Microneedle patches – the future of drug delivery and vaccination?

• Zahra Faraji Rad,
• Philip D. Prewett and
• Graham J. Davies

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 494–495, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.40

• Zahra Faraji Rad Philip D. Prewett Graham J. Davies School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield Central, QLD 4300, Australia Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom Oxacus Ltd, Dorchester

• originally developed for the microelectronics industry; they were inevitably made from silicon. Since then, silicon MNs have been largely abandoned in favour of polymer versions because of their superior mechanical properties, biocompatibility, ease of manufacture, and ultimate scalability [5][6]. Polymer

Molecular nanoarchitectonics: unification of nanotechnology and molecular/materials science

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 434–453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.35

• and Gong discuss the organization of gels [103]. Specifically, they outline a unique anisotropic hydrogel consisting of uniaxially aligned lamellar bilayers in an amorphous gel matrix. This gel organization exhibits a beautiful structural color that is sensitive to mechanical and chemical stimuli. The

• water impermeability of the bilayer membrane causes one-dimensional swelling and diffusion, and the hydrophobic aggregates act as sacrificial bonds to yield high mechanical strength and toughness during deformation. The abovementioned general examples could be involved in parts of nanoarchitectonics

Evaluation of electrosynthesized reduced graphene oxide–Ni/Fe/Co-based (oxy)hydroxide catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction

• Karolina Cysewska,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Marcin Zając,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 420–433, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.34

• different kinds of conductive carbon materials [14][15][16][17][18]. Recently, graphene (Gr)/graphene oxide (GO) has attracted the attention of many researchers due to its high surface area, significant chemical stability, high electrical conductivity, and high mechanical strength [12][19]. Combining a

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

• [83]. Plasmonic nanobubbles (formed when the irradiation fluence exceeded a threshold value), although being excellent tunable scatterers themselves, did not result in thermal phenomena such as heating and only led to mechanical phenomena such as cavitation effects. Explosive boiling is of explicit

Polymer nanoparticles from low-energy nanoemulsions for biomedical applications

• Santiago Grijalvo and
• Carlos Rodriguez-Abreu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 339–350, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.29

• -called high-energy methods (also called work-based methods [5]), this energy is supplied by external mechanical means, such as in high-pressure homogenizers or from ultrasound devices, with high dissipation (mostly in the form of heat) and, therefore, low energy efficiencies. In contrast, the so-called

Bismuth-based nanostructured photocatalysts for the remediation of antibiotics and organic dyes

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo and
• Faisal Suleiman Mustafa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 291–321, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.26

• techniques have been developed to synthesise 3-D Bi-based nanostructures with different morphologies, including solvothermal/hydrothermal and sol–gel processes, mechanical exfoliation, solid-state reactions, chemical vapour deposition, and microwave-assisted techniques [106]. These 3-D photocatalysts have

• mechanical stability against photocorrosion; (c) high efficiency in quantum conversion; (d) fast generation and efficient transfer of photocarriers (e− and h+); and (e) slow recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers. The nanopowder photocatalysts must also exhibit easy and rapid recovery from the

Recent progress in cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles for biomedical applications

• Qixiong Lin,
• Yueyou Peng,
• Yanyan Wen,
• Xiaoqiong Li,
• Donglian Du,
• Weibin Dai,
• Wei Tian and
• Yanfeng Meng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 262–279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.24

• disciplines, such as nanomaterials science, mechanical engineering, pharmacology, and clinical medicine. Nanoparticle (NP)-based therapeutics are uniquely able to improve drug loading efficiency, control drug release, and protect drug molecules against undesired degradation [1][2]. NPs are widely used in

• [111]. After absorbing energy, the ultrasound sensitizer exerts antitumor efficacy through various pathways, such as ROS generation, mechanical effects, thermal effects, and immune system-oriented efficacy [111][112]. Based on the diverse functions of SDT, Luo et al. synthesized porphyrin-based metal

High–low Kelvin probe force spectroscopy for measuring the interface state density

• Ryo Izumi,
• Masato Miyazaki,
• Yan Jun Li and
• Yasuhiro Sugawara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 175–189, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.18

• apply an AC bias voltage at frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency fc of carrier transport, and heterodyne FM-KPFM, based on the heterodyne effect (frequency conversion effect) between mechanical oscillation of the cantilever and electrostatic force oscillation, is used to apply an AC bias voltage

