Electromigration-induced formation of percolating adsorbate islands during condensation from the gaseous phase: a computational study

• Alina V. Dvornichenko,
• Vasyl O. Kharchenko and
• Dmitrii O. Kharchenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 694–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.55

• observed on silicon substrates [12][13]. Strong effects of EM were manifested in the processes of evolution of vanadium surface morphology [14], and in the epitaxial growth of semiconductor heterostructures [15]. It was found that at low deposition temperatures the growth of surface structures occurs

• include the formation of surface steps [28][29][30][31], faceting of the surface [32][33][34][35][36][37], elimination of instability of surface morphology caused by stress and wetting of the substrate [38][39][40][41], the evolution of contact irregularities in switches of microelectromechanical systems

• dynamics of the evolution of surface morphology at elevated temperatures. This effect can lead to a change in the morphology of the surface compared to the isotropic case of deposition without the presence of an external field. Mathematical and numerical modeling of nanostructured thin film growth

Fate and transformation of silver nanoparticles in different biological conditions

• Barbara Pem,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Rinea Barbir,
• Vedran Micek,
• Raluca M. Fratila,
• Jesus M. de la Fuente and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 665–679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.53

• pathways have not yet been systematically investigated and remain unclear. Here we aimed to examine the biotransformation of differently coated AgNPs [39] simulating real body conditions after oral uptake. The systematic work presented here addresses not only the evolution of various types of AgNPs in

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• irradiation in the HIM, this time using a defocused beam to irradiate larger areas, has also been used to generate defects in exfoliated flakes of molybdenum dichalcogenides (MoS2 and MoSe2) to activate the catalytic activity of the basal planes of the crystal for hydrogen evolution reactions [69]. Thermal

• overall damage evolution process was also noted. 2 Ion implantation Helium ion implantation and the associated structural changes to a material are often unwanted, with measures taken to avoid these effects. However, the HIM also offers a unique opportunity for fundamental studies of helium ion

Nanoporous and nonporous conjugated donor–acceptor polymer semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production

• Zhao-Qi Sheng,
• Yu-Qin Xing,
• Yan Chen,
• Guang Zhang,
• Shi-Yong Liu and
• Long Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 607–623, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.50

• tunable bandgaps, high charge carrier mobility, and efficient intramolecular charge transfer. In this minireview, recent advances of D–A polymers in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution are summarized with a particular focus on modulating the optical and electronic properties of CPs by varying the acceptor

• photocatalyst (i.e., poly(p-phenylene)) for PHP was reported, but did not attract much attention due to the low hydrogen evolution rate (HER) [11]. In 2009, Wang et al. reported a novel metal-free polymeric photocatalyst (i.e., graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)), which could efficiently reduce protons to

• :3) (Figure 2) were obtained. P5 exhibited a smaller bandgap of 1.99 eV. Moreover, the photoluminescence spectra indicated an improved separation efficiency of photogenerated charges of P5. A stable H2 evolution rate of 32 μmol·h−1 (20 mg) was achieved for HMP-3_2:3, which was several times higher

Boosting of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution via chlorine doping of polymeric carbon nitride

• Malgorzata Aleksandrzak,
• Michalina Kijaczko,
• Wojciech Kukulka,
• Daria Baranowska,
• Martyna Baca,
• Beata Zielinska and
• Ewa Mijowska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 473–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.38

• the hydrogen evolution reaction. The following aspects were found to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of Cl-PCN: (i) unique location of Cl atoms at the interlayers of PCN instead of on its π-conjugated planes, (ii) slight bandgap narrowing, (iii) lower recombination rate of the electron–hole

• pairs, (iv) improved photogenerated charge transport and separation, and (v) higher reducing ability of the photogenerated electrons. The above factors affected the 4.4-fold enhancement of the photocatalytic efficiency in hydrogen evolution in comparison to the pristine catalyst. Keywords: chlorine

• ; doping; hydrogen evolution reaction; photocatalysis; polymeric carbon nitride; Introduction Currently, the biggest problems of civilization seem to be the global energy crisis and environmental pollution. Both of these problems are directly related to each other. The pollution of our planet is mainly

Colloidal particle aggregation: mechanism of assembly studied via constructal theory modeling

• Scott C. Bukosky,
• Sukrith Dev,
• Monica S. Allen and
• Jeffery W. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 413–423, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.33

• properties, determines the preferred interparticle separation distance. Ultimately, this DLVO framework is used to describe the structural evolution of colloidal particle assemblies. Aggregation in one dimension Similar to the analysis by Bejan and Wagstaff [11], we begin by examining the one-dimensional (1D

