Atomic scale interface design and characterisation

• Carla Bittencourt,
• Chris Ewels and
• Arkady V. Krasheninnikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1708–1711, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.174

• absorption and emission devices require doping [4][5]. In this context, conventional bulk doping techniques must be adapted, given the large surface to volume ratio of nanostructures, surface segregation of dopant atoms is a severe drawback. Therefore detailed knowledge and control of the physical and

Possibilities and limitations of advanced transmission electron microscopy for carbon-based nanomaterials

• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Carla Bittencourt and
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1541–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.158

• be used for the study of interfaces in carbon-based nanohybrids. For example, in [97] an attempt is given to resolve the interface of CNT–TiO2 hybrids. Segregation or mixed metal–carbon phases at the interface of nanohybrids can be evaluated. Additionally, the introduction of the monochromator and

Formation of pure Cu nanocrystals upon post-growth annealing of Cu–C material obtained from focused electron beam induced deposition: comparison of different methods

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Alfredo Rodrigues Vaz,
• Yucheng Zhang,
• Andrzej Rudkowski,
• Czesław Kapusta,
• Rolf Erni,
• Stanislav Moshkalev and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1508–1517, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.156

• irradiation dose of these regions and hence a slightly less reticulated carbon network which facilitates segregation at many places. For laser-induced heating we found the same phenomenon of surface precipitation of Cu nanocrystals although the annealing time was only one minute. Also the same trend in the

• the resistance-vs-temperature behavior of the samples would be stable. Here we focused on a proof of concept study. Conclusion We have shown that nanostructural changes were induced in Cu–C FEBID material from Cu(I) and Cu(II) precursors upon post-growth annealing causing the segregation and

• obtained from (hfac)CuVTMS and (hfac)CuDMB. The as-deposited materials were non-conductive. The transition into conductive material as well as the segregation and precipitation of the copper atoms occur upon conventional or laser heating. The surface precipitation of copper nanocrystals upon annealing

Thermal energy storage – overview and specific insight into nitrate salts for sensible and latent heat storage

• Nicole Pfleger,
• Thomas Bauer,
• Claudia Martin,
• Markus Eck and
• Antje Wörner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1487–1497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.154

• state and insolubility in the solid state (simple eutectic system) Complete miscibility in the liquid state and partial miscibility in the solid state a) Segregation by eutectic reaction (eutectic system with limited solid solubility) b) Segregation by peritectic reaction System with intermetallic

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

• -containing clusters, a bimodal size distribution of metal nanoparticles was obtained due to gold segregation from the cluster cores and strong aggregation. In the case of Ru–Pt precursors, heterometal nanoparticles of ultrasmall size were formed on the carbon fibers and MWNTs. We used a combination of HRTEM

Electronic interaction in composites of a conjugated polymer and carbon nanotubes: first-principles calculation and photophysical approaches

• Florian Massuyeau,
• Jany Wéry,
• Jean-Luc Duvail,
• Serge Lefrant,
• Abu Yaya,
• Chris Ewels and
• Eric Faulques

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1138–1144, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.115

• substantial effect than the salient conjugation changes in the variation of peak-1 intensity with x. We note that the persistence of PL for high x-values suggests phase segregation between PPV and the SWNT network, likely due to an increase of the SWNT bundle sizes. To better understand how the morphology

Observing the morphology of single-layered embedded silicon nanocrystals by using temperature-stable TEM membranes

• Sebastian Gutsch,
• Daniel Hiller,
• Jan Laube,
• Margit Zacharias and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 964–970, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.99

• investigation, it can be concluded that it is important to take images below the threshold dose, when dielectric films containing Si NCs are investigated. Silicon loss and out-diffusion during segregation annealing Another issue that arises directly from inspection of Figure 1a is the low areal density of

Nanostructuring of GeTiO amorphous films by pulsed laser irradiation

• Valentin S. Teodorescu,
• Cornel Ghica,
• Adrian V. Maraloiu,
• Mihai Vlaicu,
• Andrei Kuncser,
• Magdalena L. Ciurea,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Ana M. Lepadatu,
• Nicu D. Scarisoreanu,
• Andreea Andrei,
• Valentin Ion and
• Maria Dinescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 893–900, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.92

• the formation of amorphous Ge nanoparticles through the segregation of Ge atoms in the GeTiO matrix. The nanostructuring effects induced by the laser irradiation can be used in functionalizing the surface of the films. Keywords: fast diffusion; GeTiO film; nanostructuring; pulsed laser annealing

