Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• channel structures. A faster, one-step technique for growing gold nanowires at the tips of commercial conductive AFM is proposed compared to the above methods. Bakhti et al. [35] grew gold nanowires at the tips of conductive AFM nanoprobes by electroreduction direct deposition based on the deposition of

• target nanotubes to Si tips under scanning electron microscopy; and attaching nanotubes to Si tips by carbon deposition. The strong adhesion of carbon deposition produces nanotube tips capable of surviving multiple surface collisions. The ability to image the fine structure of double-stranded DNA

• assembly methods, direct growth of carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) allows for increased bond strength between CNT tips and AFM probes. A pore growth method was used by Hafner et al. [42]. The method uses AFM imaging in contact mode to flatten the silicon tip, followed by hydrogen

Role of titanium and organic precursors in molecular layer deposition of “titanicone” hybrid materials

• Arbresha Muriqi and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1240–1255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.103

• Arbresha Muriqi Michael Nolan Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, T12 R5CP Cork, Ireland 10.3762/bjnano.13.103 Abstract The development of hybrid inorganic–organic films with well-controlled properties is important for many applications. Molecular layer deposition

• (MLD) allows the deposition of these hybrid films using sequential, self-limiting reactions, similar to atomic layer deposition (ALD). In this paper, we use first principles density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the growth mechanism of titanium-containing hybrid organic–inorganic MLD films

• growth could be achieved. Keywords: density functional theory (DFT) studies; double reactions; surface chemistry; titanicone; Introduction Molecular layer deposition (MLD), a thin film deposition technique, has attracted significant attention in recent years as a suitable approach for the deposition of

Design of surface nanostructures for chirality sensing based on quartz crystal microbalance

• Yinglin Ma,
• Xiangyun Xiao and
• Qingmin Ji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1201–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.100

• -coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) layer on the surface of an electrode [48]. By controlling the deposition conditions, a stable layer with a high loading amount of MIP nanoparticles could be obtained, which would allow for the detection limit of propranolol to be 2 nmol·cm−2 or approx. 1 × 1015

• (CH3)2}4] on SAMs of chiral molecules by using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique [120]. The specific selection effect was verified by QCM measurements using valine (Val) as the target analyte. The TiO2-SAMs films were shown to preferentially adsorb ᴅ-Val, suggesting a reliable chiral selector

• deposition (MLD) using diethylzinc (DEZn) as the inorganic precursor and Cys enantiomer as the chiral organic precursor [122]. The Zn/Cys nanostructures showed a size of 15 nm and could tightly aggregate into a homogeneous and continuous film on the QCM surface. The QCM adsorption results indicated that ʟ

Application of nanoarchitectonics in moist-electric generation

• Jia-Cheng Feng and
• Hong Xia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1185–1200, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.99

• , photolithography, embossing, deposition, and sol–gel nanofabrication, all of which can provide high specific surface areas [19][24][25][26][27][28]. Nanomaterials can also be divided into inorganic nanomaterials and organic nanomaterials. In inorganic nanomaterials, metal nanomaterials and carbon nanomaterials

• deposition (Figure 3a). Zhou Jun's group used this kind of carbon nanoscale network to absorb the evaporation energy of water vapor and have a stable electrical output of 1 V, 100 nA in 2017 [9][37][46]. The carbon nanoparticles are easy to obtain, and a large number of carbon nanoparticles can be collected

Microneedle-based ocular drug delivery systems – recent advances and challenges

• Piotr Gadziński,
• Anna Froelich,
• Monika Wojtyłko,
• Antoni Białek,
• Julia Krysztofiak and
• Tomasz Osmałek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1167–1184, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.98

• , the substrate, absorbing the laser beam, heats up and evaporates or sublimes, which yields engraved 3D patterns [150]. In the fused deposition modelling (FDM) method, the thermoplastic material is heated to its softening point, then extruded through a nozzle and applied layer by layer to the build

