One-step synthesis of carbon-supported electrocatalysts

• Sebastian Tigges,
• Nicolas Wöhrl,
• Ivan Radev,
• Ulrich Hagemann,
• Markus Heidelmann,
• Thai Binh Nguyen,
• Stanislav Gorelkov,
• Stephan Schulz and
• Axel Lorke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1419–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.126

• Abstract Cost-efficiency, durability, and reliability of catalysts, as well as their operational lifetime, are the main challenges in chemical energy conversion. Here, we present a novel, one-step approach for the synthesis of Pt/C hybrid material by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD). The

Analysis of catalyst surface wetting: the early stage of epitaxial germanium nanowire growth

• Owen C. Ernst,
• Felix Lange,
• David Uebel,
• Thomas Teubner and
• Torsten Boeck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1371–1380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.121

• microelectronic devices, such as energy conversion cells, FETs, or thermoelectric devices in which nanowires are used. Experimental Theory The ability of a fluid to disperse or form droplets on a substrate is related to the free energy, F(d), of the system, which depends on the layer thickness d: where F0 is the

Structural and electronic properties of SnO₂ doped with non-metal elements

• Jianyuan Yu,
• Yingeng Wang,
• Yan Huang,
• Xiuwen Wang,
• Jing Guo,
• Jingkai Yang and
• Hongli Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1321–1328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.116

• ) [1][2][3]. TCFs serve as the front electrode of thin film solar cells. Up to now, the solar energy conversion efficiency is about 23.3% [4], and it is important to increase the photovoltaic power generation efficiency, as well as the performance of the front electrode. The intrinsic semiconductor

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• resonances on surfaces are desirable because they increase the residence time of injected charge at the adsorbate, which is favorable for, e.g., energy conversion processes or the observation of vibronic progression [1]. Structural aspects of adsorption on the prominent two-dimensional materials graphene [2

Gram-scale synthesis of splat-shaped Ag–TiO₂ nanocomposites for enhanced antimicrobial properties

• Mohammad Jaber,
• Asim Mushtaq,
• Kebiao Zhang,
• Jindan Wu,
• Dandan Luo,
• Zihan Yi,
• M. Zubair Iqbal and
• Xiangdong Kong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1119–1125, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.96

• antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are highly toxic [4][5]. Recently, research in the field of nanotechnology has focused on trying to find solutions for some of the most serious environmental issues, such as energy conversion, and for the optimization of biomedical applications. Their small size, shape variability

Nickel nanoparticles supported on a covalent triazine framework as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reactions

• Secil Öztürk,
• Yu-Xuan Xiao,
• Dennis Dietrich,
• Beatriz Giesen,
• Juri Barthel,
• Jie Ying,
• Xiao-Yu Yang and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 770–781, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.62

• reduction reaction; Introduction A worldwide increasing energy demand combined with the depletion of fossil fuels and environmental issues requires the development of new sustainable clean energy sources [1]. In many renewable energy conversion and storage systems, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and

Effect of Ag loading position on the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ nanocolumn arrays

• Jinghan Xu,
• Yanqi Liu and
• Yan Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 717–728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.59

• ) of Ag and the absorption of light by TiO2. These results represent a promising step forward to the development of high-performance photocatalysts for energy conversion and storage. Keywords: anodic aluminum oxide template; nanocolumn arrays; photocatalysis; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction

• electrons are injected intoTiO2, so the electric field intensity at the interface between Ag and TiO2 is the highest. Figure 9a shows the photoelectric energy conversion of the Ag–TiO2 structure. The contact between Ag and the n-type semiconductor TiO2 will form a Schottky barrier at the interface, which

• catalytic reaction with the electrons transferred from Ag. In the recombination process, the conduction band electrons that are not involved in the catalytic reaction can occupy the impurity level near the Fermi level and transfer to Ag to participate in the energy conversion process again. At the same time

Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles exhibit distinct and useful properties [35]. Other examples include a self-assembled MoS2-based composite that was developed for energy conversion and storage purposes [36], a silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite that was applied for surface-enhanced Raman

High-performance asymmetric supercapacitor made of NiMoO₄ nanorods@Co₃O₄ on a cellulose-based carbon aerogel

• Meixia Wang,
• Jing Zhang,
• Xibin Yi,
• Benxue Liu,
• Xinfu Zhao and
• Xiaochan Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 240–251, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.18

