Material discrimination and mixture ratio estimation in nanocomposites via harmonic atomic force microscopy

• Weijie Zhang,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Xicheng Xia and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2771–2780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.276

• . For quantitative analysis, we evaluated the harmonic amplitudes on the PS and LDPE domains, and the results are shown in Figure 2a. The amplitude differences were 4.3, 14.4, 39.2, 55.4, 49.8, 36.5 and 21.7 pm when the set-point was increased from 0.1 to 0.4 with an interval of 0.05. In addition to the

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance using morphology-controlled BiVO₄ with W doping

• Xin Zhao and
• Zhong Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2640–2647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.264

• quantitative analysis showed an enhancement of about 50% of the photoelectrochemical performance for the porous structure compared to the planar structure. This enhancement is attributed to improved light absorption (13% increase), charge separation (14% increase), and interfacial charge injection (20

• , charge separation and interfacial charge injection. The quantitative analysis provides a powerful insight into the materials potentials and limitations, and is useful for the development of other PEC systems in the future. Results and Discussion The synthesis of W-doped BiVO4 thin films was carried out

• been found to decrease for the porous film compared with the planar one, which leads to an enhancement in the interfacial charge injection efficiency. The quantitative analysis shows that three factors contribute to the photoelectrochemical performance enhancement: 13% from enhanced light absorption

Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

• Sumit Tewari,
• Koen M. Bastiaans,
• Milan P. Allan and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2389–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.238

• was verified by the imaging of an adatom. Figure 4 shows the initial and final stage for another run. Although we occasionally observe a jump back to a more asymmetric tip configuration, the typical behavior follows a smooth evolution towards a reproducible symmetric image. For a more quantitative

• analysis of the results of this procedure we define a parameter that could capture the convergence of the tip structure to this symmetric state. This same parameter should also serve to verify whether tips such as those in Figure 3 and Figure 4 converged to the same state. For comparing the constant-height

Optical contrast and refractive index of natural van der Waals heterostructure nanosheets of franckeite

• Patricia Gant,
• Foad Ghasemi,
• David Maeso,
• Carmen Munuera,
• Elena López-Elvira,
• Riccardo Frisenda,
• David Pérez De Lara,
• Gabino Rubio-Bollinger,
• Mar Garcia-Hernandez and
• Andres Castellanos-Gomez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2357–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.235

• -illumination-mode optical microscopy images provides a rapid method to estimate the thickness of the exfoliated flakes at first glance. A quantitative analysis of the optical contrast spectra by means of micro-reflectance allows one to determine the refractive index of franckeite over a broad range of the

• contrast of mechanically exfoliated franckeite flakes. The aim of this work is to serve as a reference guide that could be used by other researcher to identify nanosheets of franckeite and to determine their thickness through quantitative analysis of their optical contrast. Our quantitative analysis of the

• of the exfoliated flakes can be obtained from the quantitative analysis of the transmission-mode images, acquired on the Gelfilm carrier substrate prior to the transfer. Figure 3 shows the transmittance extracted from the red, green and blue channel of the digital images where a monotonic thickness

Tailoring the nanoscale morphology of HKUST-1 thin films via codeposition and seeded growth

• Landon J. Brower,
• Lauren K. Gentry,
• Amanda L. Napier and
• Mary E. Anderson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2307–2314, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.230

• surface coverage with larger particles relative to the 48 h sample. Quantitative analysis of AFM images showed that the roughness of the 1.5 h sample was four times that of the 48 h sample. While this type of control of surface morphology has potential, the time requirements for the smooth film could be

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

• maximize the MRFM signal [48]. Moreover, a spherical shape is beneficial to minimize hysteresis effects and makes quantitative analysis more easy [49]. These requirements imply the optimization of the FEBID growth in order to obtain cobalt spheres sufficiently small but at the same time having high metal

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

• [34][35]. However, stratification may lead to large distortions of the XPS atomic ratios when compared to the stoichiometric ones [36], thus no further quantitative analysis was performed. Overall, these results seem to indicate a stronger interaction between [EMIM][EtSO4] and the surface compared

Evaluation of preparation methods for suspended nano-objects on substrates for dimensional measurements by atomic force microscopy

• Petra Fiala,
• Daniel Göhler,
• Benno Wessely,
• Michael Stintz,
• Giovanni Mattia Lazzerini and
• Andrew Yacoot

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1774–1785, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.179

• distribution of nano-objects much more uniformly and avoids the formation of agglomerates. It also was remarked that drying methods, in particular the conventional drop-drying, include uncertainties regarding the quantitative analysis caused by inhomogeneous deposition and sampling errors. In addition the

Bio-inspired micro-to-nanoporous polymers with tunable stiffness

• Julia Syurik,
• Ruth Schwaiger,
• Prerna Sudera,
• Stephan Weyand,
• Siegbert Johnsen,
• Gabriele Wiegand and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 906–914, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.92

