Cantilever bending based on humidity-actuated mesoporous silica/silicon bilayers

• Christian Ganser,
• Gerhard Fritz-Popovski,
• Roland Morak,
• Parvin Sharifi,
• Benedetta Marmiroli,
• Barbara Sartori,
• Heinz Amenitsch,
• Thomas Griesser,
• Christian Teichert and
• Oskar Paris

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 637–644, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.56

• is to increase the number of adsorbed molecules by increasing the total interaction area of molecules with the surface. This leads to the concept of using bilayer structures, with one of the layers having a large accessible (internal) surface area. In the natural world of plants for instance

• , humidity-induced bending of bilayer structures is frequently used for actuation purposes. Prominent examples are the opening of tree cones [5], or the complex movement of the dispersal units of wild wheat [6] and ice plants [7]. In all these systems the movement is caused by the bending of bilayer

Novel roles for well-known players: from tobacco mosaic virus pests to enzymatically active assemblies

• Claudia Koch,
• Fabian J. Eber,
• Carlos Azucena,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Alexander M. Bittner,
• Holger Jeske,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Fania C. Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 613–629, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.54

• -programmed to produce many thousands of virus copies. Viruses have been discovered in virtually all types of organisms, with numerous well-characterized species adapted to animals, plants, fungi, or prokaryotic bacteria or archaea. As they may have an enormous impact on the physiological status and health of

• methods in plants used as bioreactors [181] may be expected to promote the integration of viral nanocarriers in diagnostic systems and biosensor devices. Among those, the rigid TMV rods excel in their stable adjustable shape and durability. After simple conjugation of biotin linkers, they could be

• biological/biochemical building blocks at a glance. Acknowledgements We thank Rebecca Hummel and Sigrid Kober for the preparation of TMV, and Diether Gotthardt for taking care of the plants. For providing access to and maintaining TEM facilities we thank Prof. Dr. Stephan Nußberger and PD Dr. Michael

Molecular machines operating on the nanoscale: from classical to quantum

• Igor Goychuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 328–350, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.31

• stored in ATP molecules maintained at out-of-equilibrium concentrations, or in nonequilibrium ion concentrations across biological membranes. Conversely, they may replenish the reserves of metabolic energy using other sources of energy, for example, light by plants, or energy of covalent bonds of various

Time-dependent growth of crystalline Au⁰-nanoparticles in cyanobacteria as self-reproducing bioreactors: 2. Anabaena cylindrica

• Liz M. Rösken,
• Felix Cappel,
• Susanne Körsten,
• Christian B. Fischer,
• Andreas Schönleber,
• Sander van Smaalen,
• Stefan Geimer,
• Christian Beresko,
• Georg Ankerhold and
• Stefan Wehner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 312–327, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.30

• pathways utilize for example plants [13][14], bacteria [15][16][17][18][19][20] and fungi [21][22]. In living organisms the biosynthesis of nanoparticles is often done by enzymatic processes which convert in the end a dissolved ion into a structurally stable state. Later they may be excreted from the cell

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

• around 10,000 nuclear plants over the next 36 years [12]! Apart from the costs of building these nuclear plants, nuclear energy has associated risks and hazards. Nuclear plants are in fact very expensive to build, maintain and protect from attack. Not to mention that the disposal of nuclear waste has

Green and energy-efficient methods for the production of metallic nanoparticles

• Mitra Naghdi,
• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• M. Verma,
• R. Y. Surampalli and
• J. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2354–2376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.243

• , researchers had the opportunity to investigate eco-friendly reagents and new energy transfer techniques. In order to substitute the harmful reagents with green ones, researchers worked on different types of saccharides, polyols, carboxylic acids, polyoxometalates and extracts of various plants that can play

• chemists [81]. Synthesis and stabilization of NPs from bio-compatible materials is of high importance for their applications in medical diagnosis and therapeutics [87]. Among the vast number of available natural raw materials, polysaccharides and biologically active products extracted from plants provide

• GO. The bimetallic NPs were smaller than 10 nm [105]. Different green reagents that researchers tested for synthesis of NPs are listed in Table 2. The molecular structures of different green reagents are shown in Figure 3. Phytochemicals Phytochemicals are compounds that occur in plants and exhibit

Green synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of natural bentonite-supported copper nanoparticles for the solvent-free synthesis of 1-substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles and reduction of 4-nitrophenol