Intermodal coupling spectroscopy of mechanical modes in microcantilevers

• Ioan Ignat,
• Bernhard Schuster,
• Jonas Hafner,
• MinHee Kwon,
• Daniel Platz and
• Ulrich Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 123–132, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.13

• , these improvements have yet to find a practical way to AFM. As a solution, we investigate here a mechanism in which individual mechanical eigenmodes of a microcantilever couple to one another, mimicking optomechanical techniques to reduce thermal noise. We have a look at the most commonly used modes in

• expertise. For inspiration, we turn to quantum optomechanics and its sister field of quantum electromechanics, as they both report outstanding signal-to-noise ratios [14]. In the former, a reflective mechanical resonator constitutes half of a Fabry–Pérot cavity, converting photons to phonons and vice versa

• . Thus, the mechanical position can be read through the optical cavity. Upon this basic interaction, many emerging kinds of behaviour were found: sideband cooling down to quantum levels [15][16], parametric amplification [17] before signal detection, state squeezing [18][19][20], and Bogoliubov modes [21

Characterisation of a micrometer-scale active plasmonic element by means of complementary computational and experimental methods

• Ciarán Barron,
• Giulia Di Fazio,
• Samuel Kenny,
• Silas O’Toole,
• Robin O’Reilly and
• Dominic Zerulla

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 110–122, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.12

• ] investigated the effects of gap size using a fine tunable mechanical separation as a means to control the intensity of a travelling SPP on silver. In contrast, in the present work, the modulation of the device’s response is obtained through changes in the optical constants via electrical signals. It is well

Antimicrobial and mechanical properties of functionalized textile by nanoarchitectured photoinduced Ag@polymer coating

• Jessica Plé,
• Marine Dabert,
• Helene Lecoq,
• Sophie Hellé,
• Lydie Ploux and
• Lavinia Balan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 95–109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.11

• the textile support. After assessing their optical and mechanical properties, the antimicrobial properties of the functionalized textiles were tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) strains. In addition to being flexible and adherent to the textile substrates, the

• and plate diffusion assays) of AgNP@polymer nanocomposites-coated textiles against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) strains. The mechanical properties (flexibility, adhesion, abrasion) were also studied using a Mini-Martindale device, a standard scratch test kit, scanning

•  5). This result is of great importance because it confirms the complete photoreduction of the precursor and the absence of any oxidized form of silver in the Ag@polymer coating. Mechanical properties Flexibility and adhesion Functionalization of the textiles with the Ag@polymer does not

Liquid phase exfoliation of talc: effect of the medium on flake size and shape

• Samuel M. Sousa,
• Helane L. O. Morais,
• Joyce C. C. Santos,
• Ana Paula M. Barboza,
• Bernardo R. A. Neves,
• Elisângela S. Pinto and
• Mariana C. Prado

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 68–78, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.8

• ). Regarding this, it is imperative to characterize the obtained materials to tailor parameters such as exfoliation medium, duration, and mechanical energy source to the desired applications. This work presents results of statistical analyses of talc flakes obtained by LPE in four different media. Talc is a

• phyllosilicate that can be exfoliated into nanoflakes with great mechanical properties. Sodium cholate at two different concentrations (below and at the critical micelar concentration), butanone, and Triton-X100 were employed as exfoliation medium for talc. Using recent published statistical analysis methods

• challenge that needs to be addressed to integrate 2D materials into industrial applications. One approach to producing large quantities of few-layer flakes of a broad range of exfoliatable materials is liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) [2][3][4][5]. This method relies on mechanical energy to exfoliate

The influence of structure and local structural defects on the magnetic properties of cobalt nanofilms

• Alexander Vakhrushev,
• Aleksey Fedotov,
• Olesya Severyukhina and
• Anatolie Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 23–33, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.3

• additional processing means, such as mechanical alignment and intensive substrate cooling. The stage of experimental studies of the sample structure is necessary to identify the real structure of the nanocomposite and to compare the data with previously obtained simulation results. This current work is aimed

• magnetic anisotropy are temperature changes, dipole interactions, mechanical deformations, or other external factors. If external influences are absent, then due to spin–orbit interactions of atoms inside the nanomaterial, magnetic crystallographic anisotropy can occur, which is caused by a change in the

Two-step single-reactor synthesis of oleic acid- or undecylenic acid-stabilized magnetic nanoparticles by thermal decomposition

