Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes coated with zinc oxide nanoparticles as sulfur encapsulator for high-performance lithium/sulfur batteries

• Yan Zhao,
• Zhengjun Liu,
• Liancheng Sun,
• Yongguang Zhang,
• Yuting Feng,
• Xin Wang,
• Indira Kurmanbayeva and
• Zhumabay Bakenov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1677–1685, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.159

• carbon nanotubes coated with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO@NCNT) were prepared via a sol–gel route as sulfur encapsulator for lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries. The electrochemical properties of the S/ZnO@NCNT composite cathode were evaluated in Li/S batteries. It delivered an initial capacity of 1032

• providing pathways for ion and electron transport. The as-prepared S/ZnO@NCNT composite is a promising cathode material for Li/S batteries. Keywords: batteries; nanocomposites; sol–gel processes; sulfur; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Due to its high theoretical specific capacity of 1672 mAh·g−1 and

• this work, we synthesized nanocomposites of zinc oxide-coated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes with sulfur (S/ZnO@NCNT). ZnO was chosen because it is cheap, non-toxic and stable [14][15]. More importantly, ZnO demonstrates a strong affinity to polysulfides. In addition, NCNT was used due to its good

Light extraction efficiency enhancement of flip-chip blue light-emitting diodes by anodic aluminum oxide

• Yi-Ru Huang,
• Yao-Ching Chiu,
• Kuan-Chieh Huang,
• Shao-Ying Ting,
• Po-Jui Chiang,
• Chih-Ming Lai,
• Chun-Ping Jen,
• Snow H. Tseng and
• Hsiang-Chen Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1602–1612, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.152

• with Ga-doped zinc oxide (GZO)/GaN as the base layer and then reducing the total reflectivity by changing the shape, thickness, and density of the microstructure through dry etching [12]. Li et al. increased the LEE of an InGaN-monolayer quantum-well LED by 1.8–1.9 times relative to that of a

Room-temperature single-photon emitters in titanium dioxide optical defects

• Kelvin Chung,
• Yu H. Leung,
• Chap H. To,
• Aleksandra B. Djurišić and
• Snjezana Tomljenovic-Hanic

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1085–1094, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.100

• types of single-photon emitters that include molecules [3], trapped atoms [4], quantum dots [5] and defects in diamond [6]. More recently point defects of wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as zinc oxide (ZnO) [7][8][9] and silicon carbide [10], were shown to exhibit room-temperature single-photon

Cyclodextrin inhibits zinc corrosion by destabilizing point defect formation in the oxide layer

• Abdulrahman Altin,
• Maciej Krzywiecki,
• Adnan Sarfraz,
• Cigdem Toparli,
• Claudius Laska,
• Philipp Kerger,
• Aleksandar Zeradjanin,
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer,
• Michael Rohwerder and
• Andreas Erbe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 936–944, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.86

• reactions, forming precipitates such as hydrated zinc oxide [15]. ZnO is naturally an n-type semiconductor with a band gap of 3.4 eV [20]. Oxides formed in an aerated corrosion process are typically defect-rich oxides [21], especially in the presence of Cl− [15]. Consequently, the products remain initially

Facile synthesis of a ZnO–BiOI p–n nano-heterojunction with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Mengyuan Zhang,
• Jiaqian Qin,
• Pengfei Yu,
• Bing Zhang,
• Mingzhen Ma,
• Xinyu Zhang and
• Riping Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.72

• degradation [3][4][5][6], nitrogen fixation [7][8], to solar fuel production [9]. The metal oxides, such as CdO [10], Al2O3 [11], and CuO [12][13], has attracted a lot of interest in photocatalytic applications. And among all of these metal oxides, it is titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (TiO2 and ZnO) that are

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• , the carrier concentration of aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) can be shifted from 0.5 to 10 × 1020 cm–3 by varying the concentration of Al, thus contributing to the wide-range SPR (2200–880 nm) [144]. Despite the tunable plasmonic features of semiconductors, some plasmonic semiconductors are

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

• fabrication cost [14]. ZnFe2O4 is an n-type semiconductor having a direct band gap with suitable band edge positions for various photocatalytic processes. It is a solid solution of ferric oxide and zinc oxide, which greatly enhances the charge carrier separation. To date, various methods such as refluxing

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• -driven photocatalysis. Prasannan and Imae reported a simple and facile one-pot synthesis of fluorescent CDs from orange waste peels using the hydrothermal carbonization method. As prepared CDs were combined with zinc oxide (ZnO) to degrade naphthol blue–black azo dye under UV irradiation, and the

Gas-sensing behaviour of ZnO/diamond nanostructures

• Marina Davydova,
• Alexandr Laposa,
• Jiri Smarhak,
• Alexander Kromka,
• Neda Neykova,
• Josef Nahlik,
• Jiri Kroutil,
• Jan Drahokoupil and
• Jan Voves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 22–29, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.4

• : density functional theory (DFT); gas sensor; interdigital electrodes; nanocrystalline diamond; sensitivity; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Currently, a number of studies have been focused on developing gas sensors based on nanomaterials and/or nanostructures. Metal oxides are the most common sensing

