High-throughput micro-nanostructuring by microdroplet inkjet printing

• Hendrikje R. Neumann and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2372–2380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.222

• droplets. The broad distribution of droplet diameter on the NiTi foil might also be due to dirt particles on the surface as shown by the bright spots in the AFM image in Figure 5D. Another factor that might also influence the droplet diameter is the surface texture of NiTi on copper (Figure 3E). There is a

• ), the gold nanoparticles arrange themselves in the grooves of the material texture (see Figure 3B1–E1). The NND of these samples, shown in Figure 6, is given for the gold nanoparticles at the boundaries. For better comparison of nanopatterned surfaces with established techniques, the NND for spin-coated

• result of the distinct arrangement of the gold nanodots in the texture-induced grooves on these samples. The distribution for the sputtered NiTi thin film differs from the other samples. The mean NND here is about 27 nm and 50% of the data set for this sample has a small variation of 10 nm. However, the

Performance analysis of rigorous coupled-wave analysis and its integration in a coupled modeling approach for optical simulation of complete heterojunction silicon solar cells

• Ziga Lokar,
• Benjamin Lipovsek,
• Marko Topic and
• Janez Krc

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2315–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.216

• substructure of the solar cell, including the texture, thin passivation and contact layers. Inverted pyramidal textures of different sizes were included in the simulations. The simulations rapidly converge as long as the textures are small (in the (sub)micrometer range), while for larger microscale textures

• (feature sizes of a few micrometers), this is not the case. Small textures were optimized to decrease the reflectance, and consequently, increase the absorption in the active layers of the solar cell. Decreasing the flat parts of the texture was shown to improve performance. For simulations of structures

• our previous work presented in [20] and to other coupling approaches such as the OPTOS matrix formulation [21], our CMA was used for the simulation of the solar cell structure including a double (nano + micro) texture. Modeling Rigorous coupled-wave analysis method RCWA, also called the Fourier modal

Induced smectic phase in binary mixtures of twist-bend nematogens

• Anamarija Knežević,
• Irena Dokli,
• Marin Sapunar,
• Suzana Šegota,
• Ute Baumeister and
• Andreja Lesac

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1297–1307, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.122

• ]. The N–NTB phase transition has been confirmed observing characteristic blocky texture from which polygon and rope textures developed. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements in both nematic phases show that the d value for the maxima of the inner scattering in the nematic phase is at about 1.4 nm for

• characteristic texture. As can be seen in Figure 2, upon addition of BB to CBI, the Iso–N, as well as the N–NTB transition temperatures, decrease linearly with increasing BB content. In terms of a molecular field theory developed to predict phase diagrams for binary mixtures of nematics [19], this suggests that

• with BB. On cooling from the isotropic liquid, mixtures containing less than 50 mol % of BB show the nematic and the NTB phase identified by marble (Figure 3a) and polygonal texture (Figure 3b), respectively. Further cooling resulted in increased viscosity and vitrification with no change in texture

Formation and development of nanometer-sized cybotactic clusters in bent-core nematic liquid crystalline compounds

• Yuri P. Panarin,
• Sithara P. Sreenilayam,
• Jagdish K. Vij,
• Anne Lehmann and
• Carsten Tschierske

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1288–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.121

• homogeneously planar texture using polarized optical microscopy (POM). Figure 4 shows POM textures with different applied AC and DC voltages. An application of a 100 Hz square wave voltage above an amplitude of 10 V causes turbulent convection with domains of different shapes appearing in the cell. A study of

• clusters (open black squares) in the bulk nematic phase, FC. Polarized optical microscopy (POM) texture of a 7.8 µm BCN66 cell with an applied peak voltage of an AC square wave of 100 Hz. The original left-most texture is not affected by the AC voltage applied up to 10 V. Other textures were taken at the

Understanding the performance and mechanism of Mg-containing oxides as support catalysts in the thermal dry reforming of methane

• Nor Fazila Khairudin,
• Mohd Farid Fahmi Sukri,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1162–1183, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.108

• alkaline properties and thermal stability of MgO, which is more suitable for CO2 and CH4 adsorption. In fact, MgO offers low surface area, which could further be improved, and yields optimum texture properties with a combination of alumina [45][114][115][116][117]. Based on the investigation of the

