Tuning the performance of vanadium redox flow batteries by modifying the structural defects of the carbon felt electrode

• Ditty Dixon,
• Deepu Joseph Babu,
• Aiswarya Bhaskar,
• Hans-Michael Bruns,
• Joerg J. Schneider,
• Frieder Scheiba and
• Helmut Ehrenberg

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1698–1706, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.165

• (NHE)) reaction is very close to HER (0 V vs NHE). To minimize the HER, the negative electrode surface structure should be tuned in such a way that it tends to preferably bind V3+/V2+ ions over H+ ions. Creating oxygen functional groups on the surface of the anode is one way to achieve this [5][6

• -treated electrode is higher than that with the heat-treated electrode. Therefore, for achieving the optimum VRFB performance, the electrodes, especially the anode, must be tuned for defects such as N-substitution as well as oxygen functionality (specifically –O–C=O groups). The present study predicts that

• the combination of various plasma techniques (O2/N2) and thermal activation could produce an ideal electrode for the anode in VRFB. Conclusion When PAN-based GFD-type felts are subjected to N2 plasma treatment, defects are formed on the carbon felt. In addition to the increase in the amount of

Nanoporous smartPearls for dermal application – Identification of optimal silica types and a scalable production process as prerequisites for marketed products

• David Hespeler,
• Sanaa El Nomeiri,
• Jonas Kaltenbach and
• Rainer H. Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1666–1678, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.162

• = 2–60°) was applied and the goniometer was equipped with a Cu anode (Cu Kα, λ= 0.15406 nm) at a voltage of 40 kV and current of 35 mA. Light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Light microscope imaging was performed using a Motic microscope (BA210, Motic Deutschland GmbH, Germany

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

• confirmed by steady-state optical spectroscopy. Photovoltaic cells with one-dimensional C60 nanorods as active layer sandwiched by an indium tin oxide anode and an aluminium cathode exhibited enhanced photovoltaic capabilities. It also led to a significant enhancement of photogenerated charge carriers as

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Doina Craciun,
• Florin Garoi,
• Catalin Negrila,
• Beatrice Gabriela Sbarcea and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1511–1522, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.149

• spectroscopy (XPS) method. A SPECS spectrometer with a PHOIBOS RX 150 analyzer and a Specs XR–50 M source was operated with a monochromatic Al anode (hν = 1486.61 eV) at 300 W. The charging effect of the sample deposited onto the quartz substrate is compensated for with a Specs FG15/40 flood gun. The chemical

Synthesis of P- and N-doped carbon catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction via controlled phosphoric acid treatment of folic acid

• Rieko Kobayashi,
• Takafumi Ishii,
• Yasuo Imashiro and
• Jun-ichi Ozaki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1497–1510, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.148

• fuel cells (PEFCs), both anode and cathode reactions are catalyzed by Pt. Compared to the anode reaction, the cathode reaction, namely the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), is rather slow and hence requires the use of larger amounts of Pt [1], which increases the cost of PEFCs and prevents their wide

• activity, as the cathode catalyst and a commercial Pt/C catalyst as the anode catalyst is presented in Figure 10. The initial voltage was 0.86 V and the cell voltage decreased the current density. The red curve indicated the power density of the cell, which showed a maximum value of 141 mW/cm2. Discussion

• ((5 wt % solution of lower aliphatic alcohols, Aldrich), ionomer/catalyst weight ratio ≈ 0.7:1) was sprayed onto a diffusion layer (29BC, SGL CARBON GmbH). A Pt/C catalyst was used as the anode (catalyst loading = 0.3 mg·cm−2), and PH-700 was used as the cathode (catalyst loading = 3.5 mg·cm−2). A 5

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

• extend their application to large energy storage systems or to the electromobility sector, an improvement in the energy storage capacity is necessary. Layered dichalcogenide materials such as molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) are promising candidates for the replacement of the commercial anode material graphite

• high flexibility and combines the high conductivity of SWCNTs and electrochemical potential of MoS2. We also show that the material finds use as an anode in LIBs, supercapacitor electrodes and HER catalyst. The application for LIBs seems particularly promising as this composite material requires no

