Hexagonal boron nitride: a review of the emerging material platform for single-photon sources and the spin–photon interface

• Stefania Castelletto,
• Faraz A. Inam,
• Shin-ichiro Sato and
• Alberto Boretti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 740–769, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.61

Comparison of fresh and aged lithium iron phosphate cathodes using a tailored electrochemical strain microscopy technique

• Matthias Simolka,
• Hanno Kaess and
• Kaspar Andreas Friedrich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 583–596, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.46

• . Interestingly, the distributions of the positive and negative dc-voltage pulse differ, whereby the negative dc-voltage pulse shows smaller time constants compared with the positive pulse. This indicates a different behaviour of the diffusivity depending on an accumulation (negative pulse) and a depletion

Identification of physicochemical properties that modulate nanoparticle aggregation in blood

• Ludovica Soddu,
• Duong N. Trinh,
• Eimear Dunne,
• Dermot Kenny,
• Giorgia Bernardini,
• Ida Kokalari,
• Arianna Marucco,
• Marco P. Monopoli and
• Ivana Fenoglio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 550–567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.44

• have shown that specific NPs have been able to bind to biomolecules from the coagulation system and induce haemorrhage or thrombosis [4]. The depletion of soluble coagulation factors (e.g., fibrinogen, XII factor) may occur following adsorption of the factors at the NP surface. On the other hand, the

• (SWCNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can induce platelet activation by inducing depletion of intracellular Ca2+ [10][11], an effect that was hypothesised to be caused by the interaction of CNTs with plasma and dense tubular system membranes likely related to the fibrous shape [12]. On the

Poly(1-vinylimidazole) polyplexes as novel therapeutic gene carriers for lung cancer therapy

• Gayathri Kandasamy,
• Elena N. Danilovtseva,
• Vadim V. Annenkov and
• Uma Maheswari Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 354–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.26

• internalization and escaped the endosome effectively. The polyplex was more effective than free siRNA in silencing VEGF in lung cancer cells. The silencing of VEGF was quantified using Western blot and was also reflected in the depletion of HIF-1α levels in the cells treated with the polyplex. VEGF silencing by

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

• interference (RNAi) is often used to shut down the expression of a single protein or even a single isoform. However, the complete depletion of the protein of interest after RNAi requires at least 48–96 h and during this time cells can adapt, for example by upregulating other proteins of the same family or

• other pathways. Moreover, RNAi does not guarantee the total depletion of a protein from the cell, and in some cases the partial reduction of a protein is not sufficient to fully inhibit its function [22]. Apart from RNAi, so far, many studies on the uptake of nano-sized materials make use of transport

• endosomal compartment for caveolae, the “caveosome” [214]. Recent advances in cellular imaging and gene editing could overcome some of these issues. For instance, the use of stably transfected cell lines might be a good solution when the total depletion of a protein is required to shut down a pathway (often

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

• chlorin-e6, an azobenzene group that can be cleaved at very low oxygen concentrations links the hydrophobic and the hydrophilic block. Upon irradiation and depletion of oxygen due to the PDT activity of chlorin-e6, the block copolymer nanovector disassembled and the anticancer drug, doxorubicin, was

Internalization mechanisms of cell-penetrating peptides

• Ivana Ruseska and
• Andreas Zimmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 101–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.10

• , direct translocation is regarded as a single-step process including mechanisms involving the formation of inverted micelles, pores and the ‘carpet’ model [21]. This process can be tested under specific experimental conditions – low temperature, energy depletion and the use of endocytic inhibitors for

Synthesis and acetone sensing properties of ZnFe₂O₄/rGO gas sensors

• Kaidi Wu,
• Yifan Luo,
• Ying Li and
• Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2516–2526, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.242

• air at 200 °C, the adsorbed oxygen atoms capture free electrons from the conduction band to form adsorbed oxygen anions (O2−, O−). In ZnFe2O4, an electron depletion layer is left, which will result in an increase of the resistance. Upon exposure to acetone, the acetone molecules will adsorb to the

• Fermi energy levels equalize when two semiconducting systems are in contact via the transfer of carriers. Consequently, heterojunctions and regions of electron depletion will be formed at the interface between rGO, which is a p-type semiconductor, and ZnFe2O4, an n-type semiconductor. In addition, there

• will also exist a potential barrier at the grain boundaries. In Figure 11b, when air is introduced, the resistance of the sensor will decrease as a result of the construction of the depletion layers and the potential barriers at the grain boundaries (see also Equations 2–5). When acetone is introduced

