Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• formed binary composites [98][99][100]. Compared with pristine CPs as photocatalysts, the photocatalytic activities of the heterojunctions increased by around 18, 7, and 2 times, respectively. Subsequently, the same research group developed a P40 flake/CdS heterojunction with broad visible light

• thermodynamic driving force for proton reduction is still hard to achieve for a single CP component. In this respect, the combination of CPs with other semiconductors to form heterojunctions can further enhance the catalytic performance. Fabricating inorganic/polymer composites with complementary absorption

A stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator made of silver-coated glass microspheres for human motion energy harvesting and self-powered sensing applications

• Hui Li,
• Yaju Zhang,
• Yonghui Wu,
• Hui Zhao,
• Weichao Wang,
• Xu He and
• Haiwu Zheng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 402–412, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.32

• contact-separated working mode with double electrodes makes it difficult to connect the current conducting wires to moving objects when trying to harvest mechanical energy. Besides, the organic–inorganic composites prepared by embedding relatively hard SCGMs into a soft silicone rubber matrix reduce the

Nickel nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide/WO₃ nanocomposite – a promising candidate for gas sensing

• Ilka Simon,
• Alexandr Savitsky,
• Rolf Mülhaupt,
• Vladimir Pankov and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 343–353, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.28

• observed at all [8]. In addition, oxide-based composites are mechanically more durable and manufacturing sensors based on them seems to be more economically feasible due to the low content of graphene in the sensing element (up to several percent). At present, there is no generally accepted mechanism of

• of conducting channels from graphene layers is also pointed out, which increase the efficiency of charge carrier transfer in composites [8]. Based on the known literature data and the results obtained, it is possible to provide potential reasons for an enhancement of the sensitivity in the case under

A review on the biological effects of nanomaterials on silkworm (Bombyx mori)

• Sandra Senyo Fometu,
• Guohua Wu,
• Lin Ma and
• Joan Shine Davids

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 190–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.15

• feeding silkworm larvae with unpurified composites of CNTs and lignosulfonate composite (LGS) resulted in excess LGS coating, which blocked CNTs from being embedded into the silk fiber. The purification of CNT/LGS composites resulted in a higher CNT content, which led to an ordered graphitic structure in

Paper-based triboelectric nanogenerators and their applications: a review

• Jing Han,
• Nuo Xu,
• Yuchen Liang,
• Mei Ding,
• Junyi Zhai,
• Qijun Sun and
• Zhong Lin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 151–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.12

• paper-based 3D foldable device submitted to a direct laser patterning method, which can convert ink-soaked paper substrates to multifunctional carbide/graphene (MCG) composites [92]. The composites have shown good conductivity even after repeated mechanical bending and folding tests. Moreover, the laser

• composites are used as the electropositive layer, while some common synthetic polymers, such as fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are used as the electronegative part. As the synthetic polymers have a smooth surface and a dense structure

A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures

• Sina Kaabipour and
• Shohreh Hemmati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 102–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.9

• infections, and also inhibit the growth of bacterial biofilms [14][15][16]. AgNPs were also used in developing strong thermally conductive materials. They were used in polymer composites to increase thermal conductivity (K) [77][78] for cooling applications in electronic equipment. Furthermore, AgNPs have

• demonstrated unique electrical properties. AgNPs coated on polycarbonate substrates were previously used to increase the electrical conductivity of polycarbonate composites [79]. AgNPs have also demonstrated minimum or no adverse effects on mechanical strength when embedded in polymeric materials or composites

Bulk chemical composition contrast from attractive forces in AFM force spectroscopy

• Dorothee Silbernagl,
• Media Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani,
• Natalia Cano Murillo,
• Anna Maria Elert and
• Heinz Sturm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 58–71, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.5

• determined. Keywords: AFM force spectroscopy; composites; principle component analysis; structure–property correlation; van der Waals forces; Introduction The mechanical properties of small volumes of materials can be measured using various atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods. The well-established force

• the tip radius R of the AFM probe (typically 4 nm ≤ R ≤ 40 nm). These methods are increasingly interesting for nanoscopic heterogeneous materials, such as nanocomposites. These materials are known to show nano-effects which improve the macroscopic properties of the composites beyond the rule of

• into the structure–property correlation that governs the behavior of the sample is gained. This will be referred to as the property domain. Results and Discussion Bulk material Neat bulk materials, which will be later used in composites, are measured separately to establish the capability of the

