BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• current works, this problem can be solved by fixing the TiO2 onto the surface of the carrier to form a uniform layer. Till now, various materials have been studied and successfully applied as the photocatalytic carrier such as kaolinite [16], diatomite [17], zeolite [18], silica nanofiber [19], etc., and

Highly ordered mesoporous silica film nanocomposites containing gold nanoparticles for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

• Mohamad Azani Jalani,
• Leny Yuliati,
• Siew Ling Lee and
• Hendrik O. Lintang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1368–1379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.135

• Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia 10.3762/bjnano.10.135 Abstract We report that transparent mesostructured silica/gold nanocomposite materials with an interpore distance of 4.1 nm, as-synthesized from a templated sol–gel

• synthesis method using discotic trinuclear gold(I) pyrazolate complex, were successfully utilized for the fabrication of thin film mesoporous silica nanocomposites containing gold nanoparticles. The material exhibited a highly ordered hexagonal structure when subjected to a thermal hydrogen reduction

• -nitrophenol at room temperature, the highly ordered structure of the as-fabricated silica/gold nanoparticle thin film composite after thermal hydrogen reduction at 210 °C resulted in an improved catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol compared to the material calcined at 250 °C

Janus-micromotor-based on–off luminescence sensor for active TNT detection

• Ye Yuan,
• Changyong Gao,
• Daolin Wang,
• Chang Zhou,
• Baohua Zhu and
• Qiang He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1324–1331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.131

• hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) were alternately deposited onto the surface of 5 μm silica particles by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly [38][39][40][41]. The as-prepared particles were subsequently modified with amine-functionalized UCNPs through electrostatic interactions and then were

• dispersed on a glass slide to form a monolayer. After sputtering of a 20 nm thin film of Pt, the Janus UCNP-functionalized capsule motors were obtained by removing the silica cores with hydrofluoric acid. To prepare the Janus UCNP capsule motors, NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs were firstly synthesized following a

• uniformly dispersed on the surface of the microcapsule. After Pt sputtering and removal of the silica core, the Janus UCNP capsule motors were obtained. As shown in Figure 1g, the as-prepared APTES-UCNPs were partially covered with a Pt cap, displaying a Janus structure. The scanning electron microscopy

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• values measured for other chitosan/clay foams (1.4 MPa) [51] and significantly higher than those of self-assembled graphene hydrogels (0.03–0.3 MPa) [52]. Notably, the specific modulus of the bionanocomposite foams was 50 kNm·kg−1, which is considerably higher than values reported for silica aerogels (5

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• situ formation in the available nanoscale spaces of the solid substrates, resulting in controlled size and shape of the supported TiO2 and ZnO NPs. The involved inorganic matrices can be of very diverse nature such as silica and silicates (mesoporous silicas, zeolites, clays, and clay minerals

• inorganic crystalline hosts [60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. Nanoarchitectures composed of zeolites and mesoporous silica and TiO2 or ZnO NPs have been reported as efficient photocatalysts as well as photoluminescent materials [67][68][69]. The formation of TiO2 and ZnO NPs on the external surface, in addition

• to the NPs confined in the nanopores, is still an important challenge. Recently, the size-controlled synthesis of TiO2 NPs within mesoporous silica (SBA-15) has been reported, where, according to Vibulyaseak and co-workers [70], the NPs formation occurred exclusively in the mesopores. The aim of this

Tailoring the stability/aggregation of one-dimensional TiO₂(B)/titanate nanowires using surfactants

• Atiđa Selmani,
• Johannes Lützenkirchen,
• Kristina Kučanda,
• Dario Dabić,
• Engelbert Redel,
• Ida Delač Marion,
• Damir Kralj,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin and
• Maja Dutour Sikirić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1024–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.103

• different solution and interfacial behavior compared to corresponding conventional monomeric surfactants [32][33][34]. The interaction of gemini surfactants with solid (nano)surfaces such as clay [35], calcium phosphate [36], silica [37][38][39][40], TiO2 [41], ZnO [42] and carbon NTs [43] have been

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• are foreign objects, careful evaluation of their toxicological and functional aspects prior to medical application is imperative. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of gold and polymer-coated silica nanoparticles used in laser tissue soldering on brain endothelial cells and the blood

• and specialized structures such as the blood–brain barrier (BBB). To be able to safely employ LTS in nanomedicine, such unwanted effects need to be studied. Previously, we investigated effects of silica (Si-), namely silica-ICG/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and silica-ICG/poly(ε-caprolactone-poly(L

• , UK) at 37 °C and 5% CO2. Nanoparticles Silica-ICG/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and silica-ICG/poly(ε-caprolactone-poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) NPs were constructed and provided by Prof. Dr. Uwe Pieles, Department of Chemistry and Bioanalytics, Academy of Life Science, Switzerland. Both types of NPs consisted

