Liquid-phase exfoliated graphene: functionalization, characterization, and applications

• Mildred Quintana,
• Jesús Iván Tapia and
• Maurizio Prato

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2328–2338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.242

• of graphene into advanced functional materials forward. Keywords: applications; dispersions; graphene; organic functionalization; ultrasonication; Review Introduction Various methodologies for the production of graphene and chemically modified graphene have been described during the last years [1

• techniques, since this is a straightforward process for the production of clean graphene layers ready for organic functionalization. Importantly, the exfoliation of graphite by ultrasonication is a very versatile technique that has already demonstrated its effectiveness in dispersing graphene in solvents

• with different physical and chemical properties. This flexibility allows the incorporation of additives such as surfactants [8], antioxidants [9], and polymers [10] during the ultrasonication process, while increasing the affinity for the solvent, the quality of the resulting graphene layers, or their

Carbon nano-onions (multi-layer fullerenes): chemistry and applications

• Juergen Bartelmess and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1980–1998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.207

• form reactive bis-radicals [31]. After ultrasonication and heating of the CNOs and BODA in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) in a pressure vessel, a CNO–BODA copolymer was obtained. NMP suspensions of the CNO–BODA copolymer were found to be very stable, even at high concentrations of up to 0.67 mg·mL−1

• functional groups, such as bromides, benzoic acids, tert-butyl groups, nitro groups, methyl esters, and trimethylsilyl (TMS) acetylenes. For all reactions, the CNO starting material was suspended in DMF by ultrasonication and then the aniline derivative and isoamyl nitrite were subsequently added. After

PVP-coated, negatively charged silver nanoparticles: A multi-center study of their physicochemical characteristics, cell culture and in vivo experiments

• Sebastian Ahlberg,
• Alexandra Antonopulos,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Ralf Dringen,
• Matthias Epple,
• Rebekka Flöck,
• Wolfgang Goedecke,
• Christina Graf,
• Nadine Haberl,
• Jens Helmlinger,
• Fabian Herzog,
• Frederike Heuer,
• Stephanie Hirn,
• Christian Johannes,
• Stefanie Kittler,
• Manfred Köller,
• Katrin Korn,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling,
• Fritz Krombach,
• Jürgen Lademann,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Eva M. Luther,
• Marcelina Malissek,
• Martina C. Meinke,
• Daniel Nordmeyer,
• Anne Pailliart,
• Jörg Raabe,
• Fiorenza Rancan,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Carsten Schleh,
• Andreas Seibel,
• Christina Sengstock,
• Lennart Treuel,
• Annika Vogt,
• Katrin Weber and
• Reinhard Zellner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1944–1965, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.205

Non-covalent and reversible functionalization of carbon nanotubes

• Antonello Di Crescenzo,
• Valeria Ettorre and
• Antonella Fontana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1675–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.178

• provided by magnetic stirring, reflux, shear mixing, or, most commonly, ultrasonication either mild sonication in a bath or high-power sonication using a tip [16]. Once exfoliated, the simplest stable CNTs dispersions have been achieved by using solvent molecules able to efficiently interact with CNTs such

Trade-offs in sensitivity and sampling depth in bimodal atomic force microscopy and comparison to the trimodal case

• Babak Eslami,
• Daniel Ebeling and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1144–1151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.125

• ). The product was received in H+ form and no further treatment was performed, except for a routine cleaning procedure. Sections of the membrane of the size of 1 × 1 cm2 were rinsed with DI-water followed by 5 min of ultrasonication in DI-water and a second rinse step prior to equilibration in a closed

A visible-light-driven composite photocatalyst of TiO₂ nanotube arrays and graphene quantum dots

• Donald K. L. Chan,
• Po Ling Cheung and
• Jimmy C. Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 689–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.81

• % deionized (DI) water was used as electrolyte. Ti foil (2 cm × 3 cm) was used as a working electrode, and a Pt foil (1 cm × 1 cm) served as a counter electrode. Prior to anodization, Ti foils were washed with ethanol, acetone by ultrasonication to remove contaminants, subsequently rinsed with DI water and

Morphological characterization of fullerene–androsterone conjugates

• Alberto Ruiz,
• Margarita Suárez,
• Nazario Martin,
• Fernando Albericio and
• Hortensia Rodríguez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 374–379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.43

• by dissolving the corresponding sample (10 mg) in H2O (10 mL) with ultrasonication for 2 h, followed by centrifugation (10 min, 3000 rpm) and the transparent brown suspension was transferred to a clean vessel. The resulting suspension was analysed by TEM and DLS. Transmission electron microscopy The

A catechol biosensor based on electrospun carbon nanofibers

• Dawei Li,
• Zengyuan Pang,
• Xiaodong Chen,
• Lei Luo,
• Yibing Cai and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 346–354, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.39