Low uptake of silica nanoparticles in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial barriers

• Dong Ye,
• Mattia Bramini,
• Delyan R. Hristov,
• Sha Wan,
• Anna Salvati,
• Christoffer Åberg and
• Kenneth A. Dawson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1396–1406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.141

• been achieved [19][20][21]. Caco-2 cells have been used in the literature to investigate the potential toxic effects of a range of nanoparticles, including microporous silicon [22], silica [23][24][25][26][27][28] and zinc oxide [25]. Though such studies have mainly been performed on undifferentiated

Metal oxide nanostructures: preparation, characterization and functional applications as chemical sensors

• Dario Zappa,
• Angela Bertuna,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Navpreet Kaur,
• Nicola Poli,
• Veronica Sberveglieri and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1205–1217, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.122

• conventional thin film counterparts, to see if the discerning ability of the electronic nose is affected by the integration of nanostructured active materials. In particular, we decided to integrate tin dioxide and zinc oxide devices, since these are the most widely used and studied materials for chemical

• ), tin dioxide (SnO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires was performed by evaporation–condensation on alumina substrates [50]. It consists of a controlled evaporation of metal oxide powder followed by a condensation of vapor on a catalyzing substrate. The main parameters to optimize during evaporation

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

• acetate (Zn(OAc)2, 99.99%, Sigma), copper iodide (CuI, 99.999%, Sigma), dodecanethiol (DDT, >98%, Sigma), oleylamine (OA, 70%, Sigma), 1-octadecene (ODE, 90%, Sigma), zinc oxide (ZnO, 99%, Alfa Aesar), disodium terephthalate (DST, 99+%, Alfa), nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT, >98%, Sigma), leuco

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

• scalable and relatively cost effective [14][15][16]. In particular, among all the TMO NPs, titanium dioxide [17], manganese oxide [18], iron oxide [19] and zinc oxide [20] have attracted the most attention due to their particular interesting and advantageous properties. By changing the reaction conditions

• hybrids by a rapid, facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal method for LIB applications [218]. CuO–graphene nanostructures were used as nonenzymatic glucose sensors [219], humidity sensors [220], for CO2 mineralisation [221], as supercapacitors [222], and as pseudo-capacitor electrode materials [223]. Zinc

• oxide (ZnO)–graphene hybrids Most of the reports of graphene hybrid systems are related to ZnO NPs, as it is very easy to control the size and morphology of ZnO NPs as well as the properties of the material. ZnO is an important II–VI semiconductor with large direct band gap of 3.37 eV and large exciton

Study of the surface properties of ZnO nanocolumns used for thin-film solar cells

• Neda Neykova,
• Jiri Stuchlik,
• Karel Hruska,
• Ales Poruba,
• Zdenek Remes and
• Ognen Pop-Georgievski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 446–451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.48

• -Si) solar cells, used for mass production, is composed of a transparent conductive oxide with roughness at the nanoscale on the front (TCO), e.g., tin oxide (SnO2) or zinc oxide (ZnO), followed by p–i–n Si layers (amorphous and/or nanocrystalline) in the cell and a back reflector [1][2]. In such a

• developed solar cells based on a three dimensional (3-D) design, in which periodically ordered zinc oxide nanocolumns (ZnO NCs) are used as a front electrode, have been of great interest, because they would exceed in the ultimate light trapping and provide excellent charge separation [5][6][7]. Due to the

Template-controlled piezoactivity of ZnO thin films grown via a bioinspired approach

• Nina J. Blumenstein,
• Fabian Streb,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Zaklina Burghard and
• Joachim Bill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 296–303, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.32

• . Keywords: piezoresponse force microscopy; template-controlled deposition; ZnO; Introduction Zinc oxide is a wide band gap semiconductor. Thin films of it can be applied in, e.g., LEDs [1][2][3] or transistors [4][5][6]. Furthermore, due to its piezoelectricity, it can be incorporated in actuators [7] or

Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

• cells (DSSCs). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the extract revealed the presence of anchoring groups and coloring constituents. Two different structures were prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using zinc oxide (ZnO) layers to obtain ZnO nanowall (NW) or nanorod (NR) layers employed

• semiconductor in DSSCs [2][3][4][5]. Besides, the TiO2 offers high electronic mobility for photogenerated electron collection, a suitable band gap, which adapts to the injection of the electrons of most studied dyes, and high surface area to enhance the dye loading by anchoring the dye [6][7]. Zinc oxide (ZnO

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

• photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants [3][4][5][6]. It should be remembered that nanoparticulated zinc oxide is a wide-band gap II–VI semiconductor with a band-gap energy of around 3.4 eV, which is of great interest for photocatalytic applications [7]. ZnO nanoparticles (NP) have been assembled to

Ferromagnetic behaviour of ZnO: the role of grain boundaries

• Boris B. Straumal,
• Svetlana G. Protasova,
• Andrei A. Mazilkin,
• Eberhard Goering,
• Gisela Schütz,
• Petr B. Straumal and
• Brigitte Baretzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1936–1947, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.185

