Scanning transmission helium ion microscopy on carbon nanomembranes

• Daniel Emmrich,
• Annalena Wolff,
• Nikolaus Meyerbröker,
• Jörg K. N. Lindner,
• André Beyer and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 222–231, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.18

• microscopy (EFTEM) data, both being established techniques for the thickness measurement of thin films. All three presented methods, STIM, XPS, and EFTEM, require an assumption about density and composition of the material in order to calculate absolute thicknesses, so graphite was chosen as a well

• total electron intensity of a non-filtered image [29]. It requires the estimation of an attenuation length λ, which was calculated by the Iakoubowskii model (Equation 9 in [30]), assuming here that the films exhibit the mass density of pure graphite. EFTEM measurements were done at kinetic energies of

• measurement of this spot is compared to a non-exposed part of the membrane. The non-exposed membrane shows barely visible D and G bands on a strong photoluminescence background as it is reported for amorphous hydrogenated carbon films [32]. After exposure to TEM, the photoluminescence drops and the D and G

Determination of elastic moduli of elastic–plastic microspherical materials using nanoindentation simulation without mechanical polishing

• Hongzhou Li and
• Jialian Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 213–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.17

• characterization of the mechanical behavior of filaments [1], thin films [2], microplastics, coatings, powders, small crystals, and other materials at small scales. One of the great advantages of the technique is that many mechanical properties of materials can be determined from the analysis of indentation load

• finite element method [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Using finite element simulation, Li et al. found that both loading curve and unloading curve at any depth can be generated from one indentation depth by scaling P ∝ h2 for the indentation tests of PMMA thin films with a Berkovich

TiO_x/Pt₃Ti(111) surface-directed formation of electronically responsive supramolecular assemblies of tungsten oxide clusters

• Marco Moors,
• Yun An,
• Agnieszka Kuc and
• Kirill Yu. Monakhov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 203–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.16

• Dresden-Rossendorf, Department of Reactive Transport, Institute of Resource Ecology, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.12.16 Abstract Highly ordered titanium oxide films grown on a Pt3Ti(111) alloy surface were utilized for the controlled immobilization and tip-induced electric

• nearly ordered ultrathin films due to the stronger interfacial interaction; however, only in the second layer. In the first layer, an opening of the ring structure resulted in a zigzag chain structure [18]. These findings, thus, showcase the strong effect of a solid support on the surface behavior of

• interaction. Both characteristics are implemented by atomically ordered titanium oxide ultrathin films grown on a bimetallic Pt3Ti(111) single crystal surface. More importantly, the use of this material has already proven successful in supporting the self-organization of Pd clusters [21]. Exposing the Pt3Ti

A review on the biological effects of nanomaterials on silkworm (Bombyx mori)

• Sandra Senyo Fometu,
• Guohua Wu,
• Lin Ma and
• Joan Shine Davids

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 190–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.15

• contributions, the addition of nanomaterials to packaging materials and films in the food industry is reported to have curbed issues regarding food spoilage and contamination [16], pests, and disease management due to the usage of a nanomaterial-based formulation in agriculture [17]. The inclusion of

• nanomaterials include the production of soaps, skin moisturizers, and plastic films as seen in Table 1. Silkworm as a model organism Invertebrate model organisms are the most preferred in experimental trials because of their short generation time and prolific nature when compared to mammalian models, which are

Paper-based triboelectric nanogenerators and their applications: a review

• Jing Han,
• Nuo Xu,
• Yuchen Liang,
• Mei Ding,
• Junyi Zhai,
• Qijun Sun and
• Zhong Lin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 151–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.12

• polarization direction, TENGs can have four working modes [87], including vertical contact–separation (CS) mode, in-plane lateral-sliding (LS) mode, single-electrode (SE) mode, and freestanding triboelectric-layer (FT) mode, as shown in Figure 2a. In the vertical CS mode, a stack of two dielectric films is