• ]. In this paper, we report about the nanostructuring at the surface and under the surface of amorphous GeTiO films by laser pulse action. The cross sectional study gives evidence of a fast diffusion effect, i.e., the formation of amorphous Ge nanoparticles through the segregation of Ge atoms in the

• pulse irradiation, the morphology of the film surface layer affected by the laser pulse actions gradually changes. Spherical amorphous Ge nanoparticles are formed by Ge atoms segregation. These spherical Ge nanoparticles have 5 nm diameters at the interface with the region of the unchanged amorphous

Structure and mechanism of the formation of core–shell nanoparticles obtained through a one-step gas-phase synthesis by electron beam evaporation

• Andrey V. Nomoev,
• Sergey P. Bardakhanov,
• Makoto Schreiber,
• Dashima G. Bazarova,
• Nikolai A. Romanov,
• Boris B. Baldanov,
• Bair R. Radnaev and
• Viacheslav V. Syzrantsev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 874–880, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.89

• due to the difference in surface tension. During this segregation process, the silicon will react with any oxygen dissolved inside the droplet or in the atmosphere to form SiO2 as Si has a higher affinity for oxygen than Cu. The silicon on the surface will then solidify long before the inner copper to

In situ scanning tunneling microscopy study of Ca-modified rutile TiO₂(110) in bulk water

• Giulia Serrano,
• Beatrice Bonanni,
• Tomasz Kosmala,
• Marco Di Giovannantonio,
• Ulrike Diebold,
• Klaus Wandelt and
• Claudio Goletti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 438–443, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.44

• -modified rutile TiO2(110) surfaces immersed in high purity water. The TiO2 surface was prepared under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) with repeated sputtering/annealing cycles. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) analysis shows a pattern typical for the surface segregation of calcium, which is present as an

• ) rutile surface prepared under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, which is considered to be a model system [10][11]. Ordered Ca layers have been obtained by thermally activated segregation from the bulk [1][2][3][4][5], where calcium was a common bulk impurity in the TiO2 samples [10]. A c(6 × 2

• ) structure has been proposed for the resulting Ca overlayer based on low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements [1]. Segregation has been reported to produce an additional, differently ordered Ca layer, namely a p(3 × 1) structure [2][3][4]. More controlled

Nanoporous Ge thin film production combining Ge sputtering and dopant implantation

• Jacques Perrin Toinin,
• Alain Portavoce,
• Khalid Hoummada,
• Michaël Texier,
• Maxime Bertoglio,
• Sandrine Bernardini,
• Marco Abbarchi and
• Lee Chow

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 336–342, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.32

• -dopant cluster formation, surface and interface segregation, etc.) as well as their atomic diffusion mechanism in the bulk and on the surface of the Ge film, have a significant effect on the Ge dewetting phenomenon. For example, the cavity formation at the Ge/SiO2 interface could be also related to the

Si/Ge intermixing during Ge Stranski–Krastanov growth

• Alain Portavoce,
• Khalid Hoummada,
• Antoine Ronda,
• Dominique Mangelinck and
• Isabelle Berbezier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.246

• concentration of about 15 atom %. The Ge distribution in the islands follows a cylindrical symmetry and Ge segregation is observed only in the {113} facets of the islands. The Ge composition of the wetting layer is not homogeneous, varying from 5 to 30 atom %. Keywords: atom probe tomography; germanium islands

• intermixing during Ge island formation, the Si cap or Si substrate/island interface is abrupt, exhibiting weak Si/Ge intermixing during Si deposition. The islands keep their usual {111} and {113} surface facets under the Si cap, and Ge segregation is observed only in {113} facets. The thickness and the Ge

• (Figure 5 and Figure 6) it is necessary to analyze 1D composition profiles perpendicular to the facets in order to observe that Ge segregation actually only occurs on the {113} facets. For example, Figure 7 presents two different 1D composition profiles measured perpendicular to a {111} facet (squares

The impact of the confinement of reactants on the metal distribution in bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized in reverse micelles

• Concha Tojo,
• Elena González and
• Nuria Vila-Romeu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1966–1979, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.206

• composition-dependent [15][20][21][22][23]. Specifically, in the field of catalysis, bimetallic nanoparticles exhibit significantly increased catalytic behavior in comparison to monometallic nanoparticles [24]. Of interest is the controlled segregation and the extent of alloying of the two metals, since these