• Mykhailo Nahorniak,
• Pamela Pasetto,
• Jean-Marc Greneche,
• Volodymyr Samaryk,
• Sandy Auguste,
• Anthony Rousseau,
• Nataliya Nosova and
• Serhii Varvarenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 11–22, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.2

• shell material (ρOA = 0.89 g/cm3 – OA, ρUA = 0.912 g/cm3 – UA). Synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles The synthesis of nanoparticles was carried out in a 100 mL three-necked glass reactor equipped with a reflux condenser and a mechanical stirrer. A Wood’s metal alloy bath with temperature control within

• -octadecene. The stirring was continued for 30 min. The resulting reaction mass was transferred into a 250 mL reactor equipped with a mechanical stirrer and washed five times with propanone (150 mL each time) followed by nanoparticle deposition by magnetic separation on a NdFeB magnet under argon. The

Induced electric conductivity in organic polymers

• Konstantin Y. Arutyunov,
• Anatoli S. Gurski,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Azat R. Yusupov,
• Danfis D. Karamov and
• Alexei N. Lachinov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1551–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.128

• mechanical stress is applied. In this work, the transport properties of thin-film layered lead–PDP–lead structures were experimentally studied in a wide temperature range. At sufficiently high temperatures, the current voltage characteristics are satisfactorily described in terms of the injection model of

• system. Relatively recently it was found that finite electric current can pass also through non-conjugated polymers. In the ground state they are wide-band dielectrics, but can exhibit high electric conductivity under the influence of such external parameters as mechanical stress and/or electric field [1

• , transparency in the visible spectrum, and high mechanical strength [3][4]. PDP has an amorphous structure with a degree of crystallinity not exceeding 15%. It is characterized by unusually high chemical resistance. The conditions for the selective production of PDP with a molecular weight of more than (50–60

Hydroxyapatite–bioglass nanocomposites: Structural, mechanical, and biological aspects

• Olga Shikimaka,
• Mihaela Bivol,
• Bogdan A. Sava,
• Marius Dumitru,
• Christu Tardei,
• Beatrice G. Sbarcea,
• Daria Grabco,
• Constantin Pyrtsac,
• Daria Topal,
• Andrian Prisacaru,
• Vitalie Cobzac and
• Viorel Nacu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1490–1504, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.123

• (HA), obtained by precipitate (HAP) and sol–gel (HAG) methods, and a boro-silico-phosphate bioglass. The microstructure and chemical, mechanical, and biological properties as functions of three factors, namely (i) the type of hydroxyapatite, (ii) glass content, and (iii) sintering temperature, were

• sintering temperature [21][22][23]. Moreover, the addition of the glass can contribute to the improvement of mechanical characteristics of the HA-BG composites, such as hardness, fracture toughness, and compressive strength, which is important for load-bearing applications [21][22][24][25][26]. Thus, BGs

• can induce new chemical, biological, and mechanical properties to HA-BG composites, which can be controlled by modifying glass fraction and composition. In this study, we have elaborated and investigated HA-BG composites containing a boro-silico-phosphate bioglass of the following composition: 10B2O3

Frequency-dependent nanomechanical profiling for medical diagnosis

• Santiago D. Solares and
• Alexander X. Cartagena-Rivera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1483–1489, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.122

• Santiago D. Solares Alexander X. Cartagena-Rivera Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Washington, District of Columbia, USA Section on Mechanobiology, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and

• mechanical changes in the affected tissues. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; healthcare; mechanical properties; mechanobiology; medical diagnosis; Introduction Since its invention in the early 1980s, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used for topographical, mechanical, electrical, and

• chemical characterization of surfaces ranging from semiconductors and metals to polymers and biological materials [1][2][3][4][5]. In particular, a variety of mechanical property measurement methods have been developed, although most of them are restricted to relatively simple physical descriptions, such

Structural studies and selected physical investigations of LiCoO₂ obtained by combustion synthesis

• Monika Michalska,
• Paweł Ławniczak,
• Tomasz Strachowski,
• Adam Ostrowski and
• Waldemar Bednarski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1473–1482, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.121

• produced in the form of powders, fibers, and films by using various processing techniques including wet chemical synthesis, such as the sol–gel method [33][34][35], precipitation [36], hydrothermal [37][38][39] and spray pyrolysis [40][41]. Also, solid-state synthesis methods, such as mechanical synthesis

Double-layer symmetric gratings with bound states in the continuum for dual-band high-Q optical sensing