• plated with a metal electrode at the back surface of each layer. When the two dielectric films are vertically separated and periodically contacted due to the application of external forces, a small air gap is formed in the middle and a potential difference is induced between the two electrodes, which can

• . designed a soft deployable reflector for optical beam steering using kirigami [133]. As shown in Figure 7a, the planar soft deployable structure is made of uniform hollow pockets in which the kirigami reflective films are inlaid. As the axial strain is increased during stretching, the surfaces of the

Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

• Wescley Walison Valeriano,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro Andrade,
• Juan Pablo Vasco,
• Angelo Malachias,
• Bernardo Ruegger Almeida Neves,
• Paulo Sergio Soares Guimarães and
• Wagner Nunes Rodrigues

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 139–150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.11

• defined disks of Al2O3 films with a radius of 5 µm deposited by ALD on Au/Cr (60 nm/20 nm)-coated silicon wafer pieces. The topographic image of an Al2O3 disk measured with AFM is shown in Figure 9a. The sample thickness was (21.0 ± 0.2) nm, relative to the gold surface. In the EFM mode, the microscope

A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures

• Sina Kaabipour and
• Shohreh Hemmati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 102–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.9

• direction [89], and can form networks of wires that facilitate the passage of electrical current. They can also improve transmittance characteristics due to their high aspect ratio [90]. Novel applications can be seen in transparent conductive films (TCFs) [91], wireless technology [92][93], touchscreen

• rheological additives [103]. AgNW-coated conductive films have been considered as a promising alternative over conventional indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated conductive films [89]. The synthesis of silver nanostructures, and generally all types of nanostructures, can be categorized as one of two approaches [104

• [143][231]. In most cases, AgNPs are synthesized in metal oxide thin films such as TiO2, SiO2, and ZrO2 where the average particle size is almost 10 nm when the heating temperature is 600 °C in the case of SiO2 thin films, and 500 °C in the case of TiO2 and ZrO2 [231]. Arun Kumar et al. [145

Fusion of purple membranes triggered by immobilization on carbon nanomembranes

• René Riedel,
• Natalie Frese,
• Fang Yang,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Raphael Dalpke,
• Daniel Rhinow,
• Norbert Hampp and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 93–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.8

• reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). Experimental Preparation of SAMs and CNMs NBPT was purchased from Taros Chemicals (Dortmund, Germany). Thermally evaporated Au films (300 nm) on mica supports (Georg Albert physical vapor deposition coatings) were used as substrates for the SAM preparation

ZnO and MXenes as electrode materials for supercapacitor devices

• Ameen Uddin Ammar,
• Ipek Deniz Yildirim,
• Feray Bakan and
• Emre Erdem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 49–57, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.4

• abundant raw materials. Also, it is less harmful to the environment [19]. Miao et al. fabricated 3D porous MXene-rGO films by using a self-propagating approach, which involves great enthalpy change, chain reactions, and drastically propagates onto the entire film in seconds. As a result, a specific

• [33]. Fan et al. synthesized MXene/holey graphene (HGO) films, to be used as electrode material in supercapacitors, through the filtration of alkalized MXene and HGO dispersions. The prepared material, when used as a composite film electrode for supercapacitors, showed a high volumetric capacitance of

• stability [36]. Xu et al. developed an rGO/Ti3C2Tx MXene-based supercapacitor. The rGO/Ti3C2Tx films were synthesized using vacuum-assisted filtration of rGO/Ti3C2Tx. The supercapacitor showed specific capacitance values up to 405 F·g−1. The approach used here eliminated the requirement of a delamination of

Effect of different silica coatings on the toxicity of upconversion nanoparticles on RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

• Cynthia Kembuan,
• Helena Oliveira and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 35–48, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.3

• UCNPs, was dried on a carbon-coated copper grid (Cu 400 mesh, Quantifoil®: 100 carbon support films). The images were analyzed using the software FIJI. At least 300 particles per sample were analyzed. Dynamic light scattering and electrophoretic light scattering The DLS and ELS measurements were