Self-assembly of a terbium(III) 1D coordination polymer on mica

• Quentin Evrard,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Felix Houard,
• Guillaume Calvez,
• Yan Suffren,
• Carole Daiguebonne,
• Olivier Guillou,
• Andrea Caneschi,
• Matteo Mannini and
• Kevin Bernot

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2440–2448, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.234

• on the mica surface that can lead to the formation of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) when mica is air-cleaved. Recent findings [32][33][34][35] show that the mechanism of K+ depletion from air-cleaved mica is not fully known but resembles the one observed on aluminium oxide [36], iron oxide [37] or

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging applications

• Alberto Boretti,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Jonathan Blackledge and
• Stefania Castelletto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2128–2151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.207

• -selective addressing (Rabi oscillations) of 1 × 4 arrays of NV sites separated by ≈15 nm. The order of three NV centers per site have the same orientation, detected by measuring the fluorescence count rates in a standard confocal volume [43]. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy (see a

Charge-transfer interactions between fullerenes and a mesoporous tetrathiafulvalene-based metal–organic framework

• Manuel Souto,
• Joaquín Calbo,
• Samuel Mañas-Valero,
• Aron Walsh and
• Guillermo Mínguez Espallargas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1883–1893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.183

• ). Blue and yellow regions indicate charge depletion and accumulation, respectively. a) TDDFT absorption spectra calculated at the CAM-B3LYP/6-31G** level for host–guest C60@TTFTB (including vertical excitation energies), TTFTB ligand, and fullerene C60 (singlets and triplet energies). b) Monoelectronic

Prestress-loading effect on the current–voltage characteristics of a piezoelectric p–n junction together with the corresponding mechanical tuning laws

• Wanli Yang,
• Shuaiqi Fan,
• Yuxing Liang and
• Yuantai Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1833–1843, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.178

• tuning performance on higher doped piezoelectric p–n junctions requires the prestress loadings to be applied closer to the interface of p- and n-zone. This study on a non-equilibrium process of piezoelectric p–n junctions has significance for piezotronics. Keywords: depletion layer; I–V characteristics

• and an n-type piezoelectric semiconductor. Based on the hypothesis of depletion layer and the introduction of an undetermined parameter wpiezo, they qualitatively obtained some new and interesting phenomena. Luo et al. [30] investigated the forward-bias I–V characteristics of a piezoelectric p–n

• injection is usually analyzed using a simple analogy based on the electrostatic analysis in thermal equilibrium, where the applied voltage (V) is assumed to drop in the depletion region such that its contact potential difference becomes with being the initial voltage. It implies that the electric

Lipid nanostructures for antioxidant delivery: a comparative preformulation study

• Elisabetta Esposito,
• Maddalena Sguizzato,
• Markus Drechsler,
• Paolo Mariani,
• Federica Carducci,
• Claudio Nastruzzi,
• Giuseppe Valacchi and
• Rita Cortesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1789–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.174

• , supplementary studies will be performed to investigate the activity of hydrophilic antioxidant molecules, such as ascorbic acid and N-acetyl-cysteine, loaded in NLCs and in comparison with conventional “non-nano” formulations. In addition, since some authors have demonstrated that CS induces depletion of some

Biocatalytic oligomerization-induced self-assembly of crystalline cellulose oligomers into nanoribbon networks assisted by organic solvents

• Yuuki Hata,
• Yuka Fukaya,
• Toshiki Sawada,
• Masahito Nishiura and
• Takeshi Serizawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1778–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.173

• viscosity and depletion repulsion, which prevented the nanosheet-shaped lamellar crystals from aggregation and subsequent precipitation, enabling the formation of well-grown nanoribbon networks. On the other hand, the organic solvents used in this study were small molecules, indicating a different mechanism

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

• energy sources during peak production and supply the stored energy to the grid during a depletion in the production. In this context, the all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is one of the most promising and flexible stationary electrical energy storage systems. Unlike Pb acid, Li-ion batteries or even

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• TiO2, which both are present on the pristine surface, although TiO2 is more stable [39]. When annealed under reducing conditions, the TiO2 termination is promoted. Upon heavy reduction, there is further oxygen depletion which results in the formation of the (√5×√5)R26.6° reconstruction, which we

Selective gas detection using Mn₃O₄/WO₃ composites as a sensing layer

• Yongjiao Sun,
• Zhichao Yu,
• Wenda Wang,
• Pengwei Li,
• Gang Li,
• Wendong Zhang,
• Lin Chen,
• Serge Zhuivkov and
• Jie Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1423–1433, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.140