Spontaneous shape transition of Mn_xGe_1−x islands to long nanowires

• S. Javad Rezvani,
• Luc Favre,
• Gabriele Giuli,
• Yiming Wubulikasimu,
• Isabelle Berbezier,
• Augusto Marcelli,
• Luca Boarino and
• Nicola Pinto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 366–374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.30

• modulates the geometry of the nanostructures. The Mn–Ge alloy nanowires are single-crystalline structures with homogeneous composition and uniform width along their length. The shape evolution towards nanowires occurs for islands with a mean size of ≃170 nm. The wires, up to ≃1.1 μm long, asymptotically

• quantify the morphological evolution as function of the experimental parameters. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first experimental evidence for the spontaneous formation of monocrystalline Mn–Ge NWs on Ge(111), with constant lateral size and uniform composition, up to

• ≃1.5 μm in length. Considering that several Mn-rich Ge–Mn phases are usually ferromagnetic at room temperature, our results offer an alternative route to a simple and fast fabrication process of novel nanodevices, capable to exploit ferromagnetic properties. SEM images of the morphological evolution of

The role of gold atom concentration in the formation of Cu–Au nanoparticles from the gas phase

• Yuri Ya. Gafner,
• Svetlana L. Gafner,
• Darya A. Ryzkova and
• Andrey V. Nomoev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 72–81, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.6

• interatomic interaction is used. Since the simulation of the evolution of relatively large systems (several thousands of atoms) in the nanosecond range by quantum mechanical methods is still very difficult, we used a simpler approach based on the modified TB-SMA tight-binding potential [15] with an

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• , they have long been considered as possible treatments for bacterial infections. In particular, because they are host-specific and, therefore, do not exhibit some of the side effects of the more broadly affecting chemical antibiotics, which can lead to evolution of strains with broad antibiotic

Unravelling the interfacial interaction in mesoporous SiO₂@nickel phyllosilicate/TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for photocatalytic activity

• Bridget K. Mutuma,
• Xiluva Mathebula,
• Isaac Nongwe,
• Bonakele P. Mtolo,
• Boitumelo J. Matsoso,
• Rudolph Erasmus,
• Zikhona Tetana and
• Neil J. Coville

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1834–1846, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.165

• reactions, methane reforming, and hydrogen evolution [35][36][37][38][39][40]. Wang et al. [38] reported the growth of nickel phyllosilicate by simultaneous reaction of a silica precursor (tetraethylorthosilicate), nickel chloride, water, and urea in a hydrothermal reactor at 210 °C for 12 h. They obtained

Self-standing heterostructured NiC_x-NiFe-NC/biochar as a highly efficient cathode for lithium–oxygen batteries

• Shengyu Jing,
• Xu Gong,
• Shan Ji,
• Linhui Jia,
• Bruno G. Pollet,
• Sheng Yan and
• Huagen Liang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1809–1821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.163

• carbon is a promising cathode material for lithium–oxygen batteries. Keywords: electrocatalytic performance; lithium–oxygen batteries; N-doped carbon; nickel carbide; oxygen evolution reaction (OER); oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); specific capacity; Introduction Clean and sustainable renewable energy

• , constant, on-demand, and reliable manner [3][4][5][6]. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) play critical roles in many clean energy storage and conversion devices (e.g., hydrogen produced from water splitting via water electrolyzers, hydrogen fuel cells, and metal–air

• seems to facilitate the process of adsorption/desorption of intermediate species and the charge transfer ability during hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)/OER. In addition, the interfaces between Ni3C and N-doped C probably strongly reshuffle the electronic density, resulting in enhanced catalytic

Molecular dynamics modeling of the influence forming process parameters on the structure and morphology of a superconducting spin valve

• Alexander Vakhrushev,
• Aleksey Fedotov,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Roman Morari and
• Anatolie Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1776–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.160

• spintronics applications were studied by the molecular dynamics method [33][34]. Molecular dynamics describes the motion of each nanosystem atom at a certain point in time, therefore, it is possible to reproduce the detailed evolution of nanoelements and their properties. The basis of the method is the

Mapping of integrated PIN diodes with a 3D architecture by scanning microwave impedance microscopy and dynamic spectroscopy

• Rosine Coq Germanicus,
• Peter De Wolf,
• Florent Lallemand,
• Catherine Bunel,
• Serge Bardy,
• Hugues Murray and
• Ulrike Lüders

