Selective detection of complex gas mixtures using point contacts: concept, method and tools

• Alexander P. Pospelov,
• Victor I. Belan,
• Dmytro O. Harbuz,
• Volodymyr L. Vakula,
• Lyudmila V. Kamarchuk,
• Yuliya V. Volkova and
• Gennadii V. Kamarchuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1631–1643, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.146

• the electric field of the contact. The electric field is concentrated in the Yanson point contact area due to a specific electric drop in the potential in that area as the current flows through the electrode/point contact/electrode system. Upon crossing the area of the Yanson point contact, electrons

• . These properties are essential for Yanson point-contact spectroscopy [6] and are used to create a new generation of advanced nanosensors [4]. The Yanson point contact itself is the simplest electrophysical structure and it can be represented as an electrode/point contact/electrode system. In the

Oxidation of Au/Ag films by oxygen plasma: phase separation and generation of nanoporosity

• Abdel-Aziz El Mel,
• Said A. Mansour,
• Mujaheed Pasha,
• Atef Zekri,
• Janarthanan Ponraj,
• Akshath Shetty and
• Yousef Haik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1608–1614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.143

• 12 min and at an electrical power of 100 W. The films were oxidized using radio-frequency oxygen plasma at 100 W and 3 Pa and the samples were placed onto a substrate holder located 10 cm away from the electrode. SEM was performed on an FEI Versa3D instrument (Hillsboro, OR, USA) at an acceleration

Walking energy harvesting and self-powered tracking system based on triboelectric nanogenerators

• Mingliang Yao,
• Guangzhong Xie,
• Qichen Gong and
• Yuanjie Su

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1590–1595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.141

• to the extensive energy consumption and high population density in modern cities, the collection and use of scattered walking energy from the stream of people is crucial for the development of a green ecological city. Herein, a flexible undulated electrode-based triboelectric nanogenerator (u-TENG

• excellent performance, which can be used as motion [35][36][37] and temperature sensors [38][39], UV detectors [40], tactile sensors [41][42][43], sensors for healthcare [44][45][46][47], humidity sensors, and gas sensors [48][49][50][51], for example. In this work, a flexible undulated electrode-based

• triboelectric nanogenerator (u-TENG) was proposed and fabricated to scavenge the walking energy from areas with a high pedestrian flow. The as-prepared u-TENG is composed of two copper-coated nanostructured poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) thin films as the back electrodes and an elastic undulated electrode in

Electrokinetic characterization of synthetic protein nanoparticles

• Daniel F. Quevedo,
• Cody J. Lentz,
• Adriana Coll de Peña,
• Yazmin Hernandez,
• Nahal Habibi,
• Rikako Miki,
• Joerg Lahann and
• Blanca H. Lapizco-Encinas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1556–1567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.138

• how particles are trapped within the device (inserts). Trapping of SPNP-BSA-488 (c) and of SPNP-BSA-555 (d). Both types of SPNPs were trapped at an applied voltage of 500 V and exhibited a very similar trapping behavior. The flow direction is from the positive to the negative electrode (right to left

Antimicrobial metal-based nanoparticles: a review on their synthesis, types and antimicrobial action

• Matías Guerrero Correa,
• Fernanda B. Martínez,
• Cristian Patiño Vidal,
• Camilo Streitt,
• Juan Escrig and
• Carol Lopez de Dicastillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1450–1469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.129

• -condensation of the vapors on the cold surface of the vacuum reactor. Sergeev et al. [45] obtained Ag nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 20 to 150 nm using this technique. The electrochemical anodization method is based on the reactions that occur between the electrode and the electrolyte. In this method

One-step synthesis of carbon-supported electrocatalysts

• Sebastian Tigges,
• Nicolas Wöhrl,
• Ivan Radev,
• Ulrich Hagemann,
• Markus Heidelmann,
• Thai Binh Nguyen,
• Stanislav Gorelkov,
• Stephan Schulz and
• Axel Lorke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1419–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.126

• group metals) required for electrode materials produced by conventional synthesis approaches is still cost-inefficient for broader commercial application [4][5]. Furthermore, since surfactants (capping agents) are typically applied in the traditional wet chemical synthesis of metal nanoparticles in

