Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility study of Au/TMC/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites as a promising, nontoxic system for biomedical applications

• Hanieh Shirazi,
• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Soheila Kashanian and
• Kobra Omidfar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1677–1689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.170

• biocompatibility), they can be utilized as catalysts, labels, and as a protective substrate, especially for immobilization of biomolecules in various fields of modern science [29][30]. Au nanoparticles are extensively used in the design and construction of fuel cells and many types of sensors (e.g

Materials for sustainable energy production, storage, and conversion

• Maximilian Fichtner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1601–1602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.163

• density. At the same time, any long term option for energy storage must be based on sustainable materials involving abundant elements in the Earth’s crust. For the reconversion of hydrogen or organic liquids (energy carriers), efficient fuel cells are needed as converters, preferably those based on non

• chemical carriers are discussed in two contributions covering materials issues in two different types of fuel cells: Gregorii L. Soloveichik reports on challenges and perspectives in the field of liquid fuel cells [2]. Materials issues in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells operating at moderately

• on novel systems involving Mg batteries, conversion electrodes based on hydrides, and Na and Li air batteries, respectively. In the fields of fuel cells and batteries, multiscale theoretical modeling is considered to be essential to both understand the structures and energetics of energy materials as

Scalable, high performance, enzymatic cathodes based on nanoimprint lithography

• Dmitry Pankratov,
• Richard Sundberg,
• Javier Sotres,
• Dmitry B. Suyatin,
• Ivan Maximov,
• Sergey Shleev and
• Lars Montelius

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1377–1384, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.142

• commercially available MCO, bilirubin oxidase (BOx), which is one of the main biocatalysts exploited today to design third-generation (i.e., direct electron-transfer-based), O2 reducing biodevices (e.g., O2-sensitive biosensors [18] and biocathodes of enzymatic fuel cells [19]). Contrary to many other MCOs

Heterometal nanoparticles from Ru-based molecular clusters covalently anchored onto functionalized carbon nanotubes and nanofibers

• Deborah Vidick,
• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Michel Devillers,
• Claude Poleunis,
• Arnaud Delcorte,
• Pietro Moggi,
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo and
• Sophie Hermans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1287–1297, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.133

• (CNF)) are well suited as anodes for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) [6][7][8][9], which hold much prospect as a portable energy source for mobile devices. The electrocatalytic activity of Pt–Ru/CNF [7] or Pt–Ru/MWNT [10] composite electrodes for methanol oxidation is found to be better than that of

• ammonium groups (–NMe3+) [38]. The bimetal Ru–Pt association is justified by possible applications in fuel cells as described above, while Au is also considered in this study since Au NPs supported on nanocarbons can be used as sensors for the detection of gases or various life-related molecules such as

• /nanocarbon composites could find application in heterogeneous catalysis or as anodes for direct methanol fuel cells. After promotion with Cs, we showed that our Ru/C nanocomposites are indeed active in ammonia synthesis under very mild conditions. Experimental The experimental strategy was, in general, very

Materials and characterization techniques for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Roswitha Zeis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 68–83, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.8

• Roswitha Zeis Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Helmholtz Institute Ulm, D-89081, Ulm, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.6.8 Abstract The performance of high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC) is critically dependent on the selection of materials and optimization of individual

• ; characterization techniques; high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC); membrane electrode assembly (MEA); phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI); Introduction Fuel cells are among the enabling technologies toward a safe, reliable, and sustainable energy solution. Yet, the lack of

• ) use the fossil fuel resources more efficiently and help to reduce the emission of CO2. This might also be a good strategy for the wide deployment of fuel cells before the hydrogen infrastructure is established. The efficiency of the fuel cell system can be further increased by reusing the exhaust heat

Morphology, structural properties and reducibility of size-selected CeO_2−x nanoparticle films

• Maria Chiara Spadaro,
• Sergio D’Addato,
• Gabriele Gasperi,
• Francesco Benedetti,
• Paola Luches,
• Vincenzo Grillo,
• Giovanni Bertoni and
• Sergio Valeri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 60–67, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.7

• oxide fuel cells [4]. A lot of studies have been performed on ceria NPs while varying their diameter: NPs with diameter less than 5 nm have larger oxygen storage capacity than the ones with higher diameter; this is related to the larger surface area exposed by the smaller NPs [5]. It is well known that

Carbon nano-onions (multi-layer fullerenes): chemistry and applications

• Juergen Bartelmess and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1980–1998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.207