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1764–1775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.159

• also appreciate the evolution of the implanted and diffused n-type doping around the deep trench when the applied voltage varies between −1.5 V and 1.5 V. Applied to a highly integrated device, these results show that the multidimensional sMIM method enables comprehensive studies of the entire

• for different DC voltage values (Figure 10) reveal the evolution of the junction delineation as a function of the DC voltage. This new methodology opens many possibilities in the use of nanoscale electrical approaches to understand not only the global device architecture at a single applied DC voltage

Application of contact-resonance AFM methods to polymer samples

• Sebastian Friedrich and
• Brunero Cappella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1714–1727, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.154

• group of measurements has been performed. In this case, the lateral scan size was 1 nm, hence the tip does not move laterally. This allows for the characterization of the temporal evolution of the resonance frequency. An AC240 tip with kc = 0.775 N/m was used. The static force was varied, too. Figure 5

Amorphized length and variability in phase-change memory line cells

• Nafisa Noor,
• Sadid Muneer,
• Raihan Sayeed Khan,
• Anna Gorbenko and
• Helena Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1644–1654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.147

• programmed to approx. 7.5 MΩ. (a) Evolution of Rprogrammed as a function of the post-reset pulse amplitude (Vpost-reset). (b) 1st and 2nd rows: example waveforms of applied voltage at channel 1 (Vch1) and measured voltage at channel 3,4 (Vch3,4) during an unsuccessful re-amorphization (blue dashed line), a

Oxidation of Au/Ag films by oxygen plasma: phase separation and generation of nanoporosity

• Abdel-Aziz El Mel,
• Said A. Mansour,
• Mujaheed Pasha,
• Atef Zekri,
• Janarthanan Ponraj,
• Akshath Shetty and
• Yousef Haik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1608–1614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.143

• minor differences were mentioned in the text whenever applicable. Results and Discussion Figure 2 shows the morphological evolution at the surface of the Au/Ag films (75 and 25 atom % of Ag and Au, respectively) as a function of the oxidation time. After 3 min, small oxide grains start to form at the

• nanospheres (Figure 2d). By further increasing the oxidation time to 30 min, an increase in microsphere size and number is seen at the surface (Figure 2e,f). The evolution of film thickness was examined by SEM cross-section imaging (Figure 3). The results show that the as-grown films exhibit a columnar

• the morphological evolution happening at the surface of the films as a function of the oxidation time: (a, b) 3 min, (c, d) 15 min and (e, f) 30 min. For all the samples the electrical power was fixed at 100 W and the pressure was fixed at 3 Pa. Scale bar: 2 µm. Cross-section SEM images showing the

Helium ion microscope – secondary ion mass spectrometry for geological materials

• Matthew R. Ball,
• Richard J. M. Taylor,
• Joshua F. Einsle,
• Fouzia Khanom,
• Christelle Guillermier and
• Richard J. Harrison

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1504–1515, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.133

• geosciences have low atomic numbers. Lithium, for example, is critical to a low-carbon energy landscape through electric vehicles and battery materials [22][23]. The global carbon cycle is likewise critical for the continued evolution of surface conditions on Earth, both in the geological record [24][25] and

Controlling the electronic and physical coupling on dielectric thin films

• Philipp Hurdax,
• Michael Hollerer,
• Larissa Egger,
• Georg Koller,
• Xiaosheng Yang,
• Anja Haags,
• Serguei Soubatch,
• Frank Stefan Tautz,
• Mathias Richter,
• Alexander Gottwald,
• Peter Puschnig,
• Martin Sterrer and
• Michael G. Ramsey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1492–1503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.132

• ][34] produces a scatter of the ΦMgO values on either side of the critical work function (Φcrit = 2.8 eV). Figure 5 shows the evolution of the ARUPS spectra with an increasing 6P dose on an MgO(100) film with ΦMgO = 2.58 eV (i.e., below Φcrit). In the MgO valence band region (Figure 5a), gradual

Protruding hydrogen atoms as markers for the molecular orientation of a metallocene

• Linda Laflör,
• Michael Reichling and
• Philipp Rahe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1432–1438, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.127

• evolution of a sharp line (one example marked by an arrow in Figure 2d), which suggests a relaxation of the front tip apex in agreement with earlier observations in organic [33][34] or inorganic [35][36] systems. For the smallest tip–sample separation, two short elongated dark segments (see markers in

• similarity to the experimental data. The change from the ellipse to the dumbbell shape is reproduced as well as the evolution of a sharp line connecting the two dumbbell weights (Figure 2h,l). The characteristic contrast features appear in the simulations at different heights for the different tips, a

