Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1–9, D-24118 Kiel, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.14.69 Keywords: biomimetic surfaces; hydrophobicity; lotus effect; Salvinia effect; superhydrophobicity; wettability; In 1997, Wilhelm Barthlott and Christoph Neinhuis published the paper

Conjugated photothermal materials and structure design for solar steam generation

• Chia-Yang Lin and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 454–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.36

• photophysical properties and hydrophobicity through organic reactions. In general, DPP dyes have high photoluminescence quantum yields, but they have a relatively low photostability, degrading after 150 min under a collimated 300 W Xe lamp light source. It was previously reported that introducing electron

• hydrophobicity allows the material to float on water. Microporous structures were obtained by NaCl particulate leaching. The pore sizes could be flexibly controlled by the size of the NaCl template. This method is simple, low-cost, and easy to scale up. The surface structures of the foam were visualized by SEM

Combining physical vapor deposition structuration with dealloying for the creation of a highly efficient SERS platform

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Walter Puglisi,
• Damien Thiry,
• Cristina Satriano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.10

• on a metal surface induces hydrophobicity which can also affect the bonding with RhB molecules [30]. The carbon observed on the surface of the different samples is the result of the contamination of the substrate during wet etching and by the environment during storage [46]. Overall, the good

Atmospheric water harvesting using functionalized carbon nanocones

• Fernanda R. Leivas and
• Marcia C. Barbosa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.1

• the surface functionalization is properly selected. Keywords: atmospheric water harvesting; hydrophilicity; hydrophobicity; nanocones; nanotechnology; Introduction Despite water being abundant on Earth, there are at least four billion people suffering from water scarcity [1]. The lack of potable

• addition to the hydrophobicity described above. The phenomena of density increasing with temperature at constant pressure and diffusion coefficients increasing with density at constant temperature were observed in experiments and simulations in bulk water [22][23][24]. Water presents both super flow and

• diameter for the lower values of hydrophobicity, εr = 0.80, 0.95, and 1.1. When εr > 1.1, a non-monotonic behavior is observed. The decrease in flux with the decrease in diameter for c8, c9, and c10 and εr = 1.30 and 1.50 is a consequence of the strong interaction between water molecules and the

Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• dopa adhesion. This composite surface also has strong hydrophobicity and excellent resistance to water adhesion compared with the arid gold lily's silicon sharkskin-like micron structure surface. The colloidal particles in the above method present a relatively stable colloidal suspension in water or

Roll-to-roll fabrication of superhydrophobic pads covered with nanofur for the efficient clean-up of oil spills

• Patrick Weiser,
• Robin Kietz,
• Marc Schneider,
• Matthias Worgull and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1228–1239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.102

• on top of the nanofur are around the super hydrophobicity limit of 150° (see Figure 3b). This makes droplets easily roll off a sample even at minimal tilt (see the video in Supporting Information File 1). Contact angles were measured on a Dataphysics OCA 20 contact angle measurement machine using

• contact angle measurements, especially on hydrophobic surfaces, can further distort the measured values [30]. The quality of the nanofur in terms of its hydrophobicity and oil absorption quantity depends on several processing factors including length of the hairs, their density, and their overall

Ciprofloxacin-loaded dissolving polymeric microneedles as a potential therapeutic for the treatment of S. aureus skin infections

• Sharif Abdelghany,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Yazan Al Thaher,
• Maram Al Fawares,
• Amal G. Al-Bakri,
• Saja Zuriekat and
• Randa SH. Mansour

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 517–527, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.43

• Parafilm and an agarose-based skin model. Parafilm has been utilized to test the insertion properties of polymeric microneedles [20]. Parafilm-M is mainly composed of paraffin waxes and polyalkene (polyolefin) [21] and, thus, presumably similar in hydrophobicity to the stratum corneum, the main barrier of

Alcohol-perturbed self-assembly of the tobacco mosaic virus coat protein

• Ismael Abu-Baker and
• Amy Szuchmacher Blum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 355–362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.30

• and prevent the formation of helical rods at low pH. A high alcohol content favours stacked disk assemblies and large rafts, while a low alcohol concentration favours individual disks and short stacks. These effects appear to be caused by the hydrophobicity of the alcohol additive, with isopropyl

• component, with increased hydrophobicity leading to longer stacked disks. The perturbation appears to be based on the hydrophobicity of the cosolvent, with methanol having the weakest effect, and isopropyl alcohol having the strongest effect among the alcohols investigated in this study. This work

Effects of drug concentration and PLGA addition on the properties of electrospun ampicillin trihydrate-loaded PLA nanofibers

• Tuğba Eren Böncü and
• Nurten Ozdemir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 245–254, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.19

• reduces the nanoporosity of the nanofibers, resulting in a slower drug release [14][24]. Batista et al. also claimed that the composition of the PLA/PLGA blend affected the release of gentamycin sulfate due to the differences in hydrophobicity of PLA and PLGA [11]. In our previous study, we examined the

