Electrostatic force spectroscopy revealing the degree of reduction of individual graphene oxide sheets

• Yue Shen,
• Ying Wang,
• Yuan Zhou,
• Chunxi Hai,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1146–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.106

• methods, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) [8][9], Raman spectroscopy [10], and UV–vis absorption spectra [11][12], reflect the average information of rGO materials. However, they cannot characterize an isolated rGO sheet at the nanoscale. Optical observation [13] and transmission electron

• reduced GO sheets for examples, we aim to evaluate the degree of reduction of individual rGO sheets at the nanoscale using EFS. Results and Discussion The thermal or chemical reduction of GO sheets was verified with XPS, UV–vis absorption spectra, and SPFM, as shown in Figure 1. The sample labels and the

• XPS peak magnitudes for carbon atoms bonded to oxygen have decreased, indicating that most of the oxygen groups have been removed [8][9][20]. From the XPS data, we observed an increase in the ratio of the carbon atoms in aromatic rings (C=C/C–C) to those bonded to oxygen after the chemical reduction

Cyclodextrin inhibits zinc corrosion by destabilizing point defect formation in the oxide layer

• Abdulrahman Altin,
• Maciej Krzywiecki,
• Adnan Sarfraz,
• Cigdem Toparli,
• Claudius Laska,
• Philipp Kerger,
• Aleksandar Zeradjanin,
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer,
• Michael Rohwerder and
• Andreas Erbe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 936–944, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.86

• to C–C/C–H, C–O–C/C–O and C–OH bonds [28], as expected for the chemical composition of β-CD. The latter two components are different from what is typically observed as adventitious carbon in XPS measurements after transfer through ambient air. Therefore, the resulting signal does not originate mainly

• shift for all energy regions [35], as opposed to what is observed. Since the XPS was not sensitive for the region of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of β-CD, this region was analyzed by UPS. Figure 3f presents the magnification of the low-energy onset of the UP spectra, which allows for

• assumption of a common EF of sample and electron energy analyzer, the photoemission data were used to construct the diagram showing the depth-dependent changes in the electronic structure of the sample (Figure 4). Two main probing depths were distinguished, the XPS sensitivity area at medium TOA, and the He

Nanoscale mapping of dielectric properties based on surface adhesion force measurements

• Ying Wang,
• Yue Shen,
• Xingya Wang,
• Zhiwei Shen,
• Bin Li,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 900–906, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.84

• a higher lateral resolution comparable to the conventional AFM modes. The dependence of the adhesion force under a biased AFM tip on the reduction degree of GO was also studied through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments. Figure 4a shows the average adhesion forces of the three

• to 10 V are 13.4 nN and 13.3 nN, respectively, which are very similar and almost five times larger than that of GO. Figure 4b–d shows XPS spectra of single-layered GO, CRGO, and TRGO, respectively, which reveal that the C/O ratios of GO increased from 1:1 to 3.3:1 and 3.2:1 after being chemically and

• samples were processed using the software Nanoscope Analysis v1.7. For each image, a first-order flatten correction was applied to remove sample inclination. The reduction extent of the GO was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, AXIS Ultra DLD, Kratos). Schematic representation of the

Effect of annealing treatments on CeO₂ grown on TiN and Si substrates by atomic layer deposition

• Silvia Vangelista,
• Rossella Piagge,
• Satu Ek and
• Alessio Lamperti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 890–899, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.83

• obtained by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements performed on a PHI 5600 instrument (Physics Electronics Inc.) equipped with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source (energy = 1486.6 eV) and a concentric hemispherical analyzer. The spectra were collected at a take-off angle of 45° and a band

• appear well ordered, as only in small regions of the film is possible to clearly recognize ordered planes, suggesting an incomplete crystallization. XPS analysis of the samples annealed at high temperature gives us insights on the off-stoichiometry of the oxide layers induced by the thermal treatment

• ) and O 1s (lower panel) XPS spectra of the CeO2/TiN sample annealed at 600 °C (Figure 4a) and of the CeO2/Si sample annealed at 900 °C (Figure 4b). The Ce 3d peak is characterized by the presence of six distinct satellites, which have been labelled in the figure in accordance with the literature [31

