The steep road to nonviral nanomedicines: Frequent challenges and culprits in designing nanoparticles for gene therapy

• Yao Yao,
• Yeongun Ko,
• Grant Grasman,
• Jeffery E. Raymond and
• Joerg Lahann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 351–361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.30

• not be as definitive as the solid-state particle distributions. Mobile solution phase particle size distributions (individual and ensemble analysis) In most instances, it will be valuable to assess the hydrodynamic size of the NPs. First, a quantification of the central tendency of the diameter or

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

• , particularly by the phase inversion composition method, and the use of these nanoemulsions as templates for the preparation of polymer nanoparticles for biomedical applications are reviewed. The methods of preparation, nature of the components in the formulation, and their impact on the physicochemical

• , nanoparticle concentration, surface functionalization, and the type of polymers that can be processed. Keywords: ethyl cellulose; nanoemulsions; nanomedicine; phase inversion composition (PIC) method; PLGA; polymer nanoparticles; polyuria; polyurethane; surfactants; Review 1 Introduction The field of

• research on the fabrication of polymer nanoparticles from low-energy nanoemulsions, focusing on phase inversion composition. We particularly emphasize their biomedical applications as drug carriers. 2 Nanoemulsions Nanoemulsions are constituted by nanoscale droplets (20–200 nm) dispersed in a continuous

Quasi-guided modes resulting from the band folding effect in a photonic crystal slab for enhanced interactions of matters with free-space radiations

• Kaili Sun,
• Yangjian Cai,
• Uriel Levy and
• Zhanghua Han

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 322–328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.27

• optical applications where multiple or spectrally tunable inputs are required simultaneously. Consequently, new mechanisms are still explored to realize novel photonic components with additional advantages besides a high Q-factor. These are, for example, phase gradient metasurfaces and spatial beam

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

• properties, a lot of researchers [90] have used bismuth ferrite to efficiently degrade organic pollutants, as shown in Table 2. Bi2WO6 is a typical Aurivillius-phase material, that is, a type of perovskite denoted by Bi2Xn–1YnO3n+3, where X is a large (12-coordinate, such as Ba, Bi, Sr, or Ca) cation and Y

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

• measured using the displacement detection system was controlled by an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit to keep the cantilever vibration amplitude A constant, and the frequency shift Δf of the cantilever was measured using a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit (SPECS GmbH: Nanonis OC4). AFM measurements

A distributed active patch antenna model of a Josephson oscillator

• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 151–164, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.16

• density through the JJ, which has Cooper pair and quasiparticle (QP) components, Here, Jc0 is the Josephson critical current density, η is the Josephson phase difference, and rQP = RQPab is the QP resistance per unit area. Active patch antenna model of a junction Equation 1 is the equation for an active

• . The array factor takes into account the interference of electromagnetic fields from the two slots in the far field. It depends on the separation between the slots, a, the relative phase shift, β, and the direction (φ,Θ). Since radiation from a patch antenna is induced by magnetic current lines, it is

• analysis of Fiske steps [16][29][30][31]. To separate dc and ac components, we write Here, k = 2π(Φ/Φ0)/a is the phase gradient induced by the external field, where Φ is the flux in the JJ. ω = 2πΦ0Vdc is the angular Josephson frequency proportional to the dc voltage Vdc. The last term, ϕ, represents the

Batch preparation of nanofibers containing nanoparticles by an electrospinning device with multiple air inlets

• Dong Wei,
• Chengwei Ye,
• Adnan Ahmed and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 141–150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.15

• promising materials, such as conductive fibers [6], phase change fibers [7], antistatic fibers [8], and antibacterial fibers [9]. Therefore, the batch preparation of high-performance functional nanofibers by electrospinning has become a current research hotpot [10]. The properties of spinning solutions used

Formation of nanoflowers: Au and Ni silicide cores surrounded by SiO_x branches

• Feitao Li,
• Siyao Wan,
• Dong Wang and
• Peter Schaaf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.14

• plateau of Ni in EDS results of line structures. A number of works about self-assembled epitaxial Ni silicide have been published [41][42][43][44][45][46], and some works pointed out that the Ni2Si phase formed first, followed by NiSi and NiSi2 after annealing [47][48][49]. Generally, NiSi2 forms above

• between the positions of pure Au and Ni since only one main reflex should be observed when the two elements are completely mixed [20][23][25]. The annealing temperatures are above the miscibility gap [23][50]. Thus, the partial mixing comes from the phase separation of Au and Ni during cooling [25

• interdiffusion of Au, Ni, and Si. Au/Si phase separation occurs during cooling [3][55], and Ni silicide may remain stable down to room temperature [41][42][43][44][45][46], finally forming particles with two contrasts. Besides, Ni may also diffuse into the Si substrate, leading to the formation of the Ni

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

• chosen, we focus on each mode separately as the sense mode. We measure the resonance frequencies just before performing the experiment, thus excluding shifts caused by vacuum changes or temperatures fluctuations. Such a technique can be performed using a phase-lock loop when employed in AFM sensing

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

• entirely positive. At each angular position, the signals from the photodiodes were continuously recorded for one time constant following an adequate rest period, after which the in-phase components of the lock-in amplifier (X-components) were recorded using an Arduino-controlled analog-to-digital converter

• . The reference phase of the LIA was chosen to maximise X. The LIA was set to a time constant of τ = 300 ms, with second-order low-pass filtering and a sensitivity of 30 mV to avoid spurious input overloads. Once this set was recorded, the stage was moved 1 × 10−2 degrees to the next angular position in

• scanning. While leaving the probe floating is counterproductive from the perspective of minimising electrostatic interaction, the possibility of current flow through the tip to ground is eliminated. As with the LIA phase selection for the SPR measurements discussed above, the phase was selected so as to

Frontiers of nanoelectronics: intrinsic Josephson effect and prospects of superconducting spintronics

• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Horst Hahn and
• Vladimir Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 79–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.9

• sum of the power values from two individually biased arrays. The detected phenomenon is attributed to the phase locking of Josephson junctions in different arrays via a common electromagnetic field [20]. Modeling of a multi-frequency receiving system based on an array of dipole antennas with cold

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

• Horizonte – MG, 31270-901, Brazil Campus Ouro Preto, Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais, R. Pandiá Calógeras, 898, Ouro Preto – MG, 35400-000, Brazil 10.3762/bjnano.14.8 Abstract Industrial applications of nanomaterials require large-scale production methods, such as liquid phase exfoliation (LPE

• applications that have specific requirements. Keywords: 2D materials; atomic force microscopy; liquid phase exfoliation; nanomaterials; talc; Introduction Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted a lot of interest due to their outstanding properties [1]. However, large-scale production is still a

• 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

Solvent-induced assembly of mono- and divalent silica nanoparticles

• Bin Liu,
• Etienne Duguet and
• Serge Ravaine

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 52–60, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.6

• growth steps. Schemes and representative TEM images of 1-PSN with PPSR varying from 0.23 to 0.57. Scale bars: 100 nm. Phase diagrams identifying the main products of self-assembly (1-PSN (light blue squares), dimers (magenta circles), and large clusters (grey diamonds)) as a function of the patch-to

Upper critical magnetic field in NbRe and NbReN micrometric strips

• Zahra Makhdoumi Kakhaki,
• Antonio Leo,
• Federico Chianese,
• Loredana Parlato,
• Giovanni Piero Pepe,
• Angela Nigro,
• Carla Cirillo and
• Carmine Attanasio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 45–51, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.5

• superconducting H–T phase diagrams were obtained by measuring the resistive transitions in the presence of the magnetic field applied perpendicularly or parallely to the surface of the samples. For each field, the value of Tc was determined using the 50% RN criterion, where RN is the value of the normal-state

• normal-state properties. Therefore, the WHH curves obtained from Equation 1 do not contain any fitting parameter [19][40]. All these quantities together with other superconducting and normal-state properties of the two materials are summarized in Table 1. In Figure 4 the perpendicular H–T phase diagram

• line with other studies on Hc2⟂(T) made on non-centrosymmetric materials in bulk forms [37][39][41], may suggest the presence of a triplet component of the order parameter. This result was even more evident in the case of polycrystalline NbRe samples, for which the experimental points in the H–T phase

Gap-directed chemical lift-off lithographic nanoarchitectonics for arbitrary sub-micrometer patterning

• Chang-Ming Wang,
• Hong-Sheng Chan,
• Chia-Li Liao,
• Che-Wei Chang and
• Wei-Ssu Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 34–44, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.4

• and device fabrication [13][14]. Nevertheless, pattern resolution and reproducibility in contact printing approaches are affected by several factors, most notably the ink molecule lateral diffusion, gas phase transportation, and rubber stamp deformation [15][16]. These are unavoidable issues in soft

• lithography operations and could severely limit the obtainable feature resolution if neglected. Chemical lift-off lithography (CLL) is a rapidly emerging subtractive lithographic technique that aims to overcome the lateral diffusion and gas phase transfer obstacles present in conventional soft lithography [17

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

• materials; molecular dynamics; nanocomposites; nanofilms; spintronics; Introduction The analysis of phase transitions and related critical phenomena in condensed media is a complex, time-consuming, and often a high-cost process from a technological point of view [1][2][3]. On the one hand, this is due to

• the need to use a comprehensive approach in theoretical studies, since the behavior of different phases is often described by different models or state equations [4]. Another reason is that phase transformation mechanisms originate at the nanoscale and atomic levels [5][6], where observation and

• experiments require modern and expensive equipments. In this regard, precision experimental studies in critical regions are fraught with significant difficulties due to both temporal and spatial scales of object behavior [4]. Despite the existing difficulties, the interest in the study of phase transitions is

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

• , wüstite), particularly nanosized particles, show distinct effects on living organisms. Thus, it is of primary importance for their biomedical applications that the morphology and phase-structural state of these materials are investigated. The aim of this work was to obtain magnetic nanoparticles in a

• , studying the morphology and phase composition of iron-oxide-based nanoparticles is a critical issue. Nevertheless, magnetite and maghemite particles remain the most commonly used nanoparticles in biomedical applications. However, it must be noted that magnetite nanoparticles undergo rapid oxidation in air

• 1-octadecene. The electron diffraction patterns (Figure 4) of the crystallographic planes present the Miller indexes as selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns and clearly correspond to a spinel phase, typical for both magnetite and maghemite. Moreover, the fact that the halos observed

Atmospheric water harvesting using functionalized carbon nanocones

• Fernanda R. Leivas and
• Marcia C. Barbosa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.1

• ). Molecular dynamics simulations were performed using the LAMMPS [48] package using an NVT ensemble with a timestep of 0.1 fs. The TIP4P/2005 [49] water model was used since it provides a satisfactory description of self-diffusion coefficient [50], phase diagram, vapor–liquid equilibria [51][52], vapor

Observation of collective excitation of surface plasmon resonances in large Josephson junction arrays

• Roger Cattaneo,
• Mikhail A. Galin and
• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1578–1588, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.132

• , the standing wave imprints its order on the array, facilitating mutual phase-locking of junctions. This provides an indirect coupling mechanism, allowing for the synchronization of junctions, which do not directly interact with each other. Our results demonstrate that electrodes can effectively work

• as a common external resonator, facilitating long-range phase-locking of large junction arrays with sizes larger than the emitted wavelength. Keywords: cavity modes; Josephson junctions; synchronization mechanism; THz radiation; Introduction Terahertz sources of electromagnetic waves (EMWs) in the

• due to the presence of long-range stray fields [28]. Indirect coupling is caused by interaction of JJs with a common external resonator [7][8][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The resonator imprints the phase order onto the junction array and, thus, can synchronize JJs without direct interjunction

From a free electron gas to confined states: A mixed island of PTCDA and copper phthalocyanine on Ag(111)

• Alfred J. Weymouth,
• Emily Roche and
• Franz J. Giessibl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1572–1577, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.131

• 0.5 ± 0.1 ML of CuPc are required to form mixed islands of CuPc and PTCDA [16]. Within these conditions, there can be different stoichiometries within the mixed islands, including a phase with a 1:1 ratio of PTCDA to CuPc within the unit cell, called the PC phase, and a phase with a 2:1 ratio of PTCDA

• to CuPc within each unit cell, called the P2C phase [16]. A STM and AFM investigation of single CuPc and PTCDA molecules on a thin insulating layer interestingly showed little change of the dI/dV spectra (features shifted, but were preserved) or of the corresponding dI/dV images when the two

• molecules were close to each other implying little direct interaction [17]. Stadtmüller et al. extensively studied the P2C phase with STM, dI/dV measurements, and DFT calculations [18]. They showed that while an isolated CuPc molecule on Ag(111) has a level that is half-filled, this level shifts above the

Utilizing the surface potential of a solid electrolyte region as the potential reference in Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Nobuyuki Ishida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1558–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.129

• electrolyte sample was a Li-ion conducting glass ceramic purchased from OHARA Inc. (LICGCTM AG-01) [20]. The size and thickness of the substrate were 25.4 mm × 25.4 mm and 150 μm, respectively. The main crystalline phase was Li1+x+yAlx(Ti,Ge)2−xSiyP3−yO12 [20]. The substrate was cut into pieces of

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

• characteristics of each lead electrode separately. To measure differential characteristics dI/dV(V), modulation technique and phase-sensitive lock-in detection were used. To suppress the negative effect of stray electromagnetic pickups, a multistage RLC filter system was used [17]. While R(T) measurements at

• cryogenic temperatures, the current value from 0.1 to 100 μA was chosen so that its increase by an order of magnitude would not lead to a noticeable shift in the temperature of the superconducting phase transition. All experiments were carried out in a 4He direct pumped cryostat. The semiconducting

• the same sample coincided with an accuracy of several mK. An analysis was made of the degradation of samples over time. The difference between two measurements of the same sample was 3 months, while the shift in the beginning of the phase transition was minimal δТс ≈ 0.01 K. It has been established

Photoelectrochemical water oxidation over TiO₂ nanotubes modified with MoS₂ and g-C₃N₄

• Phuong Hoang Nguyen,
• Thi Minh Cao,
• Tho Truong Nguyen,
• Hien Duy Tong and
• Viet Van Pham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1541–1550, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.127

• of materials The morphology, the phase, and the vibrational characteristics of the surface functional groups of the materials were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Diffuse reflectance

• °, 40.24°, and 59.25°, corresponding to the (002), (100), (103), and (110) planes, respectively, of the 2H phase of MoS2 [JCPDS No. 37-1492]. The pristine g-C3N4 shows two distinct characteristic peaks at 2θ = 12.9° and 27.45°, assigned to the (100) and (002) planes, respectively [43][44]. The XRD

• the MoS2 phase in the composite from the XRD pattern of MoS2/TNAs. The (002) plane indicates the multilayer structure of MoS2 materials, the (001) plane indicates a monolayer structure of MoS2 [37][46]. Therefore, the disappearing (002) reflection and the remaining (001) reflection show that the

Non-stoichiometric magnetite as catalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of phenol and 2,6-dibromo-4-methylphenol – a new approach in water treatment

• Joanna Kisała,
• Anna Tomaszewska and
• Przemysław Kolek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1531–1540, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.126

• previous publication of ours [19]. The absorption spectra of the catalysts showed noticeable differences (Figure 1b). Using the absorption spectra, the electron gap energies for M1 and M2 were determined to be 0.11 V and 1.75 V, respectively (Table 1) [20]. Phase identification of the magnetite structure

• C18 H, with precolumn). The analysis conditions were as follows: mobile phase: 70% acetonitrile and 30% water; flow rate: 1.0 cm3·min−1; injection volume: 20 × 10−3 cm3; absorbance detection: 270 and 310 nm for PhOH and DBMP, respectively. External standards of seven concentration levels ranging from

A TiO₂@MWCNTs nanocomposite photoanode for solar-driven water splitting

• Anh Quynh Huu Le,
• Ngoc Nhu Thi Nguyen,
• Hai Duy Tran,
• Van-Huy Nguyen and
• Le-Hai Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1520–1530, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.125

• g of MWCNTs are added to 25 mL of TiCl4 in a glass beaker under an inert atmosphere. Following, MWCNTs are dispersed in TiCl4 under ultrasound for 15 min. After that, an excessive amount of deionized water is slowly dropped into the mixture. Then, the obtained solid phase is filtered and washed with

• MWCNTs and TiO2@MWCNTs, which could result from the catalyzed synthesis of MWCNTs [14]. Raman spectroscopy is applied for phase characterization of MWCNTs and TiO2@MWCNTS, as shown in Figure 5. The peaks at 178, 424, and 609 cm−1 are characteristic of the TiO2 phase in the TiO2@MWCNTs catalyst [21]. In

• longer wavelength [26]. Accordingly, the low bandgap of TiO2@MWCNTs indicates improved visible-light absorption. XRD analysis is performed to confirm the crystalline structure and phase composition of TiO2, MWCNTs, and the TiO2@MWCNTs nanocomposite as described in Figure 7. Diffraction peaks at 26.1° and