The effect of age on the attachment ability of stick insects (Phasmatodea)

• Marie Grote,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 867–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.72

• sign of ageing is the loss of locomotory functions due to neuronal disorders or tissue wear. Soft and pliable attachment pads on the tarsi of insects adapt to the substrate texture to maximize their real contact area and, thereby, generate attachment during locomotion. In the majority of stick insects

• the pads, scarring of the cuticle, and alteration of the autofluorescence, likely indicating stiffening of the cuticle, were observed to accumulate over time. This would reduce the attachment ability of the insect, as pads lose their pliant properties and cannot properly maintain sufficient contact

• different attachment mechanisms evolved in insects, namely, hairy pads consisting of flexible setae, which adapt to the surface topography, and smooth pads possessing a soft and deformable cuticle to comply with the substrate profile [9]. Both pad types, hairy and smooth, aim to maximize contact area with

Investigation on drag reduction on rotating blade surfaces with microtextures

• Qinsong Zhu,
• Chen Zhang,
• Fuhang Yu and
• Yan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 833–853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.70

• mm, which has a processing residue at the corner of the bottom rib area (Figure 20a). Figure 19b indicates slight height fluctuations on the surface of the smooth blade, reaching a maximum deviation of 0.007 mm. This can be attributed to the point contact nature of the ball tip tool during the

Exploring surface charge dynamics: implications for AFM height measurements in 2D materials

• Mario Navarro-Rodriguez,
• Andres M. Somoza and
• Elisa Palacios-Lidon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 767–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.64

• oscillation amplitudes, the tip mechanically touches the surface during part of the oscillation. This mode is known as “intermittent contact” or tapping mode, and incorrect height measurements are usually ascribed to variations in the local elasticity [32][33] or differences in the local adhesion, related to

• differences of the wetting properties [34]. At moderate oscillation amplitudes, intimate tip–sample contact is avoided, and the energy dissipation takes place at the lower turning point of the oscillation cycle because of the formation and rupture of liquid necks [35][36][37]. When operating in this less

• be overestimated, especially in comparison to those obtained in contact mode [8][47][48][49][50][51][52]. As discussed above, the extent of the discrepancy depends on the operation mode [53][54] and environmental conditions [8] and is notably pronounced in samples grown on insulating substrates [55

Effect of repeating hydrothermal growth processes and rapid thermal annealing on CuO thin film properties

• Monika Ozga,
• Eunika Zielony,
• Aleksandra Wierzbicka,
• Anna Wolska,
• Marcin Klepka,
• Marek Godlewski,
• Bogdan J. Kowalski and
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 743–754, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.62

• silicon nitride probe, ScanAsyst-AIR (Bruker). Scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) measurements were conducted in contact mode using a silicon probe coated with a PtIr layer, SCM-PIT-V2 (Bruker). Capacitance measurements were taken with VAC = 2 V and VDC = 1 V applied. The carrier distribution maps at a

• resolution of 256 × 256 pixels presented in the paper were derived from the “SCM data” channel. Contact potential difference (VCPD) measurements were carried out using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in amplitude modulation mode, also employing SCM-PIT-V2 probes from Bruker. These measurements were

• crystal quality among the studied structures because they have well-resolved and the most exposed CuO-like Ag, , and phonon modes in their Raman spectra. The surface potential (i.e., contact potential difference, VCPD) and work function (ϕ) variations resulting from the HT+RTA sequencing were examined

Enhancing higher-order modal response in multifrequency atomic force microscopy with a coupled cantilever system

• Wendong Sun,
• Jianqiang Qian,
• Yingzi Li,
• Yanan Chen,
• Zhipeng Dou,
• Rui Lin,
• Peng Cheng,
• Xiaodong Gao,
• Quan Yuan and
• Yifan Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 694–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.57

• beam. They are shown in Figure 1a. The Bode plots of the non-contact tip–sample interaction [12] and the contact tip–sample interaction [23] can be obtained through transfer function analysis. The results indicate that the higher-order modal response of the traditional rectangular cantilever gradually

Comparative analysis of the ultrastructure and adhesive secretion pathways of different smooth attachment pads of the stick insect Medauroidea extradentata (Phasmatodea)

