The preparation temperature influences the physicochemical nature and activity of nanoceria

• Robert A. Yokel,
• Wendel Wohlleben,
• Johannes Georg Keller,
• Matthew L. Hancock,
• Jason M. Unrine,
• D. Allan Butterfield and
• Eric A. Grulke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 525–540, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.43

• reported to be uncoated [24]. However, it was found that its surface had organic contaminations, shown by thermogravimetric analysis (<0.7 % of the material [7]). Further investigation with XPS, which has an information depth between 3 and 10 nm, indicated 80% carbon atoms on the surface. Photoelectron

Interface interaction of transition metal phthalocyanines with strontium titanate (100)

• Reimer Karstens,
• Thomas Chassé and
• Heiko Peisert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 485–496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.39

• resublimed before usage. The materials were evaporated from temperature-controlled crucibles. The nominal layer thickness was estimated from substrate- and adsorbate-related XPS intensity ratios using photoemission cross sections from Yeh and Lindau [41]. A nominal monolayer of lying molecules corresponds to

• –F bond dissociation. However, uncertainties in the estimation of the monolayer thickness from XPS intensities only cannot be ruled out completely. FePcFx on STO(100) To investigate whether the observed local interaction between the central metal atom of CoPcFx (x = 0 or 16) and the STO substrate is

Boosting of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via chlorine doping of polymeric carbon nitride

• Malgorzata Aleksandrzak,
• Michalina Kijaczko,
• Wojciech Kukulka,
• Daria Baranowska,
• Martyna Baca,
• Beata Zielinska and
• Ewa Mijowska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 473–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.38

• Cl modification resulted in the maintenance of the chemical skeleton [43][44][45][46][47]. The chemical composition and relative atomic percentages of the obtained materials were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS spectra revealed that the samples are composed of carbon

• -chloro-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine (CDATA) increased the amount of carbon whereas it decreased the amount of nitrogen. Simultaneously, a slight increase in the atomic concentration of oxygen was observed. The XPS spectra revealed 0.18 atom % of chlorine in Cl-PCN. The detailed analysis of the chemical

• other hand, the amount of C–C/C=C/N3C significantly decreases. The XPS analysis indicates a successful incorporation of chlorine into the polymeric carbon nitride network. Without the doping agent melamine, thermal polycondensation leads to the formation of melon. We suppose that the presented synthesis

Structural and optical characteristics determined by the sputtering deposition conditions of oxide thin films

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Florin Garoi and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 354–365, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.29

• diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the surface topography of the samples was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical characteristics were measured for samples with the same composition but obtained with different deposition parameters, such as increasing

• thickness of the deposited SiO2 and ZnO thin films, several methods were applied, including XPS, XRD, and SEM. Hence, the ESCALAB 250+ XPS equipment was used to determine the surface composition of the samples with the following specifications: monochromatic Al Kα radiation (1486.6 eV) and vacuum in the

• thermal treatment, which induces an internal stress in the ZnO thin films. To the same extent, with the depositions made at room temperature on all SiO2 thin films, their structure proved to be essentially amorphous [28][37] with no sharp XRD reflection lines and featuring a matte surface. Based on XPS

Nickel nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide/WO₃ nanocomposite – a promising candidate for gas sensing

• Ilka Simon,
• Alexandr Savitsky,
• Rolf Mülhaupt,
• Vladimir Pankov and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 343–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.28

• using XPS and Raman spectroscopy. Such bonds can play an important role also in our case with regard to charge transfer. It has been established that adsorption of NO2 molecules will cause upward band bending by capturing free electrons from the conduction band and shift the Fermi level of WO3 away from

Scanning transmission helium ion microscopy on carbon nanomembranes

• Daniel Emmrich,
• Annalena Wolff,
• Nikolaus Meyerbröker,
• Jörg K. N. Lindner,
• André Beyer and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 222–231, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.18

• between the two cases, and the error of this particular measurement is 9%. To test the validity of the determined thickness and the approach described above, the results from the STIM dark-field imaging are compared to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy-filtered transmission electron

