Evaluation of gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanostructures electrochemically doped with Au nanophases

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

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 22–31, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.3

• the electrolytic cell and stirred to yield a homogeneous ZnO suspension. The electrolysis was performed in potentiostatic mode, fixing the potential of the working electrode at 1 V, and stopped after the total charge reached 300 C [48]. Subsequently, the Au@ZnO nanocomposite was centrifuged at 6000

• rpm to separate unsupported colloidal Au nanoparticles from the heavier Au@ZnO nanocomposite. After separation, Au@ZnO were thermally annealed at 300 or 550 °C for 2 h in air to study the effect of thermal annealing on the structural stability of Au NPs [45], and of ZnO [44][49], and on the surface

Green synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of natural bentonite-supported copper nanoparticles for the solvent-free synthesis of 1-substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles and reduction of 4-nitrophenol

• Akbar Rostami-Vartooni,
• Mohammad Alizadeh and
• Mojtaba Bagherzadeh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2300–2309, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.236

• -substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles and reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in water. It was found that the Cu NPs/bentonite is a highly active and recyclable catalyst for related reactions. Keywords: heterogeneous catalyst; modified bentonite; nanocomposite; 1-substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles; Introduction

Fabrication of hybrid nanocomposite scaffolds by incorporating ligand-free hydroxyapatite nanoparticles into biodegradable polymer scaffolds and release studies

• Balazs Farkas,
• Marina Rodio,
• Ilaria Romano,
• Alberto Diaspro,
• Romuald Intartaglia and
• Szabolcs Beke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2217–2223, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.227

• photocured depth, i.e., layer thickness, while the magnitude of the downward step of the W stage determines the overlap between two adjacent layers. Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite synthesis by using two laser-processing methods Figure 5 presents the experimental setups of the two laser-assisted methods applied

• for HA/PPF nanocomposite production. HA NPs were prepared by UV laser ablation of a HA target placed in ethanol solution using a picosecond laser system (continuum leopard) delivering 60 ps laser pulses with a wavelength of 355 nm at a repetition rate of 20 Hz. The synthesis was performed following

Electrochemical behavior of polypyrrol/AuNP composites deposited by different electrochemical methods: sensing properties towards catechol

• Celia García-Hernández,
• Cristina García-Cabezón,
• Cristina Medina-Plaza,
• Fernando Martín-Pedrosa,
• Yolanda Blanco,
• José Antonio de Saja and
• María Luz Rodríguez-Méndez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2052–2061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.209

• values were clearly smaller than those observed in films deposited by CA. For instance, the impedance values of Ppy/AuNP-C-CPPt were one third smaller than those obtained by CA (Figure 3d). Again, the high number of AuNPs inserted in the nanocomposite by CP, explains the improvement in the conductivity

Optimized design of a nanostructured SPCE-based multipurpose biosensing platform formed by ferrocene-tethered electrochemically-deposited cauliflower-shaped gold nanoparticles

• Wicem Argoubi,
• Maroua Saadaoui,
• Sami Ben Aoun and
• Noureddine Raouafi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1840–1852, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.187

• . prepared a nanocomposite consisting of reduced graphene oxide hybridized with electrochemically co-reduced gold nanoparticles and ferrocene as a sensitive immunosensor of breast cancer biomarkers [14]. Very recently, Mars et al. showed that the aggregation of gold nanoparticles through a ferrocene-based

• through a ethylenediamine spacer was prepared by Fan et al. and used as an efficient electron transfer (ET) shuttle to build a sensor for H2O2 [16]. Also, a nanocomposite formed with ferrocene-branched silica material reduced graphene oxide and glucose oxidase entrapped in chitosan matrix and was used for

Metal hydrides: an innovative and challenging conversion reaction anode for lithium-ion batteries

• Luc Aymard,
• Yassine Oumellal and
• Jean-Pierre Bonnet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1821–1839, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.186

• in Li-ion batteries. This research field focuses now mainly on nanocomposite synthesis in order to enhance the limited electrochemical cycling performances, the main drawback of hydrides. Electrode technology is, thus, the next challenge, considering the design of the current collector, the

• preparation of polymeric binders and the mixing of hydride and electrolyte together with careful studies to achieve better capacity retention performance or to scale up the nanocomposite elaboration process. On the other hand, the results obtained at the present time emphasize the importance of the knowledge

A facile method for the preparation of bifunctional Mn:ZnS/ZnS/Fe₃O₄ magnetic and fluorescent nanocrystals

• Houcine Labiadh,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Romain Sibille,
• Lavinia Balan and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1743–1751, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.178