• were optimized. Ultimately, the biosensor was fabricated by using a mixture containing 1.5 wt % Nafion, 0.4 mg·mL−1 ECNFs and 3 mg·mL−1 laccase. A typical procedure for the preparation of the laccase–Nafion–ECNFs/GCE is as follows: First, with the help of ultrasonication and stirring, 4 mg ECNFs is

En route to controlled catalytic CVD synthesis of densely packed and vertically aligned nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays

• Slawomir Boncel,
• Sebastian W. Pattinson,
• Valérie Geiser,
• Milo S. P. Shaffer and
• Krzysztof K. K. Koziol

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 219–233, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.24

• , SWCNT arrays as less geometrically restricted ‘forests’ can be grown up to 1.64 × 1011 nanotubes per mm2 [59]. Moreover, for the N-CNTs grown in Synthesis V the highest Fe content was found, and in the SEM imaging (in which pre-ultrasonication was not required) the catalyst nanoparticles can be still

• catalyst nanoparticle residues (dark spots) can be visible at the nanotube ends. It must be emphasized that Fe3C is a brittle material, which can be easily withdrawn from the nanotube tips during ultrasonication, and also possibly in other mechanical operations. Moreover, there are a few smaller particles

• ultrasonication bath and dropped onto 400 mesh copper grids covered with a holey carbon film. The nanotube samples were investigated by using a RM1000 (Ramascope-1000 system) Raman microscope with a spectral resolution of 0.1 cm−1 and a spatial resolution of the X/Y/Z stage of 1 µm. An argon ion laser (green, λ

Study of mesoporous CdS-quantum-dot-sensitized TiO₂ films by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and AFM

• Mohamed N. Ghazzal,
• Robert Wojcieszak,
• Gijo Raj and
• Eric M. Gaigneaux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 68–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.6

• under magnetic stirring at room temperature for 3 h before the films were spin-coated onto soda lime glass (SLG). Prior to use, the substrates were cleaned by ultrasonication (detergent, distilled water, acetone, ethanol, for 15 min in each medium) to remove hydrophobic contaminants at the surface and

Cytotoxic and proinflammatory effects of PVP-coated silver nanoparticles after intratracheal instillation in rats

• Nadine Haberl,
• Stephanie Hirn,
• Alexander Wenk,
• Jörg Diendorf,
• Matthias Epple,
• Blair D. Johnston,
• Fritz Krombach,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling and
• Carsten Schleh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 933–940, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.105

• dispersed in ultrapure, degassed water. The final silver concentration was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The typical yield of Ag was about 5%. Unreacted silver and synthesis byproducts were removed by multiple ultracentrifugation, followed by redispersion under ultrasonication

Template based precursor route for the synthesis of CuInSe₂ nanorod arrays for potential solar cell applications

• Mikhail Pashchanka,
• Jonas Bang,
• Niklas S. A. Gora,
• Ildiko Balog,
• Rudolf C. Hoffmann and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 868–874, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.98

• F20 microscope operated at 200 kV, the samples were dispersed in ethanol by ultrasonication and then deposited on copper TEM grids. X-ray analysis (XRD) of the species was carried out on a Stoe&Cie StadiP diffractometer in Debye–Scherrer geometry while using Cu Kα1 radiation (λ = 1.541 Å) with a Ge

• individual size cannot be determined. Possibly, smaller crystallites are distributed at the surface, and a crystal size enlargement takes place near the rod core, so that the average size equals to 30 nm. It has to be mentioned that the samples for TEM/SAED were dispersed in ethanol by ultrasonication before

Selective surface modification of lithographic silicon oxide nanostructures by organofunctional silanes

• Thomas Baumgärtel,
• Christian von Borczyskowski and
• Harald Graaf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 218–226, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.22

• ) substrates with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 1-dodecene molecules as a surface coating. The monolayer preparation was carried out in three steps: cleaning, native-oxide removal, and monolayer formation (radical chain reaction); see also [25][44]. The substrates have been cleaned by ultrasonication in

Nanoparticles of novel organotin(IV) complexes bearing phosphoric triamide ligands

• Zahra Shariatinia,
• Ebadullah Asadi,
• Vahid Tavasolinasab and
• Khodayar Gholivand

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 94–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.11

• octahedral configurations. The nanoparticles of the complexes were also prepared by ultrasonication, and their SEM micrographs indicated identical spherical morphologies with particles sizes about 20–25 nm. The fluorescence spectra exhibited blue shifts for the maximum wavelength of emission upon

• homogenous nanomaterials. Some investigations have proved that ultrasonication can be applied to prepare nanosized coordination compounds [26][27][28][29]. The synthesis of nanoplates of a cadmium(II) coordination polymer by a sonochemical process was reported [30]. It is notable that, as far as we know