Atomic layer deposited films of Al₂O₃ on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes: stability and barrier properties

• Hana Krýsová,
• Michael Neumann-Spallart,
• Hana Tarábková,
• Pavel Janda,
• Ladislav Kavan and
• Josef Krýsa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 24–34, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.2

• , Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic 10.3762/bjnano.12.2 Abstract Al2O3 layers were deposited onto electrodes by atomic layer deposition. Solubility and electron-transport blocking were tested. Films deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO, F:SnO2/glass) substrates blocked electron transfer to

• redox couples (ferricyanide/ferrocyanide) in aqueous media. However, these films were rapidly dissolved in 1 M NaOH (≈100 nm/h). The dissolution was slower in 1 M H2SO4 (1 nm/h) but after 24 h the blocking behaviour was entirely lost. The optimal stability was reached at pH 7.2 where no changes were

• ; Introduction Surface coverage by thin films for the improvement of mechanical, optical, and electrochemical properties of solid surfaces is of great technological importance. In this context, corrosion, which is an electrochemical process, is the main concern. In an oxidizing and humid atmosphere

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

Nanocasting synthesis of BiFeO₃ nanoparticles with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Thomas Cadenbach,
• Maria J. Benitez,
• A. Lucia Morales,
• Cesar Costa Vera,
• Luis Lascano,
• Francisco Quiroz,
• Alexis Debut and
• Karla Vizuete

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1822–1833, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.164

• rhombohedral BiFeO3 perovskite structure (R3c) as evidenced by the peak splitting of the (104) and (110) peaks (see above). The formation of a rhombohedral structure is in agreement with BiFeO3 ceramics, while crystalline BiFeO3 films were shown to have a tetragonal structure [52]. TEM images (Figure 5a) show

Molecular dynamics modeling of the influence forming process parameters on the structure and morphology of a superconducting spin valve

• Alexander Vakhrushev,
• Aleksey Fedotov,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Roman Morari and
• Anatolie Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1776–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.160

• films separated by a magneto-resistive layer. Due to the exchange interaction with the adjacent antiferromagnetic nanofilm, one of the layers has constant magnetization. For the adjacent nanofilm, the direction of magnetization can be controlled by an external magnetic field. The weak link of the

• structural quality of superconducting niobium layers, for example, with a thickness comparable to the coherence length of approximately <10 nm, is worse than that of thicker films, and the destructive effect of the interface roughness also suppresses the manifestation of interference effects in ultrathin

• films. For highly mutually soluble metals, such as vanadium and iron (solubility of about 30% at room temperature), the quantum-mechanical transparency parameter is many times higher, TF ≈ 1.6. However, if the structural quality of the films requires deposition on a substrate heated to 100–300 °C, there

Mapping of integrated PIN diodes with a 3D architecture by scanning microwave impedance microscopy and dynamic spectroscopy

• Rosine Coq Germanicus,
• Peter De Wolf,
• Florent Lallemand,
• Catherine Bunel,
• Serge Bardy,
• Hugues Murray and
• Ulrike Lüders

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1764–1775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.159

• was hand-polished down to a roughness of a few nanometres with diamond-based lapping films with decreasing granularity. In the following section, the local electrical properties of all layers in the cross section of the PIN diode are analysed. In order to evaluate the impact of the applied VDC bias

Absorption and photoconductivity spectra of amorphous multilayer structures

• Oxana Iaseniuc and
• Mihail Iovu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1757–1763, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.158

• thin films are of special interest. For thermally deposited amorphous films, the structure of which exhibits a higher level of disorder than that of the bulk glasses, the incorporation of impurity atoms is easier, and in many cases the metal additives could become electrically active. The influence of

• Sn impurities on stationary and transient photoconductivity was demonstrated for amorphous As2Se3Snx thin films [5]. The introduction of Sn in the host material increases the drift mobility and the photosensitivity of the amorphous material. According to 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of the

