Biological and biomimetic materials and surfaces

• Stanislav Gorb and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 403–407, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.42

• exaggeration one can say that Lotus-Effect® surfaces, together with fasteners inspired by gecko attachment structures, can be considered as “flagships” of contemporary surface-related biomimetic research. Still today questions related to these effects are the topic of novel state-of-the-art studies in the

• , attachment and prey catching systems, reproductive, folding and feeding systems, as well as in traumatic reproductive systems [14]. The diets of marine zooplanktonic copepod crustaceans comprise a large proportion of the diatom taxa whose silicified shells exhibit extremely impressive mechanical stability

• smooth vertical surfaces and ceilings. The functioning of the pads depends on various environmental factors. Heepe et al. showed that the attachment performance of the beetle Coccinella septempunctata depends on the relative humidity. The authors demonstrated that both low (15%) and high (99

Comparison of four methods for the biofunctionalization of gold nanorods by the introduction of sulfhydryl groups to antibodies

• Xuefeng Wang,
• Zhong Mei,
• Yanyan Wang and
• Liang Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 372–380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.39

• the four modified anti-IgG (Figure S4, Supporting Information File 1). Thus, functionalizing GNRs by directly introducing thiol groups to antibodies using functional cross-linkers such as Traut’s reagent, DTT, and PEG6-CONHNH2 is more efficient; attachment to thiol groups via an amide bond is also

Selective photodissociation of tailored molecular tags as a tool for quantum optics

• Ugur Sezer,
• Philipp Geyer,
• Moritz Kriegleder,
• Maxime Debiossac,
• Armin Shayeghi,
• Markus Arndt,
• Lukas Felix and
• Marcel Mayor

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 325–333, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.35

• gratings based on photocleavable subunits is presented. For that purpose, we have designed, synthesized and characterized a molecular tag based on a 2-(phenoxymethyl)-1-nitrobenzene motive comprising an ethynyl group enabling its modular attachment by covalent coupling chemistry. The covalent attachment

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• oriented attachment of nanoparticles and specific adsorption of the aminosilane on crystallographic faces of anatase nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were functionalized in situ and became hydrophobic as silanes reacted to form covalent bonds on the surface of TiO2. The versatility of the aqueous synthesis

• 700 °C leads to the formation of a nanometric amorphous SiO2 layer, preventing growth and phase transition of the in situ functionalized nanoparticles. Keywords: core–shell nanoparticles; functionalized nanoparticles; hydrothermal synthesis; oriented attachment; silane coupling agent; Introduction

• nm and a narrow size distribution. Samples functionalized with aminosilane (Figure 3c,d) exhibit similar nanoparticles, but also larger rod-like nanoparticles. Similar crystallite size and roughness of the rod-like nanostructures suggest that they are formed by oriented attachment [31] of the

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

• -assembled monolayer and a sulfonate-terminated polyelectrolyte multilayer) on the deposition and therefore on the piezoelectric performance was investigated. While the low negative charge of the COOH-SAM is not able to support oriented attachment of the particles, the strongly negatively charged sulfonated

• , electrostatic attraction promotes attachment of the ZnO particles. On the other hand, non-polar molecules inhibit adsorption and film growth. In this way the growth and morphology of the films can be easily controlled [27][28][29]. Moreover, it is possible to achieve site-selective growth of ZnO by using two

• composite nacre with its remarkable mechanical stability [37]. The growth of the inorganic, polycrystalline aragonite platelets is directed by biopolymers. This organic template leads to oriented attachment of the CaCO3 crystallites so that a preferred orientation along the c-axis arises [38]. According to

Comparison of four functionalization methods of gold nanoparticles for enhancing the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

• Paula Ciaurriz,
• Fátima Fernández,
• Edurne Tellechea,
• Jose F. Moran and
• Aaron C. Asensio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 244–253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.27

• of free amine groups (few lysine amino acid residues) compared to the antibody molecule. The lower availability of free amino groups could hamper the attachment of peroxidase in the covalent strategy (Figure 1c), although more experiments should be performed to confirm this. Consequently, this would

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

• removal of chlorine ions in the liquid phase. Finally, a thermal treatment at 120 °C for 2 h allowed us to maintain hydroxyl (–OH) groups on the oxide surface in order to permit the attachment of Pd NPs during the electrochemical deposition process [45]. Electrochemical decoration of ZnO by Pd NPs Pd@ZnO

