Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• . reported a layer-by-layer self-assembly between positively charged CdS quantum dots and negatively charged exfoliated titanate nanosheets to design noble-metal free photocatalysts. The resultant composites exhibited a much higher photocatalytic H2 production activity than pristine titanate and CdS quantum

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures prepared by a facile wet chemical method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• Vandana Choudhary,
• Biswarup Satpati and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 639–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.75

• made to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO by decreasing the rate of recombination of electrons and holes by surface modification with noble metal nanoparticles [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Surface modification of ZnO nanostructures with noble metal nanoparticles improves the photocatalytic

• efficiency, since the noble metal–ZnO system has two distinct features. Firstly, noble metal–ZnO contacts result in a Schottky junction, which creates an internal electric field close to the interface causing the photogenerated electrons and holes to move in different directions, which results in a decrease

• of their recombination rate [19]. Secondly, noble metal nanoparticles on ZnO exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption of light which can have significant impact on semiconductor photocatalysis. The LSPR wavelength of noble metal nanoparticles can be tuned from near UV to the

CoPc and CoPcF₁₆ on gold: Site-specific charge-transfer processes

• Fotini Petraki,
• Heiko Peisert,
• Johannes Uihlein,
• Umut Aygül and
• Thomas Chassé

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 524–531, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.61

• light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, solar cells, and spintronic devices have been in the focus of research [1][2][3][4]. For several transition metal phthalocyanine (TMPc) layers on noble metal surfaces (e.g., Au and Ag) a charge transfer toward the central metal atom has been reported

Plasma-assisted synthesis and high-resolution characterization of anisotropic elemental and bimetallic core–shell magnetic nanoparticles

• M. Hennes,
• A. Lotnyk and
• S. G. Mayr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 466–475, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.54

• analysis. Future studies will aim at circumventing this problem by using a noble metal as the shell material. Conclusion We set up a plasma gas-condensation apparatus for the synthesis of nanoparticles and demonstrated the successful production of highly tunable elemental and CS-structured magnetic

Nanoscale particles in technological processes of beneficiation

• Sergey I. Popel,
• Vitaly V. Adushkin and
• Anatoly P. Golub'

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 458–465, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.53

• geometrical shape of the particle is not considered, only its characteristic linear size (the diameter of the particle of nearly spherical shape or the thickness of the particle of some flat shape) and the characteristic linear dimension of its noble-metal core are introduced. Processes of heating and melting

• of the fine solid particle in its interaction with the bubbles are described within the framework of one-dimensional (plane) problem of thermal conductivity for the corresponding three-layer incompressible body, in which the noble metal is placed between two layers of mineral. In this case, the

One pot synthesis of silver nanoparticles using a cyclodextrin containing polymer as reductant and stabilizer

• Arkadius Maciollek and
• Helmut Ritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 380–385, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.44

• nanoparticles; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction Recently the interest in noble metal nano scaled particles increased significantly. Due to their unique physicochemical and microbacterial properties silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are one of the most studied in the field of nanotechnology and have a broad

• result of surface plasmon resonance of noble metal nanoparticles [22]. UV–vis absorption spectroscopy is an established method to characterize the formation of silver nanoparticles and their shape [23]. Figure 2 shows the UV–vis absorption spectra of the metallopolymer solution 2a. The spectra exhibit

Dye-sensitized Pt@TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for the efficient photocatalytic generation of hydrogen

• Jun Fang,
• Lisha Yin,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Yusen Liao and
• Can Xue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 360–364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.41

• noble metal (e.g., Pt) nanoparticles as co-catalysts that can act as electron-sinks to achieve effective charge separation on TiO2 [7][8][9][10][11]. Dye-sensitization has been widely used to enable visible light harvesting by wide band gap semiconductors. Since the seminal work reported by O’Regan and

Confinement dependence of electro-catalysts for hydrogen evolution from water splitting

• Mikaela Lindgren and
• Itai Panas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 195–201, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.21

• clearly points to the noble metal ions as candidates for electro-catalysts. Additional requirements for any successful electro-catalyst include sufficient electron conductivity of the oxide matrix supporting the catalyst as well as electric contact to the electrode itself. Finally, the "water dissociation