• microscopy (EFTEM) data, both being established techniques for the thickness measurement of thin films. All three presented methods, STIM, XPS, and EFTEM, require an assumption about density and composition of the material in order to calculate absolute thicknesses, so graphite was chosen as a well

• -characterized material. XPS collects the signal from a measurement spot with a diameter of a few hundred micrometers. It has, therefore, a much lower lateral resolution than STIM. It requires the membrane to be placed on a solid bulk material. Therefore, from the same membrane batch used for STIM measurements

Fusion of purple membranes triggered by immobilization on carbon nanomembranes

• René Riedel,
• Natalie Frese,
• Fang Yang,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Raphael Dalpke,
• Daniel Rhinow,
• Norbert Hampp and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 93–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.8

• histidine-tag at the extracellular side of a PM mutant (c-His PM). The functionalization and the resulting hybrid membrane were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and infrared

• . Afterwards the sample was rinsed with ethanol, dried in a stream of nitrogen, and stored under argon gas. Sample characterization X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been conducted in an Omicron Multiprobe UHV system (Scienta Omicron GmbH, Taunusstein, Germany) using monochromatic Al Kα irradiation, a

• are reversible. Furthermore, the functionalization was investigated utilizing XPS and IRRAS as seen in Figure 2c,d. The IRRAS spectrum of an NBPT CNM after the first functionalization step reveals a peak at 2106 cm−1 caused by the asymmetrical stretching vibration of the azide moiety, which indicates

Free and partially encapsulated manganese ferrite nanoparticles in multiwall carbon nanotubes

• Saja Al-Khabouri,
• Salim Al-Harthi,
• Toru Maekawa,
• Mohamed E. Elzain,
• Ashraf Al-Hinai,
• Ahmed D. Al-Rawas,
• Abbsher M. Gismelseed,
• Ali A. Yousif and
• Myo Tay Zar Myint

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1891–1904, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.170

• ) overnight. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, Omicron Nanotechnology) was employed with a monochromatic Al Kα radiation (hν = 1486.6 eV), with a source voltage of 15 kV and an emission current of 20 mA. Scans were carried out at a base pressure of 2 × 10−8 Pa. A wide scan was recorded at a constant

• analyzer transmission energy of 50 eV, while the individual elemental peaks were recorded at an analyzer pass energy of 20 eV. All XPS measurements were carried out at room temperature and no heating was performed prior to the XPS measurement. The obtained XPS spectra were deconvoluted using the CasaXPS

• Fe2+ is undetectable, as shown in Table 1. These results indicate that the divalent cations in free MnFe2O4 nanoparticles are Mn2+, which supports the XPS data in Figure 2. The Mössbauer spectrum in Figure 1f shows sextets, which are attributed to the field arising from larger particles superimposed

Unravelling the interfacial interaction in mesoporous SiO₂@nickel phyllosilicate/TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for photocatalytic activity

• Bridget K. Mutuma,
• Xiluva Mathebula,
• Isaac Nongwe,
• Bonakele P. Mtolo,
• Boitumelo J. Matsoso,
• Rudolph Erasmus,
• Zikhona Tetana and
• Neil J. Coville

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1834–1846, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.165

• @NiPS/TiO2) core–shell nanostructures. The TEM results showed that the mSiO2@NiPS composite has a core–shell nanostructure with a unique flake-like shell morphology. XPS analysis revealed the successful formation of 1:1 nickel phyllosilicate on the SiO2 surface. The addition of TiO2 to the mSiO2@NiPS

• , and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to elucidate the morphological and textural features, optoelectronic properties, and elemental composition of the core–shell nanomaterials. These core–shell nanostructures were also employed as catalysts in a model reaction, that is, the

• hydroxy groups bonded to nickel atoms (δ(NiO–H) band) in NiPS as multiple peaks were recorded between 630 and 710 cm−1 [57]. XPS analysis of mSiO2@NiPS and mSiO2@NiPS/TiO2 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to study the surface composition of mSiO2@NiPS and mSiO2@NiPS/TiO2. The complete scans