Structural and tribometric characterization of biomimetically inspired synthetic "insect adhesives"

• Matthias W. Speidel,
• Malte Kleemeier,
• Andreas Hartwig,
• Klaus Rischka,
• Angelika Ellermann,
• Rolf Daniels and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 45–63, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.6

• of emulsions appears over-large in terms of the necessity to create reversible attachment structures mimicking insect attachment structures employed in locomotion (this holds true all the more, since we have tested the adhesive strength of the fluids between two rigid plates that show no distortion

• sufficiently high adhesion ([49] and Figure 6 in [50]). Hence, a comparison of both the chemical composition of the glue and the viscoelastic behaviour of the pad cuticle involved in this system with those deployed in tarsal attachment would be of interest. Friction In dynamic attachment situations such as

• adhesive fluid-mediated insect locomotion, attachment forces are largely determined by the viscosity of the fluid, because of its influence on the shear stress generated during friction. High viscosity fluids should therefore be avoided during locomotion, because this would be counterproductive for the

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

• Niall Crawford,
• Thomas Endlein,
• Jonathan T. Pham,
• Mathis Riehle and
• W. Jon P. Barnes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2116–2131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.201

• abrasion of the pad epithelium. Here, we tested the effect of surface roughness on the attachment abilities of the tree frog Litoria caerulea. This was done by testing shear and adhesive forces on artificial surfaces with controlled roughness, both on single toe pads and whole animal scales. It was shown

• specialised morphology allow the tree frogs to climb smooth vertical and overhanging surfaces. The attachment ability of tree frogs is affected by both surface chemistry and surface roughness. Hydrophobic leaves (such as those on lotus leaves [4]), could affect the capillary forces produced by the pad (which

• ) was used to view the pad surface and observe how well it conformed to single asperities (glass beads) of different sizes by measuring the height profile of the pad conforming around particles, and observing at what asperity size air bubbles initially appeared. Results Attachment abilities of free

From iron coordination compounds to metal oxide nanoparticles

• Mihail Iacob,
• Carmen Racles,
• Codrin Tugui,
• George Stiubianu,
• Adrian Bele,
• Liviu Sacarescu,
• Daniel Timpu and
• Maria Cazacu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2074–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.198

• important advantage of chemical methods for preparing nanoparticles lies in the use of different stabilizing agents [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] which provide a number of advantages such as stability, dispersibility and compatibility with different backgrounds. The attachment of various

A novel electrochemical nanobiosensor for the ultrasensitive and specific detection of femtomolar-level gastric cancer biomarker miRNA-106a

• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Kobra Omidfar and
• Hossein Ghanbarian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2023–2036, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.193

• streptavidin–biotin approach was also used to immobilize P2 on the electrode surface. For this purpose, the SPCEs were modified by physical attachment of streptavidin and immobilization of biotinylated P2. Topology alterations occurred on the SPCE surface during mentioned modifications were explored using AFM

A dioxaborine cyanine dye as a photoluminescence probe for sensing carbon nanotubes

• Mohammed Al Araimi,
• Petro Lutsyk,
• Anatoly Verbitsky,
• Yuri Piryatinski,
• Mykola Shandura and
• Aleksey Rozhin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1991–1999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.190

• -covalent attachment of the dye to the nanotube results in the efficient RET at the excitation wavelength in the range of 700–760 nm and a strong redshift of the E11 levels (to E*11) in the NIR range (Table 1). The excitation energy of DOB-719 in this range (EDye) is transferred to the SWNT levels (E*11

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

• involved clay [12][19][20]. Interestingly, the heterostructures described here exhibit advantages, such as a larger specific surface area, over related materials prepared by the direct attachment of metal oxide NP to the clay without incorporation of silica NP [22]. Moreover, the investigation on the

“Sticky invasion” – the physical properties of Plantago lanceolata L. seed mucilage

• Agnieszka Kreitschitz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1918–1927, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.183

• friction in its fully hydrated condition. Cellulose mucilage demonstrated weaker adhesive and frictional properties than the pectic type but it still indicates an effective system promoting zoochoric dispersal and/or attachment to the substratum (soil). As the P. lanceolata seed mucilage represents a

