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

• previously reported [31]. Solar cell fabrication Commercial titania electrodes (opaque, Solaronix) were used for the working electrodes. Each was rinsed with EtOH and dried on a heating plate at 500 °C for 30 min. The electrodes were cooled to 60 °C and immersed in a MeCN solution (0.5 mM) of the iron(II

• ) dye 1 containing (0.1 mM) chenodeoxycholic acid overnight. Each reference working electrode was made by dipping a commercial titania electrode in an EtOH solution (0.3 mM) of dye N719 (Solaronix) overnight. After soaking in the dye baths, the electrodes were removed, washed with the same solvent as

High-throughput micro-nanostructuring by microdroplet inkjet printing

• Hendrikje R. Neumann and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2372–2380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.222

• [9], titania [10], and hybrid nanoparticles [11][12]. If the nanoparticles are intended to provide a chemical contrast for further functionalization, gold nanoparticles are an appropriate choice as they are easily functionalized using thiol chemistry [13]. For example, gold nanoparticles prepared by

Block copolymers for designing nanostructured porous coatings

• Roberto Nisticò

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2332–2344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.218

• minimization of the surface free energy [104]. Analogously as for silica, even titania can be produced with closed spherical pores within the oxidic structures by using high molecular weight PS-b-PEO copolymers (as shown in Figure 6) [105]. Organic–inorganic PS-b-PEO/TiO2 hybrid nanostructured coatings can

• also be produced by spin-coating deposition followed by calcination in order to obtain a nanostructured titania layer [106]. The thermal degradation of the organic polymeric template was successfully achieved without causing a collapse of the titania nanoarchitecture. The driving force behind these

• systems is the polar affinity between titania and the PEO domains (this is another advantage of this class of BCs, namely PS-b-PEO). By changing the titania precursor (i.e., TTIP) and the BC volume ratio, it was possible to drive the self-organization of the PEO domains, and consequently, the titania

Surface energy of nanoparticles – influence of particle size and structure

• Dieter Vollath,
• Franz Dieter Fischer and
• David Holec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2265–2276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.211

• surface energy of ceramic materials based on molecular dynamics calculations are quite rare. Naicker et al. [57] calculated the surface energy of three modifications of titania, TiO2, as a function of the particle size. For these three modifications, the calculations resulted in a significant decrease of

• (up to the surface) crystallized zirconia particle [55]. In contrast, the alumina particle displayed in (b) shows that the lattice fringes do not continue to the surface of the particle [56]. Surface energy of the three modifications of titania at a temperature of 300 K as function of the particle

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• dominates in the studies of HPs with the typical ETLs being titania and various TiO2-based composites [27]. The most efficient and frequently used HTLs are among the derivatives of spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD, see Table 1) and polythiophenes (PEDOT:PSS). Recently, very good prospects were recognized for

• construction of solar cells with a TiO2 ETL and Spiro-OMeTAD HTL. The CB shift results in an increase in the efficiency of electron transfer to the titania scaffold. This tendency is, however, counter-balanced by a reduction of the spectral sensitivity range due to an increased Eg. Summarily, both trends

• and MAI on mesoporous titania scaffolds [147]. After covering with a Spiro-MeOTAD HTL, the MAMnI3-based device showed a response to the visible light illumination that was stable for at least 2000 s in an on/off cycling test [147]. A similar response to the UV light was observed for MA2MnCl4

Electrospun one-dimensional nanostructures: a new horizon for gas sensing materials

• Muhammad Imran,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Mahnaz Shafiei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2128–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.202

• spinneret. Each solution must have the same viscosity for uniform distribution in the final product. The resulting fibers from this technique are shown in Figure 4. Similarly, titania hollow fibers have been synthesized by Li et al. using a coaxial spinneret [73][74]. Titania hollow fibers can be produced

A visible-light-controlled platform for prolonged drug release based on Ag-doped TiO₂ nanotubes with a hydrophobic layer

• Caihong Liang,
• Jiang Wen and
• Xiaoming Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1793–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.170

• -layer titania nanotubes (TNTs) fabricated using by an in situ voltage up-anodization process. The visible-light photocatalytic activity is improved by loading Ag onto the TNTs by NaBH4 reduction. Then, the TNTs containing Ag nanoparticles were modified with dodecanethiol (NDM) to create a hydrophobic