Self-standing heterostructured NiC_x-NiFe-NC/biochar as a highly efficient cathode for lithium–oxygen batteries

• Shengyu Jing,
• Xu Gong,
• Shan Ji,
• Linhui Jia,
• Bruno G. Pollet,
• Sheng Yan and
• Huagen Liang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1809–1821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.163

• energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were carried out on a FEI Tecnia G2 F20 high-resolution transmission electron microscope operating at 200 kV. The surface composition of the samples was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on a ESCALAB 250Xi electron energy spectrometer using Al

• surface of NiFe-PBA/PP-T samples, NiFe-PBA/PP-T was investigated via XPS (Figure 4). In the C 1s XPS spectra of NiFe-PBA/PP-T (Figure 4a), the binding energy values of 284.8, 285.3, 286.2, and 289 eV correspond to C–C, C=C, C–N, and C–O species, respectively [29][47][48]. For NiFe-PBA/PP-900, the peak at

• 283.2 eV corresponds to metal–carbon bonds, which indicates the formation of transition metal carbides at a higher calcination temperature. As shown in Figure 4b, the N 1s XPS spectrum consists of three main peaks at 398.5, 399.8 and 400.8 eV, corresponding to pyridinic nitrogen, metal–nitrogen, and

Electron beam-induced deposition of platinum from Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂

• Aya Mahgoub,
• Hang Lu,
• Rachel M. Thorman,
• Konstantin Preradovic,
• Titel Jurca,
• Lisa McElwee-White,
• Howard Fairbrother and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1789–1800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.161

• for complete precursor decomposition [14]. Electron-induced decomposition of adsorbed Pt(CO)2Cl2 has been previously studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry, and some deposits were produced in the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment of an Auger electron spectroscopy

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

• 3000HS). A volume-weighted Gaussian size distribution was fit to the autocorrelation functions to obtain the particle size and zeta potential values. The atomic fractions of C, O, and N in the different SWCNTs samples were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, Thermo Fisher Scientific

• PEI. Considering the results, SWCNTs were purified and shortened with H2SO4/HNO3 in the subsequent experiments. The XPS spectra of different nanocarriers are shown in Figure 4A and Figure 4B. A C 1s peak with a binding energy of 285 eV appears for raw SWCNTs. In the CNTs-COOH samples a peak at 532.5

• different acid solutions: (B) H2SO4/H2O2, (C) HNO3, (D) H2SO4/HNO3, (E) CNTs-PEG and (F) CNTs-PEG-PEI. Characterization of different nanocarriers. (A, B) XPS spectra, (C) FTIR spectra, (D) XRD diffraction patterns (a: raw SWCNTs; b–d: CNTs-COOH synthesized using different acid solutions, b: H2SO4/H2O2, c

Cu₂O nanoparticles for the degradation of methyl parathion

• Juan Rizo,
• David Díaz,
• Benito Reyes-Trejo and
• M. Josefina Arellano-Jiménez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1546–1555, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.137

• through UV–vis absorption of 4-NPh. Likewise, it was shown that the surface basicity increases with decreasing nanoparticle size. The presence of CuCO3 on the surface of Cu2O, identified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), passivates its surface and consequently diminishes the degradation of MP

• width of 45°, acquisition time of 0.813 s, FT size of 65 K and digital resolution of 0.5 Hz per point. The number of scans varied from 512 to 4,096 per spectrum. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were measured in a ESCA/SAM Perkin-Elmer model 560, using an Al Kα source with a 400 μm spot diameter

• (bright red powder). The colored powders can be seen in Figure 2, as well as their color in aqueous dispersion. It is important to mention that there is no evidence in XRD for the presence of CuO or CuCO3, although these compouds are observed in XPS. Figure 3a shows the HRTEM image of a typical Cu2O