Low temperature co-fired ceramic packaging of CMOS capacitive sensor chip towards cell viability monitoring

• Niina Halonen,
• Joni Kilpijärvi,
• Maciej Sobocinski,
• Timir Datta-Chaudhuri,
• Antti Hassinen,
• Someshekar B. Prakash,
• Peter Möller,
• Pamela Abshire,
• Sakari Kellokumpu and
• Anita Lloyd Spetz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1871–1877, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.179

• effects on cells caused by nanomaterials, preferably by label-free, noninvasive, fast, and cost effective methods. These requirements can be met by monitoring cell viability with a capacitance-sensing integrated circuit (IC) microchip. The capacitance provides a measurement of the surface attachment of

• capacitance sensing and the intention is to develop a method for nanoparticle exposure of cells to establish cytotoxicity assessment of nanomaterials. Capacitance measurements reflect the surface attachment of adherent cells. While healthy cells attach to the cultivation surface and spread out, dying cells

• plate. For alignment a flip-chip bonder was used. An epoxy underfill (EPO-TEK, 302-3M) was applied around the bumps and cured at 65 °C, to provide a seal between the chip and the LTCC against the liquid as well as additional attachment strength. To hold the fluid over the sensor surface, the same

Hydrophilic silver nanoparticles with tunable optical properties: application for the detection of heavy metals in water

• Paolo Prosposito,
• Federico Mochi,
• Erica Ciotta,
• Mauro Casalboni,
• Fabio De Matteis,
• Iole Venditti,
• Laura Fontana,
• Giovanna Testa and
• Ilaria Fratoddi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1654–1661, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.157

• the Smolukovsky equation [55]. The scanning tunneling microscope (Tops System, WA Technology) consists of a UHV attachment with an antivibration stacking and a piezoelectric tube with 2 mm maximum scanning area for the tip movement. The lateral resolution of the microscope is ±1 Å and the accuracy in

Biomechanics of selected arborescent and shrubby monocotyledons

• Tom Masselter,
• Tobias Haushahn,
• Samuel Fink and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1602–1619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.154

• high values of axial Young’s modulus in tissues of the young shrub-like plants Draceana surculosa and D. reflexa are interpreted as a response to the increased “need” for higher bending stiffness of (1) their slender stems and (2) in the regions of stem branch–attachment. This is because Draceana

Surface roughness rather than surface chemistry essentially affects insect adhesion

• Matt W. England,
• Tomoya Sato,
• Makoto Yagihashi,
• Atsushi Hozumi,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Elena V. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1471–1479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.139

• , Atsuta, Nagoya 456-0058, Japan Zoological Institute: Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 9, D - 24118 Kiel, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.7.139 Abstract The attachment ability of ladybird beetles Coccinella septempunctata was systematically investigated on eight types

• attachment of the beetles. Surface roughness was found to be the dominant factor, strongly affecting the attachment ability of the beetles. Keywords: insect attachment; superhydrophilicity; superhydrophobicity; superoleophobicity; surface structures; Introduction The development of functional coatings that

• . Certain of these natural surfaces can effectively prevent wetting by water, while simultaneously protecting against attachment by insects by taking advantage of the same or very similar surface features [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Unfortunately, these natural anti-attachment properties have received

Influence of ambient humidity on the attachment ability of ladybird beetles (Coccinella septempunctata)

• Lars Heepe,
• Jonas O. Wolff and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1322–1329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.123

• tarsal soles of tenent setae, supplemented with an adhesive fluid. We studied the attachment ability of the seven-spotted ladybird beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) at different humidities by horizontal traction experiments. We found that both low (15%) and high (99%) relative humidities lead to a

• decrease of attachment ability. The significantly highest attachment forces were revealed at 60% humidity. This relationship was found both in female and male beetles, despite of a deviating structure of adhesive setae and a significant difference in forces between sexes. These findings demonstrate that

• not only dry adhesive setae are affected by ambient humidity, but also setae that stick due to the capillarity of an oily secretion. Keywords: adhesion; beetle; biomechanics; force measurement; friction; insect; locomotion; surface; Introduction Substrate attachment plays an important role in the

