Influence of conductive carbon and MnCo₂O₄ on morphological and electrical properties of hydrogels for electrochemical energy conversion

• Sylwia Pawłowska,
• Karolina Cysewska,
• Yasamin Ziai,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 57–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.6

• elevated temperatures at the synthesis stage, which is an essential step in most of the conventional synthesis paths of conductive hydrogels described in the literature [23][24][26][27][28]. These two features, the one-stage process, and the low-temperature needed, are used for synthesising the polymer

• presented in this work indicate a promising direction for further work aimed at obtaining electrocatalytic layers participating in the OER process and characterized by high efficiency, while using a simple one-step method for synthesizing a conductive hydrogel containing electrochemically active particles

• ). Hydrogel sample preparation Hydrogels with conductive and catalyst particles dispersed throughout were synthesised via a one-step polymerisation procedure – all components were dissolved or suspended in a hydrogel precursor solution (Figure 6). The hydrogel precursor solution was a composition of NIPAAm

Josephson dynamics and Shapiro steps at high transmissions: current bias regime

• Artem V. Galaktionov and
• Andrei D. Zaikin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 51–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.5

• step is defined by the formula which obviously yields δIk = 2I1βk. For comparison, let us also consider the limit of Ohmic dissipation, that is, we now set q = 1. In this case, we have and from Equation 22, we immediately recover the result [11] for δIk(ϑ), which in the limit a − 1 ≪ 1 reduces to The

• magnitudes of the Shapiro steps are again defined by combining Equation 27 and Equation 25. Conclusion Comparing the magnitudes of Shapiro steps in the sub-Ohmic and Ohmic limits for different values of k, we observe that the first Shapiro step 2I1β1 in the sub-Ohmic limit turns out to be smaller than that

Curcumin-loaded nanostructured systems for treatment of leishmaniasis: a review

• Douglas Dourado,
• Thayse Silva Medeiros,
• Éverton do Nascimento Alencar,
• Edijane Matos Sales and
• Fábio Rocha Formiga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 37–50, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.4

• of nanostructured curc in vivo. Also, clinical studies that prove the efficacy and safety of nanostructured curc must be conducted to encourage the transfer of these formulations to the therapeutic scenario. Based on the findings, polymeric nanoparticles reveal themselves to be a step ahead in the

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPM RAS), with subsequent measurements of the samples in the sorption 3He refrigerator of our laboratory. The 210/240 GHz receiving system is fabricated using a two-layer technology (two lithography steps). During the first photolithography step, a layer of

• contact pads, DC lines, and antennas is made. The second electronic lithography step is used for the exposition of the bolometric layer. During photolithography, the first exposure was carried out with two photoresists. This is because the DC linewidth was 3 µm, and the use of a single photoresist would

Nanotechnological approaches in the treatment of schistosomiasis: an overview

• Lucas Carvalho,
• Michelle Sarcinelli and
• Beatriz Patrício

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 13–25, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.2

• bring attention to the fact that from the 65 papers found using our research strategy, 25% (16 articles) were found using reference scanning in the previously selected papers, which shows the importance of this step in bibliographic research. That explains why our strategy was able to reunite a great

TEM sample preparation of lithographically patterned permalloy nanostructures on silicon nitride membranes

• Joshua Williams,
• Michael I. Faley,
• Joseph Vimal Vas,
• Peng-Han Lu and
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1–12, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.1

• establish a good thermal contact during metal deposition to prevent the resist mask from melting as the substrate temperature is above the glass transition temperature of the resist. Ion beam etching The IBE process (Figure 6) is as follows: The first step is to deposit Py on the substrate; then a negative

• primary beam is much bigger than the redeposition rate of etched materials. As observed in Figure 7, there was redeposition of etched material along the edge of the resist. This can be avoided by taking an additional step before etching the Py: The resist is heated at 120 °C for 5 min to reflow the resist

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

• Tobias Dickbreder,
• Franziska Sabath,
• Lukas Höltkemeier,
• Ralf Bechstein and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1225–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.101

• specification for the instruments and file formats listed in Table 1. For all other devices, this easy step needs to be done by the user in the preferences of unDrift. Drift correction Next, we will discuss the main feature of unDrift, the offline drift correction of SPM images. Depending on the surface

• velocity is used to calculate the real lattice vectors and drift-correct the SPM images. First, two SPM images with opposing slow scan directions (i.e., one up and one down image) are imported as described before (step 1). Next, unDrift extracts primitive lattice vectors from both images as shown in Figure

•  2 (step 2). unDrift can determine the lattice vectors either based on the Fourier transforms (Figure 2b,e) or autocorrelations (Figure 2c,f). In both cases, our software searches for local maxima in the transformed image first (red dots in Figure 2). Then, it extracts guesses for the lattice vectors

