Template-directed synthesis and characterization of microstructured ceramic Ce/ZrO₂@SiO₂ composite tubes

• Jörg J. Schneider and
• Meike Naumann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1152–1159, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.126

• template fibers and the obtained bundles of as-prepared ceramic silica tubes after calcination and removal of the electrospun PS fiber template (750 °C, 4 h). Their tubular structure consists of densely packed agglomerated silica particles (see Figure 1). A high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) study reveals the

• Ce0.12/Zr0.88O2 [11]. Scheme 1 shows the series of synthetic steps which first lead to the PS/silica tubes exotemplate (A) and after sol–gel infiltration to the final CeO2/ZrO2@SiO2 composite tubes (B). An examination of the tube surface composition by HRTEM reveals the spherical Stoeber sol particles of

• has been assumed by HSEM and in HRTEM. Moreover, the intensity of cerium compared to zirconium in the elemental EDX scan is significantly lower, which reflects the phase composition as found by PXRD and Raman spectroscopy. Conclusion A template-directed synthesis was employed for the synthesis of

Organic and inorganic–organic thin film structures by molecular layer deposition: A review

• Pia Sundberg and
• Maarit Karppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1104–1136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.123

Enhancement of photocatalytic H₂ evolution of eosin Y-sensitized reduced graphene oxide through a simple photoreaction

• Weiying Zhang,
• Yuexiang Li,
• Shaoqin Peng and
• Xiang Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 801–811, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.92

• -resolution TEM (HRTEM) images were taken on a JEOL JEM-2010 (TEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was measured on an IVIUMSTAT electrochemical workstation (Netherlands). The electrochemical experiments were performed in a 3-compartment cell

• ), and HRTEM image of deposited Pt (D). The inset of Figure 9D is the EDS spectrum. Schematic diagram of the reduction of GO by irradiation. Proposed mechanism for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of a EY-RGOx/Pt system under visible light irradiation. Peak area ratios of oxygen-containing bonds to

Biomolecule-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride and sulfur-doped carbon nitride heterojunction nanosheets: An efficient heterojunction photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical applications

• Hua Bing Tao,
• Hong Bin Yang,
• Jiazang Chen,
• Jianwei Miao and
• Bin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 770–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.89

• (HRTEM) analysis as shown in Figure 5b. Furthermore, it can be observed that the dense CN layer intimately connects with the CNS nanosheet to form a heterostructure. The HRTEM image of CN/CNS as shown in Figure 5b clearly distinguishes the phases of CN (the dark region) and CNS (the dim region). The

• lattice spacing for the dark region and the dim region are 0.328 nm and 0.322 nm respectively, which are consistent with the XRD results. The HRTEM image gives solid evidence towards the formation of heterojunction in CN/CNS. Figure 6a shows the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of CN, CNS and a CN/CNS

• heterojunction. (a) FESEM image of CN/CNS heterostructure, (b) XRD and (c) nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms and (d) pore size distribution (insert) of CN, CNS and CN/CNS heterostructure. TEM (a) and HRTEM (b) images of a CN/CNS heterostructure. (a) Photoluminescence of CN, CNS and CN/CNS in aqueous

Carbon dioxide hydrogenation to aromatic hydrocarbons by using an iron/iron oxide nanocatalyst

• Hongwang Wang,
• Jim Hodgson,
• Tej B. Shrestha,
• Prem S. Thapa,
• David Moore,
• Xiaorong Wu,
• Myles Ikenberry,
• Deryl L. Troyer,
• Donghai Wang,
• Keith L. Hohn and
• Stefan H. Bossmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 760–769, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.88

• catalyst was reused 10 times. No decrease of the catalytic activity was observed. This observation is based on the consumption efficiency of CO2 from the gas phase and product analysis by GC–MS. Characterization of the catalysts (TEM, HRTEM, XRD, XPS) The TEM image reveals that the newly synthesized Fe

• /Fe3O4 nanoparticles are roughly spherical with a core/shell structure (Figure 2). The mean core diameter is 12 nm, and the shell thickness is 2 nm. HRTEM indicate that each Fe/Fe3O4 nanoparticle assumes polycrystalline structure with rigid edges. TEM images (Figure 3) of recycled catalyst after 10 runs

