Fabrication of hierarchically porous TiO₂ nanofibers by microemulsion electrospinning and their application as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

• Jin Zhang,
• Yibing Cai,
• Xuebin Hou,
• Xiaofei Song,
• Pengfei Lv,
• Huimin Zhou and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1297–1306, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.131

• ] that have advantages over normal structures including a large specific surface area, a high electrolyte–electrode contact area and excellent mass transport of products or reactants to active sites inside meso- or micropores. One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures such as nanofibers, nanotubes, nanowires

• counter electrode, and 1 M LiPF6 dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethylene methyl carbonate (EMC) (1:1:1, v/v/v) as the electrolyte, respectively. Coin cells were assembled in an argon-filled glove box. The galvanostatic discharge–charge tests were conducted at the

• . The merits of porous nanofibers with a higher specific surface area lie in the higher lithium-ion flux across the interfaces and the larger contact area between the electrode and electrolyte [2][34][35]. Herein, sample A2 should have the best performances as the electrode of lithium-ion battery in

Bright fluorescent silica-nanoparticle probes for high-resolution STED and confocal microscopy

• Isabella Tavernaro,
• Christian Cavelius,
• Henrike Peuschel and
• Annette Kraegeloh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.130

• -potential of the nanoparticles was determined using a Nanosizer ZSP from Malvern Instruments (Herrenberg, Germany) in water at 150 V using 1·10−3 M KCl as background electrolyte. Each sample underwent three series of measurements (with each series comprising 40 runs). Nanoparticle concentration: The

Growth, structure and stability of sputter-deposited MoS₂ thin films

• Reinhard Kaindl,
• Bernhard C. Bayer,
• Roland Resel,
• Thomas Müller,
• Viera Skakalova,
• Gerlinde Habler,
• Rainer Abart,
• Alexey S. Cherevan,
• Dominik Eder,
• Maxime Blatter,
• Fabian Fischer,
• Jannik C. Meyer,
• Dmitry K. Polyushkin and
• Wolfgang Waldhauser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1115–1126, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.113

• /AgCl as the reference electrode. Ag/AgCl data was recalculated to yield potential versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) values for easier comparison with the wider literature. 0.1 M Na2SO4 with pH close to neutral was used as the electrolyte. Further electrochemical testing for water electrolysis

High photocatalytic activity of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposites prepared by photodeposition for degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

• Shu Chin Lee,
• Hendrik O. Lintang and
• Leny Yuliati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 915–926, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.93

• used and prepared as follows. The photocatalyst sample (10 mg) was dispersed in water (6 mL) and the mixture was homogeneously mixed in an ultrasonic bath for 15 min. The mixture (20 µL) was then dropped onto the working electrode of the SPE, followed by immersion of the SPE in 6 mL of electrolyte

Vapor deposition routes to conformal polymer thin films

• Priya Moni,
• Ahmed Al-Obeidi and
• Karen K. Gleason

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 723–735, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.76

• alloys have an incredibly high gravimetric lithium storage capacity. He at al. have used MLD to encapsulate Si nanoparticles with alucone for this application [49]. The alucone layer prevents the formation of a resistive secondary electrolyte interphase (SEI), thus yielding improved electrode performance

• . Gleason and coworkers, having previously shown pV4D4 as potential solid electrolyte, are exploring the Si nanowire assembly in Figure 8a as a route toward anodes for micro lithium ion batteries [39]. Figure 9e shows a corresponding, conformal pV4D4 coating on a lithium spinel oxide particle, a material

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

• the carbon-coated Fe2O3–graphene hybrids show that the improved performance in LIBs is attributed also to the carbon layer around the Fe2O3 NPs [146][162]. The thin carbon shells effectively inhibit the direct exposure of encapsulated Fe3O4 NPs to the electrolyte and preserve the structural and

Carbon nanotube-wrapped Fe₂O₃ anode with improved performance for lithium-ion batteries

• Guoliang Gao,
• Yan Jin,
• Qun Zeng,
• Deyu Wang and
• Cai Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 649–656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.69

• polypropylene film. Electrolyte was prepared by dissolving 1 M lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) in a mixed solution of fluoroethylene carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate/dimethyl carbonate (FEC/EMC/DMC, 1:1:1 by volume). Coin cells (2032 type) were assembled inside an argon filled glove box with a moisture and