Functional diversity of resilin in Arthropoda

• Jan Michels,
• Esther Appel and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1241–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.115

• energy in jumping and catapulting systems, the enhancement of adaptability to uneven surfaces in attachment and prey catching systems, the reduction of fatigue and damage in reproductive, folding and feeding systems and the sealing of wounds in a traumatic reproductive system. In addition, resilin is

• structures where this protein has a number of different functions, which include (1) the storage of elastic energy in jumping systems [15][16][17][18][19][20], (2) the reduction of fatigue in folding wings of beetles and dermapterans [21][22], (3) the enhancement of the adaptability of attachment pads to

• proximal distribution of the maximum spanwise bending stress at the beginning of each stroke cycle and suggests that the resilin patches reduce the risk of breaking near the wing hinge due to a decrease in peak stress in the rigid wing parts [77]. Attachment systems The contact formation of insect adhesive

Tunable longitudinal modes in extended silver nanoparticle assemblies

• Serene S. Bayram,
• Klas Lindfors and
• Amy Szuchmacher Blum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1219–1228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.113

• . Linear aggregates are obtained by restricting the attachment point of a new particle to within a narrow solid angle defined by the growing chain. When the allowed solid angle is large, dense, isotropic aggregates are obtained. Figure 2B shows the absorption spectra for chains with length ranging from 1

• from a single seed particle. The attachment point of a new particle was chosen randomly on the surface of the particle at the end of the chain. If the chosen point resulted in two particles intersecting each other a new random location was chosen. To study the influence of the aggregate shape on the

• extinction spectrum, the allowed attachment points of a new particle were restricted to within a solid angle around the direction defined by earlier particles in the chain. Both the size of the solid angle and the length of the chain segment defining the reference growth direction were used as parameters in

Influence of synthesis conditions on microstructure and phase transformations of annealed Sr₂FeMoO_6−x nanopowders formed by the citrate–gel method

• Marta Yarmolich,
• Nikolai Kalanda,
• Sergey Demyanov,
• Herman Terryn,
• Jon Ustarroz,
• Maksim Silibin and
• Gennadii Gorokh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1202–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.111

• were determined by X-ray diffraction in a Siemens D5000 diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation (Bragg–Brentano para-focusing geometry and vertical θ–θ goniometer) equipped with a grazing incidence (ω = 1.7°) attachment for thin film analysis and a scintillation counter as a detector. The data were

Reasons and remedies for the agglomeration of multilayered graphene and carbon nanotubes in polymers

• Rasheed Atif and
• Fawad Inam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1174–1196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.109

• ) physical or non-covalent functionalization [40]. The different methods for the functionalization of MLG and CNTs have been summarized in Table 2. Chemical or covalent functionalization: Chemical functionalization of CNTs is the attachment of chemical groups either at the ends or at the sidewalls [55][57

Photocurrent generation in carbon nanotube/cubic-phase HfO₂ nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites

• Protima Rauwel,
• Augustinas Galeckas,
• Martin Salumaa,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Erwan Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1075–1085, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.101

• their own show a tendency to agglomerate [20]. The MWCNTs used in this study exhibited kinks, coils and buckling. In Figure 1a, an overview of the hybrid material shows successful attachment of the nanoparticles to the CNT. The cubic HfO2 nanoparticles exhibit an average diameter of 2.6 nm [20]. In the

• that according to literature reports, attachment of nanoparticles to the sidewalls of MWCNTs appears to be only possible via functionalization of the sidewalls. In our case, no functionalization has taken place, nor in the image do we observe the presence of curved regions or topological defects that

• around 2.5 eV is usually attributed to deep-level traps generated by oxygen vacancies, whereas the prominent emission component centered at 3.1 eV is related to Hf3+ defects on the surface of the nanoparticles. The attachment of the nanoparticles to a CNT not only provides a conducting pathway to

Customized MFM probes with high lateral resolution

• Óscar Iglesias-Freire,
• Miriam Jaafar,
• Eider Berganza and
• Agustina Asenjo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1068–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.100

• , either by using focused ion beam (FIB) milled tips [1][2], electron beam deposited tips [3][4] or stencil-deposited metal dots onto an AFM tip [5]. Following a different approach, probes with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been fabricated for MFM imaging either by mechanical attachment [6][7][8] or direct