• of reactions shows that the nanoparticles fused to larger irregularly shaped particles with crystalline substructures on the surface. HRTEM reveal that the substructure is polycrystalline. The XRD patterns of the Fe/Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a function of the number of catalytic runs is shown in Figure

Effects of the preparation method on the structure and the visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag₂CrO₄

• Difa Xu,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Jinfeng Zhang,
• Bei Cheng and
• Jiaguo Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 658–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.77

• the S-M sample, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation is carried out. As shown in Figure 3a, the S-M sample is composed of nanoparticles with an average particle size of about 30 nm. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image in Figure 3b clearly shows the lattice

• observation was carried out by SEM (S4800, Hitachi, Japan) at an accelerating voltage of 5 kV. TEM and HRTEM analysis were conducted by the transmission electron microscopy (JEM-2100F, JEOL, Japan) at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV. The DRS were taken with a UV–vis spectrophotometer (UV2550, Shimadzu

• different methods: (a) microemulsion, (b) precipitation, and (c) hydrothermal. SEM images of Ag2CrO4 samples obtained from different methods: (a) microemulsion, (b) precipitation, and (c) hydrothermal. TEM (a) and HRTEM (b) images of Ag2CrO4 sample prepared by microemulsion method. The inset of (b) is the

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures prepared by a facile wet chemical method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• Vandana Choudhary,
• Biswarup Satpati and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 639–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.75

• anisotropic nanostructures decorated with nanoparticles. HRTEM study of these decorating nanoparticles confirmed them to be of Ag. Figure 4b shows the selected area diffraction (SAD) pattern from a region marked by a dotted circle. The SAD pattern shows concentric rings consisting of distinct spots, which is

• fringes and the measured lattice spacing is 2.8 Å. The HRTEM image of of Ag–ZnO hybrid nanostructures shown in Figure 4b reveals lattice fringes of 2.3 Å and 2.8 Å, which correspond to the (111) and (100) interplanar spacing (d-spacings) of Ag and ZnO, respectively. Some of the measured d-spacings from

• prepared with varying AgNO3 concentrations and different [Ag+]/[citrate] ratios (a) 1:1, (b) 1:10. (a) Low-magnification TEM image of ZnO nanostructures in sample PZ. (b) HRTEM image showing lattice fringes. (c) STEM-HAADF image from the same area of TEM image. (d) EDX spectra from a region marked by area

Artificial sunlight and ultraviolet light induced photo-epoxidation of propylene over V-Ti/MCM-41 photocatalyst

• Van-Huy Nguyen,
• Shawn D. Lin,
• Jeffrey Chi-Sheng Wu and
• Hsunling Bai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 566–576, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.67

• photocatalyst. The XRD pattern indicates a mesoporous hexagonal lattice with a clear feature of (100). The (110) and (200) peaks are not well-separated, maybe due to the high calcination temperature of 823 K [33]. The HRTEM image of V-Ti/MCM-41 in Figure 3 reveals a uniform hexagonal structure, which is a

• (XANES) of the vanadium K-edge was carried out with synchrotron radiation at the beam line 16A, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Taiwan. The standard metal foil and V oxides (V2O5 and V2O3) powders were used as references. High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) was

• –vis absorption of V-Ti/MCM-41, and emission of (b) 200 W mercury arc lamp, (c) 300 W Xe lamp (extracted from [22]) and (d) AM1.5G filter [31]. The low-angle XRD pattern of V-Ti/MCM-41. The HRTEM images of V-Ti/MCM-41 photocatalyst. Summary of the V K-edge characterization of V-Ti/MCM-41 with

Chemi- vs physisorption in the radical functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes under microwaves

• Victor Mamane,
• Guillaume Mercier,
• Junidah Abdul Shukor,
• Jérôme Gleize,
• Aziz Azizan,
• Yves Fort and
• Brigitte Vigolo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 537–545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.63

• min, 10 min and 15 min (Scheme 1). After treatment, the obtained functionalized samples (f-SWNT-5min, f-SWNT-10min and f-SWNT-15min) were analyzed by dispersion tests, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy, and TGA–MS. Figure 1 shows photographs of the