ZnO and MXenes as electrode materials for supercapacitor devices

• Ameen Uddin Ammar,
• Ipek Deniz Yildirim,
• Feray Bakan and
• Emre Erdem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 49–57, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.4

• ]. Therefore, MXene-based composites have a promising future [16][17]. MXenes have been shown to be potential electrode materials both for Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors [20][21]. After the initial discovery, different researchers from all around the world have been combining efforts to synthesize MXenes

• -dimensional (1D) and 2D nanomaterials, a good electrochemical performance can be obtained [20]. Li et al. developed dodecaborate/MXene composites. Borate has strong B–B bonds and is an important photoelectric material. Due to its high optical and electrochemical activity, borate is preferred in energy storage

• specific capacitance of the resultant composites was twice as high as that of Co(OH)2 nanosheets [17]. Liu et al. synthesized a MXene/nickel sulfide (NiS) nanocomposite using a basic hydrothermal technique and measured a specific capacitance of 857.8 F·g−1. NiS has advantages such as good conductivity and

Unravelling the interfacial interaction in mesoporous SiO₂@nickel phyllosilicate/TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for photocatalytic activity

• Bridget K. Mutuma,
• Xiluva Mathebula,
• Isaac Nongwe,
• Bonakele P. Mtolo,
• Boitumelo J. Matsoso,
• Rudolph Erasmus,
• Zikhona Tetana and
• Neil J. Coville

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1834–1846, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.165

• surface [23]. Thus, silica-based core–shell nanocomposites offer added advantages of manipulating the pore structure, surface area, morphology, and catalyst reactivity [28]. Unlike the metal oxide–metal oxide composites, the use of metal oxide core@metal nanocomposites as dopants for titania

• obtained via a hydrothermal treatment method using solid SiO2 spheres, urea, and nickel nitrate hexahydrate. Although NiPS compounds are extensively used as catalysts, to our knowledge, reports on the use of core–shell based nickel–phyllosilicate composites in dye photodegradation are yet to be reported

• ) [60][62][63][64]. This illustrates that the samples were comprised of silicate and composites of nickel phyllosilicate with SiO2. The lower binding energies of the Si 2p peak in mSiO2@NiPS/TiO2 indicate a possible interaction between the silicates and TiO2 [65]. The O 1s spectrum was deconvoluted into

Antimicrobial metal-based nanoparticles: a review on their synthesis, types and antimicrobial action

• Matías Guerrero Correa,
• Fernanda B. Martínez,
• Cristian Patiño Vidal,
• Camilo Streitt,
• Juan Escrig and
• Carol Lopez de Dicastillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1450–1469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.129

• through chemical reactions and these NPs have a strong bactericidal effect against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria [108]. Composites containing Cu NPs and ZnO were developed by deposition of needle-like and spherical Cu NPs on a ZnO surface. These composites were exposed to visible light

• radiation in order to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) against S. aureus and E. coli. The composites exhibited antibacterial activities with low MIC and MBC values for E. coli (250 µg/mL and 750 µg/mL, respectively) and S. aureus (250 µg/mL

• antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Enterobacter aerogenes bacteria [109]. Titanium dioxide is also an inorganic material that is widely used in several products, including cosmetics and orthodontic composites, due to its excellent whitening, photocatalytic, and antimicrobial properties [131

An atomic force microscope integrated with a helium ion microscope for correlative nanoscale characterization

• Santiago H. Andany,
• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Stefan Hummel,
• Charlène Brillard,
• Mustafa Kangül and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1272–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.111

• of vertical and lateral resolution, nanoscale machining, and measurement of physical properties of the sample will allow for a multi-physics investigation in many areas of materials science and technology, such as energy materials, magnetic nanostructures, and (bio-)composites. Experimental All AFM

High permittivity, breakdown strength, and energy storage density of polythiophene-encapsulated BaTiO₃ nanoparticles

• Adnanullah Khan,
• Amir Habib and
• Adeel Afzal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1190–1197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.103

• Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, PO Box 1803, Hafr Al Batin, 39524, Saudi Arabia 10.3762/bjnano.11.103 Abstract High permittivity and breakdown strength are desired to improve the energy storage density of dielectric materials based on reinforced polymer composites

• , they are inherently poor dielectrics with very low permittivity (values in the range of 2–10) [2]. Thus, organic polymers are often reinforced with ceramic-based dielectric materials such as BTO. The dielectric properties of BTO–polymer composites are known to improve considerably with the inclusion of

