Au₅₅, a stable glassy cluster: results of ab initio calculations

• Dieter Vollath,
• David Holec and
• Franz Dieter Fischer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2221–2229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.222

• [33]. Furthermore, one can think about magnetic materials in which, generally, the magnetic properties of a surface layer are different to the core of the cluster, or where in contrast to the corresponding bulk material small clusters do not exhibit ferromagnetism. When applying Equation 1 to the Au55

In situ controlled rapid growth of novel high activity TiB₂/(TiB₂–TiN) hierarchical/heterostructured nanocomposites

• Jilin Wang,
• Hejie Liao,
• Yuchun Ji,
• Fei Long,
• Yunle Gu,
• Zhengguang Zou,
• Weimin Wang and
• Zhengyi Fu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2116–2125, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.211

• mentioned reaction coupling self-propagating high-temperature synthesis principle (Figure 4a). The SHS reaction system creates a special environment where the surface layer of the formed TiB2 crystals can be broken into fragments due to the infiltration and erosion of the high concentration of N*, Ti*and H2

• nm. Proposed schematic illustration and the corresponding FSEM images related to the formation process of the as-synthesized TiB2/(TiB2–TiN) samples. (a) TiB2 hexagonal prism crystal. (b) (B1) The surface layer was broken into fragments. (c) (C1) TiB2 fragments melted into small droplets. (d) (D1

Magnetic properties of optimized cobalt nanospheres grown by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) on cantilever tips

• Soraya Sangiao,
• César Magén,
• Darius Mofakhami,
• Grégoire de Loubens and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2106–2115, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.210

• with respect to bulk values due to the moderate purity of the deposit and the reduction of the effective magnetic volume due to the formation of a non-magnetic oxide surface layer [50]. Magnetization measurements of the cobalt nanospheres In order to measure the magnetization of the cobalt nanospheres

High-stress study of bioinspired multifunctional PEDOT:PSS/nanoclay nanocomposites using AFM, SEM and numerical simulation

• Alfredo J. Diaz,
• Hanaul Noh,
• Tobias Meier and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2069–2082, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.207

• produce a skin layer [11], which is a heterogeneous surface layer that forms during the evaporation of the dispersion. Given the size difference of the nanoclays used, this layer is expected to have a more appreciable effect in MTM than in LAP. With regards to stiffness, the MTM nanocomposite showed an

A comparative study of the nanoscale and macroscale tribological attributes of alumina and stainless steel surfaces immersed in aqueous suspensions of positively or negatively charged nanodiamonds

• Colin K. Curtis,
• Antonin Marek,
• Alex I. Smirnov and
• Jacqueline Krim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2045–2059, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.205

• aluminum, the surface-exposed aluminum metal is readily oxidized to Al2O3 under ambient air. This surface layer of alumina is protecting the rest of metal from a further corrosion. In our experiments, the electrodes were additionally anodized for 3 min. This procedure is expected to yield approximately 50

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids used as additives in the nanolubrication of silicon surfaces

• Patrícia M. Amorim,
• Ana M. Ferraria,
• Rogério Colaço,
• Luís C. Branco and
• Benilde Saramago

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1961–1971, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.197

• stable surface layer, which hinders the contact between the sliding surfaces. Keywords: additives; ionic liquids; lubricants; nanotribology; silicon; Introduction The use of ILs as neat lubricants was first proposed by Ye et al. in 2001 [1]. Since then, many investigations confirmed the good

• an ordered surface layer, which helps to hinder the contact between the sliding surfaces. Conclusion A series of imidazolium-based ILs was tested as additives to the base oil PEG in the lubrication of Si surfaces: [EMIM][TfO], [BMIM][TfO], [C2OHMIM][TfO], [AMIM][TfO], [BMIM][DCA], [C2OHMIM][DCA

Stable Au–C bonds to the substrate for fullerene-based nanostructures

• Taras Chutora,
• Jesús Redondo,
• Bruno de la Torre,
• Martin Švec,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Héctor Vázquez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1073–1079, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.109

• from an Au atom in the surface layer. As expected, one of these atoms is the C atom protruding from the eight-atom ring, consistent with the intuitive notion of its high reactivity and readiness to form bonds with the substrate. As seen in Figure 4b, these small Au–C distances result from the three C

