Fabrication of nanocrystal forms of ᴅ-cycloserine and their application for transdermal and enteric drug delivery systems

• Hsuan-Ang Tsai,
• Tsai-Miao Shih,
• Theodore Tsai,
• Jhe-Wei Hu,
• Yi-An Lai,
• Jui-Fu Hsiao and
• Guochuan Emil Tsai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 465–474, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.42

• that a driving force similar to the EPR effect might be one of the forces driving DCS nanocrystals to penetrate the skin layer. The findings above implied that DCS nanocrystals had a much better penetration capability through human skin and could be applied for transdermal drug delivery due to their

• future. In addition, we found that combining passive transport and EPR-like force allowed DCS nanocrystals to overcome their high hydrophilic properties and penetrate the skin layer. These formulations can be applied as a reservoir patch system for long-term transdermal delivery. In summary, DCS

Heat-induced morphological changes in silver nanowires deposited on a patterned silicon substrate

• Elyad Damerchi,
• Sven Oras,
• Edgars Butanovs,
• Allar Liivlaid,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Boris Polyakov,
• Annamarija Trausa,
• Veronika Zadin,
• Andreas Kyritsakis,
• Loïc Vidal,
• Karine Mougin,
• Siim Pikker and
• Sergei Vlassov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 435–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.39

• a driving force for the redistribution of Ag atoms and splitting of the adhered part of a NW into shorter fragments as a mechanism for stress mitigation. For the suspended parts, the thermal expansion should result in deformation. To estimate the extent and distribution of the heat-induced

Unveiling the nature of atomic defects in graphene on a metal surface

• Karl Rothe,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 416–425, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.37

• smallest defects appear as a depression without discernible interior structure suggesting the presence of vacancy sites in the graphene lattice. With an atomic force microscope, however, only one kind can be identified as a vacancy defect with four missing carbon atoms, while the other kind reveals an

• intact graphene sheet. Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the differential conductance and the measurement of total-force variations as a function of the lateral and vertical probe–defect distance corroborate the different character of the defects. The tendency of the vacancy defect to form a chemical

• bond with the microscope probe is reflected by the strongest attraction at the vacancy center as well as by hysteresis effects in force traces recorded for tip approach to and retraction from the Pauli repulsion range of vertical distances. Keywords: atomic force microscopy and spectroscopy; graphene

Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• tested insects showed a strong reduction of the maximum traction force on all waxy plant surfaces compared to the reference experiment on glass (gl1). After beetles have walked on waxy plant substrates, their adhesive pads were contaminated with wax material, however, to different extents depending on

• the plant species. The insects demonstrated significantly lower values of both the maximum traction force and the first peak of the traction force and needed significantly longer time to reach the maximum force value in the gl2 test than in the gl1 test. These effects were especially pronounced in

• experimentally supports the contamination hypothesis. Keywords: adhesion; Chrysolina fastuosa; Chrysomelidae; Coleoptera; epicuticular wax projections; tenent setae; traction force; Introduction It has been shown in numerous experimental studies that insects possessing hairy adhesive pads (i.e., specialized

Investigating ripple pattern formation and damage profiles in Si and Ge induced by 100 keV Ar⁺ ion beam: a comparative study

• Indra Sulania,
• Harpreet Sondhi,
• Tanuj Kumar,
• Sunil Ojha,
• G R Umapathy,
• Ambuj Mishra,
• Ambuj Tripathi,
• Richa Krishna,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi and
• Yogendra Kumar Mishra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 367–375, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.33

• using atomic force microscopy, and induced damage profiles inside Si and Ge by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. The ripple wavelength was found to scale with ion fluence, and energetic ions created more defects inside Si as compared to that of Ge. Although

• clustering of defects leads to a subsequent increase of the damage peak in irradiated samples (for an ion fluence of ≈9 × 1017 ions/cm2) compared to that in unirradiated samples. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; ion beam; nanopatterns; radiation damage; Rutherford backscattering spectrometry; transmission

