Nanoanalytics for materials science

• Thilo Glatzel and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1674–1675, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.159

• high-sensitivity chemical information at the nanoscale are of utmost importance for future developments [1]. One of the possible approaches is based on bimodal or even multimodal nanoanalysis, which was increasingly developed during the last decade. Other important aspects that have to be considered

Graphene-enhanced plasmonic nanohole arrays for environmental sensing in aqueous samples

• Christa Genslein,
• Peter Hausler,
• Eva-Maria Kirchner,
• Rudolf Bierl,
• Antje J. Baeumner and
• Thomas Hirsch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1564–1573, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.150

• environmental monitoring providing important features such as real time measurements, high sensitivity and label-free assay [8]. The detection of highly diluted concentrations and small molecules (<200 Da) remains challenging within SPR sensing [9]. For (bio)analytical applications the sensitivity needs to be

• of 5–60 nm [14][15]. An enhancement of local electromagnetic fields and intense absorption bands due to excitations of electrons at the nano-structures, results in a high sensitivity towards local changes of the refractive index [16]. A variety of nanostructured substrates, such as nanostructured

Dynamic of cold-atom tips in anharmonic potentials

• Tobias Menold,
• Peter Federsel,
• Carola Rogulj,
• Hendrik Hölscher,
• József Fortágh and
• Andreas Günther

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1543–1555, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.148

• particle interactions and anharmonic motion have a significant impact on the tip dynamics. Conclusion: Our findings will be crucial for the realization of high-sensitivity force spectroscopy with cold-atom tips and could possibly allow for the development of advanced spectroscopic techniques such as Q

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

• ][6]. During the last decades, different types of sensors were fabricated for environmental and health monitoring. Among the different detection systems, chemical sensors based on metal oxide nanomaterials are highly demanded because of their high sensitivity, small size, low cost and low power

Ammonia gas sensors based on In₂O₃/PANI hetero-nanofibers operating at room temperature

• Qingxin Nie,
• Zengyuan Pang,
• Hangyi Lu,
• Yibing Cai and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1312–1321, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.122

• even death [5][6][7]. So, there is an urgent need to develop a kind of gas sensor with high sensitivity and selectivity to detect NH3 at room temperature. Metal oxide semiconductors can be applied as sensing materials for monitoring NH3. Ammonia sensors based on In2O3 [8], TiO2 [9], SnO2 [10], ZnO [11

An ellipsometric approach towards the description of inhomogeneous polymer-based Langmuir layers

• Falko O. Rottke,
• Burkhard Schulz,
• Klaus Richau,
• Karl Kratz and
• Andreas Lendlein

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1156–1165, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.107

• , e.g., thickness at the nm scale. In the present work only Δ-maps were recorded because of their high sensitivity towards thickness variations, even at ultrathin film conditions [6]. The complications and theoretical problems of estimating extremely small dispersions of Ψ for ultrathin films is known

Experimental and simulation-based investigation of He, Ne and Ar irradiation of polymers for ion microscopy

• Lukasz Rzeznik,
• Yves Fleming,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1113–1128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.104

• . Keywords: Helium ion microscopy; irradiation; polymers; preferential sputtering; secondary ion mass spectrometry; simulations; Introduction Progress in materials and life sciences requires sample characterisation with high lateral resolution and high sensitivity. A technique which allows for both is

Voltammetric determination of polyphenolic content in pomegranate juice using a poly(gallic acid)/multiwalled carbon nanotube modified electrode

• Refat Abdel-Hamid and
• Emad F. Newair

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1104–1112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.103

• transfer on bare GCE or MWCNT/GCE. Thus the modification enhances the redox peak current and could be used with high sensitivity. Recently, the use of nanomaterials for electrode modification has grown exponentially, owing to their advantageous electrochemical properties. Carbon nanotubes are the main

NO gas sensing at room temperature using single titanium oxide nanodot sensors created by atomic force microscopy nanolithography

• Li-Yang Hong and
• Heh-Nan Lin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1044–1051, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.97

• attractive than conventional devices [9]. The advantages include high sensitivity, high stability, fast detection and recovery, low power consumption, relatively low cost, and small size [9][10]. These advantages enable semiconducting metal oxide sensors to be implemented on integrated circuits for portable

Signal enhancement in cantilever magnetometry based on a co-resonantly coupled sensor

• Julia Körner,
• Christopher F. Reiche,
• Thomas Gemming,
• Bernd Büchner,
• Gerald Gerlach and
• Thomas Mühl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1033–1043, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.96

• where the latter allows for very high sensitivity and the micrometer size part for an easy detection [9]. We will only briefly review the theoretical considerations regarding the sensor concept since it is discussed in depth elsewhere [9]. The main focus of this publication is to demonstrate the