• regime by dynamic flat-punch indentation. Interestingly, the storage modulus was observed to increase with increasing pore-area fraction. Conclusion: This outcome appears counterintuitive at first sight, but can be rationalized by an increase of the pore wall thickness as determined by our quantitative

• analysis of the pore structure. Therefore, our approach represents a non-chemical way to tune the elastic properties and their local variation for a broad range of polymers by adjusting the pore size gradient. Keywords: biomimetics; polymeric materials; supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2); tunable

• ). Prior to SEM analysis the samples were sputtered with silver for 100 s at 25 mA with a sputter-coater (K575X, Emitech) in order to avoid charging effects and ensure a good resolution. SEM images of the surface of interest were taken before and after the indentation experiments. For the quantitative

Recombinant DNA technology and click chemistry: a powerful combination for generating a hybrid elastin-like-statherin hydrogel to control calcium phosphate mineralization

• Mohamed Hamed Misbah,
• Mercedes Santos,
• Luis Quintanilla,
• Christina Günter,
• Matilde Alonso,
• Andreas Taubert and
• José Carlos Rodríguez-Cabello

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 772–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.80

• detector, 10 mm). The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer was calibrated for quantitative analysis using Cu and Al for energy and Mo for energy resolution. Results All steps in the production process must be closely controlled to obtain the final hydrogel product with the highest possible yield and

Graphene functionalised by laser-ablated V₂O₅ for a highly sensitive NH₃ sensor

• Margus Kodu,
• Artjom Berholts,
• Tauno Kahro,
• Mati Kook,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Helina Seemen,
• Tea Avarmaa,
• Harry Alles and
• Raivo Jaaniso

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 571–578, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.61

• ) with Mg Kα (1253.6 eV) 300 W irradiation at an analyser–source angle of 45°. The semi-quantitative analysis was conducted using the methods described by Seah et al. [39] for quantitative XPS measurements. The spectra were energy calibrated to 284.8 eV (from 284.9 eV) using the C–C peak component of C

Anodization-based process for the fabrication of all niobium nitride Josephson junction structures

• Massimiliano Lucci,
• Ivano Ottaviani,
• Matteo Cirillo,
• Fabio De Matteis,
• Roberto Francini,
• Vittorio Merlo and
• Ivan Davoli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 539–546, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.58

• nitrogen concentration. A quantitative analysis of this effect can be obtained by relating the concentration of N2 in the plasma to the intensities of the emission lines observed with the aid of a spectrometer [15][16][17]. This technique has enabled us to link the plasma composition and the final

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

• determining the position of a particular component in XPS measurements was within 0.07 eV. Quantitative analysis, including the determination of component ratios, was done with the use of atomic sensitivity factors (ASF) and procedures described in detail in [12][19][20][21]. AFM studies have been performed

• Figure 2). The results of the quantitative analysis carried out using ASF [27] are summarized in Table 1. The overall stoichiometry, i.e., the relative [O]/[Sn] concentration varies from 1.62(6) for pristine samples to 1.80(6) for RGVO SnO2 nanolayers exposed to air and then decreases to 1.65(6) for 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

• to the surface normal. The contrast between the domains increases with increasing drive amplitude. This can be explained by an increase in the magnitude of the piezoelectric response as is expected from Equation 1. Quantitative analysis is done by plotting the averaged values of the obtained

• area for all images is 2 µm × 0.5 µm. Cross-sections of the amplitude 1 images taken at 10 V for ZnO films deposited on COOH-SAM (black) and PEL (grey). Quantitative analysis of the piezoelectric responses of ZnO films deposited on carboxylate-SAM (a) and PEL (b). Acknowledgements This work was

Nitrogen-doped twisted graphene grown on copper by atmospheric pressure CVD from a decane precursor

• Ivan V. Komissarov,
• Nikolai G. Kovalchuk,
• Vladimir A. Labunov,
• Ksenia V. Girel,
• Olga V. Korolik,
• Mikhail S. Tivanov,
• Algirdas Lazauskas,
• Mindaugas Andrulevičius,
• Tomas Tamulevičius,
• Viktoras Grigaliūnas,
• Šarunas Meškinis,
• Sigitas Tamulevičius and
• Serghej L. Prischepa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 145–158, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.15

• nm excitation wavelength. The similarity of the results for two different wavelengths is obvious. Discussion Partitioning of Raman data In many aspects, the theory of Raman scattering in graphene is very well understood and the quantitative analysis of Raman spectra parameters provides sufficient

The difference in the thermal conductivity of nanofluids measured by different methods and its rationalization

• Aparna Zagabathuni,
• Sudipto Ghosh and
• Shyamal Kumar Pabi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2037–2044, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.194