• in a controlled manner on a wide variety of substrates with required dimensions. There are reports from 1960’s, by Cunningham et al. [1] and Navez et al. [2], on the production of submicron and nanoscale patterns by IBS. However, with the availability of high-resolution tools such as atomic force

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• uniformity. WSxM software was used to carry out AFM image analysis. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) was used to study the local work function of the WOx films. WOx samples were removed from the high-vacuum environment right before the KPFM measurements to avoid any contamination in air. For KPFM

Exploring the relationships between physiochemical properties of nanoparticles and cell damage to combat cancer growth using simple periodic table-based descriptors

• Joyita Roy and
• Kunal Roy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 297–309, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.27

• valence potential allow for an easier formation of the electrostatic double layer (EDL). If the solution with NPs shifts to lower ionic strength, then the zeta potential increases as the EDL expands to balance the electrostatic force, thus allowing for the dispersion of NPs. The descriptor

Determining by Raman spectroscopy the average thickness and N-layer-specific surface coverages of MoS₂ thin films with domains much smaller than the laser spot size

• Felipe Wasem Klein,
• Jean-Roch Huntzinger,
• Vincent Astié,
• Damien Voiry,
• Romain Parret,
• Houssine Makhlouf,
• Sandrine Juillaguet,
• Jean-Manuel Decams,
• Sylvie Contreras,
• Périne Landois,
• Ahmed-Azmi Zahab,
• Jean-Louis Sauvajol and
• Matthieu Paillet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 279–296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.26

• . However, atomic force microscopy revealed that they are constituted of nanoflakes (with a lateral size of typically 50 nm) with possibly a distribution of thicknesses. Furthermore, depending on the synthesis conditions, the MoS2 surface coverage can be incomplete, and the thin film average thickness can

Design, fabrication, and characterization of kinetic-inductive force sensors for scanning probe applications

• August K. Roos,
• Ermes Scarano,
• Elisabet K. Arvidsson,
• Erik Holmgren and
• David B. Haviland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 242–255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.23

• August K. Roos Ermes Scarano Elisabet K. Arvidsson Erik Holmgren David B. Haviland Department of Applied Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Hannes Alfvéns väg 12, SE-114 19 Stockholm, Sweden 10.3762/bjnano.15.23 Abstract We describe a transducer for low-temperature atomic force

• microscopy based on electromechanical coupling due to a strain-dependent kinetic inductance of a superconducting nanowire. The force sensor is a bending triangular plate (cantilever) whose deflection is measured via a shift in the resonant frequency of a high-Q superconducting microwave resonator at 4.5 GHz

• . We present design simulations including mechanical finite-element modeling of surface strain and electromagnetic simulations of meandering nanowires with large kinetic inductance. We discuss a lumped-element model of the force sensor and describe the role of an additional shunt inductance for tuning

Quantitative wear evaluation of tips based on sharp structures

• Ke Xu and
• Houwen Leng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 230–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.22

• Ke Xu Houwen Leng School of Electrical & Control Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China 10.3762/bjnano.15.22 Abstract To comprehensively study the influence of atomic force microscopy (AFM) scanning parameters on tip wear, a tip wear assessment method based on sharp

• scanning frequency and free amplitude, and a set point of approximately 0.2, resulting in clear, high-quality AFM images. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; estimated tip diameter; scanning parameter; tip reconstruction; tip wear; Introduction AFM is a commonly used multifunctional technology in

• scans, and the degree of wear increases with higher free amplitude. This increase is due to the increase in tip–sample force when the distance is constant [22][23]. To investigate the impact of the line scanning frequency on wear, the tip’s free amplitude was maintained at approximately 300 mV, the set

Multiscale modelling of biomolecular corona formation on metallic surfaces

• Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini,
• Ian Rouse,
• Julia Subbotina and
• Vladimir Lobaskin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 215–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.21

