Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance using morphology-controlled BiVO₄ with W doping

• Xin Zhao and
• Zhong Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2640–2647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.264

• different volume ratios was added. As shown in Figure 1a–c, the films prepared have a largely planar structure. With increasing water content, small pores emerge with a diameter of ca. 50 nm. Films prepared using water precursor solutions (Figure 1d–f) show nanoporous structures. With increasing EG content

• nanoporous structure and a better performance (around 1.5 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE). This corresponds to an increase of ca. 50%. The exception is sample 0.5-EG. As mentioned before, the sample 0.5-EG has poor adhesion and many cracks leading to a poor connection between the sample and the conductive FTO

• nanostructured W-doped BiVO4 in comparison with the planar structure, two representative samples with planar and nanoporous structure, 0-water and 1-EG, were selected. Figure 4 shows the light absorption efficiency of the samples 0-water and 1-EG by measuring the light transmittance and reflectance [12]. The

Oxidative stabilization of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers and carbon nanofibers containing graphene oxide (GO): a spectroscopic and electrochemical study

• İlknur Gergin,
• Ezgi Ismar and
• A. Sezai Sarac

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1616–1628, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.161

• carbon-based electrochemical capacitors [58]. According to SEM images (Figure 11b) pore size on the nanofibers were measured as 38.5 ± 11 nm. All morphologic characterizations prove the porous structure of GO containing nanofibers. In supercapacitors that use nanoporous electrodes to store large amounts

Hierarchically structured nanoporous carbon tubes for high pressure carbon dioxide adsorption

• Julia Patzsch,
• Deepu J. Babu and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1135–1144, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.115

• Julia Patzsch Deepu J. Babu Jorg J. Schneider Fachbereich Chemie, Eduard-Zintl-Institut für Anorganische und Physikalische Chemie, Alarich-Weiss-Strasse 12, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.8.115 Abstract Mesoscopic, nanoporous carbon tubes were

Bio-inspired micro-to-nanoporous polymers with tunable stiffness

• Julia Syurik,
• Ruth Schwaiger,
• Prerna Sudera,
• Stephan Weyand,
• Siegbert Johnsen,
• Gabriele Wiegand and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 906–914, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.92

• Background: Inspired by structural hierarchies and the related excellent mechanical properties of biological materials, we created a smoothly graded micro- to nanoporous structure from a thermoplastic polymer. Results: The viscoelastic properties for the different pore sizes were investigated in the glassy

• generation of nanoporous polymeric foams accessible [17]. Saturation in supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) [18] is a well-established method for the fabrication of polymeric foams. The process of pore nucleation by saturation in SC-CO2 consists of three basic steps [14][19]: (i) mixing of a polymer and SC

• to 254 nm for pore area fractions of 35% and 17%, respectively. A decreasing pore-wall thickness may stimulate the confinement of the polymer chains within the pore walls and lead to a reduced mobility of the macromolecules, as it was described for PMMA-based low-density nanoporous materials with

Relationships between chemical structure, mechanical properties and materials processing in nanopatterned organosilicate fins

• Gheorghe Stan,
• Richard S. Gates,
• Qichi Hu,
• Kevin Kjoller,
• Craig Prater,
• Kanwal Jit Singh,
• Ebony Mays and
• Sean W. King

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 863–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.88

• resonance AFM (CR-AFM) to investigate the fabrication of 20–500 nm wide fin structures in a nanoporous organosilicate material. We show that by combining these two techniques, one can clearly observe variations of chemical structure and mechanical properties that correlate with the fabrication process and

• with contact resonance AFM (CR-AFM) [29] mechanical property measurements in the investigation of 20–500 nm wide fin structures fabricated in a nanoporous organosilicate thin film. Nanoporous organosilicates are of significant importance to the electronics industry for reducing various parasitic

• organosilicate materials that have undergone similar but not identical types of processing [33][34]. By combining AFM-IR with CR-AFM in the investigation of the same material, we are now able to clearly demonstrate a correlation between the mechanical stiffness of the nanoporous organosilicate and the selective

Phospholipid arrays on porous polymer coatings generated by micro-contact spotting

• Sylwia Sekula-Neuner,
• Monica de Freitas,
• Lea-Marie Tröster,
• Tobias Jochum,
• Pavel A. Levkin,
• Michael Hirtz and
• Harald Fuchs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 715–722, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.75

• Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany Physikalisches Institut and Center for Nanotechnology (CeNTech), Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.8.75 Abstract Nanoporous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (HEMA

• ], emphasizes the need for sustained progress in this field. The work presented here demonstrates the potential of nanoporous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (HEMA-EDMA) as a novel advantageous substrate for lipid arrays. Porous HEMA support, with pore size distribution in the range