• -based composite paper was also tested as an anode material for LIBs. Hence, the MoS2-based composite paper was used directly as an anode without any binder, carbon additive or a Cu-foil current collector. Figure 5a shows the first four cycles of the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves of the MoS2-based

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

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• strong and, in some cases, might cause the loss of the biological functionality [60]. Application of foam-GOx as anode in a membrane-less and open-air biofuel cell It is well known that redox mediators are required for most of the GOx-based bioelectrocatalysis applications to guarantee an efficient

• [71]: The reaction occurring on the anode surface is: while the Pt cathode catalyses the reaction: Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) experiments were carried out to evaluate the electrocatalytic properties of the bionanocomposite Foam-GOx as 3D bio-anode. Figure 5D displays the catalytic behaviour during

• cathode surface. The presence of the acidic medium, in fact, can favour the proton migration from the anode to the cathode surface leading to an increase of the half-cell potential [70]. The power output of the EBC was different for the two pH values. Compared to pH 7 the cell working at pH 5.5 exhibits

Alloyed Pt₃M (M = Co, Ni) nanoparticles supported on S- and N-doped carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction

• Stéphane Louisia,
• Yohann R. J. Thomas,
• Pierre Lecante,
• Marie Heitzmann,
• M. Rosa Axet,
• Pierre-André Jacques and
• Philippe Serp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1251–1269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.125

• contain 20% weigh ratio of Nafion (equivalent weight: 1000), each square centimeter of cathodic active layer contains 0.18 µmol of sulfonic acid site. The anode is composed of 0.2 mgPt·cm−2 and a Nafion content of 25%, which leads to 0.13 µmol of sulfonic acid site per square centimeter of MEA. According

Playing with covalent triazine framework tiles for improved CO₂ adsorption properties and catalytic performance

• Giulia Tuci,
• Andree Iemhoff,
• Housseinou Ba,
• Lapo Luconi,
• Andrea Rossin,
• Vasiliki Papaefthimiou,
• Regina Palkovits,
• Jens Artz,
• Cuong Pham-Huu and
• Giuliano Giambastiani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1217–1227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.121

• ) measurements were performed in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) Thermo-VG scientific spectrometer equipped with a CLAM4 (MCD) hemispherical electron analyser. The Al Kα line (1486.6 eV) of a dual anode X-ray source was used as incident radiation. Survey and high-resolution spectra were recorded in constant pass

In situ AFM visualization of Li–O₂ battery discharge products during redox cycling in an atmospherically controlled sample cell

• Kumar Virwani,
• Younes Ansari,
• Khanh Nguyen,
• Francisco José Alía Moreno-Ortiz,
• Jangwoo Kim,
• Maxwell J. Giammona,
• Ho-Cheol Kim and
• Young-Hye La

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 930–940, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.94

• of a donut-shaped polyethylene separator (Figure 1d) and lithium (Figure 1e) anode. The electrical contact to the lithium anode was made using stainless steel (Figure 1b). The entire assembly was performed inside of the glove box (<0.1 ppm H2O and O2), allowing the assembled cell to be free of

Fabrication of silver nanoisland films by pulsed laser deposition for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Bogusław Budner,
• Mariusz Kuźma,
• Barbara Nasiłowska,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 882–893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.89

• deposited silver layers X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used (XPS spectrometer, Prevac Company). The measurements were made using an X-ray source equipped with an Al anode emitting X-ray radiation with photon energy of 1486.6 eV. The analysis of registered XPS spectra was performed in the CasaXPS

Synthesis of MnO₂–CuO–Fe₂O₃/CNTs catalysts: low-temperature SCR activity and formation mechanism

• Yanbing Zhang,
• Lihua Liu,
• Yingzan Chen,
• Xianglong Cheng,
• Chengjian Song,
• Mingjie Ding and
• Haipeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 848–855, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.85

• on a Thermo Scientific ESCALAB 250 spectrometer equipped with a dual Al/Mg anode (0.6 eV resolution). Catalytic activity The SCR activity tests were carried out in a fixed-bed quartz reactor using 0.15 g catalyst in each test. The reaction gas consisted of [O2] = 5%, [NO] = [NH3] = 400 ppm, balanced