Rapid fabrication of MgO@g-C₃N₄ heterojunctions for photocatalytic nitric oxide removal

• Minh-Thuan Pham,
• Duyen P. H. Tran,
• Xuan-Thanh Bui and
• Sheng-Jie You

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1141–1154, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.96

• visible light region, including nonmetal and noble-metal doping, metal deposition, and formation of heterojunctions [21][22]. The construction of heterojunction structures has shown its effectiveness in improving photocatalytic performance by enhancing the separation of charge carriers and optimizing the

A cantilever-based, ultrahigh-vacuum, low-temperature scanning probe instrument for multidimensional scanning force microscopy

• Hao Liu,
• Zuned Ahmed,
• Sasa Vranjkovic,
• Manfred Parschau,
• Andrada-Oana Mandru and
• Hans J. Hug

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1120–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.95

• the deposition of atoms or molecules on the cold sample. Microscope Design We use a fiber-optical interferometer to measure the cantilever deflection. This deflection sensor type only requires placing the end of an optical fiber in close proximity to the cantilever. All electronic components remain

Biomimetic chitosan with biocomposite nanomaterials for bone tissue repair and regeneration

• Se-Kwon Kim,
• Sesha Subramanian Murugan,
• Pandurang Appana Dalavi,
• Sebanti Gupta,
• Sukumaran Anil,
• Gi Hun Seong and
• Jayachandran Venkatesan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1051–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.92

• ). Besides this, significant antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus epidermidis have been found [99]. Coating materials containing chitosan, bioactive glass, and AgNPs were developed by using the electrophoretic deposition method. The produced material was coated on stainless steel 316 substrates

• human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells with chitosan-conjugated AuNPs, which shows calcium deposition confirming that developed nanoparticles promote osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The protein expression of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

• the scaffold was tested using simulated bodily fluids, and mineral formation (calcium and phosphorous) on the surface was analysed using SEM [58]. To achieve biofunctionality, a scaffold composed of carbon nanotubes and chitosan was fabricated via electrophoretic deposition. These hybrid composites

Analytical and numerical design of a hybrid Fabry–Perot plano-concave microcavity for hexagonal boron nitride

• Felipe Ortiz-Huerta and
• Karina Garay-Palmett

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1030–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.90

• . Afterwards an 80 nm silver layer could be added, by thermal evaporative deposition, on top of the concave shape polymer to ensure a high reflectivity inside our microcavity. When designing the concave shape polymer a small rectangular aperture at its edge must be taken into account in the fabrication step

Effects of focused electron beam irradiation parameters on direct nanostructure formation on Ag surfaces

• Jānis Sniķeris,
• Vjačeslavs Gerbreders,
• Andrejs Bulanovs and
• Ēriks Sļedevskis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1004–1010, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.87

• nanophotonics [3]. They can also serve as catalysts for controlled chemical vapour deposition [4]. While gold is the most widely used material for fabrication of plasmonic nanostructures, silver can offer a less expensive alternative [5][6][7]. Electron beam (EB) lithography is a popular method for the

• nanopatterning of metal surfaces, but it is a complicated and expensive multistep process [8]. Electron beam induced deposition (EBID) is a direct-write lithography technique, which is capable of creating 2D and free-standing 3D nanostructures by using electron irradiation to dissociate volatile precursor

• ][25]. It should be noted that the growth rate of carbon layers under EB irradiation is also affected by the types of hydrocarbon molecules present in the vacuum chamber [26]. Normally, the deposition of carbon via focused EB irradiation is viewed as a simple addition of mass to the irradiated area

Influence of water contamination on the sputtering of silicon with low-energy argon ions investigated by molecular dynamics simulations

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 986–1003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.86

• MD/binary collision approximation (BCA) simulations. ReaxFF simulations can cover a broad range of applications: from DNA molecule bombardments with heavy atoms [31] to graphene layer deposition on copper surfaces [32]. Numerous simulations using the ReaxFF potential have been conducted in the past