• sampling of the Brillouin zone. The position of Au atoms in the surface layer and C atoms was relaxed until the forces acting on these atoms were smaller than 0.02 eV/Å. Projected DOS curves were calculated using a denser 15 × 15 Monkhorst–Pack k-point grid at optimized geometries. For the calculation of

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

• alloying processes are reviewed for various metals with a preformed GNS surface layer. We emphasize the promoted atomic diffusion and reactive diffusion in the GNS surface layer that are related to a higher interfacial energy state with respect to those in relaxed coarse-grained samples. Accordingly

• nanoscale (<100 nm) in the surface layers with a thickness of tens of micrometers, for example on pure Fe [29] and Cu [30]. In addition, a graded distribution of interfacial structure was obtained in the GNS surface layer of Cu [30], with interfaces sequentially dominated by twin boundaries (TBs), high

• surface layer electroplated with a thin layer of Cr [31]. The apparent diffusivity of Cr in the GNS Fe is 7–9 orders of magnitude higher than that in the Fe lattice and 4–5 orders of magnitude higher than that along GBs of ferrite, as shown in Figure 1. In terms of the diffusion kinetics with Arrhenius

Impact of air exposure and annealing on the chemical and electronic properties of the surface of SnO₂ nanolayers deposited by rheotaxial growth and vacuum oxidation

• Monika Kwoka and
• Maciej Krzywiecki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.55

• . The RMS roughness was equal to 6.1 nm while the surface area calculated over 1 × 1 µm2 scan was 1.017 µm2. The magnified image of the surface together with quantified surface data suggests that the surface layer of the SnO2 film is porous, which enables the diffusion of gas species from the ambient

Modeling of the growth of GaAs–AlGaAs core–shell nanowires

• Qian Zhang,
• Peter W. Voorhees and
• Stephen H. Davis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 506–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.54

• morphology and composition on the i-th facet evolve as where δ is the ratio of the density of lattice sites on the surface to that in the bulk. For each component m, ξm is the local composition fraction of atoms m of the surface layer and Moreover, ξA + ξB = 1. is the surface-diffusion flux of component m

• beneath the surface layer. This model suggests that the changing rate of the concentration of A atoms is due to the surface diffusion of the atoms along the surface, the physical deposition of the atoms from the deposition fluxes, and the motion of the surface, which leads to the atoms leaving or entering

• behind material with composition CA determined by the equilibrium with the surface layer 1/δ. Equation 7–Equation 10 cooperating with the continuity conditions at the joint points of two neighboring facets for the surface diffusion fluxes, the chemical potentials at the surface, and the surface

Tailoring bifunctional hybrid organic–inorganic nanoadsorbents by the choice of functional layer composition probed by adsorption of Cu²⁺ ions

• Veronika V. Tomina,
• Inna V. Melnyk,
• Yuriy L. Zub,
• Aivaras Kareiva,
• Miroslava Vaclavikova,
• Gulaim A. Seisenbaeva and
• Vadim G. Kessler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 334–347, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.36

• agents may have functionalities ensuring their transportation to the desired target after introduction in the human body, whereas the functionalities of a different nature exert their, e.g., therapeutic effect [12]. Moreover, the creation of a multifunctional surface layer is an instrument for the subtle

• tuning of the sorption properties of materials by varying the nature, as well as the ratio of functional groups in the surface layer. Furthermore, combining hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups, reveals opportunities for creating, for example, the “pockets” with hydrophobic walls and a hydrophilic center

• (sorption or catalytic) [13], as well as the possibility of influencing the hydrophobicity of the surface layer. The most suitable objects for such application are apparently hybrid organic–inorganic materials bearing surface-anchored functional groups. The methodology for their synthesis has reached a high

Electron energy relaxation under terahertz excitation in (Cd_1−xZn_x)₃As₂ Dirac semimetals

• Alexandra V. Galeeva,
• Ivan V. Krylov,
• Konstantin A. Drozdov,
• Anatoly F. Knjazev,
• Alexey V. Kochura,
• Alexander P. Kuzmenko,
• Vasily S. Zakhvalinskii,
• Sergey N. Danilov,
• Ludmila I. Ryabova and
• Dmitry R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 167–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.17