• , initial value. Additionally, we have measured ORR mass activities of the Pt/CNW samples relative to those of the commercial catalyst with a rotating disk electrode at 1600 rpm. Initially, after 0 AST cycles, none of the Pt/CNW samples are able to reach the activity of HiSPEC4000 with the best sample (CV2

• three-electrode electrochemical cell (glassy cell: double wall, temperature-controlled at 25 °C) filled with 0.1 M HClO4 electrolyte (AppliChem PanReac, 70%, for analysis, ACS, ISO). The working electrode is a GCE (diameter 4 mm, Catalog No. 013338, ALS Co., Ltd.) coated with the catalyst (by using the

Triboelectric nanogenerator based on Teflon/vitamin B1 powder for self-powered humidity sensing

• Liangyi Zhang,
• Huan Li,
• Yiyuan Xie,
• Jing Guo and
• Zhiyuan Zhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1394–1401, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.123

• lubricant to make a friction nanogenerator. Due to its sustainability and flexibility, paper can be used as a substrate and supporting structure. The conductive electrode is made of copper foil, while the triboelectric pair is comprised of Teflon tape and vitamin B1 powder. The approximate values of the

• -emitting diodes (LEDs) are integrated with the humidity sensor and the luminosity is an indicator of the relative humidity (RH) from the surrounding environment. Experimental The conductive copper foil tape is used as the electrode, while the paper (manufacturer: Miao Ben) at the bottom serves as a

Controlling the proximity effect in a Co/Nb multilayer: the properties of electronic transport

• Sergey Bakurskiy,
• Mikhail Kupriyanov,
• Nikolay V. Klenov,
• Igor Soloviev,
• Andrey Schegolev,
• Roman Morari,
• Yury Khaydukov and
• Anatoli S. Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1336–1345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.118

• interface of the bulk semiconductor electrode, with thickness LS = 10ξS. In addition, we considered the proximity effect of an artificial ferromagnetic material (AFM), consisting of alternating thin superconducting (LS = 1ξS) and ferromagnetic layers, with an exchange energy of H = 10TC. In an AFM, every

• ) and AP (dashed) magnetization configurations in F-layers. In the large semiconductor electrode, the temperature dependence of the pair potential coincides with the prediction of the pure Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) model. At the same time, the pair potential in thin s-layers rapidly increases near

• strongly dependent on the distance from the bulk electrode. At temperature values above TC*, the spatial distribution has a similar shape, although a significant pairing amplitude appears only in the s-layers closest to the bulk semiconductor electrode. An additional possible consequence of such spatial

Effect of localized helium ion irradiation on the performance of synthetic monolayer MoS₂ field-effect transistors

• Jakub Jadwiszczak,
• Pierce Maguire,
• Conor P. Cullen,
• Georg S. Duesberg and
• Hongzhou Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1329–1335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.117

• , we find that irradiating the electrode–channel interface has a deleterious impact on charge transport when contrasted with irradiations confined only to the transistor channel. Keywords: 2D materials; contacts; defect engineering; helium ion microscope; ion beam doping; vacancies; two-dimensional

• the deposited metal–semiconductor contact interface. Recent work has shown that irradiation-induced heating of the electrode area can reverse majority carrier polarity in MoTe2 [31], while pre-treatment with a broad-beam argon ion source can decrease the contact resistance of Ni-MoS2 two-fold [32]. In

• in each pair a single electrode interface was also irradiated. SEM images in Figure 3a show the irradiated channel areas colored in green and the non-irradiated MoS2 channel areas in red, on example devices in the high IR regime. In all three IR regimes, allowing one of the electrode–MoS2 interfaces

Structural and electronic properties of SnO₂ doped with non-metal elements

• Jianyuan Yu,
• Yingeng Wang,
• Yan Huang,
• Xiuwen Wang,
• Jing Guo,
• Jingkai Yang and
• Hongli Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1321–1328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.116

• ) [1][2][3]. TCFs serve as the front electrode of thin film solar cells. Up to now, the solar energy conversion efficiency is about 23.3% [4], and it is important to increase the photovoltaic power generation efficiency, as well as the performance of the front electrode. The intrinsic semiconductor