• for QEq. During water deposition on top of the silicon sample, the charge equilibration was performed at each step to fully describe the deposition of the contaminant on top of the sample. Molecular dynamics simulations Molecular dynamics simulations of argon bombardment on a silicon surface were

• gradual contamination of the sample by residual gas molecules, by giving a vertical energy of 0.5 eV to the water slab. After water deposition, a series of irradiation simulations was carried out using the same conditions than those for the pristine sample. For the estimation of water contamination, we

Theoretical investigations of oxygen vacancy effects in nickel-doped zirconia from ab initio XANES spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge

• Dick Hartmann Douma,
• Lodvert Tchibota Poaty,
• Alessio Lamperti,
• Stéphane Kenmoe,
• Abdulrafiu Tunde Raji,
• Alberto Debernardi and
• Bernard M’Passi-Mabiala

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 975–985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.85

• structure. The fluorite structure is not stable under ambient conditions and, thus, zirconia is usually found in the monoclinic phase. The cubic distorted fluorite structure may however be stabilized by a doping or by deposition as a thin film (because the surface energy of the cubic structure is lower than

• that of the monoclinic structure) [35]. Thus, our structural phase of reference in this work is cubic distorted fluorite zirconia since we are doping it and also due to the fact that actual experiments involving atomic layer deposition of TM-doped zirconia thin films revealed the cubic phase [26]. In

Interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis

• Leonie Saccardi,
• Franz Brümmer,
• Jonas Schiebl,
• Oliver Schwarz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 958–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.84

• , Stuttgart, Germany Department Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.13.84 Abstract In a biomimetic top-down process, challenging the problem of resin deposition on woodworking machine tools, an adequate biological model was sought, which

Design of a biomimetic, small-scale artificial leaf surface for the study of environmental interactions

• Miriam Anna Huth,
• Axel Huth,
• Lukas Schreiber and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 944–957, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.83

• of structures that often do not correspond to the original wax type [20][42]. Due to the ring-shaped accumulation and the resulting pattern, this effect is called the “coffee drop effect” [47][48]. This undesirable effect can be avoided by the solvent-free process of physical vapor deposition (PVD

• plate with the wax source and the samples to be coated was 4 cm. After wax deposition, samples were stored in an oven at 50 °C for 72 h. In the following, the artificial surfaces are named according to the amount of wax used for wax coating. Scanning electron microscopy of wax morphology The

• the drops rolled off longitudinally to the leaf venation. If a drop rolled off immediately after deposition, the CA and the CAH were not measurable. The TA was set to 0.1° in these cases. The wetting properties of leaf 2, 3 and 4 and of their upper and lower sides were analyzed separately (for each

Bioselectivity of silk protein-based materials and their bio-inspired applications

• Hendrik Bargel,
• Vanessa T. Trossmann,
• Christoph Sommer and
• Thomas Scheibel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 902–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.81

• obtained from fluorinated silica colloids, thin film deposition of silicone elastomers or nanoengineered superhydrophobic surfaces of Teflon®-coated aluminium [63][64][65]. Superhydrophobic surfaces have also been reported to be unfavorable for mammalian cell attachment and growth. This may be due to the

DNA aptamer selection and construction of an aptasensor based on graphene FETs for Zika virus NS1 protein detection

• Nathalie B. F. Almeida,
• Thiago A. S. L. Sousa,
• Viviane C. F. Santos,
• Camila M. S. Lacerda,
• Thais G. Silva,
• Rafaella F. Q. Grenfell,
• Flavio Plentz and
• Antero S. R. Andrade

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 873–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.78

• characterization utilizing field-effect transistors fabricated using single-layer graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and transferred to Si/SiO2 substrates. The wafers were purchased from Graphene Platform and we produced graphene transistors by conventional photolithography, following the procedures

Self-assembly of C₆₀ on a ZnTPP/Fe(001)–p(1 × 1)O substrate: observation of a quasi-freestanding C₆₀ monolayer