• water-based click-chemistry inks [10][14][15] where CuAAC mediated covalent immobilization of ink molecules and embedment’s within the polymer mesh makes the pattern highly stable in solution [10]. To determine if lipids deposited on nanoporous HEMA-EDMA polymer could be used to generate functional

Silicon microgrooves for contact guidance of human aortic endothelial cells

• Sara Fernández-Castillejo,
• Pilar Formentín,
• Úrsula Catalán,
• Josep Pallarès,
• Lluís F. Marsal and
• Rosa Solà

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 675–681, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.72

• that allows one to link bioconjugators such as collagen [30]. Collagen is an attractive tool for biomedical applications as it is the most abundant protein in mammalian tissues [31]. We have recently reported the development of collagen-coated silicon-based microstructures, classified as nanoporous

Diffusion and surface alloying of gradient nanostructured metals

• Zhenbo Wang and
• Ke Lu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 547–560, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.59

• have been achieved on the 304 stainless steel with a preformed GNS surface layer after being sputter-deposited a DLC coating, in comparison with that of the DLC-coated CG sample [93]. A GNS surface layer has also been employed to facilitate the formation of nanoporous titania on the commercial pure Ti

• [94][95], which is used as an important material in human body implantation. After immersion in the H2O2 solution for 24 h at room temperature, crystallized titania with the nanoporous structure was synthesized on the GNS Ti plate, while only interfacial corrosion was observed on the CG sample. By

• studying the structure and surface morphology evolution of the GNS sample in the H2O2 solution, Wen et al. [95] revealed that the accelerated formation of nanoporous structure was mostly due to the higher chemical reactivity of the GNS Ti, which promoted the decomposition of H2O2 and the formation of

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of self-assembled thiol monolayers and supported lipid membranes on thin anodic porous alumina

• Marco Salerno,
• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Barbara Salis and
• Silvia Dante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 74–81, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.8

• living cells, where they would adhere to the nanoporous substrate. SERS enhancement due to tAPA–Au on thiols, lipids, and thiol–lipid systems The Raman measurements were performed first on the thiol molecules. We started from the raw materials, in powder form, to obtain reference spectra for future

• plasmon resonances of this thin film, emerges. The same effect may also be used on the SLBs, at the later stage of the model system fabrication. For the selected lipids, we first tested the Raman spectra of the powders and then of the SLB form, on both the flat Au and nanoporous tAPA–Au. The molecular

Fundamental properties of high-quality carbon nanofoam: from low to high density

• Natalie Frese,
• Shelby Taylor Mitchell,
• Christof Neumann,
• Amanda Bowers,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Klaus Sattler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2065–2073, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.197

• ], amorphous carbon [35], nanoporous carbon [36], activated carbon [37], or carbon black [38]. In addition, XPS is important for the analysis of chemical structure [39], in particular, for the investigation of the sp2/sp3 hybridization ratio [35]. Results Density We determined the density of the foam by

• ], nanoporous carbons [46], carbon nanotube scaffolds [47], and carbon foams [48][49]. The densities of these carbon materials are significantly lower compared to “heavy carbons” such as pristine graphite (2.26 g·cm−3), CVD grown carbon films (2.14 g·cm−3 [50]), or carbon nanotube forests (1.6 to 0.38 g·cm−3

Nano- and microstructured materials for in vitro studies of the physiology of vascular cells

• Alexandra M. Greiner,
• Adria Sales,
• Hao Chen,
• Sarah A. Biela,
• Dieter Kaufmann and
• Ralf Kemkemer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1620–1641, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.155

• obtain nanofibers from natural proteins such as fibronectin. Recently, an alternative method has been developed where nanofibers of extruded fibronectin through a nanoporous aluminum oxide membrane were obtained. This method is based on a mechanical force to provoke fibrillogenesis (generation of fibers

Polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) copolymers as templates for stacked, spherical large-mesopore silica coatings: dependence of silica pore size on the PS/PEO ratio

• Roberto Nisticò,
• Giuliana Magnacca,
• Sushilkumar A. Jadhav and
• Dominique Scalarone

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1454–1460, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.137

• copolymer films obtained by spin-coating deposition of block copolymer micellar solutions were transformed into silica nanoporous thin layers by thermal treatment performed in air. This way, the organic templating species (i.e., block copolymers) were degraded and removed, leaving voids which formed the

• ordered nanoporous network [19]. In order to have the same final porous nanostructure (i.e., stacked spherical pores), the weight ratio between the silica precursor and polymeric soft templates was fixed at 95/5 and 93/7. In fact, as reported by other authors [26][27] and in our previous works [19][25