• porous structure; nanoporous material; NiMoO4; supercapacitor; Introduction In recent years, in the light of environmental degradation and an increasing energy demand, the development of various new, renewable and clean energy conversion and storage devices has attracted wide attention [1][2][3][4

• into the particles and enhance the number of diffusion channels. Thus, we conclude that the obtained NiMoO4@Co3O4/CA electrode may serve as a new multi-functional material for energy conversion and storage applications [41][42]. Electrochemical measurements were performed to explore the applicability

Fabrication of Ag-modified hollow titania spheres via controlled silver diffusion in Ag–TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Krzysztof Kopczyński and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 141–146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.12

• (HSs) have received increasing attention due to their potential application in a variety of areas [1][2][3][4] such as solar energy conversion or photocatalysis [2][5][6][7]. Among them, of great interest are TiO2 HSs modified with plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs), which allow for the combination of the

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• on flexible surfaces. Most of the efforts in this research field aim at the optimal trade-off between the solar energy conversion performance, scalability and sustainability of these nanocrystalline multinary sulfides [34][35]. To this end, researchers have produced many different polymorphic and

Improvement of the thermoelectric properties of a MoO₃ monolayer through oxygen vacancies

• Wenwen Zheng,
• Wei Cao,
• Ziyu Wang,
• Huixiong Deng,
• Jing Shi and
• Rui Xiong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2031–2038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.199

• of utilizing waste heat without generating any greenhouse gas, thermoelectric technology has attracted increasing attention [1]. Nevertheless, the application of thermoelectric materials is limited by the low energy conversion efficiency. The performance of thermoelectric materials is usually

Oblique angle deposition of nickel thin films by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

• Hamidreza Hajihoseini,
• Movaffaq Kateb,
• Snorri Þorgeir Ingvarsson and
• Jon Tomas Gudmundsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1914–1921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.186

• ], corrosion-resistant coatings [3][4], optically transparent conductive electrodes [5], contact devices [6], Li-storage materials [7], and as selective absorbers in solar thermal energy conversion [8]. Moreover, a number of nickel-containing alloys exploit the ferromagnetic properties of nickel such as NiTi

Effects of surface charge and boundary slip on time-periodic pressure-driven flow and electrokinetic energy conversion in a nanotube

• Mandula Buren,
• Yongjun Jian,
• Yingchun Zhao,
• Long Chang and
• Quansheng Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1628–1635, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.158

• Economics, Hohhot, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.158 Abstract Time-periodic pressure-driven slip flow and electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency in a nanotube are studied analytically. The slip length depends on the surface charge density. Electric potential, velocity and streaming electric field are

• obtained analytically under the Debye–Hückel approximation. The electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency is computed using these results. The effects of surface charge-dependent slip and electroviscous effect on velocity and electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency are discussed. The main results

• show that the velocity amplitude and the electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency of the surface charge-dependent slip flow are reduced compared with those of the surface charge-independent slip flow. Keywords: electroviscous effect; energy conversion; nanofluidics; streaming potential; surface

Graphynes: an alternative lightweight solution for shock protection

• Kang Xia,
• Haifei Zhan,
• Aimin Ji,
• Jianli Shao,
• Yuantong Gu and
• Zhiyong Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1588–1595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.154

• boundary conditions applied. The thermostat was not applied during the whole process, in order to mimic kinetic and potential energy conversion accurately. To reproduce the stress distribution in each atom during the whole impact process, the atomic stress was calculated based on the virial stress Παβ

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

Flexible freestanding MoS₂-based composite paper for energy conversion and storage

• Florian Zoller,
• Jan Luxa,
• Thomas Bein,
• Dina Fattakhova-Rohlfing,
• Daniel Bouša and
• Zdeněk Sofer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1488–1496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.147

Hierarchically structured 3D carbon nanotube electrodes for electrocatalytic applications

• Pei Wang,
• Katarzyna Kulp and
• Michael Bron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1475–1487, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.146

• energy conversion and storage, since they, in addition to their nonpolluting nature and low operating temperature, run on an easily handled and cheap liquid fuel. However, the slow kinetics of methanol oxidation at the anode and the methanol crossover through the electrolyte membrane from anode to

A biomimetic nanofluidic diode based on surface-modified polymeric carbon nitride nanotubes