Facile chemical routes to mesoporous silver substrates for SERS analysis

• Elina A. Tastekova,
• Alexander Y. Polyakov,
• Anastasia E. Goldt,
• Alexander V. Sidorov,
• Alexandra A. Oshmyanskaya,
• Irina V. Sukhorukova,
• Dmitry V. Shtansky,
• Wolgang Grünert and
• Anastasia V. Grigorieva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 880–889, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.82

• maximum at 10–60 nm. The achieved value of the specific surface is rather high in comparison to similar materials based on metal silver [13]. The characteristic nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms are given on Figure S2, Supporting Information File 1. The XPS data were applied for analysis of the

• ) Ag2O/NaBH4 1:10. The reducing treatment time was 40 min for both the samples. (e) XRD data for pristine Ag2O (1) and reduction products at double excess of NaBH4 (2) and ten-fold excess of NaBH4 (3). (f) XPS spectra of silver mesoporous particles (mp-Ag) obtained in a Ag2O/NaBH4 1:10 ratio. SEM images

• measurements. 6. XPS survey spectra for mesoporous aggregates. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Dr. Ilya Sinev (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Prof. Eugene Goodilin, Prof. Vladimir Yu. Traskine, Prof. Elena A. Eremina, Prof. Kirill Napolskii, Dr. Gleb Yu. Alyoshin, Dr. Dmitry I. Petukhov, and our

Comparative study of antibacterial properties of polystyrene films with TiO_x and Cu nanoparticles fabricated using cluster beam technique

• Vladimir N. Popok,
• Cesarino M. Jeppesen,
• Peter Fojan,
• Anna Kuzminova,
• Jan Hanuš and
• Ondřej Kylián

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 861–869, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.80

• thin polymer film does not affect the morphology. Since Ti clusters were prepared in three different manners, they exhibit different compositions as confirmed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Ti NPs of type 1 immediately after the deposition demonstrate the peak at a binding energy

• of 453.7 eV, which corresponds to metallic Ti(O) (Figure 4a). Small contributions of titanium compounds (II, III, IV) to the Ti 2p bands in high-resolution XPS spectra (in total approximately 30%) are most likely due to the surface oxidation of Ti clusters that occurred during their transportation to

• XPS. Keeping the samples in ambient atmosphere leads to further oxidation and the properties of the particles become very similar to those of type 2 (oxidized by plasma immediately after the deposition). This follows from the antibacterial tests described below as well as from the optical

Noble metal-modified titania with visible-light activity for the decomposition of microorganisms

• Maya Endo,
• Zhishun Wei,
• Kunlei Wang,
• Baris Karabiyik,
• Kenta Yoshiiri,
• Paulina Rokicka,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Agata Markowska-Szczupak and
• Ewa Kowalska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 829–841, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.77

• were modified with silver and gold by photodeposition, and characterized by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). It was found that silver co-existed in zero valent (core) and

• number of ETs) induced the aggregation of NMNPs on its well-crystallized surface (Figure 1 (bottom)). It was found that silver formed smaller NPs than gold, as shown in Figure 1 (left and right, respectively). To investigate the surface properties of the deposited noble metals, XPS analysis was performed

• , and exemplary data are shown in Figure 2. XPS peaks of Au 4f7/2 and Ag 3d5/2 were assigned to two and/or three components, i.e., Auδ+, Au0 and Auδ− for binding energies (BE) of ca. 83.0, 82.5 and 82.0 eV, respectively, and Ag0, Ag+ and Ag2+ for BE of ca. 368.4, 367.4 and 366.3 eV, respectively. It was

Graphene composites with dental and biomedical applicability

• Sharali Malik,
• Felicite M. Ruddock,
• Adam H. Dowling,
• Kevin Byrne,
• Wolfgang Schmitt,
• Ivan Khalakhan,
• Yoshihiro Nemoto,
• Hongxuan Guo,
• Lok Kumar Shrestha,
• Katsuhiko Ariga and
• Jonathan P. Hill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 801–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.73

• profile) of the graphene material (MLG) before and (FLG) after heat-treatment in air at 500 °C for 2 h (ca. 10% volume loss of starting mass during heat-treatment). This resulted in the FLG material used in these experiments. The XPS analysis (Table 1) shows that the MLG and FLG materials have similar