Dealloying of gold–copper alloy nanowires: From hillocks to ring-shaped nanopores

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Cyril Delacôte,
• Mohammed Boujtita,
• Benoit Angleraud,
• Junjun Ding,
• Chang-Hwan Choi,
• Pierre-Yves Tessier and
• Abdel-Aziz El Mel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1361–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.127

• nanowires exhibit a very high roughness and high specific surface making of them a promising candidate for the development of SERS-based sensors. Keywords: copper; dealloying; gold; hillocks; nanoporous; Introduction Improvement in nanoscience involves fundamental evolution in the synthesis and

• dealloying process to Au–Cu alloy nanowires, one can synthesize nanoporous nanowires with a special morphology (Figure 1c) that cannot be obtained when dealloying Au–Cu nanowires with a smooth surface. Results and Discussion There are several factors that influence the nodular growth including the

Mesoporous hollow carbon spheres for lithium–sulfur batteries: distribution of sulfur and electrochemical performance

• Anika C. Juhl,
• Artur Schneider,
• Boris Ufer,
• Torsten Brezesinski,
• Jürgen Janek and
• Michael Fröba

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1229–1240, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.114

• of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany Institute of Physical Chemistry, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 17, 35392 Giessen, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.7.114 Abstract Hollow carbon spheres (HCS) with a nanoporous shell are promising for

In situ characterization of hydrogen absorption in nanoporous palladium produced by dealloying

• Eva-Maria Steyskal,
• Christopher Wiednig,
• Norbert Enzinger and
• Roland Würschum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1197–1201, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.110

• /bjnano.7.110 Abstract Palladium is a frequently used model system for hydrogen storage. During the past few decades, particular interest was placed on the superior H-absorption properties of nanostructured Pd systems. In the present study nanoporous palladium (np-Pd) is produced by electrochemical

• reversible actuation clearly exceeds the values found in the literature, which is most likely due to the unique structure of np-Pd with an extraordinarily high surface-to-volume ratio. Keywords: dealloying; dilatometry; hydrogen storage; nanoporous palladium; resistometry; Findings The knowledge about the

• and catalysis [2]. One attractive method to produce nanostructured metals with macroscopic dimensions is dealloying, an (electro-)chemical process, which removes the less noble component from an alloy by selective etching [3]. Nanoporous palladium (np-Pd) produced by free corrosion [4] as well as

Cantilever bending based on humidity-actuated mesoporous silica/silicon bilayers

• Christian Ganser,
• Gerhard Fritz-Popovski,
• Roland Morak,
• Parvin Sharifi,
• Benedetta Marmiroli,
• Barbara Sartori,
• Heinz Amenitsch,
• Thomas Griesser,
• Christian Teichert and
• Oskar Paris

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 637–644, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.56

• environments. The potential of mesoporous “hard” materials such as nanoporous gold [11] or mesoporous silica [12] for such purposes has recently been highlighted, where the basic idea is to utilize the adsorption-induced deformation of highly porous materials. The simplest way of fabricating an actuator based

Green and energy-efficient methods for the production of metallic nanoparticles

• Mitra Naghdi,
• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• M. Verma,
• R. Y. Surampalli and
• J. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2354–2376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.243

• concentrations than metallic NPs and they show remarkable antimicrobial activity [55]. In another study, they found that Ag– and Au–DAPHP have potential applications in treatment of angiogenesis accelerated disorders, such as cancer and inflammatory diseases [71]. Cai et al. used the nanoporous structure of

Electrochemical coating of dental implants with anodic porous titania for enhanced osteointegration

• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Alberto Rebaudi,
• Pierpaolo Cortella,
• Alberto Diaspro and
• Marco Salerno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2183–2192, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.224

• arrays are not necessary [9]. A single anodization is sufficient and from this perspective, may represent a simple and inexpensive nanopatterning procedure for biomedical Ti. In fact, the application of nanoporous oxides as biological surfaces (where living cells should adhere and grow) has been already

• species to the APT coating from those naturally resulting in the dissolved acid electrolyte. Interesting candidate elements are F, Ca and Mg and P, as demonstrated by recent loading carried out on implants coated with nanoporous titania by means of different techniques [22][32][33]. We selected Mg, which

• to form a nanoporous structure. These pores are on average 5–10 times larger than those in the pristine APT (i.e., on the microscale). We make the hypothesis that the coating is porous due to local percolation of the ionic current through it, with the arrangement of such conduction channels favoring

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

• (ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) copolymers as soft-templating agents. Nanoparticles synthesis was carried out in a mixed solvent system. After spin-coating onto a macroporous silicon nitride support, silica nanoparticles were calcined under controlled conditions. An organized nanoporous layer was obtained