• their related phosphoric triamide ligands 5, 6. The spherical nanoparticles of complexes 1–4 were obtained by ultrasonication with particle sizes of about 20–25 nm. Results and Discussion Spectroscopic study In this work, new organotin(IV) complexes 1–4 were synthesized from the reaction of SnClR3 with

Synthesis and electrical characterization of intrinsic and in situ doped Si nanowires using a novel precursor

• Wolfgang Molnar,
• Alois Lugstein,
• Tomasz Wojcik,
• Peter Pongratz,
• Norbert Auner,
• Christian Bauch and
• Emmerich Bertagnolli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 564–569, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.65

• . VLS-grown Si-NWs were then removed from their growth substrates by ultrasonication in propan-2-ol. Subsequently the NWs were randomly distributed by dropping the suspension onto the above mentioned Si(100) wafer with prepatterned Au pads. Finally the NWs were connected to the prepatterned Au pads by

Forming nanoparticles of water-soluble ionic molecules and embedding them into polymer and glass substrates

• Stella Kiel,
• Olga Grinberg,
• Nina Perkas,
• Jerome Charmet,
• Herbert Kepner and
• Aharon Gedanken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 267–276, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.30

• temperature. The sonochemical treatment was carried out in the presence of glass/parylene-coated glass by immersion of the high-intensity Ti horn (20 kHz, 750 W) into the reaction vessel (Figure 1). The reaction time varied from 15 min to 90 min. The efficiency of the ultrasonication was in the range of 23–30

Surface functionalization of aluminosilicate nanotubes with organic molecules

• Wei Ma,
• Weng On Yah,
• Hideyuki Otsuka and
• Atsushi Takahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 82–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.10

• be separated from imogolite by purification as described in the literature [31]. In the typical purification procedure, the imogolite mineral collected from Kitakami, Iwate, Japan is suspended in water by ultrasonication. Occluded organic contaminants are removed by treating the mineral with hot 1.8

Platinum nanoparticles from size adjusted functional colloidal particles generated by a seeded emulsion polymerization process

• Nicolas Vogel,
• Ulrich Ziener,
• Achim Manzke,
• Alfred Plettl,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Johannes Biskupek,
• Clemens K. Weiss and
• Katharina Landfester

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 459–472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.50

• nanoparticles [17][18][19][20]. Here, the monomer droplets are preformed by ultrasonication and critically stabilized against coagulation by the addition of surfactants. Ostwald ripening, the mechanism that leads to formation of bigger particles at the expense of smaller ones due to the higher Laplace pressure

• . To this phase, a mixture of water (milliQ quality) and SDS (60 mg) was added. After stirring for one hour at 1800 rpm and at room temperature, miniemulsification was achieved by ultrasonication of the mixture under ice-cooling for 120 s with a 1/2” tip at 90% amplitude, following a 10 s pulse-10 s

Dynamics of capillary infiltration of liquids into a highly aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube film

• Sławomir Boncel,
• Krzysztof Z. Walczak and
• Krzysztof K. K. Koziol

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 311–317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.36

• , either in the stage of synthesis [9], or in a stage of separation of nanotube bundles, e.g., in a prolonged and vigorous ultrasonication (with frequent nanotube cutting as an accompanying process) [10], or (2) via chemical modification of the nanotube surface [11]. A simple chemical treatment of CNTs can

Electrochemical behavior of dye-linked L-proline dehydrogenase on glassy carbon electrodes modified by multi-walled carbon nanotubes

• Haitao Zheng,
• Leyi Lin,
• Yosuke Okezaki,
• Ryushi Kawakami,
• Haruhiko Sakuraba,
• Toshihisa Ohshima,
• Keiichi Takagi and
• Shin-ichiro Suye

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 135–141, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.16

• long-time ultrasonication (30 min) used. Electrochemical behavior of L-proDH on MWCNTs–modified GC electrode The electrochemical properties of GC/MWCNTs were first investigated by cyclic voltammetry with K3Fe(CN)6 as the probe. Typical reversible cyclic voltammograms were observed for both the bare and

• electrode, a platinum wire as the counter electrode and Ag/AgCl (3 M NaCl) as the reference electrode. The GC electrodes were finely polished by 1.0 μm and 0.05 μm alumina, and cleaned by ultrasonication in Milli-Q water for 30 s before modification. Enzyme assay Recombinant dye-linked L-proDH, from

• calculated to be 1.8 units mg−1. Preparation of MWCNTs and L-proDH modified electrodes A MWCNTs solution was prepared by dispersing 1.0 mg of MWCNTs in 1.0 mL ethanol followed by ultrasonication for 30 min. A 10 μL aliquot of the MWCNTs dispersion solution was dropped onto the top of the pre-treated GC