• SnO2 is not conductive due to the absence of free carriers. However, the bandgap of 3.6 eV of SnO2 makes it a potentially ideal material for transparent electrode films. It had been proved that the doping of heteroatoms to replace Sn or O can lead to more carriers or holes. Therefore, extensive

Structure and electrochemical performance of electrospun-ordered porous carbon/graphene composite nanofibers

• Yi Wang,
• Yanhua Song,
• Chengwei Ye and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1280–1290, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.112

• configurations were used as a material to fabricate supercapacitor electrodes. These nanofibers were synthesized by applying a modified parallel electrode to the electrospinning method (MPEM) in order to generate electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers containing graphene. After synthesis, these fibers

• surface area of CGCNFs, thereby significantly increasing their specific capacitance. In addition, the ordering of CGCNFs within the electrode improved the electron transfer efficiency, resulting in a higher specific capacitance. Keywords: carbon/graphene composite nanofibers; carbonization

• ; electrochemistry; electrode material; electrospinning method; ordered and porous nanofibers; supercapacitor; Introduction As the technology sector develops, societal demands for energy storage devices also increases. Supercapacitors, including electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and pseudo-capacitance

Role of redox-active axial ligands of metal porphyrins adsorbed at solid–liquid interfaces in a liquid-STM setup

• Thomas Habets,
• Sylvia Speller and
• Johannes A. A. W. Elemans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1264–1271, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.110

• of MnTUPCl, which is a sufficient amount to sustain the reactions for weeks, at least in principle. However, since we propose that the reduction of the manganese porphyrins takes place when they are adsorbed to the negatively biased electrode, their adsorption–desorption process must be dynamic. Once

• solvated by the 1-phenyloctane solvent and migrate to the other electrode (vide infra). Second, in a counter reaction they are oxidized to chlorine gas. No net current would be observed if one of the two processes would not occur. In order to check the proposed role of the chloride ions, an analogous

• of these complications may be eliminated by adding a third, reference electrode to the setup and by using a conducting electrolyte (so that it turns into a so-called electrochemical (EC) STM [20][21]). At the same time, the absence of an electrolyte, which typically contains a high concentration of

Ultrasensitive detection of cadmium ions using a microcantilever-based piezoresistive sensor for groundwater

• Dinesh Rotake,
• Anand Darji and
• Nitin Kale

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1242–1253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.108

• disadvantages during operation in water when the refractive index of water changes [30][31]. Many authors have proposed electrode-based approaches for the selective sensing of Cd(II) [32], but the limits of detection were always in the micromolar to nanomolar ranges. Some of the authors used fluorescent [5][33

Gas sorption porosimetry for the evaluation of hard carbons as anodes for Li- and Na-ion batteries

• Yuko Matsukawa,
• Fabian Linsenmann,
• Maximilian A. Plass,
• George Hasegawa,
• Katsuro Hayashi and
• Tim-Patrick Fellinger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1217–1229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.106

• negative electrode [9]. We herein refer to HCs as strongly disordered carbons (having a high fraction of sp3-hybridized defects or heteroatoms), independent of their graphitizability. After the introduction of the LIB, efforts in research and development on sodium-ion anodes, i.e., lithium-analogue

• market share of HC and graphite was still 52% and 43%, respectively, and today graphite is almost exclusively used as negative electrode material in commercial LIBs [11]. Graphite with an interlayer distance of 0.335 nm cannot be intercalated by sodium without solvent co-intercalation [9][12][13

• decomposition at potentials below the stability window of the electrolyte (for LIBs typically around 0.8 VLi) [21]. Since the dielectric SEI passivates the electrode, an irreversible capacity proportional to the electrochemical active surface area is expected. Accordingly, the reduction of the specific surface

Thermophoretic tweezers for single nanoparticle manipulation

• Jošt Stergar and
• Natan Osterman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1126–1133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.97

• refraction between the particle and the surrounding solvent is also required. For manipulation of smaller particles and molecules, typically, electrophoretic [4] and electrokinetic [5] forces are used, but they need sophisticated electrode geometries. A combination of optical tweezers and an array of