3D-nanoarchitectured Pd/Ni catalysts prepared by atomic layer deposition for the electrooxidation of formic acid

• Loïc Assaud,
• Evans Monyoncho,
• Kristina Pitzschel,
• Anis Allagui,
• Matthieu Petit,
• Margrit Hanbücken,
• Elena A. Baranova and
• Lionel Santinacci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 162–172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.16

• electrooxidation of formic acid, the activity is still not satisfactory enough for commercial applications and more importantly, Pd tends to dissolve and deactivate quickly by the impurities present in the electrolyte [9]. Additionally, reducing the noble metal loading by alloying Pd with a second cheap transition

Synthesis of embedded Au nanostructures by ion irradiation: influence of ion induced viscous flow and sputtering

• Udai B. Singh,
• D. C. Agarwal,
• S. A. Khan,
• S. Mohapatra,
• H. Amekura,
• D. P. Datta,
• Ajay Kumar,
• R. K. Choudhury,
• T. K. Chan,
• Thomas Osipowicz and
• D. K. Avasthi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 105–110, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.10

• Au nanoparticles into the glass substrate. Keywords: embedded nanoparticles; ion beam irradiation; recoil implantation; Introduction Noble-metal nanoparticles (NPs) are of great interest due to their large surface-to-volume ratio and their enhanced absorption of visible light. The shape- and size

• for the synthesis of embedded Au NPs in a silica matrix [12][13][14][15][16]. Ion implantation is one of the standard ways for the synthesis of noble metal NPs embedded in a matrix and offers the control over the depth distribution of the NPs by properly adjusting the parameters of the ion beam such

Surface assembly and nanofabrication of 1,1,1-tris(mercaptomethyl)heptadecane on Au(111) studied with time-lapse atomic force microscopy

• Tian Tian,
• Burapol Singhana,
• Lauren E. Englade-Franklin,
• Xianglin Zhai,
• T. Randall Lee and
• Jayne C. Garno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 26–35, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.3

• sites on a noble metal surface. The trend in thermal stability is tridentate alkanethiol > bidentate alkanethiol > n-alkanethiol [3][17]. Multidentate adsorbates form stable films that resist desorption and exchange and also resist diffusion across the surface of gold, offering opportunities to generate

• junction, and tailgroups of tunable chemical composition [3][4][5][6]. The nature of the headgroup, junctions, hydrocarbon backbone, and tailgroups of SAMs enable designs of complex architectures for applications and surface patterning [7][8][9]. The stability of organosulfur-based adsorbates on noble

• metal surfaces is a consideration for applications of SAMs, which impacts the reliability and durability of the related products [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. To realize the full potential of patterning surfaces for manufacturing processes, challenges need to be addressed for designing robust

Dye-doped spheres with plasmonic semi-shells: Lasing modes and scattering at realistic gain levels

• Nikita Arnold,
• Boyang Ding,
• Calin Hrelescu and
• Thomas A. Klar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 974–987, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.110

• ; spaser; Introduction Noble metal nanoparticles are of current interest both in fundamental and applied science because of their localized plasmonic resonances (LPR) in the visible and near infrared range of the optical spectrum. The simplest nanoparticle geometry is spherical, but the spectral position

• spectral broadening due to radiative damping. An alternative way to tune the LPR spectrally is to change the shape of the nanoparticle. First, one can relax the radial homogeneity of the nanoparticle and turn from solid nanoparticles to noble metal nanoshells [2][3]. Second, one can also relax the angular

Preparation of NiS/ZnIn₂S₄ as a superior photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation

• Liang Wei,
• Yongjuan Chen,
• Jialin Zhao and
• Zhaohui Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 949–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.107

• loading amount of 0.5 wt %. This work demonstrates a high potential of the developing of environmental friendly, cheap noble-metal-free co-catalyst for semiconductor-based photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Keywords: co-catalyst; hydrogen evolution; NiS; photocatalytic; photocatalysis; visible light

• than that over Pt/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposite (77.8 μmol/h), was observed over an optimum NiS loading amount of 0.5 wt %. This work demonstrates a high potential of developing the environmental friendly, cheap non-noble-metal co-catalyst for semiconductor-based photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Experimental

Photocatalytic antibacterial performance of TiO₂ and Ag-doped TiO₂ against S. aureus. P. aeruginosa and E. coli

• Kiran Gupta,
• R. P. Singh,
• Ashutosh Pandey and
• Anjana Pandey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 345–351, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.40

• is decreased. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles depends not only on the properties of the TiO2 material itself, but also on the modification of TiO2 with metal or metal oxide. Previous studies reported that the addition of noble metal (silver and gold) in titanium dioxide enhances its

Near-field effects and energy transfer in hybrid metal-oxide nanostructures

• Ulrich Herr,
• Barat Achinuq,
• Cahit Benel,
• Giorgos Papageorgiou,
• Manuel Goncalves,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Peter Marek and
• Horst Hahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 306–317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.34

• surface. Such a quenching of the fluorescence has been reported earlier for noble-metal nanospheres [19][20]. The quenching can be suppressed by inserting a dielectric layer between the metal and the semiconducting nanophosphors. This can either be achieved by coating of the nanoparticles, or by

Catalytic activity of nanostructured Au: Scale effects versus bimetallic/bifunctional effects in low-temperature CO oxidation on nanoporous Au

• Lu-Cun Wang,
• Yi Zhong,
• Haijun Jin,
• Daniel Widmann,
• Jörg Weissmüller and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 111–128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.13

• oxidation as a test reaction. In order to distinguish between structural effects (structure–activity correlations) and bimetallic/bifunctional effects, unsupported nanoporous gold (NPG) samples prepared from different Au alloys (AuAg, AuCu) by selective leaching of a less noble metal (Ag, Cu) were employed

• amounts of the second, less noble metal in the Au alloy used for NPG formation, such as Ag [13][29][30], Cu [6] or Al [31], which cannot be fully removed during dealloying [29], were proposed to be responsible for the unexpected high catalytic activity of NPG catalysts [4][32][33]. This would agree also

• possible from experimental reasons, since it is not possible to completely remove all of the less noble metal, such as Ag and Cu, from the starting alloy [10], and also since these impurities sensitively affect the structural properties of the resulting NPG materials [13]. Therefore, these aspects have to

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

• , nanowires of a number of different metals have been synthesized, including Pt, Pb, Ni, Co, and Fe. Platinum is a noble metal with interesting nanowire applications in sensorics and catalysis. Recently, the synthesis of Pt nanowires at 65 °C from an alkaline platinum bath (Platinum-OH, Metakem) in a two

• negative potentials, only the more noble metal is deposited, while at more negative potential, both metals are deposited. By keeping the concentration of the more noble metal in the electrolyte much lower than the concentration of the less noble metal, the less noble metal is mainly deposited containing a

Effect of spherical Au nanoparticles on nanofriction and wear reduction in dry and liquid environments

• Dave Maharaj and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 759–772, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.85

• attractive for use in biomedicine since it is a noble metal, does not oxidize readily and has low to no toxic effects [6]. This also makes it suitable for use as a solid lubricant, and studies in liquids on the nanoscale to determine friction reduction and wear protection have not been reported. Spherical Au

Plasmonics-based detection of H₂ and CO: discrimination between reducing gases facilitated by material control

• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam,
• Nicholas A. Joy,
• Benjamin Grisafe and
• Michael A. Carpenter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 712–721, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.81

• been a principal area of research in optical sensing devices [1][2][3][4]. The catalytic activity of highly dispersed gold particles either supported on metal oxides or embedded in metal oxides as discovered by Haruta et al. [5] served as pioneering work in the field of noble-metal catalysis in general

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopic imaging of patterned thiol monolayers

• Johannes Stadler,
• Thomas Schmid,
• Lothar Opilik,
• Phillip Kuhn,
• Petra S. Dittrich and
• Renato Zenobi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 509–515, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.55

• surface corrugations on a well ordered crystalline patch from Figure 5a with an average roughness of <1 nm in height. Microcontact printing can be used to transfer a monolayer of thiols onto a noble metal substrate as described in [36][37]. A similar procedure to that described in [37] was used here to

Preparation and characterization of supported magnetic nanoparticles prepared by reverse micelles

• Ulf Wiedwald,
• Luyang Han,
• Johannes Biskupek,
• Ute Kaiser and
• Paul Ziemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 24–47, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.5