• , respectively. Recently, experimental results of steady-state and transient photocurrents of amorphous GexAsxSe1−2x and (As4S3Se3)1−xSnx thin films were presented [7][8]. It was established that the predominant mechanisms of recombination of the photo-excited carriers in the investigated amorphous materials are

Application of contact-resonance AFM methods to polymer samples

• Sebastian Friedrich and
• Brunero Cappella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1714–1727, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.154

• modes including scanning under continuous contact wear and damage the sample and/or alter the surface roughness, the results of point CR measurements on bulk and thin films are presented. Though Young’s moduli of bulk polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) could be determined through the presented

• . Keywords: atomic force microscopy; contact resonance; mechanical properties; polymers; wear; Introduction The development of new materials for applications on the nanoscale, such as thin polymer films, demands a reliable determination of their mechanical properties. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a very

• on imprecise parameters such as the tip position on the cantilever. This article shows quantitative CR measurements on polymer films of polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (PnBMA), as well as glass. Current analysis methods are simplified to a point that

Out-of-plane surface patterning by subsurface processing of polymer substrates with focused ion beams

• Serguei Chiriaev,
• Luciana Tavares,
• Vadzim Adashkevich,
• Arkadiusz J. Goszczak and
• Horst-Günter Rubahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1693–1703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.151

• Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, Sønderborg, 6400, Denmark 10.3762/bjnano.11.151 Abstract This work explores a new technique for the out-of-plane patterning of metal thin films prefabricated on the surface of a polymer substrate. This technique is based on an ion-beam-induced material modification in the bulk

• of the polymer. Effects of subsurface and surface processes on the surface morphology have been studied for three polymer materials: poly(methyl methacrylate), polycarbonate, and polydimethylsiloxane, by using focused ion beam irradiation with He+, Ne+, and Ga+. Thin films of a Pt60Pd40 alloy and of

• pristine Au were used to compare the patterning of thin films with different microstructures. We show that the height of Pt60Pd40 thin films deposited onto poly(methyl methacrylate) and polycarbonate substrates can be patterned by He+ ion beams with ultrahigh precision (nanometers) while preserving in

The influence of an interfacial hBN layer on the fluorescence of an organic molecule

• Christine Brülke,
• Oliver Bauer and
• Moritz M. Sokolowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1663–1684, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.149

• substrates, thin interfacial films of considerable thickness (5–10 monolayers) of alkali halides have been used in our lab [10]. In contrast, experiments on the light emission from molecules induced by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM-LE) required thin alkali halide films of two monolayers thickness in

• order to support tunneling [11][12][13]. A single layer or films of hBN are attractive for decoupling a molecule from an underlying metal substrate as hBN exhibits a wide bandgap of 5.9 eV [14]. Perspectively, it could also provide a substrate for STM-LE experiments. Furthermore, it is of interest due

• states. Accordingly, the same behavior as on Ag(111) can be expected on Cu(111), where a filling of the LUMO has been found, too [33]. In addition, for multilayer PTCDA films we can compare the first, interfacial PTCDA layer with a hBN layer regarding their abilities to decouple the next PTCDA layer from

PTCDA adsorption on CaF₂ thin films

• Philipp Rahe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1615–1622, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.144

• Philipp Rahe Fachbereich Physik, Universität Osnabrück, Barbarastrasse 7, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.11.144 Abstract Thin insulating films are commonly employed for the electronic decoupling of molecules as they enable a preservation of the intrinsic molecular electronic

• functionality. Here, the molecular properties of 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) adsorbed on insulating CaF2 thin films that were grown on Si(111) surfaces are studied. Scanning tunnelling microscopy is used to compare the properties of PTCDA molecules adsorbed on a partly CaF1-covered Si

• (111) surface with deposition on thicker CaF2/CaF1/Si(111) films. The identification of mostly single molecules on the CaF1/Si(111) interface layer is explained by the presence of atomic-size defects within this layer. Geometry-optimisation calculations using density functional theory reveal a geometry