• . Fabrication of pear-like titania nanotubes After degreasing in ethanol and DI water by sonication, the Ti sheets were polished by using metallographic abrasive papers (No. 400, 600 and 800) and further ultrasonically cleaned in the sequence of pure acetone, ethanol and distilled water. Anodic oxidation was

• Ag-doped TNTs (Ag-TNTs) were further washed by DI water and dehydrated at room temperature. Zn loading and dodecanethiol coating of Ag-decorated titania nanotubes The procedure of Zn loading into Ag-TNTs was as follows: half of the Ag-TNTs were dipped in 100 mL 0.1 M Zn(AC)2 solution for 12 h under

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

• Boštjan Žener,
• Lev Matoh,
• Giorgio Carraro,
• Bojan Miljević and
• Romana Cerc Korošec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.155

• suitable for use in environmental related fields such as air and water treatment and self-cleaning surfaces. In this work, titania thin films and powders were prepared by a particulate sol–gel route, using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) as a precursor. Afterwards, the prepared sols were doped with nitrogen

• and subsequent degradation was used to fit the experimental data. The results have shown an increase in photocatalytic activity under visible-light illumination of nonmetal and metal doped and co-doped titania thin films compared to an undoped sample. Keywords: doping; photocatalysis; sol–gel

• by the linear combination of the 3p orbitals of S and the 2p orbitals of O [39][40]. In this case, the crystal lattice of TiO2 becomes distorted due to the larger ionic radius of S2− compared to O2−. Among all of the approaches to preparation of titania thin films, the sol–gel method is the most

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• modified TiO2 photocatalysts The photocatalytic activity of a photocatalyst is characterized by its optical and electrochemical properties. Modifications of titania can hinder the recombination of charge carriers and extend the light absorption range, which are evident from optical and photoelectrochemical

• , or B narrows the band gap either by creating a mid-band gap or shifting the valence band to upper positions, resulting in a redshift. Even modification of titania with semiconductor oxides or sulfides improves the light absorption. It was evident from UV–vis DRS spectra that light absorption is

• shifted to longer wavelengths when TiO2 is combined with SnS2 [93]. Moreover, it is seen that modification with sulfates induces a redox couple which facilitates the electron transfer, and hence, better photocatalytic activity. Naik et al. have shown S and N modified titania where electron shuffle takes

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• prepared by electrodeposition or ALD for example [3][8]. Therefore the central motivation for this work was SPD fabrication of blocking TiO2 films using conventional [6] and novel [13] spray protocols using a semi-automatic spray device, enabling reproducible and uniform thin transparent titania films to

• temperature, number of spray cycles and influence of the post-calcination step (in air at 500 °C for 1 h). The produced titania films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) (PANanalytical X’Pert PRO, Cu Kα radiation, 1D XCelerator detector, PANanalytical B.V., Almelo, Netherlands), scanning electron

• observed at around −0.35 V (Figure 1a). In the applied potential range of 0.25–1.2 V there is a photocurrent plateau at ≈14 μA/cm2 at the UV illumination intensity applied (7.5 mW/cm2). For the deposition temperature of 450 °C, our titania films are photoactive already in the as-grown state (see Figure 1b

Noble metal-modified titania with visible-light activity for the decomposition of microorganisms

• Maya Endo,
• Zhishun Wei,
• Kunlei Wang,
• Baris Karabiyik,
• Kenta Yoshiiri,
• Paulina Rokicka,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Agata Markowska-Szczupak and
• Ewa Kowalska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 829–841, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.77

• Wuhan, China Graduate School of Environmental Science, N10 W5, 060-0810 Sapporo, Japan Institute of Inorganic Technology and Environment Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Pulaskiego 10, 70-322 Szczecin, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.9.77 Abstract Commercial titania photocatalysts

• albicans (C. albicans)) activity under visible-light irradiation and in the dark using disk diffusion, suspension, colony growth (“poisoned food”) and sporulation methods. It was found that silver-modified titania, besides remarkably high antibacterial activity (inhibition of bacterial proliferation

• -light irradiation suggested that the mechanism of bacteria inactivation was initiated by plasmonic excitation of titania by localized surface plasmon resonance of gold. The antifungal activity tests showed efficient suppression of mycelium growth by bare titania, and suppression of mycotoxin generation

Synthesis and characterization of two new TiO₂-containing benzothiazole-based imine composites for organic device applications

