Modeling adsorption of brominated, chlorinated and mixed bromo/chloro-dibenzo-p-dioxins on C₆₀ fullerene using Nano-QSPR

• Piotr Urbaszek,
• Agnieszka Gajewicz,
• Celina Sikorska,
• Maciej Haranczyk and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 752–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.78

• present and dangerous Studies on chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) as representatives of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [1] are an important area of the environmental sciences and scientific research [2][3][4][5]. PCDDs are usually represented by 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD

• complex formation can be dangerous because of the ability of nanoparticles like fullerenes to penetrate biological barriers and act as a vector, transferring dioxins or other pollutants inside the cells [22]. The potential applications of C60 as smoke filters or air-cleaning agents are examples where it

• ) with a modeled property (energy of the PXDD@C60 complex). It is a computational technique that, to the best of our knowledge, is the first published example of the use of Nano-QSPR to predict interactions between fullerenes and numerous organic pollutants. Results Nano-QSPR model Based on the

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• ), sensors, photocatalysts, removal of organic pollutants, etc. Recent studies have shown that a single graphene sheet (GS) has extraordinary electronic transport properties. One possible route to connecting those properties for application in electronics would be to prepare graphene-wrapped TMO NPs. In this

Investigation of the photocatalytic efficiency of tantalum alkoxy carboxylate-derived Ta₂O₅ nanoparticles in rhodamine B removal

• Subia Ambreen,
• Mohammad Danish,
• Narendra D. Pandey and
• Ashutosh Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 604–613, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.65

• and CeO2, serve as potential photocatalysts [1][2][3][4]. The properties of the metal oxide nanoparticles (surface area, band gap, porosity) determine its photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants from water. Because of properties such as high refractive index and large band

Gas sensing properties of MWCNT layers electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Riccardo Rossi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 592–603, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.64

• (MWCNT)-based chemiresistors were electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles (NPs), resulting in an improvement in the detection of gaseous pollutants as compared to sensors based on pristine MWCNTs. Electrophoresis was used to decorate MWCNTs with preformed Au or Pd NPs, thus preserving

• their nanometer-sized dimensions and allowing the metal content to be tuned by simply varying the deposition time. The sensing response of unmodified and metal-decorated MWCNTs was evaluated towards different gaseous pollutants (e.g., NO2, H2S, NH3 and C4H10) at a wide range of concentrations in the

• of emissions of toxic, pollutant gases (e.g., NO2, H2S, NH3, C4H10) and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere [1]. The effect of high concentration levels of these gaseous pollutants causes both environmental problems and health consequences for humans (e.g., respiratory and cardiovascular illness

Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

• complete the reaction [2][10]. Different high-raked commercial dyes, such as N719 or N3, have been widely studied in the literature and their performance has been proven. Because these organometallic dyes contain environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals [6], recent studies have focused on finding a

Photocatalysis applications of some hybrid polymeric composites incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles and their combinations with SiO₂/Fe₂O₃

• Andreea Laura Chibac,
• Tinca Buruiana,
• Violeta Melinte and
• Emil C. Buruiana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 272–286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.30

• phenol, hydroquinone and dopamine in aqueous solution under UV or visible-light irradiation. The best results were obtained for the films with TiO2/Fe2O3 or TiO2/SiO2/Fe2O3 NPs. The degradation of the mentioned model pollutants varied between 71% and 100% (after 250 min of irradiation) depending on the

• degrading hydroxybenzene derivatives under UV and visible light, was investigated using hybrid films in aqueous solutions. The motivation for this selection is that the phenolic compounds play a major role among the various organic pollutants that cause environmental hazard, being a part of the widely used

• drugs, pesticides, dyes, and plastics. On the basis of this information, we tried to prepare stable photocatalytic materials with good activity against phenolic pollutants under UV–visible light starting from TiO2 NPs with and without Si–O–Si sequences and/or Fe2O3 NPs immobilized in a polymer network

Microfluidic setup for on-line SERS monitoring using laser induced nanoparticle spots as SERS active substrate

• Oana-M. Buja,
• Ovidiu D. Gordan,
• Nicolae Leopold,
• Andreas Morschhauser,
• Jörg Nestler and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 237–243, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.26

• (SERS) has been proven to be a suitable tool for rapid detection of pollutants [3][5][6][7][8], based on their specific molecular fingerprint spectra [9]. The high sensitivity of this spectroscopic technique originates from the pronounced enhancement of the inelastic scattering when the molecule is

• detection and on-line monitoring of pollutants in water, based on this straightforward and effective microfluidic SERS setup. Experimental A schematic representation of the SERS microfluidic setup is shown in Figure 5. The experiments were carried out in a square glass capillary with 200 μm inner dimension

Laser irradiation in water for the novel, scalable synthesis of black TiO_x photocatalyst for environmental remediation