Impact of fluorination on interface energetics and growth of pentacene on Ag(111)

• Qi Wang,
• Meng-Ting Chen,
• Antoni Franco-Cañellas,
• Bin Shen,
• Thomas Geiger,
• Holger F. Bettinger,
• Frank Schreiber,
• Ingo Salzmann,
• Alexander Gerlach and
• Steffen Duhm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1361–1370, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.120

• is denoted. (a) Valence band spectra for (fluorinated) pentacene in (sub)monolayer (solid lines) and multilayer (dotted lines) thin films on Ag(111). (b) Evolution of the vacuum level of (fluorinated) pentacene with increasing thickness on Ag(111). The PEN and PFP data in (a) and (b) is taken from

Hybridization vs decoupling: influence of an h-BN interlayer on the physical properties of a lander-type molecule on Ni(111)

• Maximilian Schaal,
• Takumi Aihara,
• Marco Gruenewald,
• Felix Otto,
• Jari Domke,
• Roman Forker,
• Hiroyuki Yoshida and
• Torsten Fritz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1168–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.101

• determination of the work function we used a bias voltage of approx. −9 V to shift the secondary electron cut-off. Film-thickness dependent evolution of the DR spectra of (a) DBP on bare Ni(111) as well as of DBP on h-BN/Ni(111) deposited at (b) room temperature and at (c) approx. 170 °C. Colored spectra

Revealing the local crystallinity of single silicon core–shell nanowires using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Marius van den Berg,
• Ardeshir Moeinian,
• Arne Kobald,
• Yu-Ting Chen,
• Anke Horneber,
• Steffen Strehle,
• Alfred J. Meixner and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1147–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.99

• . As shown in Figure 3f, the lowest crystalline fraction is about 0.45, and the highest is 0.70. Hence, an overview of the crystallinity of a single SiNW can be obtained at the diffraction-limited optical resolution of about 300 nm. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of silicon nanowires The evolution of

• ) Raman spectra with PL background were collected along the white arrow inside the yellow square in panel a. c) The evolution in a-Si and c-Si peak intensity along the scan direction shown in panel a. Spectra are vertically shifted for clarity. d) Integrated area of the a-Si peak. e) Integrated area of

• the positions where the polarization angle-resolved measurements where performed. b) Eight of the collected Raman spectra along the white arrow in panel a showing varying c-Si Raman peak intensities. A detailed analysis about the intensity evolution of the a-Si and c-Si Raman peaks is shown in Figure

Plant growth regulation by seed coating with films of alginate and auxin-intercalated layered double hydroxides

• Vander A. de Castro,
• Valber G. O. Duarte,
• Danúbia A. C. Nobre,
• Geraldo H. Silva,
• Vera R. L. Constantino,
• Frederico G. Pinto,
• Willian R. Macedo and
• Jairo Tronto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1082–1091, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.93

• ) were recorded in a Shimadzu X-ray Diffractometer XRD-6000 mode using Cu Kα1 radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å), 40 kV, 40 mA, sweep range 2θ from 2° to 70° with a scan step of 0.02°/s. Electronic absorption spectra were acquired in an equipment Thermo Scientific model Evolution 300. The morphology of the LDH

Highly sensitive detection of estradiol by a SERS sensor based on TiO₂ covered with gold nanoparticles

• Andrea Brognara,
• Ili F. Mohamad Ali Nasri,
• Beatrice R. Bricchi,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay,
• Matteo Ghidelli and
• Nathalie Lidgi-Guigui

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1026–1035, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.87

• aliphatic/aromatic CH bending modes [43]. In order to study the evolution of the spectra with E2 concentration, we have plotted the total intensity of the peak at 743 cm−1 as a function of the E2 concentration (Figure 7b). The error bars reflect the homogenity of the sample surface. The signal increases

Electrochemical nanostructuring of (111) oriented GaAs crystals: from porous structures to nanowires

• Elena I. Monaico,
• Eduard V. Monaico,
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki,
• Shashank Honnali,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Karin Leistner,
• Kornelius Nielsch and
• Ion M. Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 966–975, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.81

• to images illustrated in Figure 1C. (F) Evolution of the current during anodization in potentiostatic regime of the GaAs(111)B surface at applied voltages of 3, 2 and 1 V. (A) SEM images of the formation of interrupted GaAs nanowires on the (111)B surface anodized in NaCl electrolyte at 6 V. (B) The