• excitation of the surface layer of a sample by the incident terahertz radiation. The voltage sign is defined solely by the direction of the net charge carrier flux either to or from the surface and does not depend on the charge carrier sign. The PEM effect was observed in all samples at both laser

Ordering of Zn-centered porphyrin and phthalocyanine on TiO₂(011): STM studies

• Piotr Olszowski,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Szymon Godlewski,
• Bartosz Such,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Res Jöhr,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 99–107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.11

• surface hydroxy groups. (b) Top, (c) cross-section and perspective views of the surface layer “ball model” following the interpretation of the STM image proposed by Woolcot et al. [32]. Light red, red, and dark red circles indicate O; gray small dots indicate Ti atoms. Chemical structure of the molecules

Impact of surface wettability on S-layer recrystallization: a real-time characterization by QCM-D

• Jagoba Iturri,
• Ana C. Vianna,
• Alberto Moreno-Cencerrado,
• Dietmar Pum,
• Uwe B. Sleytr and
• José Luis Toca-Herrera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 91–98, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.10

• different final arrangement of the coating. Experimental Materials Bacterial cell-surface layer protein, SbpA (Mw = 120 kDa) was isolated and purified from L. Sphaericus CCM 2177 following the standard protocols [26]. Protein recrystallization buffer was prepared with 0.5 mM Trizma base (Sigma, Germany) and

Effect of nanostructured carbon coatings on the electrochemical performance of Li_1.4Ni_0.5Mn_0.5O_2+x-based cathode materials

• Konstantin A. Kurilenko,
• Oleg A. Shlyakhtin,
• Oleg A. Brylev,
• Dmitry I. Petukhov and
• Alexey V. Garshev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1960–1970, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.187

• (Figure 5E) [34][35]. The small intercept is almost the same for the electrodes and corresponds to the solution resistance of the cell (Re). Rf and CPEf stand for the Li+ migration resistance and the capacity of the surface layer, respectively. Rct and CPEct stand for the related charge-transfer

Evolution of the graphite surface in phosphoric acid: an AFM and Raman study

• Rossella Yivlialin,
• Luigi Brambilla,
• Gianlorenzo Bussetti,
• Matteo Tommasini,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Carlo Spartaco Casari,
• Matteo Passoni,
• Franco Ciccacci,
• Lamberto Duò and
• Chiara Castiglioni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1878–1884, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.180

• optical microscopy and AFM topography. A- and B-regions consist of pristine HOPG material co-existing with a surface layer of highly modified and disordered graphitic phase. The Raman spectra suggest that the disordered component is less abundant over the B-region, where optical microscopy indicates a

• thinner modified surface layer. The C-region is compatible with incipient anion intercalation and/or exfoliation of small graphene sheets. However, a wider EC-AFM/Raman analysis on samples subjected to different CV treatments is required in order to definitely assess the ability of phosphoric acid to give

Influence of hydrothermal synthesis parameters on the properties of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

• Sylwia Kuśnieruk,
• Jacek Wojnarowicz,
• Agnieszka Chodara,
• Tadeusz Chudoba,
• Stanislaw Gierlotka and
• Witold Lojkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1586–1601, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.153

• comparison with micropowders, because the material surface layer is not as closely packed as the whole volume of particles [46] (with the observed appropriately small surface in relation to the higher density value), or the presence of small quantities of the amorphous phase. The specific surface area ranged

Photothermal effect of gold nanostar patterns inkjet-printed on coated paper substrates with different permeability

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Anni Määttänen,
• Petri Ihalainen,
• Maddalena Collini,
• Elisa Cabrini,
• Giacomo Dacarro,
• Piersandro Pallavicini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1480–1485, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.140

• S1). In addition, the printed GNS pattern was not reflective but appeared as matt dark [27]. This indicates that the printed GNS particles did not form an uniform surface layer on the surface but rather partially penetrated inside the relatively thin (~10 µm) and porous PCC top-coating [29]. The

Electric field induced structural colour tuning of a silver/titanium dioxide nanoparticle one-dimensional photonic crystal

• Eduardo Aluicio-Sarduy,
• Simone Callegari,
• Diana Gisell Figueroa del Valle,
• Andrea Desii,
• Ilka Kriegel and
• Francesco Scotognella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1404–1410, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.131

