Fabrication of carbon nanospheres by the pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile–poly(methyl methacrylate) core–shell composite nanoparticles

• Dafu Wei,
• Youwei Zhang and
• Jinping Fu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1897–1908, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.190

• SiO2 (178.49 mg/g) [54], manganese-impregnated zinc sulphide nanoparticles deposited on activated carbon (191.57 mg/g) [55] and γ-Fe2O3 loaded active carbon (195.55 mg/g) [56]. We believe the efficient removal of MB is mainly attributed to the small pore size and the high specific surface area of CP6

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

Low uptake of silica nanoparticles in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial barriers

• Dong Ye,
• Mattia Bramini,
• Delyan R. Hristov,
• Sha Wan,
• Anna Salvati,
• Christoffer Åberg and
• Kenneth A. Dawson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1396–1406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.141

• been achieved [19][20][21]. Caco-2 cells have been used in the literature to investigate the potential toxic effects of a range of nanoparticles, including microporous silicon [22], silica [23][24][25][26][27][28] and zinc oxide [25]. Though such studies have mainly been performed on undifferentiated

Evaluation of quantum dot conjugated antibodies for immunofluorescent labelling of cellular targets

• Jennifer E. Francis,
• David Mason and
• Raphaël Lévy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1238–1249, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.125

• of cadmium selenium (CdSe) and an inorganic zinc sulfide (ZnS) shell and have been applied as fluorescent probes for the labelling of biological structures [1][2]. To make Qdots water soluble, and thus suitable for biological applications, their surface is modified either by coating with hydrophilic

Metal oxide nanostructures: preparation, characterization and functional applications as chemical sensors

• Dario Zappa,
• Angela Bertuna,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Navpreet Kaur,
• Nicola Poli,
• Veronica Sberveglieri and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1205–1217, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.122

• conventional thin film counterparts, to see if the discerning ability of the electronic nose is affected by the integration of nanostructured active materials. In particular, we decided to integrate tin dioxide and zinc oxide devices, since these are the most widely used and studied materials for chemical

• oxides of nickel, tungsten, niobium, zinc and tin. The structures were directly deposited on functional substrates using various techniques and procedures. We have demonstrated that a direct integration with all the three presented deposition techniques is possible, which is an essential feature to

• ), tin dioxide (SnO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires was performed by evaporation–condensation on alumina substrates [50]. It consists of a controlled evaporation of metal oxide powder followed by a condensation of vapor on a catalyzing substrate. The main parameters to optimize during evaporation

AgCl-doped CdSe quantum dots with near-IR photoluminescence

• Pavel A. Kotin,
• Sergey S. Bubenov,
• Natalia E. Mordvinova and
• Sergey G. Dorofeev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1156–1166, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.117

• ), (220) and (311) of the cubic zinc blende (ZB) structure (F−43m, space group 216, a = 0.6077 nm (PC-PDF 19-191)). The NPs exhibit a nearly spherical shape with an average crystalline size estimated to be around 3 nm. The XRD peaks are broad due to the small size of the NPs. The addition of a small

• radiation, rotating anode, Bragg–Brentano scheme, graphite monochromator) diffractometer. XRD patterns and TEM images of different samples with varying AgCl amount: (a) AgCl_0, (b) AgCl_1, (c) AgCl_4, (d) AgCl_10, (e) AgCl_12 and (f) AgCl_40. (ZB: zinc blende, WZ: wurtzite.) HRTEM images of TP (sample

ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZn_xS_2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

• Florian Donat,
• Serge Corbel,
• Halima Alem,
• Steve Pontvianne,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1080–1093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.110

• solution. A mechanism for the degradation pathways mediated by the ZnO/ZCIS catalyst is proposed. Interestingly, hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, and singlet molecular oxygen, 1O2, were found to play a key role in the oxidation of Orange II. Experimental Materials Indium acetate (In(OAc)3, 99.99%, Sigma), zinc

• acetate (Zn(OAc)2, 99.99%, Sigma), copper iodide (CuI, 99.999%, Sigma), dodecanethiol (DDT, >98%, Sigma), oleylamine (OA, 70%, Sigma), 1-octadecene (ODE, 90%, Sigma), zinc oxide (ZnO, 99%, Alfa Aesar), disodium terephthalate (DST, 99+%, Alfa), nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT, >98%, Sigma), leuco

Needs and challenges for assessing the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs)

• Michelle Romero-Franco,
• Hilary A. Godwin,
• Muhammad Bilal and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 989–1014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.101

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

• scalable and relatively cost effective [14][15][16]. In particular, among all the TMO NPs, titanium dioxide [17], manganese oxide [18], iron oxide [19] and zinc oxide [20] have attracted the most attention due to their particular interesting and advantageous properties. By changing the reaction conditions

• precise, in the following, we categorise the graphene–TMO semiconductor NP hybrids on the basis of their counterpart material oxide (from titanium to zinc) following the periodic table. Titanium dioxide (TiO2)–graphene hybrids Nanocrystalline TiO2 is an interesting material because of its unique optical

• medium. The Co3O4–graphene hybrid possesses catalytic performance for heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate for the decomposition of phenol [183]. Moreover, the performance of the zinc–air battery (ZAB), fabricated by using this hybrid as the cathode, is found to be closely matched with the

Graphene functionalised by laser-ablated V₂O₅ for a highly sensitive NH₃ sensor

• Margus Kodu,
• Artjom Berholts,
• Tauno Kahro,
• Mati Kook,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Helina Seemen,
• Tea Avarmaa,
• Harry Alles and
• Raivo Jaaniso

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 571–578, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.61

• last 3d elements, scandium and zinc, the rest of the metals possess several oxidation states. The presence of several stable oxidation states serves as a basis of catalytic activity in redox reactions and is most noticeable for vanadium, chromium, and manganese. In particular, vanadium has the highest

The longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

• Florent Pessina and
• Denis Spitzer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 452–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.49

• crystallized from the precursor zinc acetate dihydrate dissolved in ethanol with addition of water. From early experiments, primary nanoparticles of 20 nm were found to be agglomerated in sub-size structures, whereas the slightly larger nanoparticles were found much less agglomerated using the classical wet

Study of the surface properties of ZnO nanocolumns used for thin-film solar cells

• Neda Neykova,
• Jiri Stuchlik,
• Karel Hruska,
• Ales Poruba,
• Zdenek Remes and
• Ognen Pop-Georgievski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 446–451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.48

• -Si) solar cells, used for mass production, is composed of a transparent conductive oxide with roughness at the nanoscale on the front (TCO), e.g., tin oxide (SnO2) or zinc oxide (ZnO), followed by p–i–n Si layers (amorphous and/or nanocrystalline) in the cell and a back reflector [1][2]. In such a

• developed solar cells based on a three dimensional (3-D) design, in which periodically ordered zinc oxide nanocolumns (ZnO NCs) are used as a front electrode, have been of great interest, because they would exceed in the ultimate light trapping and provide excellent charge separation [5][6][7]. Due to the

• flow. The hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanocolumns was performed from an equimolar aqueous solution of 25 mmol zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO3)2·6H2O) and hexamethylenetetramine ((CH2)6N4) in an aqueous bath at 90 °C for 3 h [15][23]. During the nanocolumns growth, the substrate was mounted upside-down

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

• . Keywords: piezoresponse force microscopy; template-controlled deposition; ZnO; Introduction Zinc oxide is a wide band gap semiconductor. Thin films of it can be applied in, e.g., LEDs [1][2][3] or transistors [4][5][6]. Furthermore, due to its piezoelectricity, it can be incorporated in actuators [7] or

• tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH, Sigma-Aldrich, 1.5 m in methanol) were prepared. The PVP and zinc acetate solutions were mixed and the TEAOH was added drop-wise with a peristaltic pump under gentle stirring. The final composition was [Zn2+] = 11.34 mm, [PVP] = 8.57 mm and [TEAOH] = 25 mm. The coated wafers were

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

• cells (DSSCs). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the extract revealed the presence of anchoring groups and coloring constituents. Two different structures were prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using zinc oxide (ZnO) layers to obtain ZnO nanowall (NW) or nanorod (NR) layers employed

• semiconductor in DSSCs [2][3][4][5]. Besides, the TiO2 offers high electronic mobility for photogenerated electron collection, a suitable band gap, which adapts to the injection of the electrons of most studied dyes, and high surface area to enhance the dye loading by anchoring the dye [6][7]. Zinc oxide (ZnO

• physical properties of the photoanode. Experimental Both ZnO NRs and NWs were grown on FTO substrates (1.5 × 1.5 cm2) by CBD [8][22]. Before the ZnO NR preparation, a seed layer of ZnO crystallites was deposited by spin coating (1000 rpm, 60 s) using a solution of 5 mM zinc acetate dihydrate in ethanol

Ordering of Zn-centered porphyrin and phthalocyanine on TiO₂(011): STM studies

• Piotr Olszowski,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Szymon Godlewski,
• Bartosz Such,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Res Jöhr,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 99–107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.11

• used in the study (from left to right): Zn(II)meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP), Zn(II)phthalocyanine (ZnPc), and Cu(II)phthalocyanine (CuPc). Color coding: dark gray (carbon), light gray (hydrogen), blue (nitrogen), large violet (zinc), large yellow (copper). Acknowledgements This work was supported

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

• chemical composition of pristine and Pd-functionalized ZnO NRs, annealed at 550 °C. The value for O–Zn refers to the atomic percentage of oxygen bound to zinc. Comparison of the response time (tResponse) and recovery time (tRecovery) between pristine and Pd-modified ZnO NRs at various C4H10 concentrations

Nanostructured SnO₂–ZnO composite gas sensors for selective detection of carbon monoxide

• Paul Chesler,
• Cristian Hornoiu,
• Susana Mihaiu,
• Cristina Vladut,
• Jose Maria Calderon Moreno,
• Mihai Anastasescu,
• Carmen Moldovan,
• Bogdan Firtat,
• Costin Brasoveanu,
• George Muscalu,
• Ion Stan and
• Mariuca Gartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2045–2056, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.195

• using the low cost, ecologically friendly sol–gel/dip coating method. The precursors, zinc acetate dihydrate (Merck) as a Zn2+ source and tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate (Sigma-Aldrich), were dissolved in ethanol. Triethanolamine (Baker Analyzed) was used as a chelating agent/catalyst. The obtained solutions

• this paper where tin–zinc ceramic composites were investigated [35]. In this study the conductivity changes leading to different sensor response were motivated by the presence of different phases having different electric behaviors (ZnO, SnO2, and Zn2SnO4 phases were identified in the composite sensing

Organoclay hybrid materials as precursors of porous ZnO/silica-clay heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

• Marwa Akkari,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Abdessalem Ben Haj Amara and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1971–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.188

• photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants [3][4][5][6]. It should be remembered that nanoparticulated zinc oxide is a wide-band gap II–VI semiconductor with a band-gap energy of around 3.4 eV, which is of great interest for photocatalytic applications [7]. ZnO nanoparticles (NP) have been assembled to

• in the preparation of the CTA-clay derivatives. Ultra-pure deionized water (18.2 MΩ·cm) was produced in an Elga Maxima Ultra-Pure Water system). Methanol and 2-propanol (Fluka, p.a.) were used as solvents or reactants. Zinc(II) acetate dihydrate (CH3COO)2Zn·2H2O and KOH were purchased from Merck

Ferromagnetic behaviour of ZnO: the role of grain boundaries

• Boris B. Straumal,
• Svetlana G. Protasova,
• Andrei A. Mazilkin,
• Eberhard Goering,
• Gisela Schütz,
• Petr B. Straumal and
• Brigitte Baretzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1936–1947, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.185

• multilayer grain boundary segregation. Keywords: ferromagnetism; grain boundaries; zinc(II) oxide (ZnO); Review Introduction In 2000 the seminal work of Tomasz Dietl et al. appeared [1]. In this work it was predicted theoretically that many semiconductor oxides can become ferromagnetic (FM) if one dopes

• them with “magnetic” atoms such as iron, manganese and cobalt. Other theoreticians published in that time similar works [2]. It has been predicted that the Curie temperature of such diluted doped magnetic semiconductor oxides can be quite high, even above room temperature. Especially promising was zinc

• influence the magnetic behaviour of such a material. Especially attractive is that zinc oxide is cheap. It is widely used for various applications from sunblock creams to varistors for power electronics [3][4]. The various technologies of deposition of pure and doped ZnO films, sintering of ZnO ceramics and

Role of RGO support and irradiation source on the photocatalytic activity of CdS–ZnO semiconductor nanostructures

• Suneel Kumar,
• Rahul Sharma,
• Vipul Sharma,
• Gurunarayanan Harith,
• Vaidyanathan Sivakumar and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1684–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.161

• longer electron life time than TiO2 [14][15][16]. Zinc oxide is a well-known semiconductor with a band gap energy of 3.37 eV and has been widely explored as photocatalytic material due to its non-toxic nature, high exciton binding energy (60 meV), photosensitivity and stability on exposure to high energy

• permanganate (KMnO4) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were purchased from Merck. Zinc chloride (ZnCl2), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), cadmium acetate dihydrate (Cd(OOCCH3)2·2H2O), sodium sulfide (Na2S), ammonia solution and methyl orange were also supplied by Merck. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) used in synthesis was

• by vacuum drying overnight at same temperature. Synthesis of ZnO nanorods ZnO nanorods (NR) were synthesized through a previously reported solvothermal method [37]. In brief, 10 mL of 0.2 M zinc chloride (ZnCl2) solution in ethanol was added into 70 mL of 0.5 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution

Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• temperature of 255 °C leads to films that consist of orthorhombic stibnite and a secondary phase that was identified as Sb2O3 [23]. To suppress the formation of oxides, an excess of sulfur source in the precursor solution may be required as indicated by similar studies for indium sulfide [25][26], zinc

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Piotr Olszowski,
• Res Jöhr,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Bartosz Such,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1642–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.156

• the adsorption properties and behaviour of metal-free porphyrins on TiO2(110) surfaces [52][53][54], five study various zinc porphyrins on both the (110) and (011) surfaces [55][56][57][58][59], and just a single report covers copper porphyrins deposited on the (110) face of the rutile [60]. Recently

• , zinc porphyrins have also been used in a heteromolecular system as underlayers for the adsorption of CuPc on TiO2. We will discuss that system in detail in the next section. Let us start by reviewing research published about metal-free porphyrins. Lovat et al. [52] investigated the adsorption of three

• al. [54] suggest that this result reflects the influence of the molecule–substrate interactions, i.e., the interactions between the Ni and/or 2H-TPP molecules and the TiO2 surfaces. It is very intriguing to compare the most recent results obtained for zinc porphyrins [55][56][57][58][59]. In contrast

A composite structure based on reduced graphene oxide and metal oxide nanomaterials for chemical sensors

• Vardan Galstyan,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Iskandar Kholmanov,
• Andrea Ponzoni,
• Veronica Sberveglieri,
• Nicola Poli,
• Guido Faglia and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1421–1427, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.133

• monitoring of environmental pollutants and for the application of breath tests in assessment of exposure to volatile organic compounds. Keywords: chemical sensors; reduced graphene oxide (RGO); volatile organic compounds; zinc oxide (ZnO); Introduction Hazard analysis of critical control point (HACCP

• (C2H2O4·2H2O) containing ethanol using a two-electrode system. A platinum foil was used as a counter electrode and the anodization process was carried out at room temperature. The obtained structures were zinc oxalate dihydrate (ZnC2O4·2H2O). The as-prepared samples were transformed to crystalline ZnO by

• environmental and health protection. SEM image (a) and Raman spectrum (b) of the GO platelets deposited on SiO2/Si wafer. SEM images of the obtained samples based on graphene and zinc oxide at low (a) and high (b) magnification. (a) EDX spectrum and (b) quantitative analysis of the hybrid structure based on GO

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

• narrow size distribution hold promise for many applications in different areas ranging from biomedicine to electronics and energy storage. Herein, the microwave-assisted sol–gel synthesis and thorough characterization of size-monodisperse zinc ferrite nanoparticles of spherical shape is reported. X-ray

• galvanostatic charge–discharge tests and ex situ X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy, the as-prepared zinc ferrite nanocrystals can be used as a high-capacity anode material for Li-ion batteries, showing little capacity fade – after activation – over hundreds of cycles. Overall, in addition to the

• good material characteristics, it is remarkable that the microwave-based synthetic route is simple, easily reproducible and scalable. Keywords: 1-phenylethanol route; lithium-ion battery; nanomagnetism; nanoparticles; nonaqueous sol–gel synthesis; zinc ferrite; Introduction Spinel ferrites of the

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• can be trapped by water and oxygen to generate hydroxyl •OH and superoxide O2•− radicals, respectively. These highly oxidizing species are responsible of the conversion of organic compounds into carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic salts. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most widely investigated