Trapping polysulfide on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide for Li–S batteries through phase selection with optimized binding

• Sha Dong,
• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 774–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.77

• is composed of a sulfur cathode and a metallic Li anode, with an organic liquid electrolyte as the ionic conductor, and a porous separator. The Li–S batteries undergo the reaction of 16Li + S8 → 8Li2S, with a simplified reaction sequence of S8 → Li2S8 → Li2S6/Li2S4 → Li2S2/Li2S. Low coulombic

• polysulfides (LPSs) (Li2Sx, x = 4–8) in the organic electrolyte solvent will migrate and react with the lithium anode, which results in capacity fading and low coulombic efficiency [7][8]. The major issue is the complex diffusion of LPSs, which in combination with the subsequent redox reactions is known as the

An iridescent film of porous anodic aluminum oxide with alternatingly electrodeposited Cu and SiO₂ nanoparticles

• Menglei Chang,
• Huawen Hu,
• Haiyan Quan,
• Hongyang Wei,
• Zhangyi Xiong,
• Jiacong Lu,
• Pin Luo,
• Yaoheng Liang,
• Jianzhen Ou and
• Dongchu Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 735–745, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.73

• stainless steel tube and a carbon fiber as the anode and cathode under the action of a circular electric field, respectively, resulting in a cylindrical fibrous structure. The control over the electrodeposition voltage and time allowed for the fabrication of fibers with different thicknesses, and the

A porous 3D-RGO@MWCNT hybrid material as Li–S battery cathode

• Yongguang Zhang,
• Jun Ren,
• Yan Zhao,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Fuxing Yin and
• Yichao Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.52

• radiation. Electrochemical measurements CR2025 coin batteries were assembled using S-3D-RGO@MWCNT as the cathode, 1 M lithium bistrifluoromethanesulfonimide and 0.1 M LiNO3 in a mixed solution of DME-DOL (1:1 by volume) as electrolyte, a Li foil as anode, and a Celgard 2300 membrane as separator. The

Widening of the electroactivity potential range by composite formation – capacitive properties of TiO₂/BiVO₄/PEDOT:PSS electrodes in contact with an aqueous electrolyte

• Konrad Trzciński,
• Mariusz Szkoda,
• Andrzej P. Nowak,
• Marcin Łapiński and
• Anna Lisowska-Oleksiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 483–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.49

• after the hydrogenation process were performed by using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS measurements were performed using an Argus (Omicron NanoTechnology) X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The photoelectrons were excited by a Mg Kα X-ray source. The X-ray anode was operated at 15 keV

Amorphous Ni_xCo_yP-supported TiO₂ nanotube arrays as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst in acidic solution

• Yong Li,
• Peng Yang,
• Bin Wang and
• Zhongqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 62–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.6

• (ECSA). In 0.5 mol L−1 H2SO4 electrolyte, the NixCoyP/TNAs (x = 3.84, y = 0.78) demonstrated an ECSA value of 52.1 mF cm−2, which is 3.8 times that of Ni–P/TNAs (13.7 mF cm−2). In a two-electrode system with a Pt sheet as the anode, the NixCoyP/TNAs presented a bath voltage of 1.92 V at 100 mA cm−2

• system of NixCoyP/TNAs as the cathode and Pt sheet as the anode. A bath voltage of 1.71 V at a current density of 50 mA cm−2 is comparable to that of the NiCoP/foam nickel electrode [21]. It is noticeable that with increasing current density, the bath voltage does not rise in a linear pattern. A bath

Zn/F-doped tin oxide nanoparticles synthesized by laser pyrolysis: structural and optical properties

• Florian Dumitrache,
• Iuliana P. Morjan,
• Elena Dutu,
• Ion Morjan,
• Claudiu Teodor Fleaca,
• Monica Scarisoreanu,
• Alina Ilie,
• Marius Dumitru,
• Cristian Mihailescu,
• Adriana Smarandache and
• Gabriel Prodan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 9–21, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.2

• ], photocatalysts for rhodamine 6G dye degradation in aqueous solution [27] and were proposed as a thermal UV sensor for high-radiation environments [4]. Moreover, the ZTO materials were also employed as volatile organic compound (VOC) (such as methanol, ethanol or acetone vapors) sensors [28], as an anode for Li