• (TiO2, SiO2, and Fe2O3), carbonaceous NPs (graphene, carbon nanotubes, and carbon black), semiconductors (CdSe) [26], and polymers [27], it lacks the set of short-range potentials required for calculating milk protein-aluminum adsorption energies. Here, we compute potentials of mean force (PMF) for Al

• GROMACS-2018.6 and PLUMED (PLUMED2-2.5.1.conda.5) software packages [29][30][31]. CHARMM-GUI/Nanomaterial Modeler was employed to construct the topology and force fields of three fcc surfaces of Al: (100), (110), and (111) [32]. The General Amber Force Field (GAFF) was utilized to model side-chains

• analogues (SCA) within the system [33][34]. The AMBER force field is a widely recognized and extensively validated force field that provides accurate descriptions of molecular systems [35]. We evaluated the short-range PMFs between 22 SCAs and an Al slab in a solvent environment comprising water and salt

Ion beam processing of DNA origami nanostructures

• Leo Sala,
• Agnes Zerolová,
• Violaine Vizcaino,
• Alain Mery,
• Alicja Domaracka,
• Hermann Rothard,
• Philippe Boduch,
• Dominik Pinkas and
• Jaroslav Kocišek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 207–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.20

• for about 2 h. Afterwards, 100 μL of the synthesis mixture was filtered through 100 kDa MWCO Amicon centrifugal filter units to remove excess staple strands. This was done three times, each time adding 400 μL of FOB, at a relative centrifugal force of 4000g for 4 min. The filters were then flipped and

Graphene removal by water-assisted focused electron-beam-induced etching – unveiling the dose and dwell time impact on the etch profile and topographical changes in SiO₂ substrates

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Jan M. Michalik,
• Inés Serrano-Esparza,
• Zdeněk Nováček,
• Veronika Novotná,
• Piotr Ozga,
• Czesław Kapusta and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 190–198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.18

• provides information about the degree of damage caused by this method. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements reveal important aspects of topographical changes induced in the substrate and help to establish optimized conditions for the etching process. Results The fundamentals of water-assisted FEBIE

• those with similar characteristics, allowing us to distinguish between irradiated and nonirradiated areas of the graphene layer and evaluate the etching results. Atomic force microscopy Precise surface analysis of etched structures can be performed by AFM. We used a unique AFM LiteScope from NenoVision

Modification of graphene oxide and its effect on properties of natural rubber/graphene oxide nanocomposites

• Nghiem Thi Thuong,
• Le Dinh Quang,
• Vu Quoc Cuong,
• Cao Hong Ha,
• Nguyen Ba Lam and
• Seiichi Kawahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 168–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.16

• chemical interaction between GO and NR. Dynamic mechanical properties Dynamic mechanical properties of composite samples reveal how much energy is stored or lost during applied cyclic shearing force. Figure 11 shows the dependence of the storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G''), and loss tangent (tan δ) of

• G' value of DPNR/GO could be explained by thin and large surface GO layers. The GO sheet could not withstand large shearing force, causing the rubber particles to slip. The high G' value of DPNR/GO-VTES(a) and DPNR/GO-VTES(b) may be due to hard silica particles, which may contribute to higher energy

• dissipation while applying force than DPNR/GO-VTES(a) and DPNR. The loss tangent (tan δ) is defined as a G''/G' ratio. The dependence of tan δ with frequency for DPNR/GO samples was quite similar to that of DPNR, in which tan δ decreased as frequency decreased. This phenomenon is appointed to the pure

CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as a booster in the active layer of distributed ternary organic photovoltaics

• Gabriela Lewińska,
• Piotr Jeleń,
• Zofia Kucia,
• Maciej Sitarz,
• Łukasz Walczak,
• Bartłomiej Szafraniak,
• Jerzy Sanetra and
• Konstanty W. Marszalek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 144–156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.14

• relations of refractive indices and extinction coefficient were investigated. The morphologies of the thin films were studied with atomic force microscopy. The chemical boundaries of the ternary layers were determined by Raman spectroscopy. Based on UPS studies, the energy diagram of the potential devices