• the co-resonant coupling this changes the resonance frequencies of the coupled system and can be detected at the cantilever. Small interactions result in rather large frequency shifts due to the low stiffness, i.e., high sensitivity of the nanoscale oscillator, and can be measured with a rather

Generalized Hertz model for bimodal nanomechanical mapping

• Aleksander Labuda,
• Marta Kocuń,
• Waiman Meinhold,
• Deron Walters and
• Roger Proksch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 970–982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.89

• results in independent measures of nanomechanical properties by both eigenmodes while imaging. Notably, the fact that the weight function of the second eigenmode increases drastically as the tip approaches the sample, as seen in Figure 3f, explains the high sensitivity and increased spatial resolution of

• held fixed by the AGC. The fact that all three configurations lead to the same extracted Eeff suggests that the small-amplitude limit for the second mode was fulfilled. Sensitivity of bimodal AFM The high sensitivity of bimodal AFM was predicted in the theory described in Section ‘Bimodal interaction

• a small-amplitude second eigenmode into the measurement: it provides a high-sensitivity channel of information, without disrupting the measurement as explained in the previous section. Error from binomial approximation The error introduced by the approximation that allowed the analytical closed

Understanding interferometry for micro-cantilever displacement detection

• Alexander von Schmidsfeld,
• Tobias Nörenberg,
• Matthias Temmen and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 841–851, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.76

• smallest fiber–cantilever gap allows for displacement detection with a very low detection-system noise floor of promising a high sensitivity in force detection even for the relatively stiff cantilevers used in the present study. Apparently, the system noise is affected by opto-mechanical coupling and we

Highly compact refractive index sensor based on stripe waveguides for lab-on-a-chip sensing applications

• Chamanei Perera,
• Kristy Vernon,
• Elliot Cheng,
• Juna Sathian,
• Esa Jaatinen and
• Timothy Davis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 751–757, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.66

• ] are widely used techniques utilising plasmons to measure refractive index changes. SPR is the most widely used sensing technique. It provides high sensitivity with label-free detection. Most commercially available SPR sensors employ a prism configuration to excite SPs on a metal surface which makes

Gold nanoparticles covalently assembled onto vesicle structures as possible biosensing platform

• M. Fátima Barroso,
• M. Alejandra Luna,
• Juan S. Flores Tabares,
• Cristina Delerue-Matos,
• N. Mariano Correa,
• Fernando Moyano and
• Patricia G. Molina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 655–663, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.58

• fulfil performance criteria such as high sensitivity and low limit of detection. In this context, vesicles can be used in the construction of biosensors as supporting film to coat Au or Ag electrodes [3]. Self-assembly of nanoparticles onto organised systems combines the advantages of nanomaterials

Early breast cancer screening using iron/iron oxide-based nanoplatforms with sub-femtomolar limits of detection

• Dinusha N. Udukala,
• Hongwang Wang,
• Sebastian O. Wendel,
• Aruni P. Malalasekera,
• Thilani N. Samarakoon,
• Asanka S. Yapa,
• Gayani Abayaweera,
• Matthew T. Basel,
• Pamela Maynez,
• Raquel Ortega,
• Yubisela Toledo,
• Leonie Bossmann,
• Colette Robinson,
• Katharine E. Janik,
• Olga B. Koper,
• Ping Li,
• Massoud Motamedi,
• Daniel A. Higgins,
• Gary Gadbury,
• Gaohong Zhu,
• Deryl L. Troyer and
• Stefan H. Bossmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 364–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.33

• the use of dextran as anticoagulant [42]. The requirement of only a very low volume of serum for performing meaningful enzyme activity measurements is a definite advantage of the very high sensitivity of the nanoplatforms for protease detection, which originates from the concurrent utilization of SEM

Mismatch detection in DNA monolayers by atomic force microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

• Maryse D. Nkoua Ngavouka,
• Pietro Capaldo,
• Elena Ambrosetti,
• Giacinto Scoles,
• Loredana Casalis and
• Pietro Parisse

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 220–227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.20

• strategies [22] might improve sensitivity further possibly circumventing the annealing step. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy-based assay Despite the high sensitivity, the AFM assay does not allow, at the moment, for a real-time investigation of binding events. In order to overcome such limitations, we

• multiplexing. Ultimate sensitivity has been demonstrated for these arrays (100 pM, [41]), making them overall amenable to less invasive diagnostic analysis with a sensible reduction of the volume of the analyte till single cell [26]. Finally, our electrochemical measurements combine high sensitivity with real

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

• active layer in low-cost chemiresistive gas sensors, due to their high sensitivity to gaseous analytes and easy production. The gas-sensing mechanism of MOS-based gas sensors is based on receptor and transducer functions [3]. Specifically, the first regards the recognition of a gaseous analyte by an

Blue and white light emission from zinc oxide nanoforests

• Nafisa Noor,
• Luca Lucera,
• Thomas Capuano,
• Venkata Manthina,
• Alexander G. Agrios,
• Helena Silva and
• Ali Gokirmak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2463–2469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.255