• diameter dt is 1.34 nm as expected for arc-discharge produced SWNTs. The modification of the SWNT structure caused by functionalization is also revealed in the HRTEM images shown in Figure 2. For the raw sample, the walls of the SWNTs exhibit a low defect level (Figure 2b) and appear undamaged. After

• functionalization (Figure 2c and 2d), SWNT walls whose damages are difficult to identify in the images are observed. No significant difference between the three functionalized samples (including f-SWNT-5min, not shown in Figure 2) could be evidenced by using HRTEM. Functionalization levels and nature of the created

Mesoporous cerium oxide nanospheres for the visible-light driven photocatalytic degradation of dyes

• Subas K. Muduli,
• Songling Wang,
• Shi Chen,
• Chin Fan Ng,
• Cheng Hon Alfred Huan,
• Tze Chien Sum and
• Han Sen Soo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 517–523, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.60

• cerium oxide to obtain the band gap. (a) TEM and (b) HRTEM images of the mesoporous cerium oxide nanospheres. (c) Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm of the mesoporous cerium oxide nanospheres. Comparison of RhB concentrations over time at 554 nm, after photocatalytic degradation with mesoporous

• analyzer. The authors also thank Dr. Wei Fengxia for her assistance with HRTEM measurements and Dr. Sarifuddin Gazi for his help with EPR experiments.

Plasma-assisted synthesis and high-resolution characterization of anisotropic elemental and bimetallic core–shell magnetic nanoparticles

• M. Hennes,
• A. Lotnyk and
• S. G. Mayr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 466–475, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.54

• transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigation was done using a probe-Cs corrected FEI Titan3 G2 60-300 microscope operating at 300 kV acceleration voltage. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis was performed by using a FEI SuperX detector with high visibility low-background FEI holder. The data was

• , lattice plane separations in individual particles were assessed by analysing the FFT of HRTEM micrographs. In a first step, only the core of individual particles was taken into consideration. It was found to be polycrystalline and yielded results in agreement with Cu and Ni fcc phases (JCPDS: 04-0836 a

• shell consists of an oxygen-rich outer part of several nanometers thickness, which is in agreement with previous HRTEM bright field image results. Finally, the long-term stability of the samples has been analyzed. CS-NPs have therefore been stored for 12 months under ambient air conditions. Subsequent

One-step synthesis of high quality kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanocrystals – a hydrothermal approach

• Vincent Tiing Tiong,
• John Bell and
• Hongxia Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 438–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.51

• a JEOL JEM-1400 microscope. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) images were obtained using JEOL JEM-2100 microscope at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectrum of the sample was measured at room temperature using a

• observed, suggesting the highly purity of the synthesized CZTS material [19][20]. The morphology and particle size of the CZTS nanocrystals are shown in Figure 1c, which suggests the CZTS nanocrystals are monodisperse with crystal sizes around 10 ± 3 nm. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image in Figure 1d

• reaction duration are shown in Figure 6. Figure 6a illustrates that, prior to the hydrothermal process, the precipitate obtained from the precursor solution is consisting of microspheres with size around 20–250 nm. The HRTEM indicates that the microparticle is the result of aggregation of numerous oval

Dye-sensitized Pt@TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for the efficient photocatalytic generation of hydrogen

• Jun Fang,
• Lisha Yin,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Yusen Liao and
• Can Xue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 360–364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.41

• diameter of 30 nm, and the TiO2 shell thickness is around 60 nm. The HRTEM image (Figure 2C) indicates lattice distances of 0.228 nm and 0.341 nm, which correspond to the (111) spacing of the core Pt particle and the (101) spacing of the anatase TiO2 shell. The SEM image (Figure 2D) reveals that these core

• thermal conductivity detector (TCD). XRD patterns of Pt@TiO2 and Pt/TiO2 samples. TEM and SEM images of the Pt@TiO2 sample. (A) (B) TEM images of Pt@TiO2, (C) HRTEM images of Pt@TiO2, (D) SEM image of Pt@TiO2. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the Pt@TiO2 and Pt/TiO2 samples. The H2 yield from Pt@TiO2