• have thicker diameters due to the higher viscosity of PLGA/PLA solutions, ii) the difference in structure and hydrophobicity of PLGA causes differences in the intermolecular interactions of the electrospinning solution. The increase in the amount of drug caused an increase in the nanofiber diameter and

Engineered titania nanomaterials in advanced clinical applications

• Padmavati Sahare,
• Paulina Govea Alvarez,
• Juan Manual Sanchez Yanez,
• Gabriel Luna-Bárcenas,
• Samik Chakraborty,
• Sujay Paul and
• Miriam Estevez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 201–218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.15

• of hydroxy groups elicits hydrophobicity [24]. The primary physical properties of titanium dioxide that contribute to its biocompatibility are high corrosion resistance, the thermodynamic state at low physiological pH values, the isoelectric point of 5–6, the low ion formation tendency in aqueous

A comprehensive review on electrospun nanohybrid membranes for wastewater treatment

• Senuri Kumarage,
• Imalka Munaweera and
• Nilwala Kottegoda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 137–159, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.10

• application as an oil–water separators, owing to the high surface porosity, submicrometer pore sizes, high permeability, and the ability to control the membrane hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity effortlessly. The nanoscale surface roughness of the nanofibers of the membrane has a direct impact on the wetting

• separating nanohybrid membrane with a SiO2 NP-integrated F-PBZ functional layer on the surface of an electrospun core–shell-structured membrane of CA/PI nanofibers. The membrane showed hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 160° and superlipophilicity with an extremely low oil contact angle of 0°. The

Polarity in cuticular ridge development and insect attachment on leaf surfaces of Schismatoglottis calyptrata (Araceae)

• Venkata A. Surapaneni,
• Tobias Aust,
• Thomas Speck and
• Marc Thielen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1326–1338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.98

• hydrophobicity of the leaf surfaces [8][9]. On petals, they might act additionally as diffraction gratings producing structural colors to attract pollinators [10][11][12]. Ridges are relatively robust compared with other cuticular morphologies [8] such as epicuticular wax crystals. They may also provide

Self-assembly of amino acids toward functional biomaterials

• Huan Ren,
• Lifang Wu,
• Lina Tan,
• Yanni Bao,
• Yuchen Ma,
• Yong Jin and
• Qianli Zou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1140–1150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.85

• -assembly with modified amino acids is of great interest, most of which focuses on 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-terminated materials [40][41][42][43]. Due to the inherent hydrophobicity and aromaticity of Fmoc, many Fmoc-modified amino acids exhibit relatively fast self-assembly kinetics, excellent

• the aggregated state and can be used for imaging [51]. Importantly, NI exhibits hydrophobicity and π–π stacking due to the aromatic moieties, and is prone to dynamic aggregation, which can be used in self-assembled construction units [52]. For example, Hsu et al. [53] self-assembled NI and

• inherent disadvantages of PS, such as hydrophobicity and easy aggregation under physiological conditions, reduce its therapeutic efficiency [77]. Using nanotechnology to encapsulate PS in nanoparticles can effectively solve this problem, improve the bioavailability of PS, and achieve targeted delivery of

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• improved pharmacokinetics. Their hydrophobicity makes them promising to achieve controlled release and targeted drug delivery to the mononuclear phagocyte system [65]. Effects on the stability of SLN have been reported during storage, mostly due to loss of the solid crystalline structure, which can cause

An overview of microneedle applications, materials, and fabrication methods

• Zahra Faraji Rad,
• Philip D. Prewett and
• Graham J. Davies

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1034–1046, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.77

• -opened, conical, bevelled tip, (3) material selection, (4) fabrication feasibility, (5) application, (6) layout of the arrays, (7) density, (8) total number of microneedles, and (9) surface layer state (e.g., hydrophobicity). In addition, microneedles are defined according to their array density, length

Comprehensive review on ultrasound-responsive theranostic nanomaterials: mechanisms, structures and medical applications

• Sepand Tehrani Fateh,
• Lida Moradi,
• Elmira Kohan,
• Michael R. Hamblin and
• Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 808–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.64

The impact of molecular tumor profiling on the design strategies for targeting myeloid leukemia and EGFR/CD44-positive solid tumors

• Nikola Geskovski,
• Nadica Matevska-Geshkovska,
• Simona Dimchevska Sazdovska,
• Marija Glavas Dodov,
• Kristina Mladenovska and
• Katerina Goracinova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 375–401, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.31

PEG/PEI-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery carriers for doxorubicin: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro evaluation

• Shuoye Yang,
• Zhenwei Wang,
• Yahong Ping,
• Yuying Miao,
• Yongmei Xiao,
• Lingbo Qu,
• Lu Zhang,
• Yuansen Hu and
• Jinshui Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1728–1741, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.155

• efficaciously traverse biological barriers [11][12][13]. Despite a series of advantages, the practical application of CNTs has been restricted by a number of drawbacks, such as high hydrophobicity and rapid aggregation in aqueous media, which are associated with cytotoxicity and other harmful cellular effects