• carried out for three incidence angles (65°, 70°, and 75°). A Bruker atomic force microscope (AFM) MULTIMODE 8 was used in the measurements in the ScanAsyst in Air mode, using silicon nitride probes (with a nominal tip radius of 2 nm and a spring constant equal to 0.4 N/m). The substrate was

• observed in our study. Atomic force microscopy Surface examinations of the sample mixtures were performed. Figure 7 illustrates the surface morphology in a two-dimensional format. Three-dimensional images of the surface are in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1. The roughness profile parameters for

Enhanced feedback performance in off-resonance AFM modes through pulse train sampling

• Mustafa Kangül,
• Navid Asmari,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Marcos Penedo and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 134–143, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.13

• Mustafa Kangul Navid Asmari Santiago H. Andany Marcos Penedo Georg E. Fantner Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland 10.3762/bjnano.15.13 Abstract Dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) modes that operate

• force, as well as reduced lateral force. Simultaneously, they enable mechanical property mapping of the sample. However, ORT modes have an intrinsic drawback: a low scan speed due to the limited ORT rate, generally in the low-kilohertz range. Here, we analyze how the conventional ORT control method

• vertical force changes during a defined time window of the tip–sample interaction. Through this, we use multiple samples in the proximity of the maximum force for the feedback loop, rather than only one sample at the maximum force instant. This method leads to improved topography tracking at a given ORT

Assessing phytotoxicity and tolerance levels of ZnO nanoparticles on Raphanus sativus: implications for widespread adoptions

• Pathirannahalage Sahan Samuditha,
• Nadeesh Madusanka Adassooriya and
• Nazeera Salim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 115–125, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.11

• microvoids in the liquid. This exerted a shear force on NP agglomerates, effectively overcoming the van der Waals force that holds them together [56]. The effect of ZnO NPs on soluble protein and IAA contents Plants grown in coir medium treated with 10,000 mg/L did not survive. Therefore, protein and IAA

Berberine-loaded polylactic acid nanofiber scaffold as a drug delivery system: The relationship between chemical characteristics, drug-release behavior, and antibacterial efficiency

• Le Thi Le,
• Hue Thi Nguyen,
• Liem Thanh Nguyen,
• Huy Quang Tran and
• Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 71–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.7

• positively charged quaternary ammonium groups of BBR, increasing the charge density of the blend solution. As the higher charged solution jet, the elongation force imposed on the jet was higher, forming smaller fibers [3][34]. Interestingly, although the same amount of BBR drug was incorporated in the BBR

TEM sample preparation of lithographically patterned permalloy nanostructures on silicon nitride membranes

• Joshua Williams,
• Michael I. Faley,
• Joseph Vimal Vas,
• Peng-Han Lu and
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1–12, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.1

• in Py nanodisks [1][2] with independent polarity and helicity [3]. Since then, many studies have been done on manipulating magnetic vortices inside Py nanodisks using micromagnetic simulations [4][5][6] and a variety of magnetic measurement techniques including magnetic force microscopy [7

• force onto the electron beam, which deflects the beam. The force on each electron in the beam is given by where F is the force, e is the charge, v is the relativistic velocity of the electron beam, and B is the magnetic field exerted by the sample. In the case of a vortex structure, the electron beam is

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

• Tobias Dickbreder,
• Franziska Sabath,
• Lukas Höltkemeier,
• Ralf Bechstein and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1225–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.101

• force microscopy; calibration; drift correction; image correlation functions; periodic structures; scanning probe microscopy; Introduction In science and technology, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques are widely used to study the structure and properties of surfaces and interfaces from the

Determination of the radii of coated and uncoated silicon AFM sharp tips using a height calibration standard grating and a nonlinear regression function

• Perawat Boonpuek and
• Jonathan R. Felts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1200–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.99

• . However, this method yields an accurate estimate of the tip radius with a low root mean squared error of the curve fitting results. Keywords: AFM tip calibration; nonlinear regression curve fitting; Introduction Atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a sharp tip is typically used to characterize