An implementation of spin–orbit coupling for band structure calculations with Gaussian basis sets: Two-dimensional topological crystals of Sb and Bi

• Sahar Pakdel,
• Mahdi Pourfath and
• J. J. Palacios

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1015–1023, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.94

• antimonene including SOC, as obtained with the small-core pseudopotential basis set and the same enhancement factor as in the previous section. The results compare rather well down to any practical detail with those reported in the literature. In the inset of Figure 5 we show that the spin texture of the

• reference, thin gray curves indicate the bands before adding SOC. The same lattice structure relaxed with VASP has been used for all cases. Band structure of 9 layers, ABC stacking Sb(111) films as obtained from small core pseudopotential basis. The spin texture around the Γ point is presented in the inset

Comparative study of sculptured metallic thin films deposited by oblique angle deposition at different temperatures

• Susann Liedtke,
• Christoph Grüner,
• Jürgen W. Gerlach and
• Bernd Rauschenbach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 954–962, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.89

• temperature affect the columnar tilt angles and the porosity of the sculptured thin films. Exemplarily for tilted Al columns deposited at 77 K and at 300 K, in-plane pole figure measurements are carried out. A tendency to form a biaxial texture as well as a change in the crystalline structure depending on the

• substrate temperature is found for those films. Keywords: biaxial texture; metallic tilted columns; oblique angle deposition; porosity; shadowing; thin films; Introduction The ability to produce highly porous metallic thin films is a substantial issue for a large number of applications [1]. For instance

• columnar morphology, the relation between tilt angle β, porosity P and incidence angle θ is in focus of this paper. Further, the influence of surface diffusion and changes in the crystalline structure are studied. Results and Discussion Morphology and texture Figure 1 shows tilted Al columns that are

A review of carbon-based and non-carbon-based catalyst supports for the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide

• Shahreen Binti Izwan Anthonysamy,
• Syahidah Binti Afandi,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Bin Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 740–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.68

Synthesis and characterization of two new TiO₂-containing benzothiazole-based imine composites for organic device applications

• Anna Różycka,
• Agnieszka Iwan,
• Krzysztof Artur Bogdanowicz,
• Michal Filapek,
• Natalia Górska,
• Damian Pociecha,
• Marek Malinowski,
• Patryk Fryń,
• Agnieszka Hreniak,
• Jakub Rysz,
• Paweł Dąbczyński and
• Monika Marzec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 721–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.67

• intense peak at lower temperature is connected with the transition between two crystalline phases. For SP1 there is only one texture and one peak at 66.31 °C in the DSC curve on heating with the rate of 10 °C/min. Additionally, SP1 was measured during heating and cooling with increasing rates, because at

• temperatures of both imines addition of TiO2 to SP2 imine significantly changed the POM texture of imine values of the energy gap and HOMO–LUMO levels of both imines decreased with increasing addition of titanium dioxide TiO2 has an influence on the structural properties of SP1 and SP2 imines the imine:TiO2

Cyclodextrin-assisted synthesis of tailored mesoporous silica nanoparticles

• Fuat Topuz and
• Tamer Uyar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 693–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.64

• with a size of about 170 nm were produced. A further increase in the CTAC concentration led to smaller, connected nanoparticles in the range of 110–130 nm. A similar change in particle morphology was reported for the CD-free MSN samples synthesized at various CTAB contents, where the sample texture

Engineering of oriented carbon nanotubes in composite materials

• Razieh Beigmoradi,
• Abdolreza Samimi and
• Davod Mohebbi-Kalhori

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 415–435, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.41

• hard, solid or powder, biological, and organic or inorganic surfaces. This device can measure geometric morphology, adhesion distribution, friction, surface impurities, texture, elasticity, magnetism, chemical bonding forces, distribution of electric charges and electric polarization in different parts

Photocatalytic and adsorption properties of TiO₂-pillared montmorillonite obtained by hydrothermally activated intercalation of titanium polyhydroxo complexes

• Mikhail F. Butman,
• Nikolay L. Ovchinnikov,
• Nikita S. Karasev,
• Nataliya E. Kochkina,
• Alexander V. Agafonov and
• Alexandr V. Vinogradov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 364–378, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.36