• electrical contact (Figure 1c). The probe separation for all electrical measurements was ≈10–15 µm. Either a high-sensitivity 1080p HD camcorder with a frame rate of 60 fps (Sony, HDR-CX160) or a high-speed camera with a maximum of 1200 fps (Casio, EX-F1) was connected to the microscope head for imaging

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

• [136][137]. In the field of nanotechnology, the real-time monitoring of size and shapes of nanostructures is of high importance even though it is very challenging. There are reports on developing innovative systems, such as grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering setup that showed a high

• sensitivity to control the required parameters of the production of NPs [138]. Inherently safer chemistry: All types of required substances for a chemical process should be selected so that the all hazards and risks of the system, such as toxicity, flammability and explosivity are minimized to prevent

Possibilities and limitations of advanced transmission electron microscopy for carbon-based nanomaterials

• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Carla Bittencourt and
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1541–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.158

• metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor up to 1600 fps [50]. The high sensitivity and fast acquisition in detecting has made possible the automated and ultra-fast acquisition of a series of under-exposed images from the same region. After drift correction, the images of such a sequence are stacked and can

Electronic interaction in composites of a conjugated polymer and carbon nanotubes: first-principles calculation and photophysical approaches

• Florian Massuyeau,
• Jany Wéry,
• Jean-Luc Duvail,
• Serge Lefrant,
• Abu Yaya,
• Chris Ewels and
• Eric Faulques

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1138–1144, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.115

• at 4.64 eV with a 100 fs pulsed laser at low photon density (below 1017 cm−3) and PL images were recorded with a streak camera [16][17]. Steady-state PL spectra and quantum yields Q were measured at 3.1 eV excitation energy [18]. Photoconductivity measurements were performed at 2.54 eV with a high

• sensitivity Keithley electrometer. Figure 1 compares photoconductivity (PC) data and quantum yield estimates for the composite PPV/SWNT series x = 0–32%. We observe that the quantum yield decreases from a value of 19% (x = 0, standard PPV) in good agreement with the literature [19][20] down to 4% for x = 32

High sensitivity and high resolution element 3D analysis by a combined SIMS–SPM instrument

• Yves Fleming and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1091–1099, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.110

• has increased during the last decade [1]. In particular, nano-analytical techniques and instruments providing both excellent spatial resolution and high-sensitivity chemical information are of utmost importance for investigations at the nanoscale. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a method of

• choice for high sensitivity analysis, including isotopic ratio measurements [2][3]. State-of-the-art SIMS imaging instruments can provide chemical 2D and 3D maps with a lateral resolution of around 50 nm [4][5]. However, several important artefacts result from the fact that conventional 3D image

Tunable magnetism on the lateral mesoscale by post-processing of Co/Pt heterostructures

• Oleksandr V. Dobrovolskiy,
• Maksym Kompaniiets,
• Roland Sachser,
• Fabrizio Porrati,
• Christian Gspan,
• Harald Plank and
• Michael Huth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1082–1090, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.109

• with a CS probe corrector (DCOR) was used. The TEM was equipped with a X-FEG high-brightness electron gun, the high-end post-column electron energy filter Quantum ERSTM from Gatan, and four high sensitivity SDD X-ray detectors from Bruker (Super-X). The measurements were performed at an accelerating

Synergic combination of the sol–gel method with dip coating for plasmonic devices

• Cristiana Figus,
• Maddalena Patrini,
• Francesco Floris,
• Lucia Fornasari,
• Paola Pellacani,
• Gerardo Marchesini,
• Andrea Valsesia,
• Flavia Artizzu,
• Daniela Marongiu,
• Michele Saba,
• Franco Marabelli,
• Andrea Mura,
• Giovanni Bongiovanni and
• Francesco Quochi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 500–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.52

• 10.3762/bjnano.6.52 Abstract Biosensing technologies based on plasmonic nanostructures have recently attracted significant attention due to their small dimensions, low-cost and high sensitivity but are often limited in terms of affinity, selectivity and stability. Consequently, several methods have been

Hollow plasmonic antennas for broadband SERS spectroscopy

• Gabriele C. Messina,
• Mario Malerba,
• Pierfrancesco Zilio,
• Ermanno Miele,
• Michele Dipalo,
• Lorenzo Ferrara and
• Francesco De Angelis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 492–498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.50

• be considered that some of the biomolecules of interest are present in very low concentrations. Therefore, monitoring such an environment requires techniques that can offer both flexibility and high sensitivity for all cases. In other words, the investigation of the biological functions of living

• cells requires the acquisition of information from many different cell parts. For example, considering the most common investigation method in biology, namely fluorescence spectroscopy, it offers very high sensitivity, but at the cost of being sensitive only to those molecules for which the label has