• Chaoying Shi,
• Jinhua Hu,
• Xiuhong Liu,
• Junfang Liang,
• Jijun Zhao,
• Haiyan Han and
• Qiaofen Zhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1408–1417, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.116

• substrate in an adhesive bonding process. Next, another bare SOI chip was bonded to the previously fabricated recipient substrate as a donor substrate, which is spin-coated using SU-8 on both the recipient and donor substrates. The silicon handle of the donor substrate is then removed by mechanical

Straight roads into nowhere – obvious and not-so-obvious biological models for ferrophobic surfaces

• Wilfried Konrad,
• Christoph Neinhuis and
• Anita Roth-Nebelsick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1345–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.111

• gas/liquid interface and the forces acting on this interface should be in stable mechanical equilibrium, that is, the (extra) forces generated by a (small) displacement of the interface should be able to push the system back to its equilibrium position. In case of liquid iron flowing over the tuyère

• that this is the case for all physically reasonable values of θ and ε. The mechanical stability of the interface is treated in appendix C. It turns out that the simple cone geometry (simple compared to the indentations shown in Figure 9) with a maximum radius sc ≈ 5 mm is a good choice. Interfaces that

• in situations compatible with these specifications an interface forms that has the shape of a spherical surface [46]. C. Mechanical stability of a gas/liquid interface An gas/liquid interface is mechanically stable if it reacts to a perturbation (such as a pressure fluctuation causing a small shift

Recent trends in Bi-based nanomaterials: challenges, fabrication, enhancement techniques, and environmental applications

• Vishal Dutta,
• Ankush Chauhan,
• Ritesh Verma,
• C. Gopalkrishnan and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1316–1336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.109

• . It has been shown that the hydrothermal method of fabricating Bi-based semiconductor photocatalysts offers some significant benefits. Nanostructured materials have several advantages, including a more adaptable area for more detailed reconstruction, confinement effects, superior mechanical stability

Bending and punching characteristics of aluminum sheets using the quasi-continuum method

• Man-Ping Chang,
• Shang-Jui Lin and
• Te-Hua Fang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.108

• Man-Ping Chang Shang-Jui Lin Te-Hua Fang Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan 10.3762/bjnano.13.108 Abstract The nano-punching characteristics of single-crystalline aluminum are investigated using the quasi

• , nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), environmental science, and semiconductors [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The increased requirements for advanced nanostructures simultaneously give rise to extensive researches in precision machining techniques, including nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) [11][12], mechanical nano

• investigating the nano-punching processing was the quasi-continuum (QC) method, which has been extensively studied in recent decades [45][46][47][48][49][50]. Wu et al. used the QC method to simulate the fracture and cracking of metallic bilayer materials and found that those materials have lower mechanical

Growing up in a rough world: scaling of frictional adhesion and morphology of the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko)

• Anthony J. Cobos and
• Timothy E. Higham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1292–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.107

• size will have varying clinging and locomotor performance on rough surfaces. Allometry plays a significant role in natural systems by imparting physical constraints of supporting different body sizes, but also in the mechanical consequences in relation to locomotion [40][41][42][43]. Scaling becomes

Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• . Applications range from mechanical and electrical sample characterization to measurements in liquids [1][2][3][4] and even in living cells [5][6][7][8]. The critical element of an AFM is the scanning probe itself, which is usually represented by a micro-cantilever beam equipped with a conical scanning tip. As

• mechanical properties of the cantilever beam directly affect the performance, measurement resolution, and image quality of the AFM instrument. AFM probe tips [9][10] are generally fabricated with coatings, carbon nanotubes, magnetic nanoparticles, or even protein functionalization. A combination of probe

• can also be used as a nanolight source or nanoscalpel to manipulate and operate on cells directly. Carbon nanotube probe Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered an ideal AFM tip material due to their small diameter, high aspect ratio, mechanical robustness, large Young's modulus, and well-defined

Role of titanium and organic precursors in molecular layer deposition of “titanicone” hybrid materials

• Arbresha Muriqi and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1240–1255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.103

• deposition of conformal and smooth films with a controlled thickness at Angstrom level [3][9]. The advantages offered by hybrid organic–inorganic MLD films are that they are ultrathin films with high flexibility, have tunable properties and excellent mechanical and electronic properties resulting from the

• are described as O–M–O–(CHx)y–O–M–O. Metalcones are known to be flexible in nature due to the flexible organic backbones present in their architectures and with excellent mechanical properties at the atomic and molecular level arising from the organometallic precursors [16][17]. The first metalcone