• and temperature on structural, textural, and adsorption properties and UV photocatalytic activity of the produced TiO2-pillared MM samples is assessed. Results and Discussion Structure and texture of TiO2-pillared materials Figure 1 shows small-angle diffractograms for the initial MM sample and that

Periodic structures on liquid-phase smectic A, nematic and isotropic free surfaces

• Anna N. Bagdinova,
• Evgeny I. Demikhov,
• Nataliya G. Borisenko,
• Sergei M. Tolokonnikov,
• Gennadii V. Mishakov and
• Andrei V. Sharkov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 342–352, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.34

• directly after the stripe formation. Generally, the stripe texture becomes smoother. Figure 8 shows the stripe formation on the free surface of the nematic phase at T = 38 °C. Directly after heating to 38 °С, the surface structure is homogeneous. Shortly after, a periodic striped structure perpendicular to

• . Figure 9 shows the stripe structure formation on the surface of the isotropic liquid, 8CB, at 46 °С. The contrast of this stripe texture is weaker than in the SmA phase. The stripe periodicity in the isotropic liquid is approximately the same as in the nematic phase. Discussion The comparison of optical

• , ISSA, SNOM, AFM. The applicability of surface-sensitive tools for liquid crystals was reviewed. We observed a periodic order of FCDs in one-dimensional chains. A periodic stripe texture is observed in SmA, nematic phases and isotropic liquid in 8CB. The periodic images of the probe depend on the

Design of polar self-assembling lactic acid derivatives possessing submicrometre helical pitch

• Alexej Bubnov,
• Cyril Vacek,
• Michał Czerwiński,
• Terezia Vojtylová,
• Wiktor Piecek and
• Věra Hamplová

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 333–341, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.33

• and the same length of non-chiral terminal chain. For all compounds the SmC* phase remains quite stable also at its supercooled state, i.e., below the melting point; the crystallisation does not occur even under an applied electric field. Moreover, the uniform alignment of the SmC* phase texture is

Liquid-crystalline nanoarchitectures for tissue engineering

• Baeckkyoung Sung and
• Min-Ho Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 205–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.22

• manifested as the fingerprint texture between crossed polarizers. This texture originates from the helical structure of the director field in the cholesteric phase, where the distance required to rotate the director by an angle of 2π corresponds to the cholesteric pitch. In cross-sectional electron

• helices, at collagen concentrations above 100 mg/mL in 0.5 mM acetic acid, exhibit strong birefringence with a fingerprint texture in polarizing microscopy. In the coexistence regime of isotropic and nematic phases of collagen, spindle-shaped cholesteric tactoids appear in the isotropic medium. The

Nematic topological defects positionally controlled by geometry and external fields

• Pavlo Kurioz,
• Marko Kralj,
• Bryce S. Murray,
• Charles Rosenblatt and
• Samo Kralj

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 109–118, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.13

• defect core displacement mechanism. Therefore, by manipulating the texture of TDs, one could control or reconfigure the positions of trapped NPs, which could be exploited in future nano-scale devices. Geometry of cells used in simulations. (a) In the “Cartesian” cells we enforce at the top “master” plate

Magnetic field induced orientational transitions in liquid crystals doped with carbon nanotubes

• Danil A. Petrov,
• Pavel K. Skokov and
• Alexander N. Zakhlevnykh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2807–2817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.280

• we propose a continuum theory of dilute CNT suspension in LCs that makes it possible to study orientational transitions induced by the magnetic field. Results and Discussion Basic equations We consider infinite plane layer of thickness L of a suspension of CNTs in NLC with planar texture and an

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• successful association of CdSe NRs with TiO2. All CdSe/TiO2 composites exhibit a non-rigid texture and the pores observed should be beneficial for the diffusion of molecules and thus for an enhanced photocatalytic activity. The morphology of the particles was further characterized by TEM. Commercial P25 TiO2

Au nanostructure fabrication by pulsed laser deposition in open air: Influence of the deposition geometry

• Rumen G. Nikov,
• Anna Og. Dikovska,
• Nikolay N. Nedyalkov,
• Georgi V. Avdeev and
• Petar A. Atanasov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2438–2445, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.242