• PEG and PEI. The main intrinsic drawbacks of SWCNTs are the strong hydrophobicity and easy aggregation in aqueous media [9]. The raw SWCNTs are purified with concentrated acid to obtain carboxylated carbon nanotubes (CNTs-COOH), which significantly improves their water solubility [35][36]. NHS-PEG

Transient coating of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with glutamate for its delivery to and removal from brain nerve terminals

• Konstantin Paliienko,
• Artem Pastukhov,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Olga Vasylchenko and
• Tatiana Borisova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1381–1393, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.122

• biocorona can consist of hundreds of proteins, which influence the physical and chemical properties of the nanoparticles, such as, size, morphology, aggregation state, hydrophobicity, and permeability. Hence, it is difficult to predict the behavior of nanoparticles in biological systems [13][18][33]. Ho et

Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic performance of heterostructured CuO–ZnO-loaded composite nanofiber membranes

• Wei Fang,
• Liang Yu and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 631–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.50

• PVDF/PAN weight ratios are displayed in Figure 4. All CNFMs are hydrophobic, and the hydrophobicity of the CNFMs decreases slightly with decreasing weight ratio. The reason might be that the hydrophobicity of pure PVDF nanofiber membranes (NFMs) is higher than that of pure PAN NFMs. Also, nanofiber

• diameter distribution, thickness and surface roughness of the CNFMs can lead to the difference in hydrophobicity. Mechanical properties: Mechanical properties of the CNFMs with different PVDF/PAN weight ratios are exhibited in Figure 5. With the decrease of the weight ratio the breaking elongation of the

• -treatment temperature. Wetting properties: The CA values of the CNFMs obtained without and with heat treatment are illustrated in Figure 14. The hydrophobicity of the heat-treated CNFMs is smaller than that of the CNFMs without heat treatment, due to the formation of hydrophilic CuO and ZnO nanoparticles

Adsorptive removal of bulky dye molecules from water with mesoporous polyaniline-derived carbon

• Hyung Jun An,
• Jong Min Park,
• Nazmul Abedin Khan and
• Sung Hwa Jhung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 597–605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.47

• under different temperatures and applied for the purification of water contaminated with dye molecules of different sizes and charge by adsorption. With increasing pyrolysis temperature, it was found that the hydrophobicity, pore size and mesopore volume increased. A mesoporous PDC sample obtained via

• adsorptive performance of the PDC for small dye molecules, such as MO and MB, was not very impressive, albeit quite competitive against similar reported results. The adsorption mechanisms could be suggested based on the physical properties (including hydrophobicity) of PDC materials and adsorption of AR1 and

• bulky dye molecules (vide infra). On the contrary, the pore size of activated carbon (AC) is very small (or mainly in microporous region); therefore, it might not be effective in adsorption of bulky dye molecules. The hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of PDC was estimated by checking the adsorbed

Interactions at the cell membrane and pathways of internalization of nano-sized materials for nanomedicine

• Valentina Francia,
• Daphne Montizaan and
• Anna Salvati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 338–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.25

• side effects [6]. Additionally, nanomedicines can encapsulate different types of hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs, and they can be designed to control their release profile [7]. Several other characteristics of nanomaterials such as size, material, shape, surface charge, hydrophobicity, roughness, and

• , hydrophobicity, rigidity and surface characteristics [3][7][8][48][54]. By changing these properties, the corona composition might be tuned to contain components that bind to specific cell surface receptors and initiate internalization [17][49][55][56][57]. Similarly, artificial coronas can be formed to achieve

• possibility of using nano-sized materials to deliver drugs to their target. Nanoparticle design can be tailored to target specific cell types or pathways. Size, charge, shape [107], hydrophobicity [108], rigidity [109][110], roughness [111] and surface functionalization [43][112] of nanomaterials are all

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

Molecular architectonics of DNA for functional nanoarchitectures

• Debasis Ghosh,
• Lakshmi P. Datta and
• Thimmaiah Govindaraju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 124–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.11

• cancer genomes shows much lower hydrophobicity. The changes in solvation properties of DNA drastically affect the affinity towards metal nanoparticles. Based on these aspects, the authors have efficiently evaluated the affinity of genomic DNA towards metal nanoparticles depending on the methylation

Recent progress in perovskite solar cells: the perovskite layer

• Xianfeng Dai,
• Ke Xu and
• Fanan Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 51–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.5

• in 3D perovskite. More importantly, these 2D perovskites offer environmental stability because of their unique properties like larger formation energy and hydrophobicity. Due to these special physical and chemical properties, 2D perovskites play a major role in improving the stability of PSCs under

• 3D perovskites. 2D/3D perovskite materials can be obtained, for example, by incorporating alkylammonium salts of different size and hydrophobicity into 3D perovskites. However, this approach usually leads to perovskite materials of reduced moisture resistance. Recently, Pan et al. [61] fabricated two

• hydrophobicity, which could improve the performance and the stability of the devices. Indeed, the resulting 2D/3D PSCs showed superior stability. Namely, the PCE of the devices decreased by only 8% of the initial value upon exposure to ambient conditions with 50 ± 5% RH for 2400 h. The maximum PCE of the devices