• of 40 N/m. Image processing was carried out using the Nanoscope software. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed on a Theta Probe spectrometer (Thermo Electron Co., Germany) using monochromatic Al Kα radiation (photon energy of 15 keV with maximum energy resolution of

• fracture surface of GI composite made from FLG-polymer E. Change in mean compressive fracture strength with increasing graphene concentration. Change in mean compressive modulus with increasing graphene concentration. Chemical composition of MLG and FLG from XPS analysis. The mean dynamic viscosity

Facile synthesis of a ZnO–BiOI p–n nano-heterojunction with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Mengyuan Zhang,
• Jiaqian Qin,
• Pengfei Yu,
• Bing Zhang,
• Mingzhen Ma,
• Xinyu Zhang and
• Riping Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.72

• significant improvement in the degradation of rhodamine B under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation as compared to ZnO and BiOI. The obtained catalysts with a Zn/Bi ratio of 3:1 exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity. The band gap structure and charge transfer properties are investigated by XPS in

• , which is significantly improved from the pure BiOI (5.23 cm2/g) and ZnO (16 cm2/g) materials. This may lead ZnO/BiOI to have more active bonding sites than pure BiOI and ZnO, which is beneficial for the photodegradation activity. Chemical state analysis X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried

• out for the chemical composition and valence state analysis of various species. The foreign impurity C at 284.6 eV is used to calibrate peak positions in all the XPS results. High-resolution narrow-scan spectra of O, Bi, Zn and I are also conducted for the study of surface chemical state in detail

A review of carbon-based and non-carbon-based catalyst supports for the selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide

• Shahreen Binti Izwan Anthonysamy,
• Syahidah Binti Afandi,
• Mehrnoush Khavarian and
• Abdul Rahman Bin Mohamed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 740–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.68

• following [49]. In particular, the catalyst active phases before and after SCR-NH3 reaction are typically characterised by: atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) temperature-programmed reduction

• that the active component was highly dispersed onto the TiO2 and CNT surface because the copper oxide was not detectable by XRD measurements. CNTs play a significant role in the catalyst structure, as they promote the distribution of metal oxides. The XPS analysis shows that the intensity peak of Cu

• desorption peaks can be observed in CeO2/CNT-PT, signifying that the amount of NH3 adsorbed on the surface of CeO2/CNT-PT is greater than on CeO2/CNT-IM and CeO2/CNT-PM [80][81]. Meanwhile, the XPS analysis indicates that there was more oxygen surface vacancy in the CeO2/CNT-PT catalyst, thus, enhancing the

The effect of atmospheric doping on pressure-dependent Raman scattering in supported graphene

• Egor A. Kolesov,
• Mikhail S. Tivanov,
• Olga V. Korolik,
• Olesya O. Kapitanova,
• Xiao Fu,
• Hak Dong Cho,
• Tae Won Kang and
• Gennady N Panin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 704–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.65

• pronounced after the transfer. For doped graphene (1.11% of nitrogen from XPS data), the D band intensity increases compared to pristine graphene, the second disorder-induced peak (the D’ band) also becomes evident, the G peak position is upshifted by ≈3 cm−1, while the 2D peak is about normal, naturally

• . 2017R1D1A1B03035102 and the International Research and Development program of NRF funded by the MEST (2017R1D1A1B03032759). The authors of this work are grateful to Ivan A. Svito for his help in organizing the experiment, and Prof. L.V. Yashina and Ph.D. Student A. I. Belova for XPS studies of nitrogen-doped graphene

Anchoring Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in a reduced graphene oxide aerogel matrix via polydopamine coating

• Błażej Scheibe,
• Radosław Mrówczyński,
• Natalia Michalak,
• Karol Załęski,
• Michał Matczak,
• Mateusz Kempiński,
• Zuzanna Pietralik,
• Mikołaj Lewandowski,
• Stefan Jurga and
• Feliks Stobiecki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 591–601, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.55

• of PDA@Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Figure S3 in Supporting Information File 1), were not observed for the aerogel sample [38]. The chemical composition of the samples was studied using XPS. The survey spectra, shown in Figure 5b, revealed the presence of C, O and N (in all the samples), as well as Fe (in

• the addition of carbon-containing polydopamine coating, while differences in the observed amount of Fe were rationalized in terms of surface sensitivity of XPS, resulting in a higher Fe signal when probing Fe3O4 directly and a lower signal when probing the oxide through a PDA coating. The presence of

• Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (Bruker Optics, TENSOR 27) equipped with a MCT detector and globar source. The chemical composition of the samples was studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The measurements were performed in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber using a

Fabrication and photoactivity of ionic liquid–TiO₂ structures for efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in aqueous phase

• Anna Gołąbiewska,
• Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron,
• Aleksandra Sadzińska,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewelina Grabowska,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Justyna Łuczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 580–590, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.54

• photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning transmission microscopy (STEM) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area method, whereas the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of phenol in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation (λ > 420

• physicochemical and photocatalytic properties, is shown in Table 1. To understand the nature of the visible-light-induced activity (IL:TBOT molar ratio equal to 1:3 and 1:10), the photocatalysts possessing the highest and lowest activity have been selected for further detailed study (SEM, XPS and XRD). Moreover

• this context, XPS measurements have been chosen to analyze the surface of the IL–TiO2 composites. Both [ODMIM][Cl]–TiO2 and [TDMIM][Cl]–TiO2 samples modified with a IL:TBOT molar ratio of 1:3 and 1:10 were investigated. The elemental surface composition of all IL–TiO2 specimens analyzed is shown in

Electron interactions with the heteronuclear carbonyl precursor H₂FeRu₃(CO)₁₃ and comparison with HFeCo₃(CO)₁₂: from fundamental gas phase and surface science studies to focused electron beam induced deposition

• Ragesh Kumar T P,
• Paul Weirich,
• Lukas Hrachowina,
• Marc Hanefeld,
• Ragnar Bjornsson,
• Helgi Rafn Hrodmarsson,
• Sven Barth,
• D. Howard Fairbrother,
• Michael Huth and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 555–579, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.53

• molecules in FEBID, UHV-surface science studies have been performed, in which nanoscale thin films of precursor molecules adsorbed onto inert substrates were irradiated with 500 eV electrons. Changes in the composition and bonding in the film have been analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS

• monitored in situ by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry. Figure 9 shows the evolution of the O 1s, Fe 2p and Ru 3d/C 1s XPS regions of a nanometer-thick film of H2FeRu3(CO)13 adsorbed onto a gold substrate at 213 K, plotted as a function of increasing electron dose. Area analysis

• , respectively [78][79]. Electron irradiation produces a significant decrease in intensity within the O 1s XPS region for electron doses <≈5 × 1016 e−/cm2, although thereafter it remains relatively constant in peak position and intensity. During the course of irradiation there is no evidence of oxide formation

Single-step process to improve the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube yarn

• Maria Cecilia Evora,
• Xinyi Lu,
• Nitilaksha Hiremath,
• Nam-Goo Kang,
• Kunlun Hong,
• Roberto Uribe,
• Gajanan Bhat and
• Jimmy Mays

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 545–554, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.52

• by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The best improvement in mechanical properties was achieved on a sample treated with an aqueous solution of AA and subsequent irradiation. CNT yarn treatment with AA enhanced the strength (444.5

• . Characterization Surface chemical composition and bonding were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) using a Thermo Scientific K-Alpha instrument. The K-Alpha uses Al Kα X-rays focused to a spot 400 μm in diameter. Emitted photoelectrons were energy analyzed using a 180° double focusing hemispherical

• device, which uses both low energy Ar ions and low-energy electrons. Data were collected and analyzed using the Advantage data system (v.4.61). XPS survey spectra were collected from 0 to 1350 eV. Raman analyses were carried out in a Horiba Jobin-Yvon T64000 Raman spectrometer equipped with a Peltier

Ultralight super-hydrophobic carbon aerogels based on cellulose nanofibers/poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene oxide (CNFs/PVA/GO) for highly effective oil–water separation

• Zhaoyang Xu,
• Huan Zhou,
• Sicong Tan,
• Xiangdong Jiang,
• Weibing Wu,
• Jiangtao Shi and
• Peng Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 508–519, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.49

• , Q 50 TA Instruments, USA). The X-ray photoelectron spectrometry spectra results were carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, AXIS UltraDLD, USA). The absorption capacity of the CNF/PVA/GO carbon aerogels was measured by immersing the carbon aerogels into various organic reagents and