Novel reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic surfaces induced by charge injection and heating

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Junwen Hou and
• Dongbao Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 840–847, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.84

• Materials and instrumentation Alcohol (99.7%, AR) and hydrophobic silica (16–25 nm diameter) was provided by Evonik Degussa Co. Ltd. (Germany). The varnish (Voep-1) was from Shijiazhuang Paint Company. All reagents were used as received without further purification. A high-voltage power supply (Tianjin

• Dongwen) was used for wettability modification of the silica surfaces. An S3000 scanning electron microscope (SEM, Japan Hitachi Group) and a Kelvin probe force microscope (Bruker Dimension Icon, Brook) with a SCM-PIT probe (Pt/Ir coated tips, 2.8 N/m, 75 kHz, Pt/Ir reflective coating) were used for

Polydopamine-coated Au nanorods for targeted fluorescent cell imaging and photothermal therapy

• Boris N. Khlebtsov,
• Andrey M. Burov,
• Timofey E. Pylaev and
• Nikolai G. Khlebtsov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 794–803, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.79

• tunable shell thickness. The most popular coatings such as mesoporous silica, PEG and polyelectrolyte shells do not meet the above quality criteria. In 2007 Messersmith et al. reported the mussel-inspired adhesive polydopamine (PDA) multifunctional coating for various materials including nanoparticles [25

• obtain a loading efficiency of 103 R123 molecules per one composite AuNRs-PDA-R123-folate particle. This number is comparable with the typical estimations of the loading capacity for AuNRs coated with a mesoporous silica shell [45] (several thousands of dye molecules per particle). In our case, a smaller

• silica shells. However, PDA coating makes the functionalization with any amine-containing ligand very simple and robust. It is sufficient to incubate PDA-coated nanorods with a desired functionalization component (for example, with folate and R123). Furthermore, the biocompatibility of the PDA biopolymer

Towards rare-earth-free white light-emitting diode devices based on the combination of dicyanomethylene and pyranine as organic dyes supported on zinc single-layered hydroxide

• Jeff L. Nyalosaso,
• Rachod Boonsin,
• Pierre Vialat,
• Damien Boyer,
• Geneviève Chadeyron,
• Rachid Mahiou and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 760–770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.75

• are dispersed in an inorganic matrix such as silica [7]. Studies have been carried out on materials obtained by mixing a dye and a double-layered hydroxide solid compound [8][9][10][11]. Unfortunately, the optical properties of these materials, particularly their performance, are not yet satisfactory

An iridescent film of porous anodic aluminum oxide with alternatingly electrodeposited Cu and SiO₂ nanoparticles

• Menglei Chang,
• Huawen Hu,
• Haiyan Quan,
• Hongyang Wei,
• Zhangyi Xiong,
• Jiacong Lu,
• Pin Luo,
• Yaoheng Liang,
• Jianzhen Ou and
• Dongchu Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 735–745, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.73

• angles led to a variation of the structural color from red to blue-purple, and the SiO2 particle size was also found to have an influence on the film color [14]. Furthermore, an AAO template was firstly prepared in an electrolyte with an alkaline silica gel and phosphate, onto which a layer of an Au film

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Aβ₄₂, Aβ₄₀, and α-synuclein fibrils: a coarse-grained method to complement experimental studies

• Adolfo B. Poma,
• Horacio V. Guzman,
• Mai Suan Li and
• Panagiotis E. Theodorakis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 500–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.51

• , such as highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), silica, and other “clean” surfaces, which are, however, very far away from biological systems. Moreover, by considering the indenter as a sphere, the anisotropies in the deformed material can be screened, since the measured deformation depends on the

Nanocomposite–parylene C thin films with high dielectric constant and low losses for future organic electronic devices

• Marwa Mokni,
• Gianluigi Maggioni,
• Abdelkader Kahouli,
• Sara M. Carturan,
• Walter Raniero and
• Alain Sylvestre

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 428–441, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.42

• other pure materials such as SiO2, polyimide, polyethylene, alumina (Al2O3), benzocyclobutenes (BCB) and SiO2/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), nanocomposite parylene C (NCPC) exhibits some interesting properties [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. As an example, parylene C/Silica nanocomposites show

One-step nonhydrolytic sol–gel synthesis of mesoporous TiO₂ phosphonate hybrid materials

• Yanhui Wang,
• P. Hubert Mutin and
• Johan G. Alauzun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 356–362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.35

• ., mesoporous materials) [20][21][22][23][24]. Several NHSG routes have also been used to prepare Class II hybrids. For instance the alkyl elimination route was applied to the synthesis of organosilsesquioxanes, organosilsesquioxane–metal oxide hybrids [25][26][27], silica–titania modified by organosilicon

Development of an anti-pollution coating process technology for the application of an on-site PV module