Fluorescent bioinspired albumin/polydopamine nanoparticles and their interactions with Escherichia coli cells

• Eloïse Equy,
• Jordana Hirtzel,
• Sophie Hellé,
• Béatrice Heurtault,
• Eric Mathieu,
• Morgane Rabineau,
• Vincent Ball and
• Lydie Ploux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1208–1224, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.100

• the range of 350–650 nm (photomultiplier voltage from 600 to 1000 V specified in the figure captions if needed; step of 1 or 5 nm). The emission intensity was compared with that of the fluorescent dyes, that is, FITC for FITC-BSA/PDA NPs and RhBITC for Ox-BSA/PDA NPs and RhBITC-BSA/PDA NPs. Solutions

• step was added to the preparation procedure. However, it is important to specify that this step is not required and that bacteria stained by the RhBITC- or FITC-BSA/PDA NPs can be observed alive directly after staining. The samples were fixed with paraformaldehyde (PFA): Samples were centrifuged at

Determination of the radii of coated and uncoated silicon AFM sharp tips using a height calibration standard grating and a nonlinear regression function

• Perawat Boonpuek and
• Jonathan R. Felts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1200–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.99

• to left across two pristine grating structures within a scan size of 10 µm × 10 µm. The calibration grating was cleaned with DI water and dried with nitrogen gas before the experiments. For each tip, we performed a step-to-step linewidth scan pass (without repeating at the same scanline) in contact

A combined gas-phase dissociative ionization, dissociative electron attachment and deposition study on the potential FEBID precursor [Au(CH₃)₂Cl]₂

• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Ali Kamali,
• Thomas Xaver Gentner,
• Gerd Ballmann,
• Sjoerd Harder,
• Hans-Peter Steinrück,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1178–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.98

• ]. The image after the background subtraction is shown in Figure 1d, where the particles can be more clearly distinguished. After background subtraction, some of the deposited nanoparticles appear facetted; however, the majority are spherical. HAADF-STEM on FEBID (SiO2 (500 nm)/Si(111)) As a next step

• of the halogen. While the first step was in good agreement with the observations in the gas phase under single collision conditions, the second step indicated that pure deposits were achievable through prolonged electron exposure of the deposit formed in the first step. This was further explored in a

Spatial variations of conductivity of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol on Au/mica and Au/Si substrates

• Julian Skolaut,
• Jędrzej Tepper,
• Federica Galli,
• Wulf Wulfhekel and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1169–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.97

• , Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, Netherlands Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.14.97 Abstract Determining the conductivity of molecular layers is a crucial step in advancing towards applications in molecular

• distribution around well-measurable current values, more features are visible in the current map (Figure 3b). First, finer topographic details, namely shallower terraces and boundaries between flat areas of the topography, possibly step edges between single atomic steps of the Au surface, become clearly

Hierarchically patterned polyurethane microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes for neurite elongation and alignment

• Lester Uy Vinzons,
• Guo-Chung Dong and
• Shu-Ping Lin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1157–1168, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.96

• hierarchically structured microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes. Moreover, we found that replica molding using nano-/microstructured photoresist masters is a non-trivial step and requires specific “photoresist reinforcement” strategies to overcome inherent photoresist issues. Overall, our work

• nanopillar array on an SU-8 film (Figure 1A(i) and (ii)). SU-8 generates a strong acid in UV-exposed areas, which, in turn, undergo acid-initiated crosslinking during the post-exposure baking step [18]. However, we found that the subsequent formation of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) inverse mold from the SU

• ), propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, is also the main constituent of the SU-8 developer, rendering AZ1518 incompatible with the subsequent micropatterning step for the hierarchical structures. Therefore, we replicated the AZ1518 nanoholes unto SU-8 using capillary thermal imprinting and then

Properties of tin oxide films grown by atomic layer deposition from tin tetraiodide and ozone

• Kristjan Kalam,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Tanel Käämbre,
• Aile Tamm and
• Kaupo Kukli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1085–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.89

• drop in the QCM signal during O3 pulses accompanies the release of relatively heavy iodine, and the QCM signal stabilised after the completion of the oxidation step (Figure 2). Figure 3 depicts the change in the oscillation frequency as function of the SnI4 pulse length. The latter tests revealed that

• the partial decomposition of precursor molecules during the adsorption step of the first precursor and the concurrently intensified release of ligand, that is, iodine molecules, I2. Earlier, analogous studies have been carried out on TiO2 films grown by ALD using TiI4 and O2 as precursors [21

• ]. Plausibly, the initial increase in the GPC up to 300 °C is caused by the gradually enhancing decomposition of metal iodide on the receiving surface, which is not to be regarded as self-saturating adsorption process. Nevertheless, in the adsorption step, more metal is added to the growing layer upon