Influence of the preparation method on the photocatalytic activity of Nd-modified TiO₂

• Patrycja Parnicka,
• Paweł Mazierski,
• Tomasz Grzyb,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewa Kowalska,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Joanna Nadolna

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 447–459, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.43

• (SHT) methods. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), luminescence spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the

• photocatalyst for the degradation of phenol and toluene under visible light. XPS analysis revealed that the photocatalyst prepared via HT method contains a three-times higher amount of hydroxy groups at the surface layer and a two-times higher amount of surface defects than that obtained by the SHT method. The

• than, which also affects the luminescence [43]. The XPS results showed a lower concentration of Nd3+ ions in the sample prepared by the HT method, which may be another factor responsible for its reduced emission (see below in Table 2). Furthermore, the carbon content determined by XPS is the highest

Engineering of oriented carbon nanotubes in composite materials

• Razieh Beigmoradi,
• Abdolreza Samimi and
• Davod Mohebbi-Kalhori

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 415–435, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.41

• ]) effects on the application and quality of composites. For this aim, many techniques have been developed such as Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Raman spectroscopy: Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool to identify and quantify

• spectroscopy: The XPS technique does not explore the whole sample volume but rather provides information about the chemical composition of the CNT surface [144][145]. XPS suffers from surface charge artifacts, so correct sample preparation is crucial to achieve a flat and uncontaminated surface. Despite the

Electron interaction with copper(II) carboxylate compounds

• Michal Lacko,
• Peter Papp,
• Iwona B. Szymańska,
• Edward Szłyk and
• Štefan Matejčík

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 384–398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.38

• metal complex. In this work, acetylacetone was studied under electron impact and it was concluded from gas phase experiments that radicals released by electron-induced fragmentation react with intact molecules to produce a non-volatile residue that was detected using XPS. These results emphasize that

Sugarcane juice derived carbon dot–graphitic carbon nitride composites for bisphenol A degradation under sunlight irradiation

• Lan Ching Sim,
• Jing Lin Wong,
• Chen Hong Hak,
• Jun Yan Tai,
• Kah Hon Leong and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 353–363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.35

• urea and sugarcane juice as starting materials. The chemical composition, morphological structure and optical properties of the composites and CDs were characterized using various spectroscopic techniques as well as transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results

• (PL), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), etc. The influence of the weight percentage of CDs and a scavenging experiment were carried out to illustrate the potential degradation mechanisms. Overall, the incorporation of CDs into g-C3N4 was efficient towards

• and it was concluded that CDs are favorable for the separation of charge carriers, but the increasing concentration of CDs could lead to inefficiency of charge separation [46]. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis The XPS spectra in Figure 4a–c reveal the surface composition and chemical

BN/Ag hybrid nanomaterials with petal-like surfaces as catalysts and antibacterial agents

• Konstantin L. Firestein,
• Denis V. Leybo,
• Alexander E. Steinman,
• Andrey M. Kovalskii,
• Andrei T. Matveev,
• Anton M. Manakhov,
• Irina V. Sukhorukova,
• Pavel V. Slukin,
• Nadezda K. Fursova,
• Sergey G. Ignatov,
• Dmitri V. Golberg and
• Dmitry V. Shtansky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 250–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.27

• spectroscopy (XPS), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). They were also characterized in terms of thermal stability, Ag+ ion release, catalytic and antibacterial activities. The materials synthesized via UV decomposition of AgNO3 demonstrated a much better catalytic activity in comparison to those prepared using

• gave the following Ag contents: CVD BN/Ag HNMs – 1.5 wt %, UV BN/Ag HNMs – 2.4 wt %. To shed a light on surface chemistry of BN/Ag HNMs and to also understand how it changes during heating in the oxidizing atmosphere, we have performed XPS analysis of UV BN/Ag HNMs before and after annealing in air at

• 500 °C for 1 h. The results of XPS measurements are shown in Table 1. The analysis revealed that BN was the main phase, as evidenced by the BN component at the binding energy (BE) of 190.2 eV at a concentration of 71.8 ± 4.0%, as determined after B 1s curve-fitting (Figure 3a). Note also the presence

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• with carbon using a Polaron CC7650 Carbon Coater, or, alternatively, deposited directly on the carbon glue pad using PLANOCARBON and sputtered with Pd/Au using a SC7620 Mini Sputter Coater. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were done on a K-Alpha+ XPS instrument (Thermo Fisher