• Akbar Rostami-Vartooni,
• Mohammad Alizadeh and
• Mojtaba Bagherzadeh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2300–2309, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.236

• , the use of plants as a natural and biological source for biosynthesis of nanoparticles should be explored. Common thyme with the scientific name Thymus vulgaris is one of the plants indigenous to Iran which is valued for its antiseptic and antioxidant properties [19]. Thymol (1), carvacrol (2), p

Nanostructured superhydrophobic films synthesized by electrodeposition of fluorinated polyindoles

• Gabriela Ramos Chagas,
• Thierry Darmanin and
• Frédéric Guittard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2078–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.212

• , in both animals and plants, and allow them surviving against predators or hostile environments such as extremely humid or dry regions, for example [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Bioinspiration has shown the importance of developing structured surfaces in the presence of low surface energy materials that

NanoE-Tox: New and in-depth database concerning ecotoxicity of nanomaterials

• Katre Juganson,
• Angela Ivask,
• Irina Blinova,
• Monika Mortimer and
• Anne Kahru

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1788–1804, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.183

• . If it exceeds 1 t/year, short-term tests with aquatic invertebrates (preferred species is Daphnia) and plants (algae is preferred) must be conducted. In case of the production volume over 10 t/year additional short-term tests with fish and studies of activated sludge respiration must be performed

• t/year also terrestrial tests, short-term toxicity to invertebrates and plants and effects on soil microorganisms, must be performed. Finally, if the production volume for a certain substance exceeds 1,000 t/year, long-term terrestrial toxicity tests must be performed with invertebrates, plants

• FeOx NPs to fish. Interestingly, toxicity tests with plants have been conducted with all 8 NPs. While relatively many studies have been performed with bacteria, the majority of them consider the effects towards potentially pathogenic bacterial strains, e.g., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae

Analysis of soil bacteria susceptibility to manufactured nanoparticles via data visualization

• Rong Liu,
• Yuan Ge,
• Patricia A. Holden and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1635–1651, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.166

• communities [18][19]; quantum dots (QDs) were linked to DNA damage of both freshwater mussels and gills [24]; and carbon nanotubes have been found to induce harmful effects to various organs (such as aquatic animals, bacteria, and plants) [25]. MNPs in soil can cause compositional changes to soil bacterial

Thermal energy storage – overview and specific insight into nitrate salts for sensible and latent heat storage

• Nicole Pfleger,
• Thomas Bauer,
• Claudia Martin,
• Markus Eck and
• Antje Wörner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1487–1497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.154

• thermal stability which define the lower and upper limits of usable temperature in sensible heat storage systems. In latent storage systems the melting temperature defines the temperature at which the heat is stored. In thermal power plants the stored heat can be used to generate steam which drives

• salt handling. For sensible heat storage in solar power plants, a non-eutectic molten salt mixture consisting of 60 wt % sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and 40 wt % potassium nitrate (KNO3) is used. This mixture is usually known as “Solar Salt”. Due to the increased amount of NaNO3 as compared to the eutectic

• temperature of 270 °C approximately. In particular parabolic through plants with molten salt as a heat transfer fluid in the solar field require mixtures with lower melting temperatures to avoid salt freezing and to simplify the solar field operation. Therefore salt formulations need to be developed with a

Peptide-equipped tobacco mosaic virus templates for selective and controllable biomineral deposition

• Klara Altintoprak,
• Axel Seidenstücker,
• Alexander Welle,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Petia Atanasova,
• Nina Stitz,
• Alfred Plettl,
• Joachim Bill,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Holger Jeske,
• Dirk Rothenstein,
• Fania Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1399–1412, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.145

• scaffolds because of their biological safety for humans, animals, and their commensal bacteria. TMV is a widespread plant-infecting pathogen, which can be isolated in large amounts from susceptible plants [40]. TMV particles are highly ordered, supramolecular complexes, consisting of a single-stranded

• modification of the TMV–CP sequence is, however, limited in view of the extent of alteration tolerated by virus particles upon their multiplication in plants, regarding number and composition of exchanged or inserted amino acids. In addition, high-throughput screening of different surface-expressed peptides is

• of mineralization-promoting peptides To nucleate and govern the deposition of silica shells, functionalized plant viral nanorod templates were generated by linker-assisted chemical conjugation of mineralization-active peptides to the outer surface of genetically modified TMVLys particles from plants