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

• the resulting Pt-NPs. Platinum loading and degree of oxidation The relative platinum loading and degree of oxidation were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, see Experimental section). In Figure 5, an XPS survey scan (Figure 5a) and Pt4f elemental scans (Figure 5b,c) related to the

• ), namely Pt(OH)2, at ≈72.7 eV. Table 1 and Table 2 summarize weight percentages and degree of oxidation of the whole Pt/CNW layer (O content of Pt and C combined) and the degree of oxidation of only the Pt-NPs (Pt0/PtII-ratio) as determined by XPS of samples obtained with different process pressures (Table

• (see Experimental section) of three samples (CV1, CV2, and CV3) are compared to a commercially available catalyst powder (HiSPEC4000). Relative platinum loadings (wt %) as determined by XPS are given in the columns in Figure 7, whilst the absolute platinum loadings were 39.0, 56.5, 17.5, and 20 µg/cm

Impact of fluorination on interface energetics and growth of pentacene on Ag(111)

• Qi Wang,
• Meng-Ting Chen,
• Antoni Franco-Cañellas,
• Bin Shen,
• Thomas Geiger,
• Holger F. Bettinger,
• Frank Schreiber,
• Ingo Salzmann,
• Alexander Gerlach and
• Steffen Duhm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1361–1370, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.120

• ) on Ag(111) via X-ray standing waves (XSW), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) as well as ultraviolet and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS and XPS). XSW revealed that the adsorption distances of F4PEN in (sub)monolayers on Ag(111) were 3.00 Å for carbon atoms and 3.05 Å for fluorine atoms

• intermediate case. We determined the vertical adsorption heights of F4PEN (sub)monolayers on Ag(111) employing the XSW technique [64][65][66][67]. The lateral order in the monolayer was determined by LEED. Possible chemical interactions between F4PEN and the substrate were studied by XPS. The energy level

• interfaces. Results The determination of the vertical adsorption heights of F4PEN in (sub)monolayers on Ag(111) relied on high-resolution core level spectra, which are shown in Figure 1 (additional XPS spectra are shown in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1). Following the assignment of the F4PEN core

Hybridization vs decoupling: influence of an h-BN interlayer on the physical properties of a lander-type molecule on Ni(111)

• Maximilian Schaal,
• Takumi Aihara,
• Marco Gruenewald,
• Felix Otto,
• Jari Domke,
• Roman Forker,
• Hiroyuki Yoshida and
• Torsten Fritz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1168–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.101

• LEED pattern due to a post-growth annealing process in a temperature range from 100 °C to 300 °C was not visible. In fact, at a temperature of 300 °C the desorption of DBP molecules was observed by a decrease of the C 1s intensity measured by XPS (not shown). Therefore, we conclude that a post-growth

• a promising n-type contact for molecular electronics. Core level spectroscopy Finally, we investigated the chemical structure by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at normal emission. In Figure 5 the N 1s, the C 1s and the B 1s spectra for DBP on bare Ni(111) as well as on h-BN/Ni(111

• to decouple the DBP molecules from the Ni(111) substrate. This statement is supported by the vacuum level alignment of the frontier orbitals, which was concluded from our UPS data. The investigation of the chemical structure by means of XPS revealed that the DBP adsorption also mildly influences the

A few-layer graphene/chlorin e6 hybrid nanomaterial and its application in photodynamic therapy against Candida albicans

• Selene Acosta,
• Carlos Moreno-Aguilar,
• Dania Hernández-Sánchez,
• Beatriz Morales-Cruzado,
• Erick Sarmiento-Gomez,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Luis Octavio Sánchez-Vargas and
• Mildred Quintana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1054–1061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.90

• graphene lattice. In the Raman spectrum of the FLG-Ce6 hybrid nanomaterial, the D band is overshadowed by the Raman signals of Ce6. Figure 1c shows the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of the hybrid nanomaterial and Ce6. The O 1s core level spectrum of the hybrid nanomaterial FLG-Ce6 is