• the nanocomposite particles are rather large (70–200 nm), limiting their use in biological applications. Epitaxial heterocrystalline growth is generally conducted by coating a ferro- or ferri-magnet that has an ordering temperature well above 300 K (e.g., FePt, Fe2O3, or Fe3O4) with a semiconductor

Radiation losses in the microwave K_u band in magneto-electric nanocomposites

• Talwinder Kaur,
• Sachin Kumar,
• Jyoti Sharma and
• A. K. Srivastava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1700–1707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.173

• explained. Further studies revealed that the prepared material is a nanocomposite. FTIR spectra show the presence of expected chemical structures such as C–H bonds in a ring system at 1512 cm−1. Keywords: emulsion polymerization; magneto-electric composite; radiation loss; vector network analyser

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility study of Au/TMC/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites as a promising, nontoxic system for biomedical applications

• Hanieh Shirazi,
• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Soheila Kashanian and
• Kobra Omidfar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1677–1689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.170

• synthesize and optimize a combined nanocomposite containing both. By using various polymers such as chitosan, some of the problems of classic core–shell structures (such as reduced saturation magnetization and thick coating) have been overcome. In the present study, chitosan and one of its well-known

• that these polymers provide an adsorbent network on the surface of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles, it was decided to additionally assemble Au nanoparticles onto the polymer-coated magnetic particles, resulting in the development of novel nanocomposites. The final diameter of the resulting nanocomposite was

• addition, the nontoxic nature of this nanocomposite (which was explored by a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay), facilitates its application in various in vitro and in vivo settings. This work focuses on the preparation process of the novel, gold-coated, iron oxide

In situ SU-8 silver nanocomposites

• Søren V. Fischer,
• Basil Uthuppu and
• Mogens H. Jakobsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1661–1665, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.168

• Soren V. Fischer Basil Uthuppu Mogens H. Jakobsen DTU Nanotech, Technical University of Denmark, Anker Engelundsvej 1, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark 10.3762/bjnano.6.168 Abstract Nanocomposite materials containing metal nanoparticles are of considerable interest in photonics and optoelectronics

• homogeneously distributed silver nanoparticles in the photoresist matrix. No particle growth or agglomeration of nanoparticles is observed at this point. The reported new in situ silver nanocomposite materials can be spin coated as homogeneous thin films and structured by using UV lithography. A resolution of 5

• photoresist; in situ synthesis; metal nanoparticles; micro and nanofabrication; nanocomposite; Findings Noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been of high interest for many years as their unique properties make them useable in a large variety of applications [1]. The application of these NPs ranges from

Formation of pure Cu nanocrystals upon post-growth annealing of Cu–C material obtained from focused electron beam induced deposition: comparison of different methods

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Alfredo Rodrigues Vaz,
• Yucheng Zhang,
• Andrzej Rudkowski,
• Czesław Kapusta,
• Rolf Erni,
• Stanislav Moshkalev and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1508–1517, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.156

• precipitation of Cu nanocrystals. No fundamental differences between laser induced heating and conventional heating in the SEM and TEM with respect to trends and composition values were observed. As deposited the Cu–C FEBID deposits obtained from Cu(hfac)2 were amorphous while nanocomposite deposits were

Improved optical limiting performance of laser-ablation-generated metal nanoparticles due to silica-microsphere-induced local field enhancement

• Zheren Du,
• Lianwei Chen,
• Tsung-Sheng Kao,
• Mengxue Wu and
• Minghui Hong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1199–1204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.122

• the bubbles. Figure 3a shows the optical limiting response for the gold nanoparticle and the gold/silica nanocomposite dispersions. For the gold nanoparticle dispersion, the optical limiting threshold is about 6.2 J/cm2. For the gold/silica nanocomposite dispersion, the optical limiting effect

Interaction of electromagnetic radiation in the 20–200 GHz frequency range with arrays of carbon nanotubes with ferromagnetic nanoparticles

• Agylych Atdayev,
• Alexander L. Danilyuk and
• Serghej L. Prischepa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1056–1064, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.106

• Agylych Atdayev Alexander L. Danilyuk Serghej L. Prischepa Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, P. Browka St. 6, 220013 Minsk, Belarus 10.3762/bjnano.6.106 Abstract The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with a magnetic nanocomposite based on carbon nanotubes

• form resonance resistive–inductive–capacitive circuits. It is shown that the influence of the resonant circuits leads to the emergence of specific resonances, namely peaks and valleys in the frequency dependence of the permeability of the nanocomposite, and in the frequency dependence of the reflection