• breakdown strength of BTO-polymer composites is considerably reduced after increasing the BTO content to 30–40 wt % because of the free-charge accumulation at the interface of BTO and polymer [10]. We believe that core–shell structure of BTO-PTh nanoparticles and good interfacial compatibility between the

Photothermally active nanoparticles as a promising tool for eliminating bacteria and biofilms

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Piersandro Pallavicini,
• Angelo Taglietti,
• Laura D’Alfonso,
• Maddalena Collini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1134–1146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.98

• nanostructures provided rapid and efficient eradication of up to 99% of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria within 10 min of NIR laser irradiation. In a very recent publication, poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel incorporating reduced graphene oxide composites (MoS2/Ag3PO4) was fabricated to yield a highly

Applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in drug and therapeutic delivery, and biotechnological advancements

• Maria Suciu,
• Corina M. Ionescu,
• Alexandra Ciorita,
• Septimiu C. Tripon,
• Dragos Nica,
• Hani Al-Salami and
• Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1092–1109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.94

A few-layer graphene/chlorin e6 hybrid nanomaterial and its application in photodynamic therapy against Candida albicans

• Selene Acosta,
• Carlos Moreno-Aguilar,
• Dania Hernández-Sánchez,
• Beatriz Morales-Cruzado,
• Erick Sarmiento-Gomez,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Luis Octavio Sánchez-Vargas and
• Mildred Quintana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1054–1061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.90

• results in the decay of ROS production due to molecular degradation. There have been several attempts to enhance the PDT properties of organic molecules like Ce6 by the preparation of composites using nanoparticles [14][15][16]. Such hybrid nanomaterials take advantage of both the good photosensitizer

• biological applications, such as biosensors, protein detection, bioimaging and drug delivery [17][18]. In recent years, graphene nanoparticles have been used in many different applications ranging from enhanced spectroscopy techniques, coatings, polymeric composites, sensors, drug delivery systems and others

Uniform Fe₃O₄/Gd₂O₃-DHCA nanocubes for dual-mode magnetic resonance imaging

• Miao Qin,
• Yueyou Peng,
• Mengjie Xu,
• Hui Yan,
• Yizhu Cheng,
• Xiumei Zhang,
• Di Huang,
• Weiyi Chen and
• Yanfeng Meng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1000–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.84

• distributed Fe3O4/Gd2O3 composites. FGOA nanocubes are hydrophobic since they are covered by oleic acid, which is enriched in alkyl groups. In order to increase the hydrophilicity of FGOA nanocubes so they could be used as a contrast agent in vivo, FGOA was exchanged with DHCA via the ligand-exchange method

Nickel nanoparticles supported on a covalent triazine framework as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reactions

• Secil Öztürk,
• Yu-Xuan Xiao,
• Dennis Dietrich,
• Beatriz Giesen,
• Juri Barthel,
• Jie Ying,
• Xiao-Yu Yang and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 770–781, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.62

• immobilized on the CTFs via the decomposition of the metal precursor in the IL (Scheme 1). The composites were designated Ni/CTF-1-400-X and Ni/CTF-1-600-X, where X represents the weight percentage of nickel in the composite material based on flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Nickel loadings of 20

• (69 and 71 wt %, respectively, see Table S3, Supporting Information File 1). In the literature, there are various reports on Ni/carbon and Ni/N-doped carbon composites (Table S3, Supporting Information File 1). These composites are largely obtained by pyrolysis of Ni precursors or Ni-containing metal

• as support for nanoparticles can yield an advantage in terms of metal–support interactions compared to activated carbon [40]. In PXRD measurements, both cubic (fcc) and hexagonal (hcp) crystalline phases of nickel [45] were observed in all composites (Figure 1). When the nickel loading was low (20–22

Effect of Ag loading position on the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ nanocolumn arrays

• Jinghan Xu,
• Yanqi Liu and
• Yan Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 717–728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.59

• Technology, Ministry of Education, Research Institute of Laser Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, No. 100 Pingle Park, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, People’s Republic of China 10.3762/bjnano.11.59 Abstract Plasmonic metal/semiconductor composites have attracted great attention for efficient

A novel dry-blending method to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion of polymer templates for OTFT electrodes

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Bo Tian,
• Yuxuan Guo,
• Fan Fan and
• Anjiang Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 671–677, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.53

• the EPI to prepare a polyimide–silica hybrid film having a low CTE. However, because of the poor dispersion of the nanomaterial and the high viscosity of the polymer during wet blending [17][18], the nanomaterial content in the composites is usually low, which causes the CTE of the polymer template to