• Massimo Zimbone,
• Giuseppe Cacciato,
• Mohamed Boutinguiza,
• Vittorio Privitera and
• Maria Grazia Grimaldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 196–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.21

• applications. The morphological, structural and optical properties of the film surface were investigated. Moreover, we fabricated a photochemical diode with remarkable activity for the degradation of pollutants in water. The device is created by depositing a layer of Pt nanoparticles (PtNps) on the rear side

• extremely high absorbance in the IR, visible and UV spectral range. Although it is composed of amorphous titanium oxide, it is able to degrade pollutants (methylene blue) dissolved in solution at a high rate (QE = 0.041%). This high activity is ascribed to the presence of trap states for holes in the

Sensitive detection of hydrocarbon gases using electrochemically Pd-modified ZnO chemiresistors

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 82–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.9

• interfering gaseous pollutants (e.g., NO2) revealed that the presence of Pd NPs on the surface of ZnO improves the selectivity in the detection of specific gaseous molecules. Specifically Pd@ZnO chemiresistors showed a high selectivity towards HCs compared to the pristine ZnO-based gas sensors. On the

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• water solution was tested using methylene blue and ibuprofen compounds, respectively, as model of pollutants. Keywords: delamination; montmorillonite; organoclays; photocatalysis; porous clay heterostructures; sepiolite; ZnO nanoparticles; Introduction In the last decades, great effort has been

• devoted to study ZnO as a very promising catalyst in the photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants. This is because of its elevated activity, its low cost and, in particular, its environmentally friendly behavior [1][2]. It has been confirmed that ZnO compared to TiO2 exhibits better efficiency in the

• photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants [3][4][5][6]. It should be remembered that nanoparticulated zinc oxide is a wide-band gap II–VI semiconductor with a band-gap energy of around 3.4 eV, which is of great interest for photocatalytic applications [7]. ZnO nanoparticles (NP) have been assembled to

Prediction of the mechanical properties of zeolite pellets for aerospace molecular decontamination applications

• Guillaume Rioland,
• Patrick Dutournié,
• Delphine Faye,
• T. Jean Daou and
• Joël Patarin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1761–1771, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.169

• pollutants without being damaged by impact or vibrations. Experimental Materials Two hydrophilic and two hydrophobic zeolites have been chosen to make zeolite pellets: - FAU 13X powder with a crystal size of 3–5 µm and a Si/Al molar ratio of 1.2 was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. - Na-LTA powder with a

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• nanostructures. Keywords: catalytic properties; chemical synthesis; nanostructures; semiconductors; transmission electron microscopy (TEM); Introduction In the past decade, there has been an increased interest in the photocatalytic degradation of various kinds of organic pollutants in water and soil [1]. Many

• of these pollutants, particularly dyes, are carcinogenic and mutagenic [2]. Thus, there is an urgent need for removal of these pollutants as these are harmful to both human and environment [3]. Previous studies have extensively explored the role of semiconductor oxides mainly ZnO, TiO2 in the

• photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants [4][5][6][7][8]. These semiconductor photocatalysts not only degrade the contaminants, but also cause their complete mineralization into CO2, H2O and mineral acids [9][10]. Thus, it is advantageous over physico-chemical methods such as flocculation–coagulation

Development of adsorptive membranes by confinement of activated biochar into electrospun nanofibers

• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Mitra Naghdi,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• Emile Knystautas,
• Mausam Verma,
• Rao. Y. Surampalli and
• Jose. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1556–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.149

• , there is no report on the fabrication of NFM containing carbonaceous adsorbents for the removal of pollutants from aqueous media. In recent years, emerging contaminants such as pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and endocrine disrupters have been the focus of attention due to their long term

An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants

• Clément Monteil,
• Nathalie Bar,
• Agnès Bee and
• Didier Villemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1447–1453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.136

• Wastewater cleaning strategies based on the adsorption of materials are being increasingly considered, but the wide variety of organic pollutants at low concentrations still makes their removal a challenge. The hybrid material proposed here consists of a zwitterionic polyethylenimine polymer coating a

• introduced on the polymer. After recovering the nanoparticles with a magnet, pollutants are quantitatively released by repeated washing with low amounts of pH-adjusted water. The material can be reused many times without noticeable loss of efficiency and is designed to resist high temperatures, oxidation and

• harsh conditions. Keywords: adsorption; magnetic nanoparticles; organic pollutants; phosphonated polyethylenimine; Introduction During the last decades, an increased emphasis was placed on the issue of diffuse contamination of water. Toxic metals and organic pollutants are significant sources of

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

• monitoring of environmental pollutants and for the application of breath tests in assessment of exposure to volatile organic compounds. Keywords: chemical sensors; reduced graphene oxide (RGO); volatile organic compounds; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Hazard analysis of critical control point (HACCP