Simulation tool for assessing the release and environmental distribution of nanomaterials

• Haoyang Haven Liu,
• Muhammad Bilal,
• Anastasiya Lazareva,
• Arturo Keller and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 938–951, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.97

• the USA. Similarly, it has been reported that in Switzerland, biosolids are not applied to soil, and are instead processed in waste incineration plants [17]. The compartmental concentrations of CeO2 for the 12 countries were estimated via MendNano using the release rate estimates shown in Figure 12

Microwave assisted synthesis and characterisation of a zinc oxide/tobacco mosaic virus hybrid material. An active hybrid semiconductor in a field-effect transistor device

• Shawn Sanctis,
• Rudolf C. Hoffmann,
• Sabine Eiben and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 785–791, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.81

• derived from a linear fitting of the square root of the drain-source current (IDS) as a function of the gate–source voltage (VGS). Tobacco mosaic virus strain U1 was propagated in Nicotiana tabacum ‘Samsun’ nn plants for 25 days and purified according to the modified protocol of Gooding and Hebert [18

In situ observation of biotite (001) surface dissolution at pH 1 and 9.5 by advanced optical microscopy

• Chiara Cappelli,
• Daniel Lamarca-Irisarri,
• Jordi Camas,
• F. Javier Huertas and
• Alexander E. S. Van Driessche

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 665–673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.67

• observation; pH effect; Introduction The study of the reactivity of silicate minerals is essential to understand numerous bio-geochemical processes. Silicate weathering plays an important role in the carbon cycle, the formation of soil and the nutrition of plants [1]. Moreover, the release of cations from

Green preparation and spectroscopic characterization of plasmonic silver nanoparticles using fruits as reducing agents

• Jes Ærøe Hyllested,
• Marta Espina Palanco,
• Nicolai Hagen,
• Klaus Bo Mogensen and
• Katrin Kneipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 293–299, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.27

• Jes Aeroe Hyllested Marta Espina Palanco Nicolai Hagen Klaus Bo Mogensen Katrin Kneipp Danmarks Tekniske Universitet DTU, Department of Physics and Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark 10.3762/bjnano.6.27 Abstract Chemicals typically available in plants have the

• excitation. Keywords: fruits; green synthesis; luminescence; plants; plasmonics; SERS; silver cluster; silver nanoparticles; Introduction Metal nanoparticles in various size ranges play an increasingly important role in many different fields of science, technology and medicine ranging from applications as

• have the capability to reduce silver and gold salts and to create silver and gold nanoparticles [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Many different chemical compounds are present in various parts of different plants. Polysaccharides, phenolics, flavoids to mention only a few, could serve as

The capillary adhesion technique: a versatile method for determining the liquid adhesion force and sample stiffness

• Daniel Gandyra,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Stanislav Gorb,
• Wilhelm Barthlott and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 11–18, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.2

• for Biodiversity of Plants, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany, Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.6.2 Abstract We report a novel, practical technique for the concerted, simultaneous determination of both the

Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• pressure difference at vacuum conditions can be ameliorated under water, due to the increasing pressure with water depth. Keywords: adhesion; biofilm; friction; hooks; suction; Introduction Attachment in animals, plants and microorganisms serves a variety of functions: the interconnection of body parts

• interplay with the substrate, and the properties of the substrate also must be taken into account [17]. Common solid substrates in aquatic systems are stones, plants, wood pieces, artificial substrates and even other animals. Stones (Figure 2), artificial substrates and plants have large variation in

Review of nanostructured devices for thermoelectric applications

• Giovanni Pennelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1268–1284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.141

• domestic plants for air conditioning or heating. However, with the current state-of-the-art technology, the applications of TEGs are limited because their thermal to electrical conversion efficiency is still quite low. This is mainly due to the limitations of the materials currently available for the

• differences at about room temperature, as for example in cooling/generating systems for domestic plants, a material with = 2.0 can be thought to be a very good one because Z = 7 × 10−3. However, the temperature difference is very small, hence the the expected efficiency will be very low. For these reasons

Insect attachment on crystalline bioinspired wax surfaces formed by alkanes of varying chain lengths

• Elena Gorb,
• Sandro Böhm,
• Nadine Jacky,
• Louis-Philippe Maier,
• Kirstin Dening,
• Sasha Pechook,
• Boaz Pokroy and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1031–1041, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.116

