Kelvin probe force microscopy in liquid using electrochemical force microscopy

• Liam Collins,
• Stephen Jesse,
• Jason I. Kilpatrick,
• Alexander Tselev,
• M. Baris Okatan,
• Sergei V. Kalinin and
• Brian J. Rodriguez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 201–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.19

• to biological systems. However, the operation of KPFM implicitly relies on the presence of a linear lossless dielectric in the probe–sample gap, a condition which is violated for ionically-active liquids (e.g., when diffuse charge dynamics are present). Here, electrostatic and electrochemical

• measurements are demonstrated in ionically-active (polar isopropanol, milli-Q water and aqueous NaCl) and ionically-inactive (non-polar decane) liquids by electrochemical force microscopy (EcFM), a multidimensional (i.e., bias- and time-resolved) spectroscopy method. In the absence of mobile charges (ambient

• and non-polar liquids), KPFM and EcFM are both feasible, yielding comparable contact potential difference (CPD) values. In ionically-active liquids, KPFM is not possible and EcFM can be used to measure the dynamic CPD and a rich spectrum of information pertaining to charge screening, ion diffusion

Materials and characterization techniques for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Roswitha Zeis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 68–83, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.8

• acid and not intrinsic to HT-PEMFCs. Alternative electrolytes such as ionic liquids or solid acids might solve the problem and accelerate the oxygen reduction reaction kinetics. The benefits of operating the fuel cell at elevated temperatures include improved catalyst activity, higher tolerance to

• temperatures. Very recently, many advances have been made in this field. This came relatively late because material testing at high temperatures is generally very challenging and the presence of corrosive liquids such as phosphoric acid complicates it even further. Many standard test methods and procedures for

High-frequency multimodal atomic force microscopy

• Adrian P. Nievergelt,
• Jonathan D. Adams,
• Pascal D. Odermatt and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2459–2467, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.255

• optical beam deflection (OBD) systems with a sufficiently small focus spot to use small cantilevers [12][19], two key practical aspects have limited the widespread use of AFM imaging at frequencies beyond 2 MHz: cantilever drive and deflection readout. In liquids, traditional piezo-based cantilever

Inorganic Janus particles for biomedical applications

• Isabel Schick,
• Steffen Lorenz,
• Dominik Gehrig,
• Stefan Tenzer,
• Wiebke Storck,
• Karl Fischer,
• Dennis Strand,
• Frédéric Laquai and
• Wolfgang Tremel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2346–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.244

• amphiphilic particle. Kumacheva et al. reported a microfluidic method for fast continuous synthesis of Janus particles as well as three-phase particles with narrow size distribution by emulsification of monomer liquids and in situ photoinitiated polymerization of multiphase droplets (Figure 3e) [27]. Another

Gas sensing properties of nanocrystalline diamond at room temperature

• Marina Davydova,
• Pavel Kulha,
• Alexandr Laposa,
• Karel Hruska,
• Pavel Demo and
• Alexander Kromka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2339–2345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.243

• sensitive to surrounding gases and/or liquids. Our previous works have shown that interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) capped with nanostructured, hydrogen-terminated, nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) were very sensitive and selective, especially towards phosgene gas [9][10]. In addition, we observed that the

Liquid-phase exfoliated graphene: functionalization, characterization, and applications

• Mildred Quintana,
• Jesús Iván Tapia and
• Maurizio Prato

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2328–2338, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.242

• exfoliation of graphite in water or polar solvents. This procedure yields stable solutions of negatively charged graphene sheets [13]. As charged, intercalating species, ionic liquids are considered a green alternative. The negligible vapour pressure, thermal stability, wide electrochemical potential window

• , good conductivity, recyclability, and the high dielectric constant of ionic liquids induce the exfoliation of graphite by weakening the π–π stacking interactions. Indeed, the use of ionic liquids is considered a highly versatile and industrially scalable method for the preparation of graphene

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• example of a heterogeneous catalyst was reported by Taubert’s group with gold/cellulose nanocrystal hybrids produced in the presence of ionic liquids [88]. Also for catalytic applications, nanoparticles of silver, gold, and platinum were synthesized by using a cellulose aerogel [89]. Cellulose has been

Carbon nano