• Julian Thomas,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 612–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.52

• enhance the actual contact area between the pad and the substrate for the realisation of efficient attachment due to adhesion and friction forces [3][9][12][13][14]. Smooth attachment pads have independently evolved in most large insect groups, possessing multiple specialized types of pads on the same leg

• that are adapted to attachment through the division of labour by preferably generating more adhesion or friction [5]. Adhesive secretion in the contact zone between the attachment pad and substrate supports the functionality of the pads [15]. The adhesive secretion can fill the gaps in the substrate

• roughness and thereby increase the contact area [14][16][17][18][19]. It can aid in the enhancement of viscous and capillary forces further increasing the attachment strength [9][14][20][21][22][23][24]. The adhesive secretion can be essential for the self-cleaning mechanism by binding smaller contamination

AFM-IR investigation of thin PECVD SiO_x films on a polypropylene substrate in the surface-sensitive mode

• Hendrik Müller,
• Hartmut Stadler,
• Teresa de los Arcos,
• Adrian Keller and
• Guido Grundmeier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 603–611, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.51

• /bjnano.15.51 Abstract Thin silicon oxide films deposited on a polypropylene substrate by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition were investigated using atomic force microscopy-based infrared (AFM-IR) nanospectroscopy in contact and surface-sensitive mode. The focus of this work is the comparison of

• the different measurement methods (i.e., contact mode and surface-sensitive mode) with respect to the chemical surface sensitivity. The use of the surface-sensitive mode in AFM-IR shows an enormous improvement for the analysis of thin films on the IR-active substrate. As a result, in this mode, the

• signal of the substrate material could be significantly reduced. Even layers that are so thin that they could hardly be measured in the contact mode can be analyzed with the surface-sensitive mode. Keywords: AFM-IR; polypropylene; surface-sensitive mode; silicon oxide; thin films; XPS; Introduction

Stiffness calibration of qPlus sensors at low temperature through thermal noise measurements

• Laurent Nony,
• Sylvain Clair,
• Daniel Uehli,
• Aitziber Herrero,
• Jean-Marc Themlin,
• Andrea Campos,
• Franck Para,
• Alessandro Pioda and
• Christian Loppacher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 580–602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.50

• University, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, FSCM (FR1739), CP2M, 13397 Marseille, France 10.3762/bjnano.15.50 Abstract Non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) offers a unique experimental framework for topographical imaging of surfaces with atomic and/or sub-molecular resolution. The technique also permits

• the framework focuses on a particular kind of sensor, it may be adapted to any high-k, high-Q nc-AFM probe used under similar conditions, such as silicon cantilevers and LERs. Keywords: low temperature; non-contact atomic force microscopy; qPlus sensors; quartz tuning fork; stiffness calibration

• ; thermal noise; ultrahigh vacuum; Introduction Since the 2000s, non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) has established itself as a scanning probe method for the topographical, chemical, and electrical mapping of the surface of a sample down to the atomic scale [1][2][3]. When used in an ultrahigh

Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under visible light by cobalt ferrite nanoparticles/graphene quantum dots

• Vo Chau Ngoc Anh,
• Le Thi Thanh Nhi,
• Le Thi Kim Dung,
• Dang Thi Ngoc Hoa,
• Nguyen Truong Son,
• Nguyen Thi Thao Uyen,
• Nguyen Ngoc Uyen Thu,
• Le Van Thanh Son,
• Le Trung Hieu,
• Tran Ngoc Tuyen and
• Dinh Quang Khieu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 475–489, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.43

• of CF and CF/GQDs-200, respectively, and the corresponding particle size distribution. CF has very fine particles of around 15–20 nm. The intimate interfacial contact between GQDs sheets and the CF nanoparticle is further depicted in the TEM image (Figure 4e). In this image, the deposited

• nanoparticles of around 9.2 nm are obvious on the GQDs. Such a good interfacial contact between CF and GQDs is favourable for the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers in the CF/GQDs. The elemental distribution of CF/GQDs was studied by EDX mapping. The elements Fe, Co, O, and C are present, as

Superconducting spin valve effect in Co/Pb/Co heterostructures with insulating interlayers