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

• equilibrium once a light pulse has been applied to the sample. This supports the idea that, even if we cannot rule out the possibility of a better fit, neglecting in a first step the photocharging dynamics remains (in the current case) a reasonable approximation. Last, we also note that the pp-KPFM data once

Spatial mapping of photovoltage and light-induced displacement of on-chip coupled piezo/photodiodes by Kelvin probe force microscopy under modulated illumination

• Zeinab Eftekhari,
• Nasim Rezaei,
• Hidde Stokkel,
• Jian-Yao Zheng,
• Andrea Cerreta,
• Ilka Hermes,
• Minh Nguyen,
• Guus Rijnders and
• Rebecca Saive

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1059–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.87

• . This final step was carried out to minimize the clamping effect of the actuator on the silicon substrate, thus enhancing the movement of the membrane. Kelvin probe force microscopy under modulated illumination In this experiment, we used KPFM with modulated illumination to study device type-I, namely

Experimental investigation of usage of POE lubricants with Al₂O₃, graphene or CNT nanoparticles in a refrigeration compressor

• Kayhan Dağıdır and
• Kemal Bilen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1041–1058, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.86

• of the optimum mass fractions was based on the lowest mass fraction determined from similar studies in the literature. The nanoparticles were gradually added to the lubricant starting at the lowest fraction, and the optimum mass fraction of each nanoparticle was determined. A two-step method was used

• the manufacturer about the POE oil is given in Table 4. Two-step method The two-step method, which is frequently preferred in the literature [12], was used for adding nanoparticles to the POE lubricant. The mass measurements of the samples were measured with a RADWAG PS1000.R2 precision balance

• samples, which were kept in the sonic mixer for 90 minutes [32], were filled into the lubricant chamber of the compressor for tests. The devices used in the application of two-step method are shown in Figure 8. Stability of nanolubricants In the preparation process, the sonication time was 90 minutes to

Recognition mechanisms of hemoglobin particles by monocytes – CD163 may just be one

• Jonathan-Gabriel Nimz,
• Pichayut Rerkshanandana,
• Chiraphat Kloypan,
• Ulrich Kalus,
• Saranya Chaiwaree,
• Axel Pruß,
• Radostina Georgieva,
• Yu Xiong and
• Hans Bäumler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1028–1040, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.85

• our HbMPs into monocytes, while there might be additional other mechanisms at play. The aim of this work is to contribute a further step towards the development of HbMPs as a complete, safe blood substitute for volume expansion and oxygen distribution. Materials and Methods Chemicals 0.9% sodium

• rather than whole bacteria for the higher phagocytosis efficacy of lysates). For comparison, samples were prepared in which the cells were able to phagocytose either unlabeled E. coli lysate or HbMP in a pre-feeding step (approximately 100 HbMPs per leukocyte). The incubation period here was 120 min. In

• sample and the corresponding reduction in the other samples provided information about the extent of phagocytosis in the pre-feeding step. For each experimental run, blood from a different donor was used. Due to the donors’ variability (e.g., different cell counts, immune cell activity, or surface

Isolation of cubic Si₃P₄ in the form of nanocrystals

• Polina K. Nikiforova,
• Sergei S. Bubenov,
• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Andrey S. Kumskov,
• Nikolay N. Kononov,
• Tatyana A. Kuznetsova and
• Sergey G. Dorofeev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 971–979, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.80

• precursor for diffusion doping of wafers and as anode material for Li-ion batteries. A similar method with a hydrogenation step offers the possibility to obtain other compounds, such as silicon selenides, arsenides, and sulfides. Keywords: ampoule annealing; defective zinc blende structure; DFT

• exposure to air, which produced a signal in the wavenumber range of 1130–1100 cm−1. Because of the hydrosylilation step for the sample SP400, its spectrum features prominent signals of organic fragments (Supporting Information File 1, Table S1). Nevertheless, with the absorption of Si–O–Si stretching at

• through diffusion doping of wafers. Incorporating a gaseous etching step into the annealing process widens the applicable use to syntheses of novel nanosized silicon selenides, arsenides, and sulfides. Methods Distilled water, acetonitrile (reagent grade), 1-dodecanol (analytical grade), and hexane

Low temperature atomic layer deposition of cobalt using dicobalt hexacarbonyl-1-heptyne as precursor

• Mathias Franz,
• Mahnaz Safian Jouzdani,
• Lysann Kaßner,
• Marcus Daniel,
• Frank Stahr and
• Stefan E. Schulz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 951–963, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.78

• step a direct CCP plasma (50 W) was created for the entire pulsing time. The ALD process consists of cycles with the following pattern: cobalt precursor dosing – argon purging – H2 plasma – argon purging. Typical pulse times for this pattern were 6, 1, 2, and 1 s, respectively. For pulse times