• Kai Xiao,
• Baris Kumru,
• Lu Chen,
• Lei Jiang,
• Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt and
• Markus Antonietti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1316–1323, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.130

• Chemistry, Beihang University, 100191 Beijing, P.R. China 10.3762/bjnano.10.130 Abstract A controllable ion transport including ion selectivity and ion rectification across nanochannels or porous membranes is of great importance because of potential applications ranging from biosensing to energy conversion

• with ion rectification have the potential to be used in salinity-gradient energy conversion and ion sensor systems. Keywords: carbon nitride; ion transport; nanochannel; nanofluidic system; photofunctionalization; Introduction Ion transport is the basis of energy and sensory systems in living

• organisms [1]. All biological signal transport and transduction processes, including pain, haptics, vision, audition, olfaction, and muscular movement, as well as energy conversion and consumption are associated with ion transport [2][3]. For example, a plant injured on one leaf by a nibbling insect can

Concurrent nanoscale surface etching and SnO₂ loading of carbon fibers for vanadium ion redox enhancement

• Jun Maruyama,
• Shohei Maruyama,
• Tomoko Fukuhara,
• Toru Nagaoka and
• Kei Hanafusa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 985–992, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.99

• nanoparticles; redox flow batteries; surface etching; Introduction Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are energy conversion and storage devices that involve the reduction and oxidation of electroactive species in electrolyte solutions and have attracted much attention due to their scalability and safety. Various

Renewable energy conversion using nano- and microstructured materials

• Harry Mönig and
• Martina Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 771–773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.76

• Harry Monig Martina Schmid Physikalisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, D-48149 Münster, Germany Fakultät für Physik und CENIDE, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 1, D-47057 Duisburg, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.10.76 Keywords: energy conversion

• metropolitan areas requires a paradigm shift away from the conventional practise of fossil fuel combustion. Therefore, the development of new technologies based on renewable energy conversion should be one of the major goals of the global society. The Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology thematic issue “Nano

• - and microstructures for energy conversion: materials and devices” provides insights into the latest developments in the related fields. Besides a focus on solar-cell concepts [1][2][3][4][5], it also addresses light harvesting by solar fuel production [6][7], and energy storage by batteries [8

Towards rare-earth-free white light-emitting diode devices based on the combination of dicyanomethylene and pyranine as organic dyes supported on zinc single-layered hydroxide

• Jeff L. Nyalosaso,
• Rachod Boonsin,
• Pierre Vialat,
• Damien Boyer,
• Geneviève Chadeyron,
• Rachid Mahiou and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 760–770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.75

• issue. In this context, it seems crucial to identify new cheap and REE-free phosphors capable of delivering cost-effective light energy conversion. Luminescent organic dyes are a relevant alternative to REEs. Indeed, they are known to exhibit high luminous efficiency at low cost and may be associated

Reduced graphene oxide supported C₃N₄ nanoflakes and quantum dots as metal-free catalysts for visible light assisted CO₂ reduction

• Md Rakibuddin and
• Haekyoung Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 448–458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.44

• -C3N4 from 2D sheets by facile hydrothermal reactions. Recently, solar energy conversion using g-C3N4 QDs has attracted significant attention [20][21][22]. Besides, g-C3N4 has also been coupled with noble-metal-free compounds for higher catalytic activity [23][24][25][26][27]. Despite all these

Scanning probe microscopy for energy-related materials

• Rüdiger Berger,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 132–134, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.12

• , Shanghai, PR of China 10.3762/bjnano.10.12 Keywords: energy conversion and storage, in-operando, Scanning Probe Microscopy, Scanning Force Microscopy; In order to stimulate, bundle and strengthen the activities in the field of scanning probe microscopy for energy applications, we have organized a

• perfectly reflect the current activities and advances in the field of scanning probe microscopy for energy applications. The term “energy applications” refers to materials that are used for energy conversion, energy transport and energy storage. In these fields, intensive basic and applied research is

Electrolyte tuning in dye-sensitized solar cells with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) iron(II) sensitizers

• Mariia Karpacheva,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Edwin C. Constable

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3069–3078, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.285

• ; N-heterocyclic carbene iron(II) complex; solar energy conversion; sustainable energy; Introduction The field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has developed significantly [1][2][3] since the pioneering publication of O’Regan and Grätzel [4]. Photoconversion efficiencies (η) of ≈11–14% have been