Oriented attachment explains cobalt ferrite nanoparticle growth in bioinspired syntheses

• Annalena Wolff,
• Walid Hetaba,
• Marco Wißbrock,
• Stefan Löffler,
• Nadine Mill,
• Katrin Eckstädt,
• Axel Dreyer,
• Inga Ennen,
• Norbert Sewald,
• Peter Schattschneider and
• Andreas Hütten

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 210–218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.23

• primary-building-block-like substructures as well as mesocrystal-like structures, were observed in HRTEM measurements. These structures display regions of substantial orientation and possess the same shape and size as the resulting discs. An increase in orientation with time was observed in electron

• stages of the growth process using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and electron diffraction measurements. Results In this bioinspired synthesis, stoichiometric Co2FeO4 discs of hexagonal, diamond

• : one at Dsmall = 5–20 nm and a second one at Dlarge = 35 nm. Incomplete discs, as displayed in Figure 3d,e can be found in addition to the discs throughout the entire growth process. HRTEM measurements of an incomplete, irregularly-shaped particle (Figure 3e) reveal that it is composed of several

Preparation of NiS/ZnIn₂S₄ as a superior photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation

• Liang Wei,
• Yongjuan Chen,
• Jialin Zhao and
• Zhaohui Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 949–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.107

• successfully prepared via a facile two-step hydrothermal process. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Their photocatalytic performance

• were observed in the XRD patterns, the existence of NiS in the nanocomposite is confirmed by the HRTEM image (Figure 2c). Clear lattice fringes of 0.32 nm and 0.29 nm, which can be ascribed to the (102) plane of hexagonal ZnIn2S4 and the (300) plane of rhombohedral NiS respectively, can be observed. As

• Bruker D8 Advance X-ray diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images were measured by a JEOL model JEM 2010 EX instrument at an accelerating voltage of 200 kV. The powder particles were supported on a

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes from unprocessed colemanite

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 843–851, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.95

• imaging and spectroscopic techniques including SEM, TEM, HRTEM, FTIR, Raman, UV–vis. The impurity of the BNNTs was verified with ICP-MS and XRD. It was found that the metallic impurities could be removed from crude BNNTs by washing in a hot HCl solution. With this method, randomly oriented BNNTs with 10

• NH3, which is 450 °C. The decomposed NH3 has an important role in the synthesis of BNNT. It was observed that while the BNNTs were formed on top of the alumina boat, BNNT was not formed at the bottom of the reaction mixture (Figure 2f). TEM and HRTEM analysis The structure of BNNTs was further

• 6 nm (Figure 3e and f). The HRTEM image of the synthesized BNNT showed that the distance between the walls was 0.34 nm. We propose that the BNNTs are synthesized according to the base growth mechanism. In this mechanism, metallic Fe in a certain size forms from the Fe2O3 catalyst. This initial step

A facile synthesis of a carbon-encapsulated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite and its performance as anode in lithium-ion batteries

• Raju Prakash,
• Katharina Fanselau,
• Shuhua Ren,
• Tapan Kumar Mandal,
• Christian Kübel,
• Horst Hahn and
• Maximilian Fichtner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 699–704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.79

• bare Fe3O4 nanoparticles could also be observed (Figure S2 in Supporting Information File 1). Fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of various HRTEM images (of crystallites located inside or outside of carbon shells, see Figure S3 in Supporting Information File 1) reveal that the observed lattice

A nano-graphite cold cathode for an energy-efficient cathodoluminescent light source

• Alexander N. Obraztsov,
• Victor I. Kleshch and
• Elena A. Smolnikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 493–500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.58

• resolution imaging with transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron diffraction analysis [15] confirm this conclusion and indicate that these flakes consist of a few graphene layers (of 5 to 50) oriented predominantly perpendicular to the substrate surface (see Figure 4). The thickness of only a

• layers are connected with each other. In HRTEM images these connections look like arced structures at the top ends of the graphene layers (see Figure 4). This specific structure results from the material formation process in the plasma activated gaseous environment [13][14][15]. It is noteworthy that