Monolayers of MoS₂ on Ag(111) as decoupling layers for organic molecules: resolution of electronic and vibronic states of TCNQ

• Asieh Yousofnejad,
• Gaël Reecht,
• Nils Krane,
• Christian Lotze and
• Katharina J. Franke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1062–1071, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.91

• in a scanning tunneling microscope, requires a metal electrode. To (partially) preserve the molecular properties the molecule–electrode coupling has to be properly designed. An elegant way is to clamp the molecule between electrodes via single-atom bonds at opposing sites of the molecule while the

Excitonic and electronic transitions in Me–Sb₂Se₃ structures

• Nicolae N. Syrbu,
• Victor V. Zalamai,
• Ivan G. Stamov and
• Stepan I. Beril

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1045–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.89

• to the illuminated electrode and it decreases to zero when a negative voltage is applied. The nature of the photoelectric effect cannot be associated with the contact-EMF effect since there is no band bending at the semiconductor surface region. On the other hand, the photo-EMF effect, in this case

A new photodetector structure based on graphene nanomeshes: an ab initio study

• Babak Sakkaki,
• Hassan Rasooli Saghai,
• Ghafar Darvish and
• Mehdi Khatir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1036–1044, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.88

• Green’s functions and α is the lowest and highest self-energies due to coupling to the electrodes. The current at the electrode α (left to right) with spin σ is calculated using [28][29]: The following relation determines the effective crossing coefficients [30]: To investigate and compare photodetectors

Electrochemical nanostructuring of (111) oriented GaAs crystals: from porous structures to nanowires

• Elena I. Monaico,
• Eduard V. Monaico,
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki,
• Shashank Honnali,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Karin Leistner,
• Kornelius Nielsch and
• Ion M. Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 966–975, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.81

• in a Teflon cell with the 0.2 cm2 area exposed to the electrolyte. The electrolytes used in this study were 1.75 M NaCl and 1 M HNO3. The experiments were performed in a three-electrode configuration, with a Pt mesh with a surface area of 6 cm2 acting as counter electrode, a saturated Ag/AgCl

• reference electrode and the sample as working electrode. The anodization was performed in galvanostatic as well as potentiostatic regimes at room temperature (T = 23 °C). Analysis of morphology and chemical composition of the anodized GaAs crystals was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (Zeiss

Atomic layer deposition for efficient oxygen evolution reaction at Pt/Ir catalyst layers

• Stefanie Schlicht,
• Korcan Percin,
• Stefanie Kriescher,
• André Hofer,
• Claudia Weidlich,
• Matthias Wessling and
• Julien Bachmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 952–959, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.79

• , Universitetskii pr. 26, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia 10.3762/bjnano.11.79 Abstract We provide a direct comparison of two distinct methods of Ti felt surface treatment and Pt/Ir electrocatalyst deposition for the positive electrode of regenerative fuel cells and vanadium–air redox flow batteries. Each method is

• of some RFBs (such as the vanadium–air RFB). The positive electrode of these devices has to perform the challenging OER and ORR on one material system. A bimetallic Pt/Ir electrocatalyst is used most commonly as it provides minimal overpotentials under strongly acidic conditions [3][8][9][10]. The

• methods [12] as well as particles of various sizes [13] and shapes [14]. However, each study is presented as a self-sufficient piece of work with limited critical comparison to the state of the art. The conditions under which electrochemical performance is quantified (electrode substrate, electrolyte

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

• K. Priya Madhuri,
• Abhay A. Sagade,
• Pralay K. Santra and
• Neena S. John

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 814–820, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.66

• materials [10][11]. A single-layer of graphene can serve as a transparent conducting electrode and function as donor or acceptor when combined with suitable organic counterparts [12][13]. However, graphene itself is supported on a rigid substrate for device integration and, hence, it is important to

• the PbPc layer is sandwiched between the conductive graphene layer, which served as a bottom electrode, and the Cr/Au tip (diameter < 35 nm and k = 0.18 N·m−1, MikroMasch, USA), serving as a top electrode. Chemical structure of lead phthalocyanine. (a) Top view and (b) side view of a Pb(II)Pc molecule