• -MWCNT were 710 and 300 mAh·g−1 with a coulombic efficiency of 42%. The large capacity fading and low coulombic efficiency observed for the electrode in the first cycle can be ascribed to irreversible processes such as formation of a solid–electrolyte interface (SEI) film and the decomposition of

• electrolyte [9][10]. The 10th and 50th discharge curves almost coincide with the 2nd discharge curve, which can be attributed to the high conductivity of carbon nanotubes. Figure 4b shows charge and discharge profiles of the Fe2O3/COOH-MWCNT composites. The first discharge curve of cells exhibited an apparent

Gas sensing properties of MWCNT layers electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Riccardo Rossi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 592–603, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.64

• , a gold or palladium sacrificial anode, used as the working electrode. A platinum cathode was used as the counter electrode. The electrolyte solution was composed of quaternary ammonium halide (0.05 M) dissolved in a 3:1 mixture of tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile. Specifically, the quaternary

• ammonium salt was used both as a supporting electrolyte and as a nanoparticle capping agent. Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) was used for Pd NP synthesis and tetraoctylammonium chloride (TOAC) for the Au NPs [35]. The electrochemically synthesized Au and Pd NPs had a uniform dispersion with a diameter of

Liquid permeation and chemical stability of anodic alumina membranes

• Dmitrii I. Petukhov,
• Dmitrii A. Buldakov,
• Alexey A. Tishkin,
• Alexey V. Lukashin and
• Andrei A. Eliseev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 561–570, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.60

• [20][21], our results can unlikely be used as proof for the suggested mechanism because alumina polycation formation pH (≈5) strongly changes the pH of the electrolyte used during anodization (≈1). However, dissolution of the membrane material does not explain the loss of membrane permeability in the

• . The electrolyte was pumped through the cell by a peristaltic pump, and its temperature was kept in the range of 0–2 °C during anodization. For the preparation of membranes with an average pore diameter of 40 nm and 90 nm, aluminium was anodized in 0.3 M H2C2O4 (98%, Aldrich) under mild and hard

Copper atomic-scale transistors

• Fangqing Xie,
• Maryna N. Kavalenka,
• Moritz Röger,
• Daniel Albrecht,
• Hendrik Hölscher,
• Jürgen Leuthold and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 530–538, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.57

• -scale transistors and confirmed that copper atomic-scale transistors can be fabricated and operated electrochemically in a copper electrolyte (CuSO4 + H2SO4) in bi-distilled water under ambient conditions with three microelectrodes (source, drain and gate). The electrochemical switching-on potential of

• metallization effect in an aqueous electrolyte to reduce mechanical stress during cycling. Silver atomic-scale transistors that operate in an aqueous nitric electrolyte at voltages in the millivolt range were previously demonstrated [18][19][20][21][22]. Here, we report our progress in the development of an

• steps. First, a silicon chip with three microfabricated electrodes – source, drain and gate – and a microchannel for on-chip electrolyte delivery are fabricated using standard photolithography (Figure 1a, Method 1 described in the Experimental section). The electrodes consist of Cr/Au films with a

Template-controlled piezoactivity of ZnO thin films grown via a bioinspired approach

• Nina J. Blumenstein,
• Fabian Streb,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Zaklina Burghard and
• Joachim Bill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 296–303, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.32

• substrate and particles in the solution and therefore, the interaction between both is affected. For example it was found that silica shows a decreasing surface potential if methanol is added to an aqueous electrolyte solution [41][42]. This can be explained by the lower ability of methanol to stabilize

Performance of natural-dye-sensitized solar cells by ZnO nanorod and nanowall enhanced photoelectrodes

• Saif Saadaoui,
• Mohamed Aziz Ben Youssef,
• Moufida Ben Karoui,
• Rached Gharbi,
• Emanuele Smecca,
• Vincenzina Strano,
• Salvo Mirabella,
• Alessandra Alberti and
• Rosaria A. Puglisi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 287–295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.31

• redox reaction with the electrolyte solution, which constitutes the third main part of the cell [3]. The internal process starts with the excitation of the sensitizer (S) through the absorption of a photon to obtain an excited sensitizer (S*). The latter injects an electron into the conduction band of