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• ability of the Ce dopant to reduce charge recombinations is promising for the efficient photodegradation of pollutants. Photocatalytic degradation of Orange II We first investigated the photocatalytic activities of Ce-doped ZnO in comparison to ZnO rods in the photodegradation of Orange II used at a 10 mg

Evaluation of gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanostructures electrochemically doped with Au nanophases

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 22–31, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.3

• authors thank Mr G. Cassano for technical assistance at ENEA and The Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research, PON program 2007–2013 for financial support, specifically, “INNOVHEAD” for the development of sensing devices for the selective detection of pollutants of automotive interest, and

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• oxidation, discoloration, mineralization, and degradation of organic pollutants [1][2]. Photocatalysis is an example of an AOP that has been effectively applied for the treatment of highly polluted water such as dye sewage [3][4]. Among the materials for this application, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a very

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

• methods involve the use of dispersants, surfactants or chelating agents to prevent the agglomeration of particles. Most of these reagents can be considered environmental pollutants, if they are going to be used in large scale production [16]. As a consequence, there have been growing concerns about the

• environmental issues of large-scale production of nanomaterials. Therefore, environmentally friendly procedures should be developed that lead to a reduction of cost, energy, product loss and the emission of pollutants [6][8][17][18]. However, the production of monodispersed nanomaterials by using cheap and non

• short life span of the product after release into the environment [66]. Real-time analysis of pollutants: The monitoring of the concentrations of different chemicals is crucial for the prevention of undesirable events. This approach can save energy and prevent accidents and also unwanted production of

Natural and artificial binders of polyriboadenylic acid and their effect on RNA structure

• Giovanni N. Roviello,
• Domenica Musumeci,
• Valentina Roviello,
• Marina Pirtskhalava,
• Alexander Egoyan and
• Merab Mirtskhulava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1338–1347, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.138

• in single-stranded poly(rA), and melting experiments led to the conclusion that the observed transition was cooperative similar to the case of a cooperative melting of a DNA double helix. Environmental pollutants In addition, some molecules derived from anthropic pollution are also able to bind, in

• Craig and Isenberg [67] evidenced similar binding results, concerning the ability of polycyclic hydrocarbons to bind double-stranded poly(rA) structures. Haloacetonitriles are chlorinated pollutants present in drinking water and swimming pools formed as disinfection by-products, whose oncogenic effect

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

• chemical pollutants (e.g., Mend-Tox [13][14], CalTOX [15], TRIM.FaTE [16]), these are not directly applicable for ENMs. Unlike gaseous and dissolved chemical pollutants, for which interphase mass transport rates are governed by chemical potential (fugacity) driving forces that are constrained by

Pt- and Pd-decorated MWCNTs for vapour and gas detection at room temperature

• Hamdi Baccar,
• Atef Thamri,
• Pierrick Clément,
• Eduard Llobet and
• Adnane Abdelghani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 919–927, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.95

• ; mutiwalled carbon nanotubes; plasma treatment; sputtering; Introduction Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrogen sulphide are among the most dangerous pollutants released each year by industry into the environment [1][2][3]. Some VOCs have very harmful effects on human and

Tm-doped TiO₂ and Tm₂Ti₂O₇ pyrochlore nanoparticles: enhancing the photocatalytic activity of rutile with a pyrochlore phase

• Desiré M. De los Santos,
• Javier Navas,
• Teresa Aguilar,
• Antonio Sánchez-Coronilla,
• Concha Fernández-Lorenzo,
• Rodrigo Alcántara,
• Jose Carlos Piñero,
• Ginesa Blanco and
• Joaquín Martín-Calleja

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 605–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.62

• radicals play a role in degrading pollutants [45]. It is generally suggested that the rate-limiting steps of the photocatalytic reaction of semiconductors are electron–hole recombination and electron transfer from the semiconductor surface to the adsorbed oxygen molecules [45][46][47][48]. In our case, the

Gas sensing properties of nanocrystalline diamond at room temperature

• Marina Davydova,
• Pavel Kulha,
• Alexandr Laposa,
• Karel Hruska,
• Pavel Demo and
• Alexander Kromka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2339–2345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.243

• electrodes; nanocrystalline diamond; response; Introduction Air pollution is one of the main environmental-health related threats. Increasing amounts of noxious pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere, resulting in damage to human health and the environment. There is great interest in using sensing

Advances in NO₂ sensing with individual single-walled carbon nanotube transistors

• Kiran Chikkadi,
• Matthias Muoth,
• Cosmin Roman,
• Miroslav Haluska and
• Christofer Hierold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2179–2191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.227

• nanotubes, calculations and experiments have shown that the interactions with other gases present in the atmosphere, such as N2, H2, CO, H2O and CO2 are negligible [19]. However, nanotubes are sensitive to other interfering pollutants, such as SO2 [20], NH3 [12] and O3 [21]. Therefore, the task of enhancing