• and transmission of electromagnetic radiation. Keywords: carbon nanotubes; electromagnetic radiation; ferromagnetic nanoparticles; magnetic dipole; magnetic nanocomposite; resonance circuit; Introduction Magnetic nanocomposites consisting of ferromagnetic nanoparticles embedded into a matrix

From lithium to sodium: cell chemistry of room temperature sodium–air and sodium–sulfur batteries

• Philipp Adelhelm,
• Pascal Hartmann,
• Conrad L. Bender,
• Martin Busche,
• Christine Eufinger and
• Juergen Janek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1016–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.105

Effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites prepared by carbothermal evaporation method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• D. K. Avasthi and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 928–937, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.96

• Sini Kuriakose D. K. Avasthi Satyabrata Mohapatra School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, New Delhi 110078, India Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi 110067, India 10.3762/bjnano.6.96 Abstract ZnO–CuO nanocomposite thin films were

• -heterojunctions leading to a modification of optical and electronic properties, which finds promising applications in photocatalysis [30], sensors [31] and solar cells [32]. Several methods have been used to modify the optical, electrical and structural properties of nanostructured materials and nanocomposite

• and Discussion The FESEM images of pristine and irradiated nanocomposite samples are shown in Figure 1. The FESEM image of the pristine sample clearly illustrates the presence of a large number of nanosheets in addition to few nanorod-like structures, as shown in Figure 1a. It can be clearly seen that

Microwave assisted synthesis and characterisation of a zinc oxide/tobacco mosaic virus hybrid material. An active hybrid semiconductor in a field-effect transistor device

• Shawn Sanctis,
• Rudolf C. Hoffmann,
• Sabine Eiben and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 785–791, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.81

• was observed by adjusting an optimal layer thickness of the deposited ZnO on top of the TMV. Such a bio-inorganic nanocomposite semiconductor material accessible using a mild and straightforward microwave processing technique could open up new future avenues within the field of bio-electronics

Novel ZnO:Ag nanocomposites induce significant oxidative stress in human fibroblast malignant melanoma (Ht144) cells

• Syeda Arooj,
• Samina Nazir,
• Akhtar Nadhman,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Bakhtiar Muhammad,
• Ishaq Ahmad,
• Kehkashan Mazhar and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 570–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.59

• %), and zinc nitrate, were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (USA). Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and fetal bovine serum (FBS) were purchased from GibcoBRL, Gaithersburg, MD. Nanocomposite synthesis The nanocomposites ZnO:Ag (1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 30% Ag) were synthesized following a previously

• performing assays, we dialyzed our ZnO:Ag nanocomposite suspensions with Spectra Por 6 (mw cutoff 25000) Spectrum® dialysis membrane for 4 h against deionized water. Characterization of nanocomposite The nanocomposites were characterized by SEM, XRD, Rutherford back scattering, UV–vis spectroscopy and DRS

Silica micro/nanospheres for theranostics: from bimodal MRI and fluorescent imaging probes to cancer therapy

• Shanka Walia and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 546–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.57

• sites in vivo. In this sense, bimodal imaging probes that simultaneously enable magnetic resonance imaging and fluorescence imaging have gained tremendous attention because disease sites can be characterized quick and precisely through synergistic multimodal imaging. But such hybrid nanocomposite

• NPs can be maximized. In our earlier review, we have compiled the literature reports on the biological studies of the hybrid nanocomposite materials, exclusively composed of luminescent quantum dots (QDs) and magnetically active iron oxide as bimodal imaging agents [2]. In this sense, nanostructured

• and FTIR. The TEM micrographs suggested a uniform distribution of spherical nanocomposites with an average size of 67 ± 6 nm. Fluorescence spectra of solid SiO2@APS/PMN:Eu NPs showed an emission peak at 614 nm when excited at 270 nm. The prepared hybrid nanocomposite material was found to be rapidly

Tunable white light emission by variation of composition and defects of electrospun Al₂O₃–SiO₂ nanofibers

• Jinyuan Zhou,
• Gengzhi Sun,
• Hao Zhao,
• Xiaojun Pan,
• Zhenxing Zhang,
• Yujun Fu,
• Yanzhe Mao and
• Erqing Xie

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 313–320, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.29

• . The inset optical photos in (a) and (c) are the corresponding light emission spot of Al6Si4 and Al4Si6 samples, respectively. (d) Energy transfer diagram indicating the mechanism for Al2O3–SiO2 nanocomposite emission. The dashed lines represent light absorption, the solid lines radiative transitions

Multifunctional layered magnetic composites

• Maria Siglreitmeier,
• Baohu Wu,
• Tina Kollmann,
• Martin Neubauer,
• Gergely Nagy,
• Dietmar Schwahn,
• Vitaliy Pipich,
• Damien Faivre,
• Dirk Zahn,
• Andreas Fery and
• Helmut Cölfen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 134–148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.13

• -necklace-like, power law of Q−1), while in the gelatin gel matrix without chitin, the nanoparticles exhibit a branch-like arrangement (power law of Q−2). Magnetization measurements Magnetic properties of the nanocomposite were measured by using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID

• protocol to the layered organic matrix does not affect the magnetic nature of the material. Swelling studies In order to probe structural changes of the nanocomposite during gelatin infiltration as well as during magnetite synthesis, swelling studies were performed. The swelling capacity of the insoluble

• nacre matrix, the gelatin infiltrated chitin matrix and the magnetic nanocomposite are shown in Figure 8. The swelling degree, Sd, is defined as: where Ws stands for the weight of the swollen sample after swelling equilibrium was reached and Wd stands for the dry weight before water uptake. In the case

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes and their applications

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz,
• Ozlem Sen,
• Melis Emanet,
• Emine Kazanc and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 84–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.9

• and it might be worthwhile to further investigate it [71]. BNNT-grafted, poly(glycidyl methacrylate) and polystyrene brushes were prepared via atom transfer radical polymerization [72]. The resulting nanocomposite material was characterized using FTIR, TGA, SEM and TEM. The TEM images clearly show the

Poly(styrene)/oligo(fluorene)-intercalated fluoromica hybrids: synthesis, characterization and self-assembly

• Giuseppe Leone,
• Francesco Galeotti,
• William Porzio,
• Guido Scavia,
• Luisa Barba,
• Gianmichele Arrighetti,
• Giovanni Ricci,
• Chiara Botta and
• Umberto Giovanella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2450–2458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.254

• the photochemical oxidation by blocking the oxygen penetration. The possibility to organize the polymer nanocomposite by BF technique opens to intriguing applications such as optoelectronic devices, microfiltration membranes, and plasmonic sensors. Experimental Reagents Sodium-exchanged Somasif ME100

Hybrid spin-crossover nanostructures

• Carlos M. Quintero,
• Gautier Félix,
• Iurii Suleimanov,
• José Sánchez Costa,
• Gábor Molnár,
• Lionel Salmon,
• William Nicolazzi and
• Azzedine Bousseksou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2230–2239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.232

• to access the multifunctional potential of novel nanomaterials was the development of nanohybrid or nanocomposite structures that are able to combine different materials with different properties. Typically, in this approach, at least one of the components is organic while the other is inorganic in

• nature. A nanocomposite is a multiphase solid material where one of the phases has one, two or three dimensions in the size range of 1–100 nm. Additionally, it is worth noting that the molecular building blocks that constitute these hybrid materials can be as big as inorganic clusters, typically in the

• different shell materials. Although they observed a very interesting effect of the shell thickness on the SCO properties, their study did not aim for development of multifunctional materials. Titos-Padilla et al. [21] reported a core–shell nanocomposite with a SCO core synthetized from the coordination

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• sol, followed by a gelation process, porous hybrid structures can be obtained. Starting from a colloidal suspension of laponite particles, Shi et al. [4] reported the preparation of a nanocomposite matrix of chitosan and clay that was applied as a glucose biosensor. Very recently, da Costa Neto et al

Towards bottom-up nanopatterning of Prussian blue analogues

• Virgile Trannoy,
• Marco Faustini,
• David Grosso,
• Sandra Mazerat,
• François Brisset,
• Alexandre Dazzi and
• Anne Bleuzen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1933–1943, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.204

• /Prussian blue analogue nanocomposite involves five main steps, which have been described elsewhere for the fabrication of nanometer-scale patterns of photo-switchable PBA [15]. The substrate is first covered with a gold layer through sputtering, which will allow for the chemical differentiation of the

• last step is the PBA growth by a layer-by-layer directed assembly approach inspired from methods already implemented for the synthesis of PBA thin films [16][17][18]. Here, we study the impact of each step on the structure of the nanocomposite. We show that the first gold layer can undergo some changes

• the elaboration process. Experimental Synthesis of the TiO2/PBA nanocomposite The five steps involved in the fabrication of the PBA/TiO2 nanocomposites are the following [15]: In a first step, the silicon substrate is covered by a gold layer by sputtering under vacuum in a sputter coater (Quorum