The ground and space

Improving magnetic properties of Mn- and Zn-doped core–shell iron oxide nanoparticles by tuning their size

• Dounia Louaguef,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Sébastien Diliberto,
• Klaus M. Seemann,
• Thomas Gries,
• Joelle Bizeau,
• Damien Mertz,
• Eric Gaffet and
• Halima Alem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2285–2295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.157

• properties of the nanoparticles [6]. A significant amount of research has focused on CoFe2O4 as a shell material to enhance the magnetic properties of core–shell nanoparticles due to its high coercivity and magnetic anisotropy [7]. The formation of CoFe2O4 shells on Fe3−δO4 cores has been shown to increase

• anisotropy energy barriers, leading to zero remanent magnetization when the applied field is removed. Superparamagnetism is a desirable property for biomedical applications, as it prevents particle aggregation in the absence of an external magnetic field. Magnetic hyperthermia analysis In Figure 6, the SAR

Visualizing nanostructures in supramolecular hydrogels: a correlative study using confocal and cryogenic scanning electron microscopy

• Shaun M. Smith,
• Ferdinando Malagreca,
• Jacqueline Hicks,
• Giuseppe Mantovani,
• David B. Amabilino,
• Christopher Parmenter and
• Lluïsa Pérez-García

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2274–2284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.156

• ideal for mimicking biological environments, yet these same properties pose major challenges for morphological characterization [6][7]. In particular, conventional electron microscopy often requires dehydration, which risks collapsing the delicate network, while optical methods are typically diffraction

• -limited, preventing direct visualization of nanoscale features [6][8]. Confocal fluorescence microscopy addresses some of these limitations by allowing hydrogels to be imaged in situ, fully hydrated, and often in real time when a fluorophore is incorporated into the colloidal network [2][9]. Through

• -resolution images of the fibrillar networks can be obtained at a resolution of tens of nanometres or better, revealing fine structural details such as individual fibrils and nanoscale pore walls [6][12][14]. However, the specialized sample preparation required for cryo-SEM (including vitrification

Geometry-controlled engineering of the low-temperature proximity effect in normal metal–superconductor junctions

• Munisa A. Tomayeva,
• Vyacheslav D. Neverov,
• Andrey V. Krasavin,
• Alexei Vagov and
• Mihail D. Croitoru

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2265–2273, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.155

• electrons from the normal side scatter into the superconductor, suppressing the superconducting order parameter near the interface [5][6][7]. In the normal region, the absence of intrinsic attractive electron–electron interaction causes Cooper pairs to break up beyond a characteristic length scale, namely

• interface yields a continuous order parameter profile across the interface. In realistic systems, finite reflectivity due to band mismatch leads to partial suppression of Andreev reflection and reduced proximity strength [6][42]. Even small interface imperfections can significantly impact superconducting

• ⟨…⟩ denoting the quantum mechanical averaging. The Equations Equation 6 are solved numerically through a self-consistent iteration process that produces the eigenvectors u and v. These eigenvectors are then used to calculate updated values of the order parameter and Hartree potential, and the process is

Chiral plasmonic nanostructures fabricated with circularly polarized light

• Tian Qiao and
• Ming Lee Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2245–2264, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.154

• to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. One of its enantiomers was found to have sedative effects, while the other was identified as teratogenic, leading to tragic consequences, including over 10,000 severe birth defects in children [4][5][6][7][8]. Promoting the separation and detection of