• Anna Różycka,
• Agnieszka Iwan,
• Krzysztof Artur Bogdanowicz,
• Michal Filapek,
• Natalia Górska,
• Damian Pociecha,
• Marek Malinowski,
• Patryk Fryń,
• Agnieszka Hreniak,
• Jakub Rysz,
• Paweł Dąbczyński and
• Monika Marzec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 721–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.67

• distilled water (titania sol). During the stirring of the titania sol for about 4 h, TiO2 powder was introduced. The TiO2 powder was first filtered and dried at room temperature and then heated at 500 °C for one hour. Synthesis of imines Synthesis of (E,E)-(butane-1,4-diyl)bis(oxybutane-4,1-diyl) bis(4

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

• titania precursor, Ti(IV) n-butoxide, was dissolved in absolute ethanol under stirring. Then the hydrochloric acid, distilled water and selected ionic liquid were added. Vigorous stirring of the solution was continued for 10 min to obtain a transparent solution. In the final step, the homogeneous mixture

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

• Nd3+ ions adsorbed either on the titania surface or Nd3+ cations were placed inside the titania lattice (titania doping) [24][31]. Using the Scherrer equation, the average crystallite size of anatase was determined and presented in Table 1. For modified samples, 0.25% Nd-TiO2(SHT) and 0.25% Nd-TiO2(HT

• samples obtained from both methods were separated by centrifugation, washed three times with deionised water and ethanol, and dried at 35 °C for 16 h and ground. Crystallization of titania was performed at a temperature of 450 °C for 2 h in a muffle furnace under air atmosphere with a heating rate of 2 °C

Photocatalytic and adsorption properties of TiO₂-pillared montmorillonite obtained by hydrothermally activated intercalation of titanium polyhydroxo complexes

• Mikhail F. Butman,
• Nikolay L. Ovchinnikov,
• Nikita S. Karasev,
• Nataliya E. Kochkina,
• Alexander V. Agafonov and
• Alexandr V. Vinogradov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 364–378, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.36

• literature for the synthesis of titanium polycations. The first approach is based on adding TiCl4 to HCl followed by dilution with distilled water [9][10]; the second is related to hydrolyzing titanium salts or alkoxides in a solution of HCl or CH3COOH to give a titania sol. For example, Zhang et al. [11

Al₂O₃/TiO₂ inverse opals from electrosprayed self-assembled templates

• Arnau Coll,
• Sandra Bermejo,
• David Hernández and
• Luís Castañer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 216–223, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.23

• errors and Al2O3/TiO2 as a structural layer infiltrated through the voids. This is a two-step atomic layer deposition (ALD) process in which the polymeric template is eliminated after the deposition of the alumina layer and before the ALD deposition of the titania layer. Results and Discussion The

• process is the deposition of a conformal ALD layer of TiO2. Titania conformally covers the alumina layer as shown in Figure 1d. At this point, the structure is an inverse opal of a composite Al2O3/TiO2 layer with air voids. The result of the first fabrication step is shown in Figure 2 where up to 50

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• Giessen, Germany Department of Chemistry and CQ-VR, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Pt-5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal 10.3762/bjnano.9.21 Abstract The synthesis, structure, and photocatalytic water splitting performance of two new titania (TiO2)/gold(Au)/Bombyx mori silk hybrid materials are

• easily be recycled and show great potential for application in lightweight devices for green fuel production. Keywords: Bombyx mori silk; gold; photocatalytic water splitting; titania; Introduction Fossil fuel availability is one of the pressing issues today. Especially in light of a growing world

Evaluating the toxicity of TiO₂-based nanoparticles to Chinese hamster ovary cells and Escherichia coli: a complementary experimental and computational approach

• Alicja Mikolajczyk,
• Natalia Sizochenko,
• Ewa Mulkiewicz,
• Anna Malankowska,
• Michal Nischk,
• Przemyslaw Jurczak,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Grzegorz Nowaczyk,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska,
• Jerzy Leszczynski,
• Agnieszka Gajewicz and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2171–2180, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.216

• University, Umultowska 85, 61-614 Poznan, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.8.216 Abstract Titania-supported palladium, gold and bimetallic nanoparticles (second-generation nanoparticles) demonstrate promising photocatalytic properties. However, due to unusual reactivity, second-generation nanoparticles can be

• (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface, BET) of nanoparticles were discussed. Keywords: Au/Pd–TiO2 photocatalyst; bimetallic nanoparticles; nanotoxicity; nano-QSAR; second-generation nanoparticles; Introduction Unmodified titania (TiO2) nanoparticles (so-called first-generation NPs) represent a material that

