Low cost tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fabricated by two-step electrochemical etching of 125 µm diameter gold wires

• Antonino Foti,
• Francesco Barreca,
• Enza Fazio,
• Cristiano D’Andrea,
• Paolo Matteini,
• Onofrio Maria Maragò and
• Pietro Giuseppe Gucciardi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2718–2729, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.254

• tested on dyes, pigments and biomolecules and enhancement factors higher than 105 are observed. TERS mapping with a spatial resolution of 5 nm is demonstrated. Keywords: amyloid; enhanced spectroscopy; gold tips; plasmonics; TERS; Introduction Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) combines the

• times of approximately 2 min. The tips can be easily manipulated and safely mounted, by gluing or clamping them into STM- or ShF-based TERS setups. The good performance of the tips is highlighted by TERS spectra of dyes, pigments and biomolecules. The enhancement factor in the range of 104–105 was found

• on the shaft (red line). Typical laser powers are 1.0–2.5 mW and integration times are 0.5–1.0 s per pixel. TERS spectra of dyes, pigments and biomolecules The tips have been applied to evaluate the spectra of analyze standard dye molecules such as rhodamine 6G (R6G), crystal violet (CV), methylene

Cytotoxicity of doxorubicin-conjugated poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide]-modified γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles towards human tumor cells

• Zdeněk Plichta,
• Yulia Kozak,
• Rostyslav Panchuk,
• Viktoria Sokolova,
• Matthias Epple,
• Lesya Kobylinska,
• Pavla Jendelová and
• Daniel Horák

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2533–2545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.236

• chemical attachment of target biomolecules, reduces cytotoxicity, and controls particle uptake by the cells [10]. Coatings can be either of low molecular weight, such are carbohydrates and organic acids (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, succinic acid, bisphosphonic acid), or of

Enhanced antineoplastic/therapeutic efficacy using 5-fluorouracil-loaded calcium phosphate nanoparticles

• Shanid Mohiyuddin,
• Saba Naqvi and
• Gopinath Packirisamy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2499–2515, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.233

• nanomaterial was found to be toxic in some metal-based NPs (e.g., gold, silver, iron, and copper), while the bulk counterparts showed less toxicity [9]. The metal ions present at the surface of the particles were found to interact with biomolecules at a comparatively higher rate in nanoformulations compared to

ZnO-nanostructure-based electrochemical sensor: Effect of nanostructure morphology on the sensing of heavy metal ions

• Marina Krasovska,
• Vjaceslavs Gerbreders,
• Irena Mihailova,
• Andrejs Ogurcovs,
• Eriks Sledevskis,
• Andrejs Gerbreders and
• Pavels Sarajevs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2421–2431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.227

• molecular recognition device based on the nanostructures of metal oxides for biomolecules detection”.

Electrospun one-dimensional nanostructures: a new horizon for gas sensing materials

• Muhammad Imran,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Mahnaz Shafiei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2128–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.202

Quantitative comparison of wideband low-latency phase-locked loop circuit designs for high-speed frequency modulation atomic force microscopy

• Kazuki Miyata and
• Takeshi Fukuma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1844–1855, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.176

• subnanometer-scale imaging of biomolecules [15][16][17]. Moreover, three-dimensional (3D) imaging techniques have been developed based on FM-AFM and used to visualize 3D distributions of hydration structures as well as flexible surface structures at solid–liquid interfaces [18][19][20][21][22]. Although FM-AFM

• enables atomic-scale measurements to be performed in vacuum and in liquids, its imaging speed is relatively slow (ca. 1 min/frame). High-speed amplitude modulation AFM has been developed [23] and employed to visualize the dynamic behavior of biomolecules in liquids at 10–100 ms/frame [24]. However, its

A visible-light-controlled platform for prolonged drug release based on Ag-doped TiO₂ nanotubes with a hydrophobic layer

• Caihong Liang,
• Jiang Wen and
• Xiaoming Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1793–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.170

• comprised of UV light, which can cause the denaturation or decomposition of some biomolecules and organic matter. As a result, such a trigger mechanism may not be the ideal way in an environment with adequate solar or natural light. Xu et al. [25] found a solution for enhancing the utilization of natural

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

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

• , algae, bacteria and yeasts [156][157][158][159][160][161]. Different types of biomolecules available in plants, for example, polysaccharides, phenolics, or flavonoids are capable of producing metal nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes [162]. This phytosynthesis is more favourable than that which

Wafer-scale bioactive substrate patterning by chemical lift-off lithography

• Chong-You Chen,
• Chang-Ming Wang,
• Hsiang-Hua Li,
• Hong-Hseng Chan and
• Wei-Ssu Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 311–320, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.31