• improved by modifying the energy difference between the Fermi level (EF) of the semiconductor potential and redox potential (Eredox) of the electrolyte [10]. Results and Discussion Dye analysis In order to understand the structure of natural dye molecules and to determine the main elements responsible for

• electrolyte (SOLARONIX). The used henna and mallow powders were prepared in-house by drying henna and mallow plants. Afterwards, the dried plants were milled and sieved to obtain the final powder. Current–voltage characteristics and layer conductivity were measured using a computer-controlled Keithley 4200

Phosphorus-doped silicon nanorod anodes for high power lithium-ion batteries

• Chao Yan,
• Qianru Liu,
• Jianzhi Gao,
• Zhibo Yang and
• Deyan He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 222–228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.24

• the current collector). To verify the structural transformation of the Si anode after cycling, a battery after 50 cycles at a rate of 2 A/g was disassembled. The Si anode was washed thoroughly with deionized water and ethanol to remove the Li2O and solid electrolyte interphase layer. The morphology of

• characterization. The obtained Si anode was directly used as the work electrode without any conductive additive and binder. Lithium foil and Celgard 2320 were used as the counter electrode and separator membrane, respectively. The electrolyte was 1 M LiPF6 dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles

• Anurag Roy,
• Partha Pratim Das,
• Mukta Tathavadekar,
• Sumita Das and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 210–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.23

• electrolyte and CuxS counter electrode were used for cell fabrication and testing. An interesting improvement in the performance of the device by imposing nanorods as a scattering layer on a particle layer has been observed. As a consequence, a maximum conversion efficiency of 1.06% with an open-circuit

• technique. Respective efficiencies of 0.87% and 0.72% with VOC of 0.44 V and 0.55 V, have been reported by Zhang et al. and Qi et al., for ZnO nanowires which are noteworthy reports [14][15]. For QDSSCs, a polysulphide electrolyte/Cu2S electrode delivered the best performance instead of the regular I−/I3

• − electrolyte with a costly Pt-based electrode. Reports on the synthesis of nanoscale CdS by using organic capping agents, polymers, surfactants, or enzymes reveal that they are not very user friendly techniques [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Therefore, rather taking a conventional path to synthesizing quantum

Sensitive detection of hydrocarbon gases using electrochemically Pd-modified ZnO chemiresistors

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 82–90, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.9

• nanostructures were prepared by SAE as reported in [44], but in this case Pd foils were used as anode (working electrode) to obtain colloidal Pd NPs. Tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB) was simultaneously used as electrolyte and stabilizer for Pd NPs, at a concentration of 0.05 M in 5 mL in a solution of

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of self-assembled thiol monolayers and supported lipid membranes on thin anodic porous alumina

• Marco Salerno,
• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Barbara Salis and
• Silvia Dante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 74–81, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.8

• ; SERS; nanopores; supported lipid bilayers; thiols; Introduction Anodic porous alumina (APA) is a layered material usually obtained in thick form (≈10 µm thickness scale) from electrochemical anodization in the acidic aqueous electrolyte of aluminum (Al) foils [1]. In APA, the control of pore size

• phosphoric acid electrolyte at a bath temperature of ≈15 °C. Post-fabrication etching in the same electrolyte for 20 min at room temperature (RT) plus 15 min at 35 °C allowed to obtain tAPA with ≈160 nm pore size and ≈80 nm wall thickness. After thoroughly rinsing with de-ionized water, blowing dry with

Effect of nanostructured carbon coatings on the electrochemical performance of Li_1.4Ni_0.5Mn_0.5O_2+x-based cathode materials

• Konstantin A. Kurilenko,
• Oleg A. Shlyakhtin,
• Oleg A. Brylev,
• Dmitry I. Petukhov and
• Alexey V. Garshev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1960–1970, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.187

• (Ni,Mn) sublattice with the formation of Li[LixNi0.5−(x/2)Mn0.5−(x/2)]O2−δ [6][7]. The practical application of these materials is limited by the insufficient electronic conductivity of Li1+x(Ni,Mn)O2 materials [8] and their ability to catalyze the organic electrolyte decomposition at high potentials

• and currents [9][10]. The most common way of overcoming this problem is the modification of cathode materials by introducing additives and by depositing coatings that would suppress the interaction of electrolyte and the surface of particles. Various kinds of materials have been tested for surface