• Guglielmo Albani,
• Michele Capra,
• Alessandro Lodesani,
• Alberto Calloni,
• Gianlorenzo Bussetti,
• Marco Finazzi,
• Franco Ciccacci,
• Alberto Brambilla,
• Lamberto Duò and
• Andrea Picone

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 857–864, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.76

• [12]. Annealing the substrate during the film deposition could promote the growth of ordered layers even for high Ed values (Ed > kBT, with T = 300 K), but often the high annealing temperature required promotes the modification of the molecules or even their decomposition [13][14]. Another important

• hollow sites of the Fe(001) surface [39][40][41]. The deposition of a single layer of ZnTPP on Fe(001)–p(1 × 1)O leads to the stabilization of a well-ordered organic film, forming a (5 × 5) superstructure with respect to the substrate [42][43][44][45][46]. It is important to notice that the deposition of

• an ideal buffer layer for the growth of C60, which forms a compact film weakly coupled with the metallic substrate. Materials and Methods The experiments were performed in two ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) systems. Clean Fe(001) is obtained by deposition of a thick Fe film (500 nm) by molecular beam epitaxy

Optimizing PMMA solutions to suppress contamination in the transfer of CVD graphene for batch production

• Chun-Da Liao,
• Andrea Capasso,
• Tiago Queirós,
• Telma Domingues,
• Fatima Cerqueira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Jérôme Borme,
• Paulo Freitas and
• Pedro Alpuim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 796–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.70

• 4710-057, Portugal 10.3762/bjnano.13.70 Abstract Mass production and commercial adoption of graphene-based devices are held back by a few crucial technical challenges related to quality control. In the case of graphene produced by chemical vapor deposition, the transfer process represents a delicate

• devices and applications [1][2][3]. Among the production methods, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) made substantial progress over the years and now guarantees high-quality standards for the growth of batches of graphene samples over wafer-scale areas [4][5][6]. This progress allowed for the fabrication of

Gelatin nanoparticles with tunable mechanical properties: effect of crosslinking time and loading

• Agnes-Valencia Weiss,
• Daniel Schorr,
• Julia K. Metz,
• Metin Yildirim,
• Saeed Ahmad Khan and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 778–787, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.68

• were kept in deionized water and used on the same day. GNPs were incubated for 1 min to allow for a sufficient nanoparticle deposition without overloading the substrate surface. The supernatant was washed away with deionized water, and the samples were subsequently kept in liquid and measured on the

Recent advances in nanoarchitectures of monocrystalline coordination polymers through confined assembly

• Lingling Xia,
• Qinyue Wang and
• Ming Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 763–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.67

• networks, which could simultaneously provide mechanical strength and continuous pathways for ions. These networks worked well as solid-state electrolytes in Li-ion batteries. To assemble the coordination polymer particles into a 2D configuration, dip-coating deposition was employed [141]. The evaporation

• [147]. However, the adhesion strength varied over time, sometimes reaching values even close to 100 N·cm−2, which is higher than to be expected from van der Waals forces. The non-uniform deposition of Ni–CN–Ni nanosheets caused by Marangoni flow was an important reason for the unstable value of the

Hierarchical Bi₂WO₆/TiO₂-nanotube composites derived from natural cellulose for visible-light photocatalytic treatment of pollutants

• Zehao Lin,
• Zhan Yang and
• Jianguo Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 745–762, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.66

• ) possess the advantages of being abundant, environmentally friendly and biocompatible, and the functional hydroxyl groups on the surface provide a chemical environment for the deposition of the guest components [29][30]. According to our results, the composite photocatalysts synthesized by employing

• (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S2a), proving that the deposition of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles does not affect the hierarchically cross-linked structures but thickens the composite nanotubes of the Bi2WO6/TiO2-NT nanocomposites. The pure Bi2WO6 powder sample is formed by aggregated Bi2WO6 particles with