• with controllable density, and offers sufficient space for biorecognition under the adjustment of experimental conditions. We believe that this CLL-treated surface can be used in conjunction with various biomolecules and a convenient approach to fabricate large-scale bioactive substrates with well

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

• phase or in a 3D orthorhombic phase. Examples of bioengineered materials displaying LC phases DNA is one of the most frequently used biomolecules in the field of biomedical engineering and bioinspired technology [35]. The DNA mesophase has been exploited for several applications, including biosensors

Patterning of supported gold monolayers via chemical lift-off lithography

• Liane S. Slaughter,
• Kevin M. Cheung,
• Sami Kaappa,
• Huan H. Cao,
• Qing Yang,
• Thomas D. Young,
• Andrew C. Serino,
• Sami Malola,
• Jana M. Olson,
• Stephan Link,
• Hannu Häkkinen,
• Anne M. Andrews and
• Paul S. Weiss

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2648–2661, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.265

• ]. We have used CLL on gold to control the placement and nanoscale environment around surface-immobilized biomolecules and to simplify patterning steps in device fabrication [1][2][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have proven to be extremely rich in terms of new and potentially

Direct writing of gold nanostructures with an electron beam: On the way to pure nanostructures by combining optimized deposition with oxygen-plasma treatment

• Domagoj Belić,
• Mostafa M. Shawrav,
• Emmerich Bertagnolli and
• Heinz D. Wanzenboeck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2530–2543, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.253

• Figure 5b, indicate that the O-plasma cleaning exposed some of the embedded Au nanocrystallites to the exterior. Such purified patterned nanostructures are deemed very suitable for further functionalization, e.g., for immobilization of biomolecules or similar applications where having clean Au surfaces

Strategy to discover full-length amyloid-beta peptide ligands using high-efficiency microarray technology

• Clelia Galati,
• Natalia Spinella,
• Lucio Renna,
• Danilo Milardi,
• Francesco Attanasio,
• Michele Francesco Maria Sciacca and
• Corrado Bongiorno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2446–2453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.243

• features of the used system [27]. An additional advantage is the ease of implementing on it consolidated coating methods for the hosting of biomolecules. In this work, for peptide immobilization in a microarray format, we propose one of the most common functionalization methods (an epoxysilane) although

• methods for the hosting of biomolecules and its simple structure which allows a fabrication with high reproducibility. In particular, the ability of two different peptides to bind full-length Aβ peptides has simultaneously been studied, using concentrations in a range in which the Aβ peptide is known to

Expanding the molecular-ruler process through vapor deposition of hexadecanethiol

• Alexandra M. Patron,
• Timothy S. Hooker,
• Daniel F. Santavicca,
• Corey P. Causey and
• Thomas J. Mullen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2339–2344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.233

• the field allow for the fabrication of molecular-scale features into surfaces that template the assembly and growth of metals, polymers, biomolecules, and cellular structures [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. In addition, these surface assemblies have been utilized as molecular-scale resists for

Advances and challenges in the field of plasma polymer nanoparticles

• Andrei Choukourov,
• Pavel Pleskunov,
• Daniil Nikitin,
• Valerii Titov,
• Artem Shelemin,
• Mykhailo Vaidulych,
• Anna Kuzminova,
• Pavel Solař,
• Jan Hanuš,
• Jaroslav Kousal,
• Ondřej Kylián,
• Danka Slavínská and
• Hynek Biederman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2002–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.200

• of plasma polymers has been considered to be of paramount importance, especially in terms of retention of primary amines which are attractive in biomedical applications as linkers for binding biomolecules. Yet, it has been recently argued that primary amines find it difficult to survive the influence

Optical techniques for cervical neoplasia detection

• Tatiana Novikova

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

• a size of less than 100 nm (i.e., which are much smaller than normal human cells) with biomolecules such as receptors, enzymes, and antibodies on the cell surface and inside the cell [87]. By surface coating, functionalization, and integration with different bioconjugated targeting agents those

Synthesis and functionalization of NaGdF₄:Yb,Er@NaGdF₄ core–shell nanoparticles for possible application as multimodal contrast agents

• Dovile Baziulyte-Paulaviciene,
• Vitalijus Karabanovas,
• Marius Stasys,
• Greta Jarockyte,
• Vilius Poderys,
• Simas Sakirzanovas and
• Ricardas Rotomskis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1815–1824, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.183