• were obtained, suggesting possible applications of these nanoporous films as selective gates for controlled transport of chemical species in solution. Keywords: block copolymers; coatings; colloidal nanoparticles; silica; sol–gel synthesis; Introduction The development of smart nanoporous devices for

• in the preparation of microfiltration devices was realized by the surface functionalization of macroporous supports or membranes by nanoporous functional coatings [17][18][19][20]: the macroporous, permeable supports, in fact, can provide mechanical strength to the thinner functional coatings on top

Surface engineering of nanoporous substrate for solid oxide fuel cells with atomic layer-deposited electrolyte

• Sanghoon Ji,
• Waqas Hassan Tanveer,
• Wonjong Yu,
• Sungmin Kang,
• Gu Young Cho,
• Sung Han Kim,
• Jihwan An and
• Suk Won Cha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1805–1810, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.184

Formation of substrate-based gold nanocage chains through dealloying with nitric acid

• Ziren Yan,
• Ying Wu and
• Junwei Di

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1362–1368, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.140

• final Au NCs, which maybe limit their applications. The dealloying or selective deletion of Ag from Ag–Au alloys with oxidative etchants such as nitric acid or perchloric acid has been widely used to synthesize nanoporous gold (NPG) [18][19][20][21]. Moreover, Xia et al. employed Fe(NO3)3 and H2O2 as

• reported that the concentration of HNO3 is an important parameter because it alters the chemical potential difference across the nanoporous/alloy interface and affects the morphology of Ag–Au alloy during dealloying. Figure 6 exhibits the SEM images of Ag–Au NCs treated with various concentration of HNO3

• from the dealloying of Ag–Au alloy to form nanoporous gold, in which the concentration of HNO3 was rather high. For a dilute HNO3 solution, the chemical reaction that may take place is given as follows [31]: It is reported that the reaction is rather slow at HNO3 concentrations of less than 3.80 M (ca

Polymer blend lithography for metal films: large-area patterning with over 1 billion holes/inch²

• Cheng Huang,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1205–1211, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.123

• such as glass or metal can also be used as substrates. For example iron was used as substrate for the fabrication of nanoporous gold mesoflower arrays, which served afterwards for surface-enhanced Raman scattering [23]. With the metal PBL technique it is possible to fabricate more than one billion

Tunable magnetism on the lateral mesoscale by post-processing of Co/Pt heterostructures

• Oleksandr V. Dobrovolskiy,
• Maksym Kompaniiets,
• Roland Sachser,
• Fabrizio Porrati,
• Christian Gspan,
• Harald Plank and
• Michael Huth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1082–1090, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.109

• activated oxidation of carbon at the Pt/C interface occurs, leading to the formation of CO and a reorganization and coalescence of Pt nanocrystallites by surface diffusion. The latter, in turn, results in a nanoporous morphology, which is clearly seen in the SEM images of samples B and C in the insets to

• surface of the nanoporous Pt layer in which the Co deposit (and then purified Co) is located. Accordingly, the diffraction pattern of the lower layer most likely shows an overlay of the Pt and the CoPt L10 phases. Hard-magnetic response at a Co/Pt ratio of 1:1 As the presence of the CoPt L10 phase is

From lithium to sodium: cell chemistry of room temperature sodium–air and sodium–sulfur batteries

• Philipp Adelhelm,
• Pascal Hartmann,
• Conrad L. Bender,
• Martin Busche,
• Christine Eufinger and
• Juergen Janek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1016–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.105

• group also investigated non-carbon electrodes, such as nanoporous gold or titanium carbide (TiC) [60][84]. Both materials are claimed to significantly improve the cycle performance compared to carbon electrodes due to a higher chemical stability towards lithium oxide species. On the other hand, the

Electrical properties of single CdTe nanowires

• Elena Matei,
• Camelia Florica,
• Andreea Costas,
• María Eugenia Toimil-Molares and
• Ionut Enculescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 444–450, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.45

• Elena Matei Camelia Florica Andreea Costas Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares Ionut Enculescu National Institute for Materials Physics, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania, 77125 GSI, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.6.45 Abstract Ion track, nanoporous membranes were employed as templates

• excellent reproducibility and a narrow distribution of the geometrical characteristics [8][9][10][11][12][13]. The method typically makes use of a nanoporous membrane as a template along with a method for filling its pores. As templates, most used are polymer ion track membranes, anodic alumina and diblock

• copolymer templates, while the filling methods range from electrochemical or electroless deposition, to atomic layer deposition or molten metal injection. The nanoporous polymer ion track membranes are obtained by polymer foil irradiation with swift heavy ions and further chemical etching of the ion tracks