• insignificant, if the dispersed material was ceramic (typically Al2O3). In this paper we put forward a quantitative analysis based on the collision-mediated heat transfer model for water-based Al2O3 nanofluids, which can account for the difference in the thermal conductivity values of nanofluids obtained by LFM

A novel electrochemical nanobiosensor for the ultrasensitive and specific detection of femtomolar-level gastric cancer biomarker miRNA-106a

• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Kobra Omidfar and
• Hossein Ghanbarian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2023–2036, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.193

• poor reproducibility [9]. On the other hand, the technical challenges for the quantitative analysis of miRNA become more complex due to their small size, low abundance, and high sequence similarity. In an effort to resolve the mentioned limitations, biosensor technology was suggested as an alternative

Controlled supramolecular structure of guanosine monophosphate in the interlayer space of layered double hydroxide

• Gyeong-Hyeon Gwak,
• Istvan Kocsis,
• Yves-Marie Legrand,
• Mihail Barboiu and
• Jae-Min Oh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1928–1935, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.184

• transform-infrared spectra (FTIR, PerkinElmer, Spectrum One) with conventional KBr pellet method was carried out. The morphology of GL hybrids was observed by scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images obtained with an FEI QUANTA 250 FEG. For quantitative analysis, a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA, SINCO

Effective intercalation of zein into Na-montmorillonite: role of the protein components and use of the developed biointerfaces

• Ana C. S. Alcântara,
• Margarita Darder,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1772–1782, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.170

• observed with a FE-SEM equipment FEI-NOVA NanoSEM 230, which allowed semi-quantitative analysis of elements. The equipment allows for the direct observation of samples adhered on a carbon tape without requirement of any conductive coating on the surface. For the TEM images (Philips Tecnai 20, operating at

Thickness-modulated tungsten–carbon superconducting nanostructures grown by focused ion beam induced deposition for vortex pinning up to high magnetic fields

• Ismael García Serrano,
• Javier Sesé,
• Isabel Guillamón,
• Hermann Suderow,
• Sebastián Vieira,
• Manuel Ricardo Ibarra and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1698–1708, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.162

• the nature of the growth by FIBID. In the regions directly scanned by the ion beam during growth, a higher amount of Ga ions is expected compared to the regions not directly scanned by the ion beam, where only scattered Ga ions from nearby regions are present. Quantitative analysis of the composition

Enhanced detection of nitrogen dioxide via combined heating and pulsed UV operation of indium oxide nano-octahedra

• Oriol Gonzalez,
• Sergio Roso,
• Xavier Vilanova and
• Eduard Llobet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1507–1518, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.144

• light, which convey important information for the quantitative analysis of nitrogen dioxide. Keywords: dynamic gas sensing; indium oxide; nitrogen dioxide; pulsed UV light; UV-activated metal oxide; Introduction Technological barriers related to sensor performance and power consumption are currently

• UV light (i.e., the rates of oxidation and reduction of the indium oxide), which convey important information for the quantitative analysis of nitrogen dioxide. In the near future, further studies are envisaged to fully optimise the combined heating and UV pulsing operating mode of metal oxide gas

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

• ZnO nanoparticles. Figure 3 reports the EDX spectrum and the quantitative analysis of the prepared structure. The morphological and the compositional studies confirm that the surface of ZnO nanomaterial is partially covered by GO. The variation of the C/O ratio in the GO platelets was checked by EDX

• 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

An ellipsometric approach towards the description of inhomogeneous polymer-based Langmuir layers

• Falko O. Rottke,
• Burkhard Schulz,
• Klaus Richau,
• Karl Kratz and
• Andreas Lendlein

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1156–1165, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.107

• Δ into thickness maps and therefore to achieve quantitative analysis of the 3D morphology of the Langmuir layers with lateral resolution at the µm scale. Exploiting the nulling-based ellipsometric contrast in this way avoids the methodological problems inherent in the photometric evaluation of BAM

Signal enhancement in cantilever magnetometry based on a co-resonantly coupled sensor

• Julia Körner,
• Christopher F. Reiche,
• Thomas Gemming,
• Bernd Büchner,
• Gerald Gerlach and
• Thomas Mühl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1033–1043, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.96

• shifts. The effective spring constants determine the sensitivity for each resonance peak of the coupled system and have to be known for a quantitative analysis of the measured data. In order to obtain them for the given sensor geometry we will be using an approximate formula to calculate the expected

Improved biocompatibility and efficient labeling of neural stem cells with poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles

• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Marina Dobrivojević,
• Lada Brkić Ahmed,
• Michal Babič,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Daniel Horák and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 926–936, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.84

• panel) indicated the distribution of iron oxide nanoparticles. Nuclear Fast Red staining showed the position of nuclei. Scale bar: 50 µm. Quantitative analysis of NSC labeling of PLL-γ-Fe2O3 and nanomag®-D-spio nanoparticles. Overtone cumulative histogram subtraction of flow cytometry histograms of NSCs