• Andrey A. Kamashev,
• Nadir N. Garif’yanov,
• Aidar A. Validov,
• Vladislav Kataev,
• Alexander S. Osin,
• Yakov V. Fominov and
• Ilgiz A. Garifullin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 457–464, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.41

• ][10]. The interest in these structures is due to the possibility to observe and exploit the reciprocal influence of superconductivity (S) and ferromagnetism (F) on each other when they are put into a close contact [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Moreover, SSV structures appear as promising devices for

• Co1/Pb and Pb/Co2 interfaces following the recipe of [40][42]. We studied the dependence of the magnitude of the SSV effect ΔTc on the Pb layer thickness and found that ΔTc reached 0.2 K for the optimal thickness, surpassing most of the values previously observed for SSVs with perfect metallic contact

• those found before in [30][33][34][48] for structures with elemental metallic ferromagnetic layers but without insulating interlayers. This observation is not trivial as it apparently contradicts the paramount prerequisite of the S/F proximity effect of having a perfect metallic contact between the S

Heat-induced morphological changes in silver nanowires deposited on a patterned silicon substrate

• Elyad Damerchi,
• Sven Oras,
• Edgars Butanovs,
• Allar Liivlaid,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Boris Polyakov,
• Annamarija Trausa,
• Veronika Zadin,
• Andreas Kyritsakis,
• Loïc Vidal,
• Karine Mougin,
• Siim Pikker and
• Sergei Vlassov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 435–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.39

• fragmentation of NWs is attributed to the interplay between heat-enhanced diffusion and Rayleigh instability. In this work, we demonstrated that contact with the substrate plays an important role in the fragmentation process and can strongly affect the outcome of the heat treatment. We deposited silver NWs onto

• Au NWs have a pentagonal cross-section, meaning that for NWs deposited on a flat substrate, 1/5 of the NW surface is in contact with the substrate [35]. This aspect should unavoidably have an influence on the total surface energy of NW. Therefore, in addition to parameters such as temperature, time

• , and geometry of NWs, contact with the substrate can potentially have a considerable effect on heat-induced changes in NWs. Understanding the fragmentation behavior of metal NWs under different conditions and on various substrates could improve the degree of control in cost-effective production methods

Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• tarsal attachment devices) are able to establish a highly reliable contact and adhere successfully to a great variety of substrates having both smooth and microrough topographies [1][2][3]. However, in cases of waxy plant surfaces, where the plant cuticle is covered by micro/nanoscopic three-dimensional

• of insect adhesive pads by plant wax during the contact (contamination hypothesis), (3) absorption of the insect pad secretion by the wax coverage (fluid absorption hypothesis), (4) hydroplaning induced by dissolution of the wax in the pad fluid (wax dissolution hypothesis), and (5) detached wax

• 0.3 and 1 μm rough surfaces, where the range of asperity dimensions corresponded to that of typical plant wax projections [1][14][15][16][17][18][19]. This great reduction in the adhesion force was explained by the strong decrease of the real contact area between the micro/nanorough surface profile

On the mechanism of piezoresistance in nanocrystalline graphite

• Sandeep Kumar,
• Simone Dehm and
• Ralph Krupke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 376–384, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.34

• in the structure shown in Figure 1b using e-beam lithography. There were no metal films deposited on NCG, and the electrical contact was made between gold spring contacts and NCG directly. For Raman measurements, S1805 (1:10 dilution with PGMEA) was spin-coated on both sides of the flexible glass

Modulated critical currents of spin-transfer torque-induced resistance changes in NiCu/Cu multilayered nanowires

• Mengqi Fu,
• Roman Hartmann,
• Julian Braun,
• Sergej Andreev,
• Torsten Pietsch and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 360–366, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.32

• steps were necessary to define the contact area and to obtain a small contact array, which complicates the fabrication process [18][19]. Compared with these works, our process does not need any additional etching step to either define the contact area of the nanowire or electrodes for the top contact

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• valuable information on the work function of a variety of films’ surfaces. Mathematically, the sample work function (ϕsample) can be expressed as: where the contact potential difference between the sample and the tip is denoted by VCPD and the ϕtip is the work function of the tip [44]. Figure 4a–d presents