• force curves with contact mechanics models and extracting the adhesion and friction forces [5][6]. If we do not know the exact value of the tip radius, the sample image with the observation of scanning frequency and the calculation results are not accurate. This indicates that the measurement results

• strongly depend on the geometry of the AFM tip [7][8]. For example, the Pt-coated HQ:NSC18/Pt tip (for electrical force modulation AFM probes) and the Cr/Au-coated HQ:NSC16/Cr-Au tip (for tapping mode AFM probes with long AFM cantilever) produced by MikroMasch [9] have estimated nominal tip radii lower

A combined gas-phase dissociative ionization, dissociative electron attachment and deposition study on the potential FEBID precursor [Au(CH₃)₂Cl]₂

• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Ali Kamali,
• Thomas Xaver Gentner,
• Gerd Ballmann,
• Sjoerd Harder,
• Hans-Peter Steinrück,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1178–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.98

• three experiments. The FEBID structures were investigated by SEM and noncontact atomic force microscopy (AFM). Figure 3a shows the SEM images of the deposits along with the respective deposition parameters. Magnified sections from these SEM images are shown in Figure 3b. Auger electron spectroscopy was

Spatial variations of conductivity of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol on Au/mica and Au/Si substrates

• Julian Skolaut,
• Jędrzej Tepper,
• Federica Galli,
• Wulf Wulfhekel and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1169–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.97

• electronics. A common test bed for fundamental investigations on how to acquire this conductivity are alkanethiol layers on gold substrates. A widely used approach in measuring the conductivity of a molecular layer is conductive atomic force microscopy. Using this method, we investigate the influence of a

• /Si; conductive atomic force microscopy; dodecanethiol; self-assembled monolayers; Introduction For decades, the need for miniaturization of electronics has pushed the research field into the direction of bottom-up, rather than top-down, approaches. In this research field, molecular electronics [1][2

• applied method uses conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). In this technique, a conductive probe is used in an AFM, which allows for imaging the surface topography (and other characteristics such as adhesion and stiffness) with lateral resolution while simultaneously being able to measure current

Hierarchically patterned polyurethane microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes for neurite elongation and alignment

• Lester Uy Vinzons,
• Guo-Chung Dong and
• Shu-Ping Lin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1157–1168, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.96

• uncrosslinked PDMS monomers (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S3C). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans of the samples (Figure 1F–H) show that the nanopillars and nanoholes have sub-micrometer feature sizes and a periodicity of around 1.2 µm. Due to AFM measurement artifacts, especially for lateral

• ) Cross-sectional profile of the flat (F), nanopillar (G), and nanohole (H) PU surface from atomic force microscopy scans, showing the dimensions of the nanostructures (G, H). (Dimensions in parentheses were obtained from SEM images in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S4.) (I) Water contact angles on

• microgroove (C), pillar–groove (D), and hole–groove (E) substrates, with corresponding high-magnification images (insets). (F–H) Cross-sectional profile of the microgroove (F), pillar–groove (G), and hole–groove (H) PU surface from atomic force microscopy scans, showing the dimensions of the structures. (I, J

Elasticity, an often-overseen parameter in the development of nanoscale drug delivery systems

• Agnes-Valencia Weiss and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1149–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.95

• article, we discuss examples highlighting the influence of elasticity in nanoscale biological interactions focusing on mucosal delivery and on tumor targeting. Besides this, we discuss the influence of different measurement settings using atomic force microscopy for the determination of mechanical

• properties of drug carriers. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; drug delivery; elasticity; mechanical properties; nanomedicine; nanoparticles; stiffness measurement; tissue/body distribution; Introduction Drug delivery systems are developed with the aim to transport a given drug to the site of action

• determine mechanical properties of nanoparticles (or their corresponding bulk materials) highlighting quartz crystal microbalance, rheology, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are summarized by Li et al. [18]. Another often reported method is particle deformability, being extrusion a possibility for