• -ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with a VERSAPROBE PHI 5000 instrument from Physical Electronics, equipped with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. The energy resolution was 0.7 eV. For the compensation of built-up charge on the sample surface during the

• measurements, dual beam charge neutralization composed of an electron gun (≈1 eV) and an argon ion gun (≤10 eV) was used. The XPS spectra were deconvoluted using commercially available software (CASA-XPS). TEM images were obtained using a JEOL JEM-2100 instrument with a voltage acceleration of 200 kV. The

Microwave-induced electric discharges on metal particles for the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials under solvent-free conditions

• Vijay Tripathi,
• Harit Kumar,
• Anubhav Agarwal and
• Leela S. Panchakarla

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1019–1025, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.86

• copper. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) or graphite powder (commercially available) are used as carbon source. g-C3N4 is synthesized and characterized according to [18]. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms the formation of g-C3N4 (Figure S1 in Supporting

• , microwave irradiation of zinc metal in the presence of Teflon and g-C3N4 creates ZnF2 nanorods inside fluorinated carbon. From XPS (Figure S4, Supporting Information File 1) the carbon-to-fluorine ratio was calculated to be 3:2. Zn is highly electropositive and reacts readily with fluorine from Teflon and

• electron microscopy (JEOL JEM 2100F) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy XPS (Thermo VG Scientific MultiLab, ESCA). (a) XRD patterns of commercially available Cu powder and Cu powder after treatment with 0.5 M HNO3. (b) SEM images of pure Cu powder and (c) acid-treated Cu powder. (a) Schematic of the

Atomic layer deposition for efficient oxygen evolution reaction at Pt/Ir catalyst layers

• Stefanie Schlicht,
• Korcan Percin,
• Stefanie Kriescher,
• André Hofer,
• Claudia Weidlich,
• Matthias Wessling and
• Julien Bachmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 952–959, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.79

• particular, we have determined particle sizes by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), investigated the homogeneously mixed nature of the Pt/Ir catalyst by X-ray diffraction (XRD), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We have also examined various ALD

Adsorption behavior of tin phthalocyanine onto the (110) face of rutile TiO₂

• Lukasz Bodek,
• Mads Engelund,
• Aleksandra Cebrat and
• Bartosz Such

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 821–828, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.67

• the position of a tin atom protruding from the macrocycle: “Sn-up” and “Sn-down”. Switching from the Sn-up to the Sn-down geometry can be realized by annealing the sample at 200 °C or by tip-induced manipulation (bias pulse). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements reveal a lack of strong

• UHV system. Electrochemically etched Pt–Ir tips were used as probes. Stable empty-state STM images were collected in a constant-current mode (tunneling current It < 15 pA; bias voltage Utip < 2 V). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out by using a VG Scientific X-ray source Mark II (Mg

• Kα) combined with a Scienta EAC2200 Nanosam 570 analyzer. Ti 2p peaks were used for global calibration of the XPS spectra. A Shirley function was used for background correction during XPS data analysis. Calculations were performed by employing density-functional theory (DFT) using the SIESTA code [15

Epitaxial growth and superconducting properties of thin-film PdFe/VN and VN/PdFe bilayers on MgO(001) substrates

• Wael M. Mohammed,
• Igor V. Yanilkin,
• Amir I. Gumarov,
• Airat G. Kiiamov,
• Roman V. Yusupov and
• Lenar R. Tagirov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 807–813, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.65

• −xFex were taken at each deposition step using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Finally, all structures were capped with 10 nm layer of undoped Si by magnetron sputtering to prevent sample deterioration. Thus, a VN film and stacks of Pd0.96Fe0.04/VN and

• the VN and the Pd1−xFex layers were analyzed in situ using XPS. The measurements were carried out in the UHV analysis chamber (base pressure p < 3 × 10−10 mbar) equipped with a Mg Kα X-ray source operated at 12.5 kV and 250 W, and a Phoibos-150 hemispherical energy analyzer (all from SPECS, Germany