• chlorination). Unmodified titania NPs are generally considered to be inert and non-toxic [3]. However, several studies have reported that TiO2 nanomaterials may elicit toxic effects towards bacteria under UV light [4], which makes it possible to use them as an antibacterial material [5][6]. In TiO2-based

Synthesis and characterization of noble metal–titania core–shell nanostructures with tunable shell thickness

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Dariusz Zasada and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2083–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.208

• , Kaliskiego 2 Str. 00-908 Warsaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.8.208 Abstract Core–shell nanostructures have found applications in many fields, including surface enhanced spectroscopy, catalysis and solar cells. Titania-coated noble metal nanoparticles, which combine the surface plasmon resonance properties of the

• core and the photoactivity of the shell, have great potential for these applications. However, the controllable synthesis of such nanostructures remains a challenge due to the high reactivity of titania precursors. Hence, a simple titania coating method that would allow better control over the shell

• formation is desired. A sol–gel based titania coating method, which allows control over the shell thickness, was developed and applied to the synthesis of Ag@TiO2 and Au@TiO2 with various shell thicknesses. The morphology of the synthesized structures was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• demonstrated by Du et al. [129] on graphene–titania hybrid nanocomposites and explained as the interfacial charge transfer by using density functional calculations. They demonstrated the formation of a charge transfer complex at the interface of graphene and titania due to the work function difference of both

• materials and upon visible light irradiation, the electrons in the upper VB of graphene can be excited to the CB of titania. As TiO2 is inactive under visible light irradiation, the photoactivity was mainly attributed to the photosensitizer, graphene, which absorbs light to generate the charge carriers

Preparation of thick silica coatings on carbon fibers with fine-structured silica nanotubes induced by a self-assembly process

• Benjamin Baumgärtner,
• Hendrik Möller,
• Thomas Neumann and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1145–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.116

• support or as a catalytic active material. The second possibility can be fulfilled for instance by introducing a titania precursor in the mineralization process. A silica/titania mixture is able to catalyze liquid phase epoxidation [35], the NOx abatement under UV irradiation [36] or the photocatalytic

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• of the refractive index and interplay of photon and electron transport. Kumar Manga et al. have prepared multilayer thin films by a self-assembled layer-by-layer technique which consists of alternating titania (Ti0.91O2) and GO nanosheets. The layer materials are spatially phase segregated to

Diffusion and surface alloying of gradient nanostructured metals

• Zhenbo Wang and
• Ke Lu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 547–560, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.59

• have been achieved on the 304 stainless steel with a preformed GNS surface layer after being sputter-deposited a DLC coating, in comparison with that of the DLC-coated CG sample [93]. A GNS surface layer has also been employed to facilitate the formation of nanoporous titania on the commercial pure Ti

• [94][95], which is used as an important material in human body implantation. After immersion in the H2O2 solution for 24 h at room temperature, crystallized titania with the nanoporous structure was synthesized on the GNS Ti plate, while only interfacial corrosion was observed on the CG sample. By

• amorphous titania. Furthermore, the formed titania showed an increased crystallinity and retained the nanoporous structure even after calcination at 600 °C [94]. These works indicated the possibility to improve the bioactivity of titanium bone implants and to accelerate osseointegration by introducing a

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• Supporting Information File 1). Particle size and surface energy are some of the main factors for phase stability crossovers in nano-titania [5][6][7] and specific adsorption of aminosilanes could reduce the surface energy of the forming nanoparticles, promoting anatase nucleation during the synthesis, even

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

• nanocatalysts. Keywords: hybrid polymer composites; maghemite nanoparticles; photocatalysis; TiO2 nanoparticles; UV–visible irradiation; Introduction Over the last years, titania nanomaterials have attracted a lot of attention as they have found numerous applications in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells

• pursued to reuse and reduce the expense caused by complex centrifugation or filtration steps of the nanostructured photocatalysts, for example, the preparation of TiO2 NPs with magnetic properties [27][28][29][30] or the immobilization of titania on/in diverse matrices such as glass, zeolite, ceramic

• polymethylmethacrylate, polyurethanes, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyethersulfone, cellulose acetate, and polyvinyl alcohol [42][43], together with their testing in water treatment were reported in literature. The aim of this study was to develop new hybrid polymeric materials with four types of titania nanoparticles