• ][7][8]. Due to such an elaborate system, insects are able to attach successfully and move efficiently on a variety of substrates (e.g., [9][10][11]) by using a broad range of physical interactions. In nature, most insect species are associated with plants. During the long period of co-evolution

• between plants and insects, plants have developed surfaces that enable pollinators and symbiotic insects to attach to and walk on, as well as surface structures that reduce insect attachment [11]. The impeding effects of plant surfaces on insect attachment ability depend on the concrete plant–insect

• system and may serve as a defence mechanism against herbivores and nectar robbers or as a mechanism preventing the escape of insects from traps of carnivorous plants and kettle trap flowers. Plant surface features such as particular cell arrangements, shapes, and orientation, as well as the presence of

Molecular biology approaches in bioadhesion research

• Marcelo Rodrigues,
• Birgit Lengerer,
• Thomas Ostermann and
• Peter Ladurner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 983–993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.112

• containing dsRNA. Another strategy is ingestion, by inducing target organisms to feed on other organisms like bacteria expressing the desirable dsRNA [69][82][83][84], or transgenic plants for feeding insects [85]. Also the combination of methods like the enrichment of natural diets, for example, liver paste

Measuring air layer volumes retained by submerged floating-ferns Salvinia and biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces

• Matthias J. Mayser,
• Holger F. Bohn,
• Meike Reker and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 812–821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.93

• Matthias J. Mayser Holger F. Bohn Meike Reker Wilhelm Barthlott Microfluidics Lab, GRASP, University of Liege, Chemin des Chevreuils 1, 4000 Liege, Belgium Nees-Institute for Biodiversity of Plants, University Bonn, Venusbergweg 22, 53115 Bonn, Germany Plant Biomechanics Group Freiburg, University

• of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.5.93 Abstract Some plants and animals feature superhydrophobic surfaces capable of retaining a layer of air when submerged under water. Long-term air retaining surfaces (Salvinia-effect) are of high interest for

• height at the edge is negligible, this should almost equal the trichome height on the plants. Comparing the theoretical values with the values measured on Salvinia leaves shows different results for the different species (Figure 3). All measured values are below the calculated theoretical ones. Most of

Applicability and costs of nanofiltration in combination with photocatalysis for the treatment of dye house effluents

• Wolfgang M. Samhaber and
• Minh Tan Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 476–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.55

• usefully adjusted and designed plants range from 1 to 6 US$/m3 treated effluent. Combination concepts will have a good precondition for further development and upscaling, if the NF costs discussed here in detail will be, together with the costs of photocatalysis, economically acceptable. Keywords: dye

• to 270 m3 of wastewater has to be treated prior to the release into the environment [1]. Conventional biological treatment plants are not effective in the removal of colour dye effluents, because of the aromatic structure of the large dye molecules, which provides chemical stability and, thus, also a

• disposal, possibly with a prior on-site storage. The drawbacks of all chemical methods are an additional usage of chemicals, an increased sludge production and often the need to remove additional colour and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Unconventional membrane separation plants with NF filters, in

Large-scale atomistic and quantum-mechanical simulations of a Nafion membrane: Morphology, proton solvation and charge transport

• Pavel V. Komarov,
• Pavel G. Khalatur and
• Alexei R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 567–587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.65

• large energy loss [1]. The earliest fuel cells based on proton exchange membrane (PEM), consisting of a copolymer of sulfonated polystyrene and divinylbenzene, served as the power plants for the Gemini space missions in the early 1960s. Now, PEM fuel cells show the greatest, most immediate, and most

• widespread potential applications and are considered as a promising power source for portable devices, home power plants and vehicles. Typically, PEM is a polymer material, which is a key component of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The polymer membrane provides a conducting medium for transferring

Apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy of sparsely labeled tobacco mosaic viruses and the intermediate filament desmin

• Alexander Harder,
• Mareike Dieding,
• Volker Walhorn,
• Sven Degenhard,
• Andreas Brodehl,
• Christina Wege,
• Hendrik Milting and
• Dario Anselmetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 510–516, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.60

• assembly buffer (200 mM NaCl, 45 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7) to a desmin solution with a concentration of 0.55g/L and incubated for one hour at 37 °C. TMV particles are isolated from systemically infected Nicotiana tabacum 'Samsun' nn plants according to Gooding and Hebert [35]. A TMV mutant, which presents a