Nickel nanoparticles supported on a covalent triazine framework as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reactions

• Secil Öztürk,
• Yu-Xuan Xiao,
• Dennis Dietrich,
• Beatriz Giesen,
• Juri Barthel,
• Jie Ying,
• Xiao-Yu Yang and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 770–781, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.62

• group of Prof. Fan, Co3O4/CTF1-700-1:1 has been studied as ORR catalyst and showed a half-wave potential of 0.84 V vs a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) [20]. Kamiya et. al. synthesized a Pt-atom-modified CTF hybridized with conductive carbon nanoparticles and used it as an ORR catalyst [36]. The

• /CTF-1-400-20, whereas 7 atom % N is involved in bonding to Ni for Ni/CTF-1-600-22. Electrochemical catalysis In order to investigate the activity of the synthesized materials in the OER, rotating disc electrode (RDE) experiments were conducted in 1 mol/L KOH solution in a three-electrode cell. Figure

• confirm the reproducibility. The obtained materials were designated as Ni/CTF-1-400-X and Ni/CTF-1-600-X, where X represents the weight percentage of nickel in the composite materials according to AAS. Electrochemical measurements A three-electrode cell was used for the electrochemical measurements on a

Structural optical and electrical properties of a transparent conductive ITO/Al–Ag/ITO multilayer contact

• Aliyu Kabiru Isiyaku,
• Ahmad Hadi Ali and
• Nafarizal Nayan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 695–702, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.57

• indium metal is needed [9][10][11]. The insertion of a metal layer reduces the transparency of the ITO electrode due to opaqueness of the metal, but selecting an optimal metal thickness can effectively decrease the reflection from the metal film and thus enhance the transmittance. Furthermore, it gives

• of an ITO sandwich electrode with Ag alloy against heat treatment at 450 °C was carried out by Roh et al. [30]. An appreciable durability and stability of the Ag films was observed. In the present work, the structural, optical and electrical properties of an Al–Ag bilayer between ITO layers (ITO/Al

A novel dry-blending method to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion of polymer templates for OTFT electrodes

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Bo Tian,
• Yuxuan Guo,
• Fan Fan and
• Anjiang Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 671–677, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.53

• Telecommunications, Xi’an 710121, China 10.3762/bjnano.11.53 Abstract Among the patterning technologies for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), the fabrication of OTFT electrodes using polymer templates has attracted much attention. However, deviations in the electrode alignment occur because the coefficient of

• silver target of 60 × 5 mm in size and purity of 99.99% as the OTFT electrode material was purchased from ZHNOGNUO New Material Co., Ltd., (Beijing, China). Pentacene as the semiconductor layer was used as purchased from Sigma-Aldrich and dissolved to a concentration of 5% in 1,2-dichlorobenzene

• gate and source–drain through a printing process [3][23]. The same experiment was performed using the 20 wt % wet-blended template, as shown in Figure 6. Figure 6a shows the electrode alignment of the PDMS/SiO2 composite template (20 wt %) prepared via wet blending. There are deviations in the

Exfoliation in a low boiling point solvent and electrochemical applications of MoO₃

• Matangi Sricharan,
• Bikesh Gupta,
• Sreejesh Moolayadukkam and
• H. S. S. Ramakrishna Matte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 662–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.52

• , the MoO3 dispersion in 2-butanone retains its intrinsic nature even after exposure to sunlight for 24 h. The composites of MoO3 nanosheets were used as an electrode material for supercapacitors and showed a high specific capacitance of 201 F·g−1 in a three-electrode configuration at a scan rate of 50

• was not altered after exposure to sunlight (UV radiation) for 24 h. The exfoliated MoO3 was used as electrode material for supercapacitor applications. The specific capacitance values were as high as 221 F·g−1 at 5 mV·s−1 with good rate capability and capacitance retention in a three-electrode system

• Zetasizer NanoZS. All electrochemical measurements were carried out using Autolab PGSTAT302N. Electrode preparation and electrochemical testing Three-electrode system: A glassy carbon electrode (GCE, 0.3 cm diameter) as the working electrode, Pt wire as counter electrode and a saturated calomel electrode