• segregation depends on the microemulsion dynamics. With the exception of the existing studies relating nanoparticle properties to microemulsion composition [2][3][30][31][32][33], there is a gap regarding the impact of microemulsion dynamics on metal segregation in bimetallic nanoparticles. The synthesis of

• beginning of the synthesis, despite its slower reduction rate. It means that Au–Pt nanoparticles with a Pt-core can be obtained. Similar qualitative behavior is obtained when different average concentrations are simulated. This unpredicted evolution of metal segregation when the proportions are varied can

Cathode lens spectromicroscopy: methodology and applications

• T. O. Menteş,
• G. Zamborlini,
• A. Sala and
• A. Locatelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1873–1886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.198

• below 0.1% of a ML. These experiments provided a formidable means to access to the thermodynamics governing carbon segregation, graphene nucleation and film growth [36][37][38]. In other cases, LEEM imaging was used to monitor the intercalation of adspecies below graphene [39][40][41]. As a further

On the structure of grain/interphase boundaries and interfaces

• K. Anantha Padmanabhan and
• Herbert Gleiter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1603–1615, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.172

• coworkers [48][49][50] have examined the relevance of the CSL concept in understanding the two properties of segregation and corrosion by using TEM, atom probe tomography (APT) and a “pseudo” 3D-EBSD approach. The major conclusions are as follows. (a) Segregation for low-angle grain boundaries scales with

• Σ3 twins only fully coherent GBs with (nearly exact) (111) GB planes exhibit low segregation. (c) The occurrence of a certain coincidence lattice is not a sufficient criterion for a GB to be “special”. This is because the coincidence site lattice defines only three (out of the five) degrees of

• freedom of a GB and it does not provide any information about the orientation of the GB plane and the degree of coherency in it. For instance, the Σ9 GB, in spite of being a low ΣCSL boundary, does not exhibit “special” behavior regarding its resistance to segregation. This is attributed to the fact that

Current state of laser synthesis of metal and alloy nanoparticles as ligand-free reference materials for nano-toxicological assays

• Christoph Rehbock,
• Jurij Jakobi,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Selina van der Meer,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wilfried Kues,
• Detlef Rath and
• Stephan Barcikowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1523–1541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.165

• with evenly distributed elemental compositions (Ti: 50 ± 4%; Ni: 50 ± 4%) were found. Interestingly, particles with even distributions as well as Ti-rich particles revealed a highly distinctive elemental segregation (Figure 9B); the predominant structure in this case was a Ni core surrounded by a TiOx

• due to surface oxidation which is believed to be far more pronounced in an aqueous medium. Consequently, elemental segregation in NiTi nanoparticles requires a certain degree of surface oxidation, which is likely to occur anyway during unintended nanoparticle release scenarios in biological systems

• findings seem to indicate that elemental segregation in laser fabricated alloy nanoparticles may not be solely dominated by surface oxidation but also by the elemental composition of the alloy particle. In order to further examine this phenomenon, alloy nanoparticles with well-defined elemental

Formation of Cu_xAu_1−x phases by cold homogenization of Au/Cu nanocrystalline thin films

• Alona Tynkova,
• Gabor L. Katona,
• Gabor A. Langer,
• Sergey I. Sidorenko,
• Svetlana M. Voloshko and
• Dezso L. Beke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1491–1500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.162

• observed grain sizes. It is noteworthy that the appearance of some Cu atoms at the topmost surface and the development of a minimum can be observed in the center of the Au layer (Figure 1c). It can be explained by the segregation of Cu [29] and/or by the coexistence of fast and slow diffusion boundaries

Probing the electronic transport on the reconstructed Au/Ge(001) surface

• Franciszek Krok,
• Mark R. Kaspers,
• Alexander M. Bernhart,
• Marek Nikiel,
• Benedykt R. Jany,
• Paulina Indyka,
• Mateusz Wojtaszek,
• Rolf Möller and
• Christian A. Bobisch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1463–1471, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.159

• , since segregation needs to be considered for other atomic wire-like surface structures as well. Whenever surface structures are engineered by adsorbing material, in depth profile analysis may unravel buried electronic channels which can prevent to access to the electronic system of the surface. a

Self-organization of mesoscopic silver wires by electrochemical deposition

• Sheng Zhong,
• Thomas Koch,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Harald Rösner,
• Eberhard Nold,
• Aaron Kobler,
• Torsten Scherer,
• Di Wang,
• Christian Kübel,
• Mu Wang,
• Horst Hahn and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1285–1290, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.142