• influence the magnetic behaviour of such a material. Especially attractive is that zinc oxide is cheap. It is widely used for various applications from sunblock creams to varistors for power electronics [3][4]. The various technologies of deposition of pure and doped ZnO films, sintering of ZnO ceramics and

• qualitatively) where and when the ferromagnetism appears in zinc oxide. We supposed that ferromagnetic behaviour of pure and doped ZnO is controlled by grain boundaries (GBs) and appears only if the grain boundary network (the “ferromagnetic foam”) is dense enough [7]. Our first results concerning the role of

• ferromagnetic behaviour of zinc oxide and developed our own method for the synthesis of pure and doped nanocrystalline ZnO films. The obtained data are summarized in Figure 1 for pure ZnO and ZnO doped with manganese, cobalt, iron and nickel [6][7][8][9]. The full list of used references can be found in [6][7

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

• longer electron life time than TiO2 [14][15][16]. Zinc oxide is a well-known semiconductor with a band gap energy of 3.37 eV and has been widely explored as photocatalytic material due to its non-toxic nature, high exciton binding energy (60 meV), photosensitivity and stability on exposure to high energy

A composite structure based on reduced graphene oxide and metal oxide nanomaterials for chemical sensors

• Vardan Galstyan,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Iskandar Kholmanov,
• Andrea Ponzoni,
• Veronica Sberveglieri,
• Nicola Poli,
• Guido Faglia and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1421–1427, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.133

• monitoring of environmental pollutants and for the application of breath tests in assessment of exposure to volatile organic compounds. Keywords: chemical sensors; reduced graphene oxide (RGO); volatile organic compounds; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Hazard analysis of critical control point (HACCP

• environmental and health protection. SEM image (a) and Raman spectrum (b) of the GO platelets deposited on SiO2/Si wafer. SEM images of the obtained samples based on graphene and zinc oxide at low (a) and high (b) magnification. (a) EDX spectrum and (b) quantitative analysis of the hybrid structure based on GO

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

• can be trapped by water and oxygen to generate hydroxyl •OH and superoxide O2•− radicals, respectively. These highly oxidizing species are responsible of the conversion of organic compounds into carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic salts. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most widely investigated

Viability and proliferation of endothelial cells upon exposure to GaN nanoparticles

• Tudor Braniste,
• Ion Tiginyanu,
• Tibor Horvath,
• Simion Raevschi,
• Serghei Cebotari,
• Marco Lux,
• Axel Haverich and
• Andres Hilfiker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1330–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.124

• nanoparticles were synthesized on a sacrificial layer of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The uptake of GaN nanoparticles by porcine endothelial cells was strongly dependent upon whether they were fixed to the substrate surface or free floating in the medium. The endothelial

Microwave solvothermal synthesis and characterization of manganese-doped ZnO nanoparticles

• Jacek Wojnarowicz,
• Roman Mukhovskyi,
• Elzbieta Pietrzykowska,
• Sylwia Kusnieruk,
• Jan Mizeracki and
• Witold Lojkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 721–732, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.64

• 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.7.64 Abstract Mn-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by using the microwave solvothermal synthesis (MSS) technique. The nanoparticles were produced from a solution of zinc acetate dihydrate and manganese(II) acetate tetrahydrate using ethylene glycol

• -doped zinc oxide nanoparticles; microwave solvothermal synthesis (MSS); characterization techniques of nanomaterials; physical properties of Mn2+-doped ZnO nanoparticles; Introduction Nanotechnology has triggered a new global industrial revolution of the 21st century [1]. At present it is the leading

• oxides semiconductors. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a II–VI semiconductor characterised by a wide band gap of 3.3 eV and a high exciton binding energy of circa 60 meV [4]. ZnO is used in optoelectronic devices, solar cells, data carriers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), gas sensors, thermoelectric devices

Tight junction between endothelial cells: the interaction between nanoparticles and blood vessels

• Yue Zhang and
• Wan-Xi Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 675–684, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.60

• into photo-damaged skin through follicles and intercellular spaces [28]. Also, zinc oxide, which is widely used in sunscreen, penetrates into the stratum granulosum of the epidermis [29], which leads us to the assumption that once NPs penetrate through the epidermis, there is a huge possibility to get

• pulmonary barrier (air–blood barrier) causing interstitial fibrosis [32]. Zinc oxide NPs take part in inflammatory responses in lung epithelial cells [20]. In the research for oral drug delivery, NPs could be absorbed through the intestine, and bioadhesive polymers could improve this capacity [33

Unraveling the neurotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: focusing on molecular mechanisms

• Bin Song,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Jia Liu,
• Xiaoli Feng,
• Ting Zhou and
• Longquan Shao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 645–654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.57

• nanoparticles [69]. In addition, copper oxide NPs [70], silica NPs [71], zinc oxide NPs [72], and silver NPs [73] were shown to induce autophagy in in vitro studies. TiO2 NPs were also capable of inducing autophagy. Studies showed that TiO2 NPs could induce autophagy in normal lung cells [74] and in primary