• Sejin Jung,
• Wonseok Choi,
• Jung Hyun Kim and
• Jang Myoun Ko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 332–336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.32

• modification. Before applying the coating technology to PV modules, glass substrates for PV modules were coated with a hydrophilic silica-based eco-friendly nanomaterial, and the coating films were thermally annealed using either a furnace, RTA or a torch. The annealing treatment that uses a torch was applied

Electromagnetic analysis of the lasing thresholds of hybrid plasmon modes of a silver tube nanolaser with active core and active shell

• Denys M. Natarov,
• Trevor M. Benson and
• Alexander I. Nosich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 294–304, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.28

• of ways. After initial theorizing in the mid-2000s, this has led to the experimental demonstration of the smallest plasmonic laser in a random solution of colloidal gold nanospheres enveloped with dye-doped silica shells [3]. Today, plasmonic nanolasers attract great attention in research. A number

Removal of toxic heavy metals from river water samples using a porous silica surface modified with a new β-ketoenolic host

• Said Tighadouini,
• Smaail Radi,
• Abderrahman Elidrissi,
• Khadija Haboubi,
• Maryse Bacquet,
• Stéphanie Degoutin,
• Mustapha Zaghrioui and
• Yann Garcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 262–273, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.25

• , Belgium 10.3762/bjnano.10.25 Abstract A new hybrid adsorbent material for the efficient removal of heavy metals from natural real water solutions (Moroccan river water samples) was prepared by the immobilization of a new conjugated β-ketoenol–pyridine–furan ligand onto a silica matrix. The

• thermodynamical properties including pH, adsorption isotherms, competitive adsorption, selectivity and regeneration were studied to investigate the effect of ketoenol–pyridine–furan–silica (SiNL) on the removal of Zn(II), Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. An increase in adsorption as a function of

• silica; remediation; Introduction Nowadays, pollution by a large number of heavy metals in water sources is commonly observed due the constant economical growth of our modern society. This environmental issue is being seriously considered by different circles [1][2], given that heavy metal ions are

Thermal control of the defunctionalization of supported Au₂₅(glutathione)₁₈ catalysts for benzyl alcohol oxidation

• Zahraa Shahin,
• Hyewon Ji,
• Rodica Chiriac,
• Nadine Essayem,
• Franck Rataboul and
• Aude Demessence

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 228–237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.21

• toluene at 80 °C with a base and under atmospheric conditions [21]. Using O2 as an oxidant under atmospheric conditions is a limitless and inexpensive oxidizing agent and allows for a sustainable transformation. Nevertheless, in the last example, the mesoporous silica support exhibits low stability in

• different compositions of the clusters or the effect of the type of support that can be involved in the oxidation mechanism or their different morphologies, as porous materials for the carbon nanosheets and the silica, and nanoparticles for ZrO2. Effect of the reaction temperature In general, the oxidation

Study of silica-based intrinsically emitting nanoparticles produced by an excimer laser

• Imène Reghioua,
• Mattia Fanetti,
• Sylvain Girard,
• Diego Di Francesca,
• Simonpietro Agnello,
• Layla Martin-Samos,
• Marco Cannas,
• Matjaz Valant,
• Melanie Raine,
• Marc Gaillardin,
• Nicolas Richard,
• Philippe Paillet,
• Aziz Boukenter,
• Youcef Ouerdane and
• Antonino Alessi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 211–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.19

• , F-91297 Arpajon, France 10.3762/bjnano.10.19 Abstract We report an experimental study demonstrating the feasibility to produce both pure and Ge-doped silica nanoparticles (size ranging from tens up to hundreds of nanometers) using nanosecond pulsed KrF laser ablation of bulk glass. In particular

• , pure silica nanoparticles were produced using a laser pulse energy of 400 mJ on pure silica, whereas Ge-doped nanoparticles were obtained using 33 and 165 mJ per pulse on germanosilicate glass. The difference in the required energy is attributed to the Ge doping, which modifies the optical properties

• of the silica by facilitating energy absorption processes such as multiphoton absorption or by introducing absorbing point defects. Defect generation in bulk pure silica before nanoparticle production starts is also suggested by our results. Regarding the Ge-doped samples, scanning electron

Mechanism of silica–lysozyme composite formation unravelled by in situ fast SAXS

• Tomasz M. Stawski,
• Daniela B. van den Heuvel,
• Rogier Besselink,
• Dominique J. Tobler and
• Liane G. Benning

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 182–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.17

• inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and proteins in aqueous media is of paramount interest for colloid chemistry. In particular, the interactions between silica (SiO2) NPs and lysozyme (LZM) have attracted attention, because LZM is well-known to adsorb strongly to silica NPs, while at the same time preserving its

