Optimisation of purification techniques for the preparation of large-volume aqueous solar nanoparticle inks for organic photovoltaics

• Furqan Almyahi,
• Thomas R. Andersen,
• Nathan A. Cooling,
• Natalie P. Holmes,
• Matthew J. Griffith,
• Krishna Feron,
• Xiaojing Zhou,
• Warwick J. Belcher and
• Paul C. Dastoor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 649–659, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.60

• determined for both ultrafiltration processes by a UV–vis spectrophotometric method as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2A shows the absorbance values of methylene blue (MB) at 664 nm for the filtrates of ASNP inks that were purified by the centrifugal and the crossflow ultrafiltration techniques with dilution

• ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrophotometer (UV–vis, Varian Cary 6000i) was used to determine the free SDS concentration. This method works by measuring the absorption of methylene blue (MB) and monitoring its reduced absorption after forming a complex with free SDS [29]. Measurements were conducted on

Facile synthesis of ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalysts for decolourization of organic dyes under solar irradiation

• Arjun Behera,
• Debasmita Kandi,
• Sanjit Manohar Majhi,
• Satyabadi Martha and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 436–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.42

• the organic dyes (i.e., Congo red, Rh B, malachite green methylene blue) to CO2, H2O and the corresponding mineral acids [19][24]. Movahedi et al. have prepared ZnFe2O4 through precipitation tested the photocatalytic activity of ZnFe2O4 in the degradation of 5 ppm Congo red obtaining 64% degradation

Hyperthermic intracavitary nanoaerosol therapy (HINAT) as an improved approach for pressurised intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC): Technical description, experimental validation and first proof of concept

• Daniel Göhler,
• Stephan Große,
• Alexander Bellendorf,
• Thomas Albert Falkenstein,
• Mehdi Ouaissi,
• Jürgen Zieren,
• Michael Stintz and
• Urs Giger-Pabst

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2729–2740, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.272

• intra-abdominal temperature by means of a temperature/humidity probe (XA Lufft; Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH, Fellbach, Germany). In order to visualise the droplet deposition, HINAT-LAU was operated with an undiluted aqueous methylene blue solution (Toluidinblau; Dr. Franz Köhler Chemie GmbH

• , Bensheim, Germany) at 3 bar system pressure based on pressurized carbon dioxide. The aqueous methylene blue solution was heated by a thermostat to reach an aerosol temperature of 41 °C. Aerosol charging was performed extracavitary as well as intracavitary by operating a brush electrode (IonwandTM, Alesi

• charging. As expected, the even more homogeneously deposited ultrafine droplets of the extracavitary-charged HINAT-LAU aerosol showed neither a local methylene blue staining nor a visible staining of the whole peritoneum. In the case of intracavitary aerosol change, which goes along with an increased

L-Lysine-grafted graphene oxide as an effective adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue and metal ions

• Yan Yan,
• Jie Li,
• Fangbei Kong,
• Kuankuan Jia,
• Shiyu He and
• Baorong Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2680–2688, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.268

• properties of Lys-GO were characterized using infrared spectrometry, scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The as-prepared Lys-GO material was systematically investigated in a series of batch adsorption experiments for the removal of methylene blue (MB) and copper ions (Cu2

• promising adsorption material for the removal of environmental pollutants. Keywords: adsorption; copper (Cu) ions; graphene; isotherms; methylene blue; Introduction Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon material with honeycomb network and sp2 hybridization. Recently, graphene-based materials have drawn

• -GO. GO is an acidic material, and the basic L-lysine can adjust the acid–base properties of GO. Lys-GO showed excellent adsorption capability for the removal of methylene blue (MB) and Cu2+ from simulated wastewater. Results and Discussion Characterization of the Lys-GO hybrid Firstly, the obtained

Fabrication of carbon nanospheres by the pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile–poly(methyl methacrylate) core–shell composite nanoparticles

• Dafu Wei,
• Youwei Zhang and
• Jinping Fu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.190

• /g were obtained from the PAN–PMMA nanoparticles synthesized at an FVR of 1.6. The carbon nanospheres exhibited a large adsorption capacity of 190.0 mg/g for methylene blue, thus making them excellent adsorbents for the removal of organic pollutants from water. Keywords: carbon nanospheres; core

• exhibit a high BET specific surface area of 612.8 m2/g and a large adsorption capacity of 190.0 mg/g for methylene blue, thus making them excellent adsorbents for the removal of organic pollutants from water. Experimental Materials Acrylonitrile (AN) was distilled before use to remove the inhibitor

• . Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was distilled at a reduced pressure before use to remove the inhibitor. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and methylene blue (MB) were used without further purification. 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was used as the initiator and purified via recrystallization in methanol

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

Enhanced catalytic activity without the use of an external light source using microwave-synthesized CuO nanopetals

• Govinda Lakhotiya,
• Sonal Bajaj,
• Arpan Kumar Nayak,
• Debabrata Pradhan,
• Pradip Tekade and
• Abhimanyu Rana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1167–1173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.118

• also under dark conditions for the degradation of the hazardous dye methylene blue. The CuO nanopetals showed significant catalytic activity for the fast degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B (RhB) under dark conditions, without the application of an external light source. This increased

• catalytic activity was attributed to the co-operative role of H2O2 and the large specific surface area (≈40 m2·g−1) of the nanopetals. We propose a detail mechanism for this fast degradation. A separate study of the effect of different H2O2 concentrations for the degradation of methylene blue under dark

• application of an external light source and also under dark conditions for the degradation of hazardous dyes such as methylene blue and rhodamine B. We report enhanced catalytic activity of the synthesized CuO nanopetals, even without the use of an external light source (UV/visible light) for the degradation

ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• both under solar and visible light illumination (light intensity = 5 mW/cm2) of all the ZnO/ZCIS composites prepared, we selected Orange II dye as a model contaminant because this dye is not a photosensitizer (in contrast to Methylene Blue or Rhodamine which promote photocatalytic degradation). Prior

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• decomposition of methylene blue (MB) [127], for the catalytic decomposition of aqueous organics [128], for carbon dioxide adsorption [129], for ORR [130], for enhancing electrochemical performance for supercapacitors [131][132][133], and for catalytic oxidation and adsorption of elementary mercury [134]. Bag et

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• hybrid polymeric films in the degradation of other pollutants such as dyes (methylene blue, methyl orange, nile red) in a fashion similar to the above molecules should be tested. Conclusion Polymeric composites containing TiO2 NPs, pure or combined with Si–O–Si linkages and/or Fe2O3 NPs were prepared via

Laser irradiation in water for the novel, scalable synthesis of black TiO_x photocatalyst for environmental remediation

• Massimo Zimbone,
• Giuseppe Cacciato,
• Mohamed Boutinguiza,
• Vittorio Privitera and
• Maria Grazia Grimaldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 196–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.21

• a 2 MeV He+ beam with a scattering angle of 165° in normal incidence. The RUMP software was employed for the analysis of the RBS spectra. In order to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the TiOx nanostructured film, the methylene blue (MB) discoloration test was performed [24]. The apparent

• recombination [2]. In the present work, the photocatalytic activity is measured by using the methylene blue (MB) discoloration method [27]. Samples for discolouration measurements were prepared by sandwiching the Ti substrate between a TiOx layer (irradiated surface) and a Pt nanoparticle layer, thus realizing

• formula: C/C0 = e−kt. A discoloration rate k of 0.22 ± 0.01 and 0.01 ± 0.01 h−1·cm−2 was measured for TiOx/Ti/PtNps and MB, respectively. By using the above result, a quantum efficiency of 0.041% is calculated for the decolouration of methylene blue in water. It is worth noting that the UV quantum

Optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanoplumes

• Viviana Scuderi,
• Massimo Zimbone,
• Maria Miritello,
• Giuseppe Nicotra,
• Giuliana Impellizzeri and
• Vittorio Privitera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 190–195, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.20

• of the synthesized material and related them to the efficiency of UV photodegradation of methylene blue dye. The obtained results show that TiO2 nanoplumes act as an effective antireflective layer increasing the UV photocatalytic yield of the film. Keywords: black titania; nanostructures

• of methylene blue (MB). The obtained results show that TiO2 nanoplumes act as effective antireflective layer increasing the UV photocatalytic yield. Results and Discussion In order to observe the morphology of the films we analyzed the Ti samples after different etching times by SEM in plan view. Two

• of the synthesized material were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye, a chemical compound commonly used to evaluate the photocatalytic efficiency of a material. The experimental setup was in agreement with the ISO 10678:2010 international standard. The samples were immersed in a

A novel electrochemical nanobiosensor for the ultrasensitive and specific detection of femtomolar-level gastric cancer biomarker miRNA-106a

• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Kobra Omidfar and
• Hossein Ghanbarian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2023–2036, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.193

• methodology and reached a low detection limit for miRNA [29], most of the label-free miRNA biosensors are developed using molecular probes such as methylene blue [30], Oracet blue [21], and ferrocene boronic acid [31]. In spite of the quicker and more accurate results offered by the label-free methods, it

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• water solution was tested using methylene blue and ibuprofen compounds, respectively, as model of pollutants. Keywords: delamination; montmorillonite; organoclays; photocatalysis; porous clay heterostructures; sepiolite; ZnO nanoparticles; Introduction In the last decades, great effort has been

• immobilized and photoactive. To confirm this, the resulting ZnO/silica-clay heterostructured porous solids have been tested in photocatalytic experiments using water solutions of methylene blue (MB) dye or ibupofren drug, as models of organic pollutants, to prove their efficiency as photocatalysts for

• different applications as a photocatalyst. Hence, their activity has been tested using methylene blue (MB) model dye molecule. Figure 11 shows the concentration of methylene blue solutions (C/C0) as a function of the UV irradiation time in presence of SiO2/ZnO montmorillonite and ZnO/SiO2-sepiolite

“Sticky invasion” – the physical properties of Plantago lanceolata L. seed mucilage

• Agnieszka Kreitschitz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1918–1927, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.183

• along a dirt road in the wilderness near Wrocław, Poland. To examine the mucilage composition, staining reactions with 0.1% aqueous solution of ruthenium red (pectin staining), with 0.01% aqueous solution of methylene blue (cellulose staining) and with 0.1% aqueous solution of Direct Red 23 (specific

• ) revealed the presence of pectins in the mucilage. Staining with methylene blue (Figure 1B) and Direct Red 23 (Figure 1C) revealed the presence of cellulose. The cellulose fibrils kept the mass of pectins in place. The thickness of the mucilage envelope ranged from 350 to 450 μm. Cellulose fibrils were very

• staining reactions: A – pectin staining with ruthenium red; B – cellulose staining with methylene blue; C – cellulose staining with Direct Red 23, fluorescence image; D – detection of crystalline cellulose in polarized light. Characteristic signal of the cellulose fibrils (arrows); Cellulose fibrils are

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• degradation of MO under irradiation from natural sun light. Comparison of photocatalytic activities of CdS–ZnO–RGO based nanocomposites for degradation of pollutants, including methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (Rh B) and MO. Acknowledgements We are thankful to Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMRC), IIT

Development of adsorptive membranes by confinement of activated biochar into electrospun nanofibers

• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Mitra Naghdi,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• Emile Knystautas,
• Mausam Verma,
• Rao. Y. Surampalli and
• Jose. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1556–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.149

• metallic ions, malachite green and methylene blue from water. Embedding carbonaceous materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene in NFMs has been investigated for different applications, such as glucose sensors, hydrogen storage and enzyme immobilization [18][19]. However, to the best of our knowledge

An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants

• Clément Monteil,
• Nathalie Bar,
• Agnès Bee and
• Didier Villemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1447–1453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.136

• Da) was purchased from BASF, phosphorous acid, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide were obtained from VWR and dyes (methylene blue, MB, and methyl orange, MO) from Sigma-Aldrich. Dialysis tubings were bought from Roth. Absorbance was measured by using a UV–visible Perkin-Elmer

• washed successively with acetone and diethylether and then dried in an oven at 120 °C for 24 h. Preparation of stock solutions MO or MB powders were dissolved in distilled water (5·10−4 mol·L−1) in order to prepare dye stock solutions. Extraction of methyl orange and methylene blue with NP-PEIP A

• of the NP-PEIP in removing pollutants was determined by the adsorption of two organic dyes used as contaminants models: the positively charged (regardless of the pH value) methylene blue (MB) and the negatively charged (from pH 3.4 to basic pH) methyl orange (MO). Such dyes are pollutants themselves

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• been developed and their ability to degrade cyanide anions [28] or organic dyes [29][30][31][32][33] like methylene blue or methyl-orange has been demonstrated. The preparation of Ce–Cu, Ce–Pd or Ce–Ag co-doped photocatalysts to enhance the solar or the visible light catalytic response was also

Functional diversity of resilin in Arthropoda

• Jan Michels,
• Esther Appel and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1241–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.115