Oxidation of Au/Ag films by oxygen plasma: phase separation and generation of nanoporosity

• Abdel-Aziz El Mel,
• Said A. Mansour,
• Mujaheed Pasha,
• Atef Zekri,
• Janarthanan Ponraj,
• Akshath Shetty and
• Yousef Haik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1608–1614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.143

• Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Texas A & M University-Kingsville, TX 78363, USA 10.3762/bjnano.11.143 Abstract The oxidation of Au/Ag alloy thin films using radio-frequency oxygen plasma was studied in this work. It was demonstrated that there is a phase separation occurring between

• : metal alloys; nanoporous; oxygen plasma; silver; thin films; Introduction Silver corrosion upon exposure to atomic oxygen is a phenomenon that was highly studied in the 1980s. At that time, the main aim was to avoid the degradation of silver interconnects and switches used in satellites navigating in

• ][9]. Silver materials in various shapes and types were used to explore this process, including foils [11][12], films [13][14][15][16][17] and nanostructures [18][19]. So far, most of the published studies considered pure silver as the ideal model system to study the silver oxidation process and only

High-responsivity hybrid α-Ag₂S/Si photodetector prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid

• Raid A. Ismail,
• Hanan A. Rawdhan and
• Duha S. Ahmed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.142

• investigate the optoelectronic properties of the Ag2S/Si photodetector, ohmic contacts were made by thermally evaporating In and Al films on the nanostructured Ag2S film and the back side of the silicon substrate, respectively, as shown in Figure 2. The sensitive area of the planar photodetector was 1.5 cm2

Walking energy harvesting and self-powered tracking system based on triboelectric nanogenerators

• Mingliang Yao,
• Guangzhong Xie,
• Qichen Gong and
• Yuanjie Su

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1590–1595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.141

• Mingliang Yao Guangzhong Xie Qichen Gong Yuanjie Su State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu 610054, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.11.141 Abstract Due

• triboelectric nanogenerator (u-TENG) was proposed and fabricated to scavenge the walking energy from areas with a high pedestrian flow. The as-prepared u-TENG is composed of two copper-coated nanostructured poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) thin films as the back electrodes and an elastic undulated electrode in

• and deionized water were used to clean 50 μm thick PTFE films, which were then dried with nitrogen. During the etching process, DC sputtering was used on the surface of the PTFE film as a mask to deposit Au particles for 45 s. Next, a gas mixture containing O2, CF4, and Ar was introduced to the

Fabrication of nano/microstructures for SERS substrates using an electrochemical method

• Jingran Zhang,
• Tianqi Jia,
• Xiaoping Li,
• Junjie Yang,
• Zhengkai Li,
• Guangfeng Shi,
• Xinming Zhang and
• Zuobin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1568–1576, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.139

• spots decreases. Sivashanmugan et al. [32] employed FIB technology to prepare nanostructures on silicon surfaces, which were then coated with Au and Ag films to generate SERS substrates. The enhancement factor range of R6G using the substrate was between 2.62 × 106 and 1.74 × 107. Gao et al. [33

• for fabricating sensitive three-dimensional SERS substrates. First, by controlling the parameters of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) treatment, arrayed nanopores were formed on a Mg surface. Then, the nanopore surfaces were coated by incubating them with Au films for different lengths of time. The

• studied [45][46][47]. Zhang et al. [45] used a self-assembled method to fabricate PS nanosphere array substrates with Ag films of different thickness. The strongest electric field intensity enhancement was generated with a 10 nm thick Ag film. Using the AFM-based scratching method, Wang et al. [46

Optically and electrically driven nanoantennas

• Monika Fleischer,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1542–1545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.136

• deposition [41], or on dense silver island films created by pulsed laser deposition [42] or physical vapor deposition [43]. In [44], individual plasmonic nanotags are prepared by coating gold nanoparticle clusters with Raman reporters. This work explores the minimum number of tags required for obtaining a