• range of tunability in structural, optical, and electrical properties of NS-WOx thin films through controlling microstructure and film thickness. This will be useful for optoelectronic applications in photovoltaics where such films are used as a carrier-selective contact. AFM height images of (a–d) as

Ultrasensitive and ultrastretchable metal crack strain sensor based on helical polydimethylsiloxane

• Shangbi Chen,
• Dewen Liu,
• Weiwei Chen,
• Huajiang Chen,
• Jiawei Li and
• Jinfang Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 270–278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.25

• , upon release, cracks form randomly, as depicted in Figure 1a. During the tensile loading process, as shown in Figure 1b, two neighboring gold strips lose contact, resulting in the gradual generation of gaps accompanied by a few isolated microcracks. With further stretching, an increase is observed in

Design, fabrication, and characterization of kinetic-inductive force sensors for scanning probe applications

• August K. Roos,
• Ermes Scarano,
• Elisabet K. Arvidsson,
• Erik Holmgren and
• David B. Haviland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 242–255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.23

• niobium and titanium targets [33] in an ATC2200 from AJA International Inc., with a deposition rate of roughly 3 nm/min. (b) Pads and markers. A lift-off process defines the gold contact pads and alignment marks. We spin a 400 nm thick photoresist (maN1407), bake on a hotplate at 100 °C for 60 s and

• , ensuring an ohmic contact with the ground plane of the chip. (c) An SEM image of a deposited tip, showing a radius of curvature smaller than 10 nm. Mechanical resonant frequency ωm of a long cantilever as a function of the radial distance D from the center of the wafer (illustrated as an inset). The

Quantitative wear evaluation of tips based on sharp structures

• Ke Xu and
• Houwen Leng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 230–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.22

• surface topography [7]. A sharper needle tip leads to more accurate measurements [8]. During the scanning process, tip and sample come into mutual contact, causing wear on the tip [9]. Tip wear or damage in practical applications can have severe consequences, including reduced image quality and erroneous

• perpendicularly above the sample matrix. When the tip apex touched the sample, the difference between the tip and sample matrices was calculated to determine the position of the tip apex. The position of the tip apex was then recorded, and the tip apex was moved horizontally to contact the next pixel of the

• TipCheck sample is extremely sharp, which could cause damage to the tip. Therefore, the needle insertion speed was often reduced, and the initial scanning range was set to 0 µm to prevent damage. The scanning speed should not be too fast, usually 0.5 Hz. As the sample made contact with the surface, the

Multiscale modelling of biomolecular corona formation on metallic surfaces

• Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini,
• Ian Rouse,
• Julia Subbotina and
• Vladimir Lobaskin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 215–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.21

• of the NP, which is influenced by its physicochemical composition, (ii) the interface between the solid NP and the surrounding liquid environment, where notable changes occur upon interaction, and (iii) the contact zone between the solid–liquid interface and biological substrates (Figure 2) [22]. In

• exhibiting the most dramatic changes in binding energy as a function of size. This strong size dependence in binding energy for AS2C can be attributed to its rod-like 3D structure and the rigidity assumption in our model. As the size of the NP increases, AS2C can make more extensive contact with the surface

• . This increased contact area leads to enhanced binding affinity, resulting in the observed stronger binding across the size range. This is not the case for other proteins on the list as they are more compact and, therefore, reach the maximum number of contacts at relatively small NP sizes. Regarding the

Graphene removal by water-assisted focused electron-beam-induced etching – unveiling the dose and dwell time impact on the etch profile and topographical changes in SiO₂ substrates

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Jan M. Michalik,
• Inés Serrano-Esparza,
• Zdeněk Nováček,
• Veronika Novotná,
• Piotr Ozga,
• Czesław Kapusta and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 190–198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.18

• presence of water on the SiO2 substrate, we performed in situ experiments with an AFM microscope (LitesScopeTM) installed inside the SEM chamber, which allows measuring the profiles directly after electron beam exposure without contact with ambient air. The lines were directly patterned on the SiO2

Nanocarrier systems loaded with IR780, iron oxide nanoparticles and chlorambucil for cancer theragnostics