• -1625). For face-centered cubic metals, like Au, the most common crystallographic texture appears in the [111] direction. We observed a weak texture in the same direction, which is presented in Figure 2, where the experimental diffraction pattern is compared with a calculated randomly oriented powder

Fabrication of CeO₂–MO_x (M = Cu, Co, Ni) composite yolk–shell nanospheres with enhanced catalytic properties for CO oxidation

• Ling Liu,
• Jingjing Shi,
• Hongxia Cao,
• Ruiyu Wang and
• Ziwu Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2425–2437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.241

• , thus, the facilitation of synergistic interaction between two components are necessary to optimize the catalytic performances. The unique structure and texture of CeO2-based catalysts is also associated with high activity and stability in the catalytic reaction. For instance, rod-like CeO2–CuO

• -containing precursors and the control of the various factors that govern the morphology, texture and physico-chemical properties, provide a promising approach to fabricate CeO2-based mixed oxide with various nanostructures. However, compared with pure CeO2, it remains a challenge to synthesize CeO2-based

Numerical investigation of the tribological performance of micro-dimple textured surfaces under hydrodynamic lubrication

• Kangmei Li,
• Dalei Jing,
• Jun Hu,
• Xiaohong Ding and
• Zhenqiang Yao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2324–2338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.232

• , the main mechanism for the improvement in the tribological performance is the combined effects of wedging and recirculation. Within the range of parameters investigated in this study, the optimum texture density is 13%, while the optimum aspect ratio varies with the Reynolds number. For a given

• Reynolds number, there exists a combination of texture density and aspect ratio at which the optimum tribological performance could be obtained. Conclusions from this study could be helpful for the design of texture parameters in mechanical friction components and even in artificial joints. Keywords: CFD

• simulation; hydrodynamic lubrication; micro-dimple array; surface texture; tribological performance; Introduction The wear caused by friction is considered to be the main reason for the failure of mechanical systems and the major source of energy loss [1]. Various methods have been developed to reduce

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

• texture [30]. It is interesting to note that this is the only surface studied that exhibited a striking increase in friction upon an exposure to the NDs. QCM measurements Frequency f and mechanical resistance R values of QCM relative to their initial values in air, f_air and R_air, are summarized in

Growth and characterization of textured well-faceted ZnO on planar Si(100), planar Si(111), and textured Si(100) substrates for solar cell applications

• Chin-Yi Tsai,
• Jyong-Di Lai,
• Shih-Wei Feng,
• Chien-Jung Huang,
• Chien-Hsun Chen,
• Fann-Wei Yang,
• Hsiang-Chen Wang and
• Li-Wei Tu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1939–1945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.194

• , and CL as well. The reflectance spectra of these three samples show that the antireflection function provided by theses samples mostly results from the nanometer-scaled texture of the ZnO films, while the micrometer-scaled texture of the Si substrate has a limited contribution. The results of this

• reflectance due to the additional texture provided by the micrometer-sized pyramid structure of the texture Si(100) substrate. Therefore, it could be concluded that the antireflection function provided by theses samples mostly results from the nanometer-sized texture of the ZnO films while the micrometer

• -sized texture of the Si substrate has a limited contribution. Discussion The main grain orientation, surface morphology, AFM surface roughness (Rq) from AFM, average grain size (D), strain (ε), and CL intensity of samples ZnOp(100), ZnOp(111), and ZnOt(100) are shown in Table 1. The results clearly

Optical techniques for cervical neoplasia detection

• Tatiana Novikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1844–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.186

• algorithm for the detection of cervical precancerous lesions identified first the regions of squamous and columnar epithelium [42]. Transformation zone and external os were delimited on the image taken before the application of acetic acid using color and texture information. Domain-specific anatomical

Process-specific mechanisms of vertically oriented graphene growth in plasmas

• Subrata Ghosh,
• Shyamal R. Polaki,
• Niranjan Kumar,
• Sankarakumar Amirthapandian,
• Mohamed Kamruddin and
• Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1658–1670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.166

• desired morphology. Wetting properties The desired wetting properties of materials are one of the important aspects from the application point of view. This wetting property depends on combined effect of several extrinsic and intrinsic factors including morphology, topography, surface texture, chemical