• below the freezing point of the electrolyte. Due to the segregation effect, AgNO3 is partially expelled from the ice of the electrolyte during solidification [32]. As a consequence, the concentration of aqueous AgNO3 electrolyte in the deposition cell increases. When equilibrium is reached, a thin layer

• . The concentration of electrolyte is higher than the initial concentration due to the segregation effect. (b) Applying a constant voltage across the two electrodes let the silver grow from the cathode into the electrolyte. (c) Cooling is stopped and the temperature rises after deposition. After melting

An insight into the mechanism of charge-transfer of hybrid polymer:ternary/quaternary chalcopyrite colloidal nanocrystals

• Parul Chawla,
• Son Singh and
• Shailesh Narain Sharma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1235–1244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.137

• mainly attributed to the inability of the nanocrystals to uniformly cling to the polymer matrix so that each of the nanocrystals contributes to a reduction in the PL intensity of the polymer. Additionally, a slight phase segregation may occur in the polymer-nanocomposite of P3HT-chalcogenides, which

Sublattice asymmetry of impurity doping in graphene: A review

• James A. Lawlor and
• Mauro S. Ferreira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1210–1217, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.133

• ]. They discovered that graphene grown via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) in the presence of ammonia (NH3) naturally incorporates nitrogen atoms as substitutional so-called ’graphitic’ dopants (see Figure 1A) into the crystal, and with a distinct sublattice segregation of dopants. Indeed further

• sublattice segregation, at least on local scales, was noted as a curiosity but was not discussed in depth. A key finding by the researchers was that by varying the ammonia precursor concentration they could adjust the resulting embedded dopant concentration. Further theoretical work confirmed that a tunable

• segregation effect It is clear that any degree of asymmetry between the two equivalent sublattices is the result of a symmetry breaking operation. Current theoretical attempts to explain the sublattice asymmetry in the nitrogen doping seen in the experiments discussed in the previous section suggest that the

Plasma-assisted synthesis and high-resolution characterization of anisotropic elemental and bimetallic core–shell magnetic nanoparticles

• M. Hennes,
• A. Lotnyk and
• S. G. Mayr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 466–475, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.54

• bimetallic metal vapor [11][20]. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that this approach will be employable for arbitrary binary alloys with miscibility gap. Indeed, extensive computational studies reveal that equilibrium segregation patterns of immiscible metallic components only seldom result in rotationally

Interaction of iron phthalocyanine with the graphene/Ni(111) system

• Lorenzo Massimi,
• Simone Lisi,
• Daniela Pacilè,
• Carlo Mariani and
• Maria Grazia Betti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 308–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.34

• slightly below 600 °C to 6000 L of ethylene (1 L = 10−6 torr·s). The formation of graphene on the Ni(111) surface is complicated by the segregation of carbon from the bulk, because of the high solubility of carbon in Ni [18][19][20]. The Ir(111) single crystal was cleaned by several sputtering–annealing

Large-scale atomistic and quantum-mechanical simulations of a Nafion membrane: Morphology, proton solvation and charge transport

• Pavel V. Komarov,
• Pavel G. Khalatur and
• Alexei R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 567–587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.65

• equilibration time (at least 100 ps) is required to achieve an equilibrium content of water–proton complexes (especially Eigen cations) in the system. Segregation of water and perfluorosulfonic acid molecules The final molecular configuration obtained for Model I at λ = 10 is presented in Figure 11. As seen

• examination of various snapshots, it is evident that a lamella-like microphase-separated structure is formed in this small system. Thus we can conclude that even though the system is not large enough to investigate the nanoscale morphology, a hydrophilic/hydrophobic segregation indeed occurs in the hydrated

Plasticity of nanocrystalline alloys with chemical order: on the strength and ductility of nanocrystalline Ni–Fe

• Jonathan Schäfer and
• Karsten Albe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 542–553, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.63

• is also found for ordered structures (L12), where dislocation activity is suppressed. Keywords: nanocrystalline materials; grain boundary structure; grain boundary segregation; plastic deformation; molecular dynamics; Introduction In intermetallics grain refinement to the nanometer scale has been

• extending the compositional phase field of the L12 structure, where perfect ordering in the grain interior is observed, since the GBs act as buffer layer accommodating excess components. The segregation of either Ni or Fe to the GB is therefore energetically in favor as compared to the loss of order inside