• Phuong-Thao Dang-Luong,
• Hong-Phuc Nguyen,
• Loc Le-Tuan,
• Xuan-Thang Cao,
• Vy Tran-Anh and
• Hieu Vu Quang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 180–189, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.17

• -life. When NPs are administered, they come into contact with blood cells and plasma proteins, which may cause adsorption or opsonization by serum proteins [35]. However, these proteins will have a reduced probability of interacting with our negatively charged nanoparticles, as most proteins are

Modification of graphene oxide and its effect on properties of natural rubber/graphene oxide nanocomposites

• Nghiem Thi Thuong,
• Le Dinh Quang,
• Vu Quoc Cuong,
• Cao Hong Ha,
• Nguyen Ba Lam and
• Seiichi Kawahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 168–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.16

• characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle, thermal gravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The XRD results showed the appearance of an amorphous region of silica particles at a diffraction angle of 22°. The formation of silica was

• conditions to determine the ideal condition to modify GO for grafting onto NR. The GO-VTES products were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), contact angle, 29Si NMR, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and morphology analysis. The GO-VTES was expected to improve the mechanical properties

• CP-MAS probe. The number of scans was 1000. Contact angles of the samples were measured by taking a photo of a drop of distilled water on the sample surface by a CCD camera. The determination of the contact angle was monitored by the SCA20 software using the Data-physic OCA20 system. Thermal

Enhanced feedback performance in off-resonance AFM modes through pulse train sampling

• Mustafa Kangül,
• Navid Asmari,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Marcos Penedo and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 134–143, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.13

• been introduced [2][3]. Although these methods are gentler than contact mode, interpreting and controlling the vertical force exerted on the sample is not straightforward. To achieve a better tip–sample force control, Rosa-Zeiser et al. [4] presented an off-resonance dynamic mode called pulsed force

• mode, where force-versus-distance curves are acquired periodically. The maximum cantilever deflection during one period, corresponding to the maximum exerted force, is sampled and fed into a feedback controller. The tip–sample contact duration is limited and easily tunable compared to the constant

• . describe an improvement upon jumping mode, where, instead of performing a force curve, they turn on the feedback to bring the cantilever into contact with the sample to minimize the tip–sample forces [7]. In this approach, however, no mechanical properties are extracted from the force curve. In addition

Berberine-loaded polylactic acid nanofiber scaffold as a drug delivery system: The relationship between chemical characteristics, drug-release behavior, and antibacterial efficiency

• Le Thi Le,
• Hue Thi Nguyen,
• Liem Thanh Nguyen,
• Huy Quang Tran and
• Thuy Thi Thu Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 71–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.7

• resulted in prolonged drug release due to the delayed penetration of water into the polymer scaffolds. The change in the water contact angle of PLA nanofiber scaffolds loaded with BBR powder and BBR NPs is presented in Table 1. The PLA nanofiber scaffold possessed typical hydrophobic property with a water

• contact angle value of 130.1 ± 1.3°. This value was slightly decreased to 126.3 ± 1.6° when the BBR powder was added to the nanofibers. Meanwhile, the water contact angle value of the BBR NPs/PLA nanofiber scaffold was reduced by 23° relative to that of the PLA nanofiber scaffold, attributing to the

• polymer. The poor compatibility of hydrophilic BBR NPs and hydrophobic PLA resulted in a higher concentration of BBR located on the surface of nanofibers and lower water contact angle value of the scaffold compared to that of the scaffold prepared by the blend of hydrophobic BBR powder and hydrophobic PLA

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• a few micrometers and the effect of direct electron cooling, which can improve sensitivity in typical closed-loop cycle 3He cryostats for space applications. We study a novel concept of cold-electron bolometers with two SIN tunnel junctions and one SN contact. The amplitude–frequency characteristics

• contact pads, DC lines, and antennas is made. The second electronic lithography step is used for the exposition of the bolometric layer. During photolithography, the first exposure was carried out with two photoresists. This is because the DC linewidth was 3 µm, and the use of a single photoresist would

• developed on the samples to preserve the design imprint from getting damaged. In our laboratory of NNSTU, the samples were developed, and a bolometric layer, consisting of two SIN tunnel junctions and one SN contact, was fabricated using self-aligned shadow evaporation. The sample design (210/240 GHz dual