• oxidation of the electrolyte upon cycling. Electrochemical impedance (EI) measurements were performed to investigate the details of the lithium insertion-extraction processes in LNM/C nanocomposite cathodes (Figure 5A–D). All the plots are mainly composed of a small intercept at high frequencies, a

Layered composites of PEDOT/PSS/nanoparticles and PEDOT/PSS/phthalocyanines as electron mediators for sensors and biosensors

• Celia García-Hernández,
• Cristina García-Cabezón,
• Fernando Martín-Pedrosa,
• José Antonio De Saja and
• María Luz Rodríguez-Méndez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1948–1959, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.186

• /PSS/EM electrodes were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry. Voltammograms of PEDOT/PSS, PEDOT/PSS/AuNPs, PEDOT/PSS/CuPc and PEDOT/PSS/LuPc2 electrodes immersed in catechol and hydroquinone 1.5 × 10−4 mol·L−1 with 0.01 mol·L−1 phosphate buffer as the supporting electrolyte are shown in Figure 2. The

• magnification). Cyclic voltammograms of PEDOT/PSS, PEDOT/PSS/LuPc2, PEDOT/PSS/CoPc and PEDOT/PSS/AuNP sensors in (a) catechol and (b) hydroquinone 1.5 × 10−4 mol·L−1 with 0.01 mol·L−1 phosphate buffer as the supporting electrolyte. Scan rate 0.1 V·s−1. Nyquist plots collected at −0.5 V using (a) PEDOT/PSS; (b

• ) PEDOT/PSS/CuPc; (c) PEDOT/PSS/LuPc2; and (d) PEDOT/PSS/AuNP. Electrodes were immersed in catechol 10−3 mol·L−1 with 0.01 mol·L−1 phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) as the supporting electrolyte. The frequency was swept logarithmically from 10−2 to 105 Hz. Cyclic voltammograms of (a) PEDOT/PSS/EM-Tyr immersed in

Properties of Ni and Ni–Fe nanowires electrochemically deposited into a porous alumina template

• Alla I. Vorobjova,
• Dmitry L. Shimanovich,
• Kazimir I. Yanushkevich,
• Sergej L. Prischepa and
• Elena A. Outkina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1709–1717, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.163

• most common in industrial development. However, the problem of pore blocking during deposition into the high aspect ratio template requires optimization of the deposition conditions (current density, temperature, electrolyte composition) and adjustment of the parameters of the template (diameter, pore

• instruments). Preventers (Na2SO4, CuSO4) were added to decrease corrosion activity of the electrolyte. This is particularly important during long-term deposition experiments. The concentration and pH value of each solution are shown in Table 1. All experiments were performed at room temperature (22 ± 2 °C

•  3a,b). For the alumina template with HPA ≈ 90 μm the filling rate vNi–Fe is about 8.6 μm/h (Figure 3c) at the same current density of 3 mA·cm−2. There are two possible reasons for the lowering of the filling rate: (i) the movement of liquid (electrolyte) in long narrow pores becomes difficult, and

Effect of triple junctions on deformation twinning in a nanostructured Cu–Zn alloy: A statistical study using transmission Kikuchi diffraction

• Silu Liu,
• Xiaolong Ma,
• Lingzhen Li,
• Liwen Zhang,
• Patrick W. Trimby,
• Xiaozhou Liao,
• Yusheng Li,
• Yonghao Zhao and
• Yuntian Zhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1501–1506, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.143

• . All electron-transparent TKD foils were mechanically ground and punched from the outer region of the as-deformed disks, where the greatest degree of grain refinement was achieved. Samples were subsequently electropolished by means of double-jet electropolishing using an electrolyte of 1:1:2 H3PO4

False positives and false negatives measure less than 0.001% in labeling ssDNA with osmium tetroxide 2,2’-bipyridine

• Anastassia Kanavarioti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1434–1446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.135

• separates two compartments filled with electrolyte. Influenced by the electric field, the electrolyte ions traverse the pore producing a constant current. Also led by the applied field, a nucleic acid in one compartment moves through the pore to the other compartment and obstructs the current in a sequence