• variations, this pattern has been maintained, except for the altered duration of the cycle step under analysis. Depositions in ALD mode were done at temperatures in the range from 35 to 125 °C. Characterisation The film thickness was measured with the integrated iSE ellipsometer of J.A. Woollam Co. at an

Upscaling the urea method synthesis of CoAl layered double hydroxides

• Camilo Jaramillo-Hernández,
• Víctor Oestreicher,
• Martín Mizrahi and
• Gonzalo Abellán

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 927–938, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.76

• the loss/decomposition of the interlayer anion and the concomitant dehydroxylation process, which leads to the collapse of the layered hydroxide structure [13][54]. The TGA curve of reference x1 in air (Figure 3) shows a first mass loss step of ca. 12% at 207 °C and a second one of around 14% at 276

• powder diffraction (PXRD) patterns were obtained on a PANalytical Empyrean X-ray platform with a capillary platform and copper radiation (Cu Kα = 1.54178 Å). Measurements were carried in triplicate in the 2-theta range of 2–70° with a step size of 0.02°/step and an integration time of 1 s. Attenuated

• radiation was employed as X-ray source. For all elements, more than 100 spectra were recorded employing a step of 0.1 eV with a focused spot greater than 400 μm. XPS data were analyzed with the Thermo Avantage v5.9912 software. For the Co fits, FWHM values of 2.2, 2.9, 4.1, and 3.9 eV were employed for P1

Antibody-conjugated nanoparticles for target-specific drug delivery of chemotherapeutics

• Mamta Kumari,
• Amitabha Acharya and
• Praveen Thaggikuppe Krishnamurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 912–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.75

• groups of the antibodies (Figure 4a) [35][47]. Neither N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) nor its water-soluble analogue (sulfo-NHS) are required for the single-step carbodiimide reaction. However, NHS or sulfo-NHS are generally added to produce dry-stable intermediates, which improves the conjugation efficiency

• . In a two-step reaction, NHS/sulfo-NHS evades the intra- and intermolecular cross-linking of the antibodies as the antibodies have both amine and carboxyl groups [48]. Acharya et al. prepared rapamycin-loaded polymeric PLGA NPs and conjugated them with cetuximab using EDC/NHS cross-linking chemistry

Two-dimensional molecular networks at the solid/liquid interface and the role of alkyl chains in their building blocks

• Suyi Liu,
• Yasuo Norikane and
• Yoshihiro Kikkawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 872–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.72

• alkyl chains in 2D nanoarchitectures at the solid/liquid interface. Review 1 Adsorption of alkyl chains The first step in the formation of self-assembled structures at the HOPG/solvent interface is the adsorption of molecules via dispersion forces deriving from alkyl chains and other moieties such as

• structures of isobutenyl ether compounds with differently linked alkyl chains before and after TCR [81][82][83][128][132]. Chemical structures of NDI-Cn and NDI-uCn (n = 28 and 33) [153]. Chemical structures of OC15F and CC15 [132]. Funding This work was partly supported by JST A-STEP (JPMJTR20U3 to Y. K

N-Heterocyclic carbene-based gold etchants

• Robert B. Chevalier,
• Justin Pantano,
• Matthew K. Kiesewetter and
• Jason R. Dwyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 865–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.71

• , in turn, can promote surface mobility of gold across a sample, allowing for the formation of herringbone structures, pits, and step edges [23][24][25]. Other work has shown that tetrahydrofuran (THF), an organic solvent used for SAM formation [1][2][4][6][7][8], can roughen the gold surface at atomic

• step edges [23]. We were thus interested in examining whether the loss of gold we had observed while attempting to surface-functionalize thin gold films with NHC monolayers could be attributed to the nature of the surface ligand, the solvent, or both. We therefore synthesized four different NHC-related

Industrial perspectives for personalized microneedles

• Remmi Danae Baker-Sediako,
• Benjamin Richter,
• Matthias Blaicher,
• Michael Thiel and
• Martin Hermatschweiler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 857–864, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.70

• on a “Quantum X shape” lithography system (Nanoscribe GmbH & Co, Karlsruhe, Germany) following printing and post-printing protocols from NanoGuide. Post-printing protocols begin by removing unpolymerized material via two-step washing with either propylene glycol methyl ether acetate or mr-Dev for 15

Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• material through a few steps. In the first step, a molten polypropylene layer is laminated onto a carrier film and run over rollers to cool down. Then the combined laminate is forced through a gap between a hot sandblasted roller and a cold smooth one. The surface roughness and temperature difference

• create the hairy structured surface on the polypropylene side. In the final step, the structured film is separated from the carrier. The authors were able to set the hair length and density with the usual industrial control variables of speed, temperature, and gap width. The obtained result was a very