Low cost tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fabricated by two-step electrochemical etching of 125 µm diameter gold wires

• Antonino Foti,
• Francesco Barreca,
• Enza Fazio,
• Cristiano D’Andrea,
• Paolo Matteini,
• Onofrio Maria Maragò and
• Pietro Giuseppe Gucciardi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2718–2729, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.254

• absolute ethanol (>99.5 wt %). All the reagents used are of analytical grade. The experimental setup is shown in Figure 1. The setup includes (Figure 1a) an adjustable DC voltage generator connected to (Figure 1b) the gold wire to be etched (the anode) and to a platinum wire (500 µm diameter, Advent PT5408

Au–Si plasmonic platforms: synthesis, structure and FDTD simulations

• Anna Gapska,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Paweł Syty,
• Wojciech Sadowski,
• Józef E. Sienkiewicz and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2599–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.241

• photoelectrons were excited by an Mg Kα X-ray source. The X-ray anode was operated at 15 keV and 300 W. An Omicron Argus hemispherical electron analyzer with a round aperture of 4 mm was used for analyzing the emitted photoelectrons. The binding energies were corrected using the background C 1s line (285.0 eV

Hydrothermal-derived carbon as a stabilizing matrix for improved cycling performance of silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion full cells

• Mirco Ruttert,
• Florian Holtstiege,
• Jessica Hüsker,
• Markus Börner,
• Martin Winter and
• Tobias Placke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2381–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.223

• remarkable that the LIB cell chemistry concerning the negative electrode (anode) of commercial cells is still quite similar to that of the very first LIBs, based on carbonaceous anode materials. There are several good reasons why carbonaceous anode materials, especially graphite, are still state of the art

• anode materials, such as silicon (Si) and tin (Sn), have aroused great interest in the last decade with the aim to replace graphite, as these materials offer considerably higher theoretical, specific capacities of 3,579 mAh g−1 and 990 mAh g−1, respectively, compared to that of graphite [9][10][11][12

• Li/Li+). Therefore, high cell voltages can be achieved using appropriate cathode materials [10][12][14]. Based on energy density calculations, it was reported that the total specific capacity can significantly be increased on the cell level by the application of high capacity anode materials

Metal-free catalysis based on nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials: a photoelectron spectroscopy point of view

• Mattia Scardamaglia and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2015–2031, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.191

• on it due to the higher electronegativity of the N atom [59][60]. Thus, it will attract electrons from the anode more easily and facilitate the ORR. Yu et al. [59] using DFT calculations showed the increase of the density of states at the Fermi level of the C atom neighbor of a N atom. This is due to

• -sensitized solar cells [67]. A high-performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries was obtained using graphene co-doped with nitrogen and fluorine, which was prepared by a hydrothermal reaction of an aqueous dispersion of graphene oxide with trimethylamine trihydrofluoride [68]. In nitrogen-doped

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

• Katherine Atamanuk,
• Justin Luria and
• Bryan D. Huey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1802–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

• from below through an underlying transparent conducting anode and substrate (FTO/glass). Local currents are detected from above by the AFM probe serving as a positionable cathode. The local photovoltaic properties can vary widely for the heterogeneous microstructure compared to the mean (macroscopic

Toward the use of CVD-grown MoS₂ nanosheets as field-emission source

• Geetanjali Deokar,
• Nitul S. Rajput,
• Junjie Li,
• Francis Leonard Deepak,
• Wei Ou-Yang,
• Nicolas Reckinger,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Jean-Francois Colomer and
• Mustapha Jouiad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1686–1694, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.160

• deposited on the FTO glass substrate served as electron-emission cathode and another piece of conductive FTO glass was used as anode. The distance between the cathode and anode was fixed at 220 µm by using thin glass spacers. The FE current (I) versus the applied voltage (V) was measured using an

• the voltage applied between the flat cathode and the anode screen and d is the distance in between (220 µm). A and B are constants (A = 1.54 × 10−6 AeV·V−1, B = 6.83 × 106 eV−3/2·Vnm−1) that depend on the surface structure. λM is a macroscopic pre-exponential correction factor. UF (the correction