• File 1 summarizes the XPS binding energies, assignments to the respective binding partners, and atomic concentrations for the samples TS_Au2.5 and TPS_Au2.5. The chemical composition of all materials is fairly similar except for the fractions of Au and Ti. TS_Au2.5 has a higher amount of Au (2.2 atom

• % vs 1.2 atom %) whereas the amount of titanium (and hence TiO2) is lower (0.2 vs 2.1 atom %). Conversely, the Au content is lower in TPS_Au2.5 and the TiO2 content is higher. Furthermore, XPS sputter depth profiles were acquired to obtain information on the chemical composition of the samples vs depth

Co-reductive fabrication of carbon nanodots with high quantum yield for bioimaging of bacteria

• Jiajun Wang,
• Xia Liu,
• Gesmi Milcovich,
• Tzu-Yu Chen,
• Edel Durack,
• Sarah Mallen,
• Yongming Ruan,
• Xuexiang Weng and
• Sarah P. Hudson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 137–145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.16

• have additional –NH3+ and sulphur-containing groups, such as S–H and C–S. The weak peak at 1665 cm−1 of Sb indicates an effective reduction of C=O groups. The chemical composition of the C-dots was further characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Figure 4). The C 1s spectra can be

• ]. Overall, XPS and FT-IR results further confirm higher conjugated sp2 C structures in sample Sb, leading to an enhanced fluorescence intensity. Carbon nanodots as fluorescent probes for bacteria bioimaging To explore the potential applications of the high QY C-dots, the highest QY C-dots, Sb, were selected

• spectroscopy (XPS), using a K-Alpha XPS spectrometer (Scientific Escalab 250) with an Al Kα X-ray radiation (1486.6 eV) source for excitation. UV–vis absorption spectra of the samples were recorded on a Perkin Elmer Lambda 950 spectrophotometer. FT-IR was conducted at room temperature on a Nicolet 670

Facile synthesis of silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN) plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic performance

• Xinfu Zhao,
• Dairong Chen,
• Abdul Qayum,
• Bo Chen and
• Xiuling Jiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2781–2789, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.277

• same time, but it cannot be distinguished from the TEM image. So the XPS spectra of the samples obtained with and without N2H4·H2O were compared (Figure 4a). As to the AgSCN nanostructures formed without N2H4·H2O, the bonding energy of Ag 3d3/2 and Ag 3d5/2 located at 373.35 eV and 367.8 eV with a

• ) diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) were recorded on an Agilent Cary 100 UV–vis spectrophotometer coupled to an integrating sphere with BaSO4 as reference. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were recorded on a Perkin-Elmer PHI-5300 ESCA spectrometer with a pass energy of 35.75 eV and an Al Kα line excitation

• M2. TEM images of precipitated samples formed after addition of the AgNO3 solution after (a) 2 min, (b) 6 min, (c) 10 min, and (d) 20 min. (a) XPS spectra of M0 and M1; (b) XPS peaks of Ag 3d5/2 and Ag 3d3/2 of M1. (a) Photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline over M0, M1, M2, M3, M4, M5. (b

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• varied from 0.5 to 5 wt %. The CdSe/TiO2 heterostructured materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, XPS, UV–visible spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. TEM images and XRD patterns show that CdSe NRs with wurtzite structure are associated to TiO2 particles. The UV–visible spectra demonstrate that

• temperature using Cu Kα radiation (λ = 0.15418 nm). XPS analysis was conducted on a Gammadata Scienta (Uppsala, Sweden) SES 200-2 spectrometer under ultra-high vacuum conditions (P < 10−9 mbar). For all peak fitting procedures the CASA XPS software (Casa Software Ltd, Teignmouth, UK, http://www.casaxps.com

• %)/TiO2 composite was studied by XPS. The high-resolution spectra of the elements Cd 3d5/2, Se 3p3/2, Cd 3p1/2, Ti 2p and O 1s in the CdSe (2 wt %)/TiO2 composite are provided in Figure 5. The signals of Ti 2p3/2, Ti 2p1/2, O 1s (lattice oxygen atoms), and O 1s (surface hydroxyl groups) appear at 458.74