• ). Figure 3a,b shows the XPS spectra of the as-deposited VN/Pd0.92Fe0.08 thin film heterostructure. The binding energies of the Fe 2p1/2, Fe 2p3/2, and Pd 3d3/2 and Pd 3d5/2 states are 721.0, 707.7, and 340.2 and 335.0 eV, respectively, which agrees well with literature data [33][36]. Figure 3c,d shows the

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

• the activity of the CTF-1-600. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provides information about the chemical composition and chemical state of elements. The Ni 2p and N 1s spectra of the materials are shown in Figure 5 and Figure S15–S18, Supporting Information File 1. The Ni 2p spectrum of Ni/CTF-1

• always shows strong satellites about 6 eV above the main electronic lines [47]. In composite materials, Ni2+ can arise from the combination of nickel coordinated with nitrogen and from the oxidation/hydroxylation of nickel (since the samples need to be briefly handled in air to be introduced into the XPS

• instrument). Deconvolution of the N 1s XPS spectrum of Ni/CTF-1-600-22 reveals five peaks at about 398.5, 399.3, 400.6, 401.2 and 402.3 eV, which can be assigned pyridinic nitrogen, Ni-coordinated nitrogen, pyrrolic nitrogen, graphitic or quaternary nitrogen and oxidized nitrogen, respectively [26][48]. The

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

• structures were observed using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM, FEI, Tecnai G2 F30). The elemental composition and valence distribution of the film were measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, Thermo Fisher Scientific, ESCALAB 250Xi). The photoluminescence (PL) intensity of

• , which corresponds to the (004) crystal of Ag surface. From the comprehensive TEM results, the silver-loaded TiO2 array is composed of Ag particles and TiO2 with anatase configuration. Next, sample AFT3 was subjected to XPS analysis to characterize the elemental composition and chemical state of the Ag

• -TNC film, and the result is shown in Figure 5. According to Figure 5a, all the peaks can be attributed to Ti, O, C, and Ag, which indicates that the sample consists of TiO2 and Ag. The appearance of the C element is attributable to contamination from the cavity of the XPS device and/or from the

Silver-decorated gel-shell nanobeads: physicochemical characterization and evaluation of antibacterial properties

• Marta Bartel,
• Katarzyna Markowska,
• Marcin Strawski,
• Krystyna Wolska and
• Maciej Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 620–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.49

• silver nanoparticles are generated within the outer 7 nm gel shell of the particle while the polystyrene core is left intact. Next, the PSSAg nanobeads were studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The spectrum confirms the presence of silver and sulfur in the sample. Figure 5 shows the high

• thiols adsorbed on a metal surface is ca. 162 eV [37]. As such a contribution is not detected in the XPS spectrum, it is possible that the number of thiol groups directly interacting with the surface of silver nanoparticles is low in comparison to the total amount of –SH moieties in the gel layer. On the

• other hand, the contribution at 368.8 eV observed in the Ag 3d signal (Figure 5a) may suggest that a fraction of silver atoms is interacting with thiol groups. The analysis of the XPS data suggests an interesting scenario of the preparative process. Incubation of the gel-shell particles with silver ions

Soybean-derived blue photoluminescent carbon dots

• Shanshan Wang,
• Wei Sun,
• Dong-sheng Yang and
• Fuqian Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 606–619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.48

• microscope (TEM) (JEOL 2010F). ImageJ software was used to analyze the TEM images and to determine the distribution of particle sizes for the calculation of average particle size. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the prepared carbon nanoparticles was conducted on a Thermo Scientific K

• the nanoparticles. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns embedded in the figures reveal that all the nanoparticles are amorphous. The EDS and XPS analyses of the HTC-CDs shown in Figure S1 and Table S1 in Supporting Information File 1 confirm that the main component of the HTC-CDs is

• =C ring bond [47][48]. As discussed above, the PL characteristics of the soybean-derived CDs are dependent on the surface-functional groups. XPS analysis was performed to determine the chemical states of elements on the surface of the soybean-derived C-dots. Figure 8 depicts the XPS spectra of the