• ascertain a “perfect” match between intact and osmylated, generally speaking “labeled” nucleic acid, so that sequencing of the labeled nucleic acid can accurately reproduce the sequence of the target polymer. These properties, defined elsewhere [26], include: (i) high solubility in water/electrolyte, (ii

Dealloying of gold–copper alloy nanowires: From hillocks to ring-shaped nanopores

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Cyril Delacôte,
• Mohammed Boujtita,
• Benoit Angleraud,
• Junjun Ding,
• Chang-Hwan Choi,
• Pierre-Yves Tessier and
• Abdel-Aziz El Mel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1361–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.127

• etching is related to the presence of boundaries between the hillocks and the rest of the nanowire body. They act as a channel promoting the propagation of the electrolyte within the material during the dealloying process. When the electrolyte penetrates through these boundaries, the hillocks become

• completely surrounded by the electrolyte resulting in an increased dissolution of copper from the alloy. As a consequence, ring-shaped pores appear around the hillocks and the diameter of the latter drops from 150 to 115 nm. When increasing the dealloying voltage to 0.4 V, for 18 atom % of gold (Figure 5c

• ) as supporting electrolyte. This condition is selected according to Pourbaix diagram of copper [32]. The contact to the working electrode (i.e., Au–Cu nanowire arrays) was made through a crocodile clip at the tip of a sample injecting the current along the nanowire axes. The treated geometrical

Microwave synthesis of high-quality and uniform 4 nm ZnFe₂O₄ nanocrystals for application in energy storage and nanomagnetics

• Christian Suchomski,
• Ben Breitung,
• Ralf Witte,
• Michael Knapp,
• Sondes Bauer,
• Tilo Baumbach,
• Christian Reitz and
• Torsten Brezesinski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1350–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.126

• vacuum at 80 °C for 12 h. The areal loading was 2.4 mgZFO/cm2 on average. Coin-type cells with 600 µm-thick Li metal foil (Rockwood Lithium Inc.) and glass microfiber film separator (Whatman, GF/D grade) were assembled inside an argon-filled glovebox (MBraun) with [O2] and [H2O] < 1 ppm. The electrolyte

• ) indicates that irreversible reactions occurred upon lithiation, including decomposition of surface ligands and formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the nanoparticles. However, this relatively large capacity loss (≈30%) was limited to the initial cycle. The electrochemical reaction of ZFO with

• unaffected by the polymer binder, carbon additive, electrolyte and separator residues, the electrodes were used as is, thus ensuring minimal effects from cell disassembly. In the present work, two electrodes of the same batch but at different lithiation states were investigated. The “pristine” electrode was

Improved lithium-ion battery anode capacity with a network of easily fabricated spindle-like carbon nanofibers

• Mengting Liu,
• Wenhe Xie,
• Lili Gu,
• Tianfeng Qin,
• Xiaoyi Hou and
• Deyan He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1289–1295, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.120

• capacity is 900.1 mAh g−1, leading to a coulombic efficiency of 75.8%. The capacity difference between the initial charge and discharge mainly owes to the electrochemically driven electrolyte degradation, which results in the formation of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) films on the surface of electrode

Mesoporous hollow carbon spheres for lithium–sulfur batteries: distribution of sulfur and electrochemical performance

• Anika C. Juhl,
• Artur Schneider,
• Boris Ufer,
• Torsten Brezesinski,
• Jürgen Janek and
• Michael Fröba

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1229–1240, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.114

• indicating good reversibility. The measured areal capacities are comparable with those calculated from literature data [24][27][29]. Nevertheless, due to differences in cell type, electrode and electrolyte composition as well as electrolyte/sulfur ratio, a precise comparison is not possible. Even more, as

• necessary information for this comparison like the electrolyte/sulfur ratio and partly also the areal sulfur loading are often not given. Overall, the data in Figure 8 demonstrate that Li–S cells based on HCS/sulfur composite show good cyclability, with moderate specific capacities at C/5 rate. Given that

• inside an argon-filled glovebox from MBraun. The electrolyte used was a solution of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Aldrich, 99.95%, 8 wt %), lithium nitrate (Merck, 99.995%, 4 wt %), 1,2-dimethoxyethane (Alfa Aesar, >99%, 44 wt %), and 1,3-dioxolane (Acros, 99.8%, 44 wt %). The volume of