• among the different samples. This is due to the large size of the silver nanoparticles and the formation of large aggregates. Notably, the lowest surface roughness was found for the top TiO2 surface layer of the five bilayer photonic crystal (Figure S1c of Supporting Information File 1). The formation

Three-gradient regular solution model for simple liquids wetting complex surface topologies

• Sabine Akerboom,
• Marleen Kamperman and
• Frans A. M. Leermakers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1377–1396, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.129

Frog tongue surface microstructures: functional and evolutionary patterns

• Thomas Kleinteich and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 893–903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.81

• to assume that the mucus coverage on the tongue surface is more compliant than the filiform papillae themselves, which are in turn more flexible than the lacunar sub-surface layer. The muscle fibers underneath the lacunar layer supposedly have even higher stiffness than the lacunar layer. Such

• material gradients can be beneficial for adhesion as they will allow for a high adaptability to a target surface profile, while maintaining mechanical stability [26][27] and integrity of layered tissues. The lacunar sub-surface layer that we describe herein for frog tongues is very similar in the three

Efficient electron-induced removal of oxalate ions and formation of copper nanoparticles from copper(II) oxalate precursor layers

• Kai Rückriem,
• Sarah Grotheer,
• Henning Vieker,
• Paul Penner,
• André Beyer,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Petra Swiderek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 852–861, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.77

• surface layer prepared by 16 deposition cycles. A similar result is also obtained at lower film thickness and at 50 eV as illustrated here by plotting the intensity of the asymmetric CO2 deformation band at 830 cm−1 after increasing electron exposures (Figure 3). However, the reaction proceeds more slowly

Correlative infrared nanospectroscopic and nanomechanical imaging of block copolymer microdomains

• Benjamin Pollard and
• Markus B. Raschke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 605–612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.53

• [6][15][16]. The size of these microdomains (~60 nm, determined by the radial peak of a 2D Fourier transform of AFM topography) is comparable to the film thickness. Towards equilibrium, differences in the surface energy of PS and PMMA lead to the formation of a top surface layer of PS at the air

• interface, as PMMA is more polar than PS and tends toward the polar SiO2 native oxide layer of the Si substrate [17]. Models suggest that this PS surface layer is roughly half the microdomain size when in equilibrium [18], though we can expect nonuniformity and local variations of the surface layer in this

• surface layer. Therefore, resonant near-field phase contrast reveals the presence of PMMA microdomains. A spatio-spectral s-SNOM map is acquired over a 500 × 500 nm size region of PS-b-PMMA, shown in Figure 2a, as previously described [5][6]. Images are taken over a range of wavelengths spanning the

Nanoscale effects in the characterization of viscoelastic materials with atomic force microscopy: coupling of a quasi-three-dimensional standard linear solid model with in-plane surface interactions

• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 554–571, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.49

• axis of the indentation. Second, at the scale of an AFM measurement, the surface layer mechanical properties (which often differ from the bulk properties, as discussed below) may play a prominent role. Specifically, as the tip compresses the sample, it is easy to imagine how the indentation leads to an

• in-plane elastic effects within the top surface layer. The study highlights measurement interpretation challenges and physical phenomena that have not yet been addressed in depth within AFM. The article is organized as follows: first a thorough presentation of the SLS model is provided, describing

• ) does not guarantee that the interpretation of the physics is correct. Consider, for example, the results of Figure 8a, where force curves of similar overall appearance are obtained for different values of the 2D Young’s modulus of the top surface layer, with the same viscoelasticity parameters in the

Case studies on the formation of chalcogenide self-assembled monolayers on surfaces and dissociative processes

• Yongfeng Tong,
• Tingming Jiang,
• Azzedine Bendounan,
• Makri Nimbegondi Kotresh Harish,
• Angelo Giglia,
• Stefan Kubsky,
• Fausto Sirotti,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Srinivasan Sampath and
• Vladimir A. Esaulov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 263–277, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.24

• the initial stages of alkaneselenide adsorption we observed Se–C bond scission with the formation of a passivated Se–Ni surface. Thereafter, C6DSe adsorption occurs, which also leads to modifications in the structure of the Se–Ni surface layer as was the case for Pd. The attribution of the different