• by single conventional dyes. Chemical reactions with the Masson and Mallory dyes were mentioned to stain resilin red. Staining of resilin with aqueous solutions of methylene blue and toluidine blue is a common method and can provide good information about the presence and distribution of resilin

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• batteries [21][22][23][24]. Studies on nanofibre composite mats of PAN/TiO2 have shown large photocatalytic efficiency under ultraviolet light and the potential use of these mats as catalyst in the decomposition of phenol, airborne aromatic compounds and methylene blue [25][26][27][28]. However, PAN/Bi2O3

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• dispersion. The photocatalytic activity was examined by the color removal of methylene blue (MB) with a laboratory-scale setup based on a plug flow reactor (PFR) and planar UV illumination. The process parameters such as flow regime, optical path length and UV intensity are well-defined and can be varied

• methylene blue The photocatalytic properties of P25 were examined by characterizing the discoloration of MB. The desired MB concentration [6][7][29] of 0.01 mM was obtained by adding the MB stock solution into the dispersed P25 suspensions. To achieve an adsorption–desorption equilibrium, the suspensions

• methylene blue. For this purpose, a lab-scale plug flow reactor was designed, which facilitates a defined variation of process parameters such as intensity of UV light, optical path length and flow regime. The apparent reaction rate constant of such a reactor can be easily translated into an intrinsic

Selective porous gates made from colloidal silica nanoparticles

• Roberto Nisticò,
• Paola Avetta,
• Paola Calza,
• Debora Fabbri,
• Giuliana Magnacca and
• Dominique Scalarone

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2105–2112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.215

• dye methylene blue (MB, molecular weight (MW) = 320 Da) and the cationic protein ribonuclease A (RNAse, MW = 13700 Da). Results and Discussion Synthesis, preparation and physicochemical characterization of the colloidal silica nanoparticles and mesoporous coatings Amphiphilic block copolymers in

• -selectivity of the functional microsieves we have prepared were studied by monitoring the diffusion of probe molecules with different molecular weight (i.e., methylene blue and ribonuclease A) under standard conditions and under the application of an external stimulus (i.e., electric field). Promising results

• organic impurities from the device. TOC analysis were carried out with a Shimadzu TOC-VCSH Total Organic Carbon Analyzer, equipped with an ASI-V autosampler and fed with zero-grade air (Sapio, Italy). Solutions of target molecules, i.e., methylene blue (MB in the following, Sigma Aldrich, 5.0 × 10−4 mol L

Effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites prepared by carbothermal evaporation method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• D. K. Avasthi and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 928–937, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.96

• degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under sun light irradiation and it was observed that swift heavy ion irradiation results in significant enhancement in the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites towards degradation of MB and MO dyes. The possible mechanism for the

• carbothermal reduction-based vapor deposition method. We have demonstrated that swift heavy ion irradiation can be employed to significantly enhance the sun light driven photocatalytic activity of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites toward the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes in water. Results

• properties of the nanocomposite were studied. Swift heavy ion irradiation has been found to result in significant enhancement in the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites, towards sun light driven degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange dyes in water. The possible mechanism for the

Tm-doped TiO₂ and Tm₂Ti₂O₇ pyrochlore nanoparticles: enhancing the photocatalytic activity of rutile with a pyrochlore phase

• Desiré M. De los Santos,
• Javier Navas,
• Teresa Aguilar,
• Antonio Sánchez-Coronilla,
• Concha Fernández-Lorenzo,
• Rodrigo Alcántara,
• Jose Carlos Piñero,
• Ginesa Blanco and
• Joaquín Martín-Calleja

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 605–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.62

• obtained with a predominant rutile phase. The photodegradation of methylene blue showed that this pyrochlore phase enhanced the photocatalytic activity of the rutile phase. Keywords: nanoparticles; photocatalysis; pyrochlore; titanium dioxide; thulium; Introduction TiO2 is one of the most efficient

• the samples annealed at 1173 K. In turn, the influence of this pyrochlore phase on the photocatalytic activity of rutile-phase TiO2 was analyzed by a study of the photodegradation of methylene blue. Experimental The synthesis method was based on the hydrolysis reaction of titanium(IV) isopropoxide

• photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was performed using a set of five actinic lamps emitting at around 360 nm. The initial concentration of the aqueous solution of MB (purity 82%, Panreac) was 1.56 · 10−5 M, and the concentration of the photocatalyst was 0.3 g·L−1. The photocatalyst/MB mixture was kept in