• water while protecting the surface from nonspecific adsorption of biomolecules. Our results show that Tween 80-coated NaGdF4:Yb,Er@NaGdF4 core–shell nanoparticles exhibit excellent dispersibility in a biological medium and are photostable. We also do not observe any changes in the overall upconversion

Methionine-mediated synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles and functionalization with gold quantum dots for theranostic applications

• Arūnas Jagminas,
• Agnė Mikalauskaitė,
• Vitalijus Karabanovas and
• Jūrate Vaičiūnienė

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1734–1741, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.174

• be obtained by the creation of proper linkers between magnetic NP and fluorescent or drug probes. One of these linkers is gold, because it is chemically stable, nontoxic and capable to link various biomolecules. In this study, we present a way for a simple and reliable decoration the surface of

A biofunctionalizable ink platform composed of catechol-modified chitosan and reduced graphene oxide/platinum nanocomposite

• Peter Sobolewski,
• Agata Goszczyńska,
• Małgorzata Aleksandrzak,
• Karolina Urbaś,
• Joanna Derkowska,
• Agnieszka Bartoszewska,
• Jacek Podolski,
• Ewa Mijowska and
• Mirosława El Fray

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1508–1514, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.151

• feature that enables the selective detection of the target biomolecules. Our ink platform is designed to be modular; various possible biorecognition elements can be conjugated to the remaining amine groups of the catechol-modified chitosan, such as enzymes, antibodies, DNA probes, or aptamers. As a proof

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

• polarisation. Additionally, though it is known that biomolecules adsorbed to nanoparticles affect their cell adherence [35], uptake [26][35] and translocation [34], we wish to clarify their role in the full process, from adherence to translocation, in both undifferentiated and mature Caco-2 barriers. To this

• may cause cell damage [36][38]. This is unlikely to happen in any realistic nanoparticle exposure scenario, where biomolecules adsorb to the nanoparticle to form a nanoparticle biomolecular corona which effectively protects the cells from such immediate damage [39][40][41]. Though the intestinal lumen

Bright fluorescent silica-nanoparticle probes for high-resolution STED and confocal microscopy

• Isabella Tavernaro,
• Christian Cavelius,
• Henrike Peuschel and
• Annette Kraegeloh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.130

• versatile tool for the modification of the silica surface with a variety of functional groups [30] or biomolecules [31]. This material also allows for the incorporation of dyes into the particle matrix without changing their optical properties [32]. However, the incorporation of fluorescent dyes into the

Characterization of ferrite nanoparticles for preparation of biocomposites

• Urszula Klekotka,
• Magdalena Rogowska,
• Dariusz Satuła and
• Beata Kalska-Szostko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1257–1265, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.127

• .). Functionalization can ensure connection of the nanoparticle surface self-assembled layers with free active bonds [8]. The integration of nanostructures with biomolecules leads to the fabrication of a novel hybrid system that couples recognition or catalytic properties of biomaterials with attractive electronic

• , optical, magnetic and structural characteristics of specific nanoparticles in one hierarchical structure [9]. In such systems, nanoparticles can be functionalized with various biomolecules through different linkage chemistry [10][11][12]. Nanocomposites based on magnetic nanoparticles have a huge

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of cell lysates mixed with silver nanoparticles for tumor classification

• Mohamed Hassoun,
• Iwan W.Schie,
• Tatiana Tolstik,
• Sarmiza E. Stanca,
• Christoph Krafft and
• Juergen Popp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1183–1190, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.120

• demonstrate the principle, cell lysates were prepared by ultrasonication that disrupts the cell membrane and enables interaction of released cellular biomolecules to nanoparticles. This approach was applied to distinguish four cell lines – Capan-1, HepG2, Sk-Hep1 and MCF-7 – using SERS at 785 nm excitation

• bonds. It probes the molecular vibrations of all cellular biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates and provides chemical fingerprint spectra of cells. The throughput of spontaneous Raman spectroscopy for cell classification is limited to the range of one cell per second by

• to allow interaction between nanoparticles and bacterial biomolecules [24]. This gave very reproducible SERS spectra. The current study transfers this SERS approach to distinguish four human cancer cell lines. These cell lines are two liver cancer cell lines (HepG2 isolated from liver tissue of a

Selective detection of Mg²⁺ ions via enhanced fluorescence emission using Au–DNA nanocomposites

• Tanushree Basu,
• Khyati Rana,
• Niranjan Das and
• Bonamali Pal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 762–771, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.79

• various DNA detection schemes. The high sensitivity of the plasmon spectra towards the particle size and the local dielectric environment also offers new methods for the detection of free DNA or other biomolecules [2], where the detection signal is exclusively based on the color changes during assay or