• verify that the CTE of the PDMS/SiO2 composite template was reasonable, we compared the CTE with that calculated from a model employing the governing Equation 2 [22]. This equation can be applied to polymer composites filled with one type of nanoparticles: Here, αc is the CTE model value of the PDMS/SiO2

Exfoliation in a low boiling point solvent and electrochemical applications of MoO₃

• Matangi Sricharan,
• Bikesh Gupta,
• Sreejesh Moolayadukkam and
• H. S. S. Ramakrishna Matte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 662–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.52

• , the MoO3 dispersion in 2-butanone retains its intrinsic nature even after exposure to sunlight for 24 h. The composites of MoO3 nanosheets were used as an electrode material for supercapacitors and showed a high specific capacitance of 201 F·g−1 in a three-electrode configuration at a scan rate of 50

• (SCE) as reference electrode were used for the electrochemical testing of the exfoliated MoO3 dispersions and its composites. In brief, the GCE was cleaned with a polishing cloth using fine alumina abrasive powders and washed thoroughly in deionized water. The required amount of the dispersion of known

• poor intrinsic electronic conductivity of the MoO3 [24]. In order to enhance the electrochemical properties, composites of exfoliated MoO3 nanosheets and conducting carbon black (CB) were prepared. As shown in Figure 3a, well-defined oxidation and reduction peaks are observed after the addition of 2 wt

Silver-decorated gel-shell nanobeads: physicochemical characterization and evaluation of antibacterial properties

• Marta Bartel,
• Katarzyna Markowska,
• Marcin Strawski,
• Krystyna Wolska and
• Maciej Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 620–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.49

• [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The resulting composites exhibit a double function, they support the metal nanoparticles and prevent their aggregation. For example, polystyrene microspheres have been decorated with silver nanoparticles and were used as catalysts, Raman-enhancing materials

Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

• Changqiang Yu,
• Min Wen,
• Zhen Tong,
• Shuhua Li,
• Yanhong Yin,
• Xianbin Liu,
• Yesheng Li,
• Tongxiang Liang,
• Ziping Wu and
• Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 407–416, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.31

• product was named CuO/tourmaline-1:1 (1:1 in mass ratio of the CuO/tourmaline). By controlling the dosage of Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O and NaOH in proportion the CuO/tourmaline composites in different mass ratios of the CuO/tourmaline were acquired. Characterization X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were obtained

• are exhibited in Figure 6b. The k value of the CuO/tourmaline-4:1 composite was larger than that of the other composites and was three times higher than that of CuO (Figure 6c), which proved that the CuO/tourmaline composite was successfully prepared and showed higher photocatalytic organic oxidation

High-performance asymmetric supercapacitor made of NiMoO₄ nanorods@Co₃O₄ on a cellulose-based carbon aerogel

• Meixia Wang,
• Jing Zhang,
• Xibin Yi,
• Benxue Liu,
• Xinfu Zhao and
• Xiaochan Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 240–251, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.18

• aerogel precursor, which was produced from microcrystalline cellulose (MC). Second, the produced CA was used as the backbone for the growth of NiMoO4 nanorods employing a hydrothermal method followed by heat treatment. By this approach, NiMoO4/CA composites were obtained, in which the NiMoO4 nanorods

Size effects of graphene nanoplatelets on the properties of high-density polyethylene nanocomposites: morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical characterization

• Tuba Evgin,
• Alpaslan Turgut,
• Georges Hamaoui,
• Zdenko Spitalsky,
• Nicolas Horny,
• Matej Micusik,
• Mihai Chirtoc,
• Mehmet Sarikanat and
• Maria Omastova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 167–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.14

• composites (PMCs); thermal properties; Introduction In recent years, electrically and thermally conductive polymer nanocomposites have attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in many industrial applications, such as aerospace, electronics, packaging, automotives, sensors, batteries

• molding. The size effects of the GnPs on the morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of the composites was studied. The small differences in the GnPs’ surfaces’ chemical composition were detected by XPS, and the highest amount of oxygen that was found was 2.6 atom % for G1. FTIR and

Fabrication of Ag-modified hollow titania spheres via controlled silver diffusion in Ag–TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Krzysztof Kopczyński and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 141–146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.12

• result, to a red-shift of the plasmon resonance [20]. As can be seen from curve A in Figure 4, Ag@TiO2 CSNs have a broad absorption in the UV–vis range. This is the characteristic absorption of these composites, which does not change remarkably with a change of the shell thickness. The annealing of Ag