• incorporation of CNOs. The specific capacity increased from 260 mA·h·g−1 to 630 mA·h·g−1, at a current density of 50 mA·g−1. In addition, the authors report an increased rate capability, stable cycling performance, and coulomb efficiency of nearly 100% [65]. Fuel cells: CNOs were also investigated as catalyst

• support for application in direct methanol fuel cells. For this, Xu et al. prepared CNOs decorated with Pt nanoparticles (Pt-CNO) and compared the performance of this novel catalyst material with common Pt/Vulcan XC-72 with encouraging results [66]. The novel Pt-CNO catalyst showed a higher surface area

• and smaller Pt particle size (3.05 nm vs 4.10 nm) than the reference system and the catalytic activity for the electro oxidation of methanol was increased by about 20%, rendering CNOs as a promising catalyst support for fuel cells. Terahertz-shielding: In recent years, terahertz devices, circuits and

Nanocrystalline ceria coatings on solid oxide fuel cell anodes: the role of organic surfactant pretreatments on coating microstructures and sulfur tolerance

• Chieh-Chun Wu,
• Ling Tang and
• Mark R. De Guire

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1712–1724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.181

• coatings from aqueous solution, were applied to anodes of solid oxide fuel cells. The cells were then operated in hydrogen/nitrogen fuel streams with H2S contents ranging from 0 to 500 ppm. Two surfactant treatments were studied: immersion in dodecanethiol, and a multi-step conversion of a siloxy-anchored

• (IV) oxide; microstructure; organic self-assembled monolayers; solid oxide fuel cells; sulfur tolerance; Introduction Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy. Compared to conventional power sources, fuel cells offer higher efficiencies, lower emissions, modular installation

• scalable from milliwatts to megawatts, and distributed power generation to reduce transmission losses [1]. Among fuel cell technologies, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer unique benefits [1][2]. They run not only on hydrogen, but also on widely available hydrocarbon fuels. They need little or no

Liquid fuel cells

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1399–1418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.153

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, NY 12309, USA 10.3762/bjnano.5.153 Abstract The advantages of liquid fuel cells (LFCs) over conventional hydrogen–oxygen fuel cells include a higher theoretical energy density and efficiency, a more convenient handling of the

• exchange membranes; direct alcohol fuel cells; direct borohydride fuel cells; electrocatalysts; liquid fuel cells; organic fuel; proton exchange membranes; Introduction Fuel cells are considered to be one of the key elements of the “hydrogen economy”, in which hydrogen generated from renewable energy

• reaction of hydrogen oxidation in a fuel cell is described by Equation 1 and the cell has an open circuit potential (OCP) of 1.23 V under ambient conditions. There are three major types of hydrogen/air fuel cells differing in the types of ions (protons, hydroxyl, and oxygen anions) transported through the

Synthesis, characterization, and growth simulations of Cu–Pt bimetallic nanoclusters

• Subarna Khanal,
• Ana Spitale,
• Nabraj Bhattarai,
• Daniel Bahena,
• J. Jesus Velazquez-Salazar,
• Sergio Mejía-Rosales,
• Marcelo M. Mariscal and
• Miguel José-Yacaman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1371–1379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.150

• CO2 easily, and useful for electrocatalysis in fuel cells. There is an increasing interest in combining morphology engineering with the synergistic effect of adding a second metal to produce Pt-based particles with higher catalytic activities than pure Pt catalysts [14][15][16][17]. The stability at

• electrocatalytic performance towards the oxidation of CO [18][19], methanol oxidation reactions (MOR) [20][21][22][23][24], polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) [15][25][26][27][28], hydrogen storage [29][30], and detecting hydrogen [31]. For instance, Wu et al. [32] studied a series of Pt-based

Template-directed synthesis and characterization of microstructured ceramic Ce/ZrO₂@SiO₂ composite tubes

• Jörg J. Schneider and
• Meike Naumann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1152–1159, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.126

• acid–base and redox properties, which has led to numerous applications in catalysis, energy related studies (e.g., for solid fuel cells), in gas sensor technologies and in biochemistry [1][2][3]. Its high oxygen storage/release capacity is a result of the high reducibility of Ce4+ to Ce3+, which relies

• ., for solid oxide fuel cells), SOFCs [3][5] and electrochromic smart window applications [11]. Adding silica as a support enhances the oxygen storage capacity (OSC) of such ceria–zirconia composite materials [2][4]. Besides synthetic methods such as the thermal decomposition of precursors [12], co