• /TiO2-NT nanocomposites are benefited from the uniform deposition of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles on TiO2 nanotubes and from compact heterostructures built in between the TiO2 and Bi2WO6 phases, which is due to the three-dimensional interwoven structures that duplicated from the natural cellulose template. As

A nonenzymatic reduced graphene oxide-based nanosensor for parathion

• Sarani Sen,
• Anurag Roy,
• Ambarish Sanyal and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 730–744, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.65

• sequential additions of PT into phosphate buffer (pH 7). A sharp increase in the reduction peak current was observed for each addition after dipping the electrode into a particular solution for 240 s at an applied potential of −0.1 V (i.e., deposition potential). The peak was shifted to a negative potential

Reliable fabrication of transparent conducting films by cascade centrifugation and Langmuir–Blodgett deposition of electrochemically exfoliated graphene

• Teodora Vićentić,
• Stevan Andrić,
• Vladimir Rajić and
• Marko Spasenović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 666–674, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.58

• no exfoliation experience to make use of widely available graphene materials. Keywords: 2D materials; cascade centrifugation; graphene; Langmuir–Blodgett deposition; transparent conductors; Introduction The interest in graphene and other 2D materials keeps growing, especially since the initial

• delve into fundamental properties was augmented with an outlook towards potential applications [1]. Over the past decades, a great number of different methods for the synthesis of graphene and other 2D materials has been proposed, including micromechanical cleavage [2], chemical vapor deposition (CVD

• the solvent of choice because of its favorable properties regarding LB deposition [14]. 1 mL of dispersion was initially centrifuged at a rate of 1500 rpm (relative centrifugal force, RCF, equal to 206g). The obtained centrifugation sediment contained the largest nanosheets of the initial dispersion

Revealing local structural properties of an atomically thin MoSe₂ surface using optical microscopy

• Lin Pan,
• Peng Miao,
• Anke Horneber,
• Alfred J. Meixner,
• Pierre-Michel Adam and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 572–581, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.49

• CuPc as a Raman probe, because CuPc exhibits a large Raman scattering cross section and an extremely weak photoluminescence signal. A thin film of 5 nm of CuPc was deposited on the triangular MoSe2 flakes through thermal vapor deposition. Figure 1a shows a bright-field optical image of CuPc/MoSe2. From

• characterization of CuPc molecules on MoSe2 flakes The MoSe2 flakes were received from SixCarbon Technology (Shenzhen), synthesized on a SiO2/Si substrate using chemical vapor deposition. An ultra-thin film of CuPc with a thickness of 5 nm is deposited on the MoSe2 samples by vacuum thermal deposition. At a

• pressure of 10−8 mbar, CuPc powder (Sensient Imaging Technologies SA) is evaporated from a resistively heated crucible. The nominal deposition rate (0.2–0.3 nm/min) is monitored by a quartz crystal micro balance. A commercial optical microscope (MX50, Olympus) is used to obtain the bright-field optical

Influence of thickness and morphology of MoS₂ on the performance of counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Lam Thuy Thi Mai,
• Hai Viet Le,
• Ngan Kim Thi Nguyen,
• Van La Tran Pham,
• Thu Anh Thi Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thanh Le Huynh and
• Hoang Thai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 528–537, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.44

• investigated using various techniques such as chemical bath deposition [1], sputtering [2], hydrothermal synthesis [10][11][12][13], wet chemistry [14], thermal reduction [15], and electrodeposition (ED) [20]. Among these methods, ED shows many advances thank to its simplicity and rapidity. Additionally, it

• allows for the direct deposition of MoS2 thin films from liquid precursors onto various conducting substrates with easily controlled thickness and morphology. Several reports have already been published that describe the control of structure and morphology of electrodeposited MoS2 to maximize its

• reduction of MoS42− occurred beginning at a potential of −0.80 V. Electrodeposition of MoS2 at high overpotential leads to the formation of thick films [28]. To obtain thin films, we limited the deposition potential range of MoS2 to a range between −1.0 V and 1.0 V and studied the effect of the