• from the conduction band of WO3. Surface-adsorbed oxygen ions (O2−, O−, O2−) and a thick electron depletion layer of WO3 will form, giving rise to a low conductivity via the loss of free electrons, as shown in Figure 12a. Conversely, when exposed to reducing gases (such as H2S, NH3 and CO), the redox

• composites, the improved gas sensing properties can be ascribed to the following two reasons. Firstly, Mn3+ in the Mn3O4/WO3 composites results in more defects on the surface of the WO3 matrix, which promotes the adsorption of the oxygen species [34]. More adsorbed oxygen means a broader electron depletion

• region and higher resistance in the atmosphere of air, which will facilitate an increased response (Figure 12c). Secondly, when p-type Mn3O4 is attached on the surface of n-type WO3, the p–n heterojunction is formed, which contributes to the increase of the resistance in air due to the thicker depletion

Kelvin probe force microscopy of the nanoscale electrical surface potential barrier of metal/semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere

• Petr Knotek,
• Tomáš Plecháček,
• Jan Smolík,
• Petr Kutálek,
• Filip Dvořák,
• Milan Vlček,
• Jiří Navrátil and
• Čestmír Drašar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1401–1411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.138

• is irradiated by electrons under the same conditions as the thinnest Mo layer, there will be a partial oxygen depletion as well [62]. However, the long distance from the Bi2Se3 substrate hinders a reaction (the sample exhibits a sandwich structure of reactive Bi2Se3/isolating MoSe2/isolating Mo and

Electronic and magnetic properties of doped black phosphorene with concentration dependence

• Ke Wang,
• Hai Wang,
• Min Zhang,
• Yan Liu and
• Wei Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 993–1001, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.100

• shown in Figure 6. In Figure 6, charge accumulation is depicted by the gold isosurface, while the cyan isosurface represents charge depletion. The isosurfaces are separated by ±0.04 e/Å3. From Figure 6, one can find clearly that the Si atom donates electrons to three neighboring phosphorus atoms. The S

• phosphorene with (a) 2 × 2 × 1, (b) 3 × 3 × 1, (c) 4 × 4 × 1, and (d) 5 × 5 × 1 supercell, respectively; (e–h) CDDs of S-doped phosphorene with (e) 2 × 2 × 1, (f) 3 × 3 × 1, (g) 4 × 4 × 1 and (h) 5 × 5 × 1 supercells, respectively. The gold (cyan) isosurfaces represent charge accumulation (depletion), and the

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• and lysosomes in microglia [10]. None of the NPs investigated resulted in cytotoxicity, decreased cell viability, apoptosis, autophagy or inflammation. However, exposure to NPs led to oxidative stress via depletion of cellular glutathione and to a downregulation of neuronal differentiation markers in

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

• surface are still visible. We speculate that under these conditions the cell dies due to the depletion of O2 as a result of slow transport through the electrolyte limited by diffusion in contrast with conventional differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) cells where oxygen is bubbled through

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

• activity; Introduction Nitrogen oxides, NOx (x = 1, 2), contribute to acid rain, photochemical smog, greenhouse effect and ozone depletion [1][2][3]. The selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 (SCR), as a commercialized NOx abatement technology, has received a great deal of attention [4][5]. However

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

• charge gain and loss, respectively. It can be observed that there is charge depletion in Li2Sx and the 2H-MoS2 monolayer, and that charge accumulates between the Li atoms and the S atoms of 2H-MoS2, suggesting a chemical Li–S bond between Li2Sx and the 2H-MoS2 monolayer. With increasing x the charge

The effect of translation on the binding energy for transition-metal porphyrines adsorbed on Ag(111) surface

• Luiza Buimaga-Iarinca and
• Cristian Morari

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 706–717, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.70

• charge transfer occurs through a whole range of effects, from chemical bonds to Pauli push-back of electrons from the close shells and from the surface [69][70][71]. The accumulation of charge in the region between the molecule and the surface indicates the formation of a chemical bond while a depletion

Uniform Sb₂S₃ optical coatings by chemical spray method

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 198–210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.18

• , Figure 4C,D). The decreasing layer thickness indicates that approximately a quarter of Sb2S3 by volume has either evaporated or sublimated, i.e., volatilized. Incongruent evaporation, i.e., depletion of sulfur in Sb2S3 during evaporation, may cause the change in Sb2S3 layer morphology, as volatilization