Volcano plots in hydrogen electrocatalysis – uses and abuses

• Paola Quaino,
• Fernanda Juarez,
• Elizabeth Santos and
• Wolfgang Schmickler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 846–854, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.96

• bars. There are more data for acid than for alkaline media, because the former are relevant for the most popular type of fuel cells, proton-exchange membrane (PEM) cells. Both plots look quite similar, but the fastest rates in acid solutions are somewhat faster than in alkaline. Neither of the plots

• of them has been successful [12]. For practical applications in fuel cells, the problem is not hydrogen oxidation but oxygen reduction, which is slow and inefficient. The full reduction involves four electron transfer steps, and possibly other chemical steps. The overall rate on a given substrate

Adsorption and oxidation of formaldehyde on a polycrystalline Pt film electrode: An in situ IR spectroscopy search for adsorbed reaction intermediates

• Zenonas Jusys and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 747–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.87

• in electrocatalysis over the last decades, both from a fundamental aspect as a model reaction for the oxidation of more complex organic molecules and because of the potential application of these compounds as fuel in direct oxidation fuel cells [1]. In the meantime, it has been generally accepted

An analytical approach to evaluate the performance of graphene and carbon nanotubes for NH₃ gas sensor applications

• Elnaz Akbari,
• Vijay K. Arora,
• Aria Enzevaee,
• Mohamad. T. Ahmadi,
• Mehdi Saeidmanesh,
• Mohsen Khaledian,
• Hediyeh Karimi and
• Rubiyah Yusof

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 726–734, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.85

• . A CNT is known to have a very high electrical and thermal conductivity as well as a high Young's modulus giving it the mechanical strength. The applications of CNTs are broad due to their compact structure and include transistors, sensors, solar cells, fuel cells, etc. [17]. Andre Geim and

Resonance of graphene nanoribbons doped with nitrogen and boron: a molecular dynamics study

• Ye Wei,
• Haifei Zhan,
• Kang Xia,
• Wendong Zhang,
• Shengbo Sang and
• Yuantong Gu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 717–725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.84

• the electronic and quantum transport properties of graphene. Such doped graphene is envisioned with exciting applications as high-performance FET devices [8], and metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction fuel cells [9]. In addition to doping, various graphene derivatives have also been

A catechol biosensor based on electrospun carbon nanofibers

• Dawei Li,
• Zengyuan Pang,
• Xiaodong Chen,
• Lei Luo,
• Yibing Cai and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 346–354, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.39

• widely applied in the fields of fuel cells and sensors [31][32]. In the present work, we prepared ECNFs by carbonizing electrospun PAN nanofibers, and a novel catechol biosensor was fabricated through dropping a mixture solution made of ECNFs, laccase and Nafion on a processed glass-like-carbon electrode

Atomic layer deposition, a unique method for the preparation of energy conversion devices

• Julien Bachmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 245–248, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.26

• Julien Bachmann Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Egerlandstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.5.26 Keywords: atomic layer deposition; batteries; energy conversion; electrochemistry; electrolysis; fuel cells; photovoltaics; solar

• ), between light and chemical forms (photosynthesis and chemiluminescence), and between chemical and electrical forms (batteries, electrolyzers, fuel cells, respiration) always relies on the transport of charge carriers towards an interface and away from it, combined with the transfer of electrons at the

• interface. This electron transfer, the most fundamental energy-converting single event, occurs at the interface between two phases, which can have various identities depending on the type of device. In most solar cells these two phases are two solid semiconductors, in batteries and fuel cells they are

Modeling and optimization of atomic layer deposition processes on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Nuri Yazdani,
• Vipin Chawla,
• Eve Edwards,
• Vanessa Wood,
• Hyung Gyu Park and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 234–244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.25

• been applied in battery [2][3][4][5] and supercapacitor electrodes [6][7][8][9][10][11][12], fuel cells [13], and sensors [14][15][16][17]. For many of the proposed applications of these CNT/ceramic hybrids, the performances of the devices depend crucially on the thickness and conformality of the

En route to controlled catalytic CVD synthesis of densely packed and vertically aligned nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays

• Slawomir Boncel,
• Sebastian W. Pattinson,
• Valérie Geiser,
• Milo S. P. Shaffer and
• Krzysztof K. K. Koziol

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 219–233, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.24

• fuel cells [23] or paracetamol sensors [24]. Nitrogen atoms can be incorporated into the CNT lattice trough either in situ or post-treatment strategies [25]. The former techniques are dominant and comprise primarily catalytic chemical vapour deposition (c-CVD) and its variations, which include bias or

3D-nanoarchitectured Pd/Ni catalysts prepared by atomic layer deposition for the electrooxidation of formic acid

• Loïc Assaud,
• Evans Monyoncho,
• Kristina Pitzschel,
• Anis Allagui,
• Matthieu Petit,
• Margrit Hanbücken,
• Elena A. Baranova and
• Lionel Santinacci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 162–172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.16

• ); direct formic acid fuel cells; electrooxidation; nanostructured catalysts; Pd/Ni; Introduction Over the last decade, the miniaturization of fuel cells for the fast expanding market of portable devices has become a challenging research topic. Direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) systems as

Design criteria for stable Pt/C fuel cell catalysts

• Josef C. Meier,
• Carolina Galeano,
• Ioannis Katsounaros,
• Jonathon Witte,
• Hans J. Bongard,
• Angel A. Topalov,
• Claudio Baldizzone,
• Stefano Mezzavilla,
• Ferdi Schüth and
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 44–67, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.5

• exchange membrane fuel cells. To develop a better understanding on how material design can influence the degradation processes on the nanoscale, three specific Pt/C catalysts with different structural characteristics were investigated in depth: a conventional Pt/Vulcan catalyst with a particle size of 3–4

• occur in hydrogen fuel cells. A variety of studies have demonstrated that platinum dissolution can occur in PEMFCs during operation, as dissolved platinum was detected in the water stream that exited the fuel cells [43]. Platinum was also found to redeposit in the membrane of PEMFCs as a consequence of

• . It is worth to mention in this context that first measurements in real fuel cells also indicate an improved stability in line with these findings [71]. Design considerations The results presented so far, can be summarized in the following. A structural breakdown of the carbon support is not playing a

Some reflections on the understanding of the oxygen reduction reaction at Pt(111)

• Ana M. Gómez-Marín,
• Ruben Rizo and
• Juan M. Feliu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 956–967, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.108

• the most important challenges in electrocatalysis and it is undoubtedly the most important cathodic process in fuel cells. It is a complex 4-electron reaction that involves the breaking of a double bond and the formation of 4 OH-bonds through several elementary steps and intermediate species. A

• , which are widely used as ORR catalyst in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells [11][12][13]. In addition, the role of the adsorbed oxygen-containing species and the possible relevance of the hydrogen peroxide oxidation and reduction reactions (HPORR) in the ORR mechanism are discussed. This is done

• for fuel cells, which would require large Pt nanoparticles. Fortunately, however, in alkali solutions Pt can be replaced by Ni and thus the main challenge in alkaline fuel cells is less the catalyst in comparison to the finding of a suitable membrane. The interesting point is that the Pt reactivity

Energy-related nanomaterials

• Paul Ziemann and
• Alexei R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 678–679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.76

• concern fuel cells, Li-based batteries, and organic solar cells, to energy-related applications of nanographite and silicon nanotubes as well as the optimization of thermoelectric materials and electrochemistry-based microscopy. We would like to thank all colleagues for their valuable contributions and

Ultramicrosensors based on transition metal hexacyanoferrates for scanning electrochemical microscopy

• Maria A. Komkova,
• Angelika Holzinger,
• Andreas Hartmann,
• Alexei R. Khokhlov,
• Christine Kranz,
• Arkady A. Karyakin and
• Oleg G. Voronin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 649–654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.72

• of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is of great importance in monitoring of food and the environment [1] as well as clinical [2], biological and chemical studies [3]. For example, hydrogen peroxide is a marker of inflammatory diseases [4]. Moreover, in fuel cells research, hydrogen peroxide is one of the key

• molecules as it is produced in the cathode chamber of the hydrogen–oxygen fuel cells causing degradation of the proton-exchange membranes [5]. Investigations of the local distribution of hydrogen peroxide on the surface of living cells and electrode materials as well as the in vivo analysis requires sensors

AFM as an analysis tool for high-capacity sulfur cathodes for Li–S batteries

• Renate Hiesgen,
• Seniz Sörgel,
• Rémi Costa,
• Linus Carlé,
• Ines Galm,
• Natalia Cañas,
• Brigitta Pascucci and
• K. Andreas Friedrich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 611–624, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.68

• fuel cells (GDL), positioned in front of the cathode has led to capacities, in dependence on the discharge rate, of 1000–1200 mA·g(sulfur)−1 [23]. In this work, the aim is to investigate the electrical and morphological stability of lithium–sulfur cathodes manufactured by suspension spraying or doctor