• HRTEM images (Figure 4) clearly demonstrate the atomic structure for only a small range of depth in the focal plane. Consequently, we suppose that the pairing for each layer switches from one side to the other, preventing the mutual shift of the atomic layers. This greatly increases the mechanical

Nanoscopic surfactant behavior of the porin MspA in aqueous media

• Ayomi S. Perera,
• Hongwang Wang,
• Tej B. Shrestha,
• Deryl L. Troyer and
• Stefan H. Bossmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 278–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.30

• microscopy (TEM). The TEM were prepared by immersing carbon-coated 200-mesh copper grids in aqueous liposome-containing solutions, followed by counter-staining by 2% aqueous uranyl acetate solution, and overnight drying in a desiccator. The dried grids were analyzed by using a HRTEM FEI Tecnai F20 XT Field

Functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

• Eloise Van Hooijdonk,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Rony Snyders and
• Jean-François Colomer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 129–152, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.14

Low-dose patterning of platinum nanoclusters on carbon nanotubes by focused-electron-beam-induced deposition as studied by TEM

• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Sara Bals and
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 77–86, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.9

• the formation of a novel stripe-patterning of nanoclusters on the surface of the CNTs, which may open up new prospects of nanostructuring for applications in nanodevices dependent on the distribution of metal clusters. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high-angle annular

• proximity effect can be ignored and the site-specificity is achieved at the nanoscale. The irradiated and nonirradiated parts of the CNT are investigated by HRTEM (Figure 3c,d). We observe that the graphitic walls under the region covered by Pt nanoclusters (Figure 3c) show similar structure in comparison

• manually and visualized in the Amira software. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) of the as-deposited nanostructures is performed on the same microscope at 200 kV. Post treatment using electron-beam irradiation is, however, performed using a FEI Titan 80–300 microscope fitted with aberration-correctors for the

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

• ≤ 0.4). Coarse- and fine-tuning of the Sb concentration was achieved by selecting proper electrolyte composition and potential [60]. Figure 10 displays HRTEM images of 20−30 nm diameter nanowires deposited at U = −200 mV versus SCE and for different Sb concentrations in the electrolyte (c(Sb) = 0.01 (a

• evident by white lines in the HRTEM images (Figures 10a–d). XRD investigations on the preferred crystallographic orientation of Bi2Te3 and Bi1−xSbx nanowires grown in templates are described in references [58][60]. All experimental results reported so far clearly demonstrate that electrodeposition of

Physics, chemistry and biology of functional nanostructures

• Paul Ziemann and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 843–845, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.94

• (SHIM). Remarkable also are the breakthroughs in structural insight due to the advent of Cs-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) [3][4] or spectroscopic imaging in scanning TEM (STEM) [5]. Related to facilities, certainly the worldwide impressive progress of synchrotron

Towards atomic resolution in sodium titanate nanotubes using near-edge X-ray-absorption fine-structure spectromicroscopy combined with multichannel multiple-scattering calculations

• Carla Bittencourt,
• Peter Krüger,
• Maureen J. Lagos,
• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo,
• Chris Ewels,
• Polona Umek and
• Peter Guttmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 789–797, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.88

• 5000, equipped with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source. The relative amount of sodium was evaluated to be 12% in accordance with EDS (11%) [FE-SEM (Carl Zeiss, Supra 35 LV)]. TEM image of sodium titanate nanotubes (a) typical region used to record the NEXAFS–TXM data. (b) HRTEM image revealing the

• hollow core of these nanostructures (inset shows the interlayer spacing). (c–d) HRTEM images showing typical image contrast pattern associated with the scroll-like morphology. Note the number of layers in opposing tube walls is different in each case. (a) X-ray images at different photon energies E from

Influence of the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles on the optoelectronic performance of dry-deposited thin films

• Kimmo Mustonen,
• Toma Susi,
• Antti Kaskela,
• Patrik Laiho,
• Ying Tian,
• Albert G. Nasibulin and
• Esko I. Kauppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 692–702, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.79

• transmission electron microscope observation (HRTEM, double aberration-corrected JEOL JEM-2200FS) of the SWCNT bundle diameters (dbundle), a similar dry-transfer approach was implemented. Copper grids with holey-carbon coating were manually pressed against quartz substrates with the SWCNT networks