• scattering (SAXS) and followed the subtle interparticle interactions in solution at a time resolution of 50 ms/frame (20 fps). We show that if the size of silica NPs (ca. 5 nm diameter) is matched by the dimensions of LZM, the evolving scattering patterns contain a unique structure-factor contribution

• : composite; lysozyme; scattering; silica; small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS); Introduction A mechanistic understanding of aggregation in aqueous media leading to the formation of composites of inorganic nanoparticles and proteins is of paramount interest for colloid chemistry, Earth sciences, or the design

Targeting strategies for improving the efficacy of nanomedicine in oncology

• Gonzalo Villaverde and
• Alejandro Baeza

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 168–181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.16

• there [15]. These nanocapsules were anchored on the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) coated with a lipid bilayer (protocells) enhancing their penetration into 3D tumoral tissue models, which yielded a significant enhancement of the therapeutic efficacy of these nanodevices (Figure 1) [16

pH-mediated control over the mesostructure of ordered mesoporous materials templated by polyion complex micelles

• Emilie Molina,
• Mélody Mathonnat,
• Jason Richard,
• Patrick Lacroix-Desmazes,
• Martin In,
• Philippe Dieudonné,
• Thomas Cacciaguerra,
• Corine Gérardin and
• Nathalie Marcotte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 144–156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.14

• Coulomb, UMR 5221 CNRS – Université de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France 10.3762/bjnano.10.14 Abstract Ordered mesoporous silica materials were prepared under different pH conditions by using a silicon alkoxide as a silica source and polyion complex (PIC) micelles as the structure-directing agents

• . PIC micelles were formed by complexation between a weak polyacid-containing double-hydrophilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PEO-b-PAA), and a weak polybase, oligochitosan-type polyamine. As both the micellization process and the rate of silica condensation are highly

• dependent on pH, the properties of silica mesostructures can be modulated by changing the pH of the reaction medium. Varying the materials synthesis pH from 4.5 to 7.9 led to 2D-hexagonal, wormlike or lamellar mesostructures, with a varying degree of order. The chemical composition of the as-synthesized

New micro/mesoporous nanocomposite material from low-cost sources for the efficient removal of aromatic and pathogenic pollutants from water

• Emmanuel I. Unuabonah,
• Robert Nöske,
• Jens Weber,
• Christina Günter and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 119–131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.11

• overcome these issues. When water remediation in developing countries is considered, the price of the materials and not their performance is unfortunately the key aspect to take into account. Current technologies such as activated carbon or silica-based materials are still too expensive for these

• effective, the preparation of these materials still often involves metakaolinization, dealumination, ageing, and autoclave heating for several days [15][16]. In some cases, silica, alumina, and structure-directing agents have to be added to the metakaolin to tune the properties of the resulting materials

• [13][14]. These approaches are less expensive than the use of all-synthetic reagents, such as highly developed silica materials, but they are tedious and still rely on autoclave technology, which is not generally available to the countries in need of these materials. Thus, there is a need for cheap

A novel polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-modified layered double hydroxide: preparation, characterization and properties

• Xianwei Zhang,
• Zhongzhu Ma,
• Hong Fan,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Jintao Wan and
• Philippe Dubois

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3053–3068, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.284

• after modification, which is expected to eventually limit the potential for applications of LDHs in polymer composites. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) are a class of well-defined nanostructured molecules, which contain a silica cage core and externally attached organic substituents [22

• silica cage, and that these long arms are rearranged under the action of forces arising during the synthetic process and from interlayer surroundings. Furthermore, the interlayer features of OLDH are compared to those of traditional LDHs synthesized in a similar way, and the ratios between intergallery

• presented in Figure 13. The char of the intercalator OCPS exhibits a shrinkage with a very smooth and continuous dense surface in both N2 and air, due to the remarkable surface enrichment effect of silica during heating, which can be proved in the XPS spectra shown in Figure 13a. In the case of NLDH, the

Colloidal chemistry with patchy silica nanoparticles

• Pierre-Etienne Rouet,
• Cyril Chomette,
• Laurent Adumeau,
• Etienne Duguet and
• Serge Ravaine

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2989–2998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.278

• bonding geometry. We have previously reported that the selective growth of the silica core of binary PS/silica CMs and the subsequent dissolution of the polymeric satellites [19] leads to silica particles with a precise number of dimples. The PS chains which are chemically grafted onto the silica surface

• remain at the bottom of the dimples after the dissolution stage and can be specifically chemically modified providing both enthalpic and entropic characteristics to the patches [20][21]. Here we report the use of these patchy silica nanoparticles with two or four dimples as sp- and sp3-like colloidal

• , i.e., well-calibrated silica nanospheres or core–shell nanoparticles, were obtained according to a seeded-growth protocol [22] and a method using methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-thiol as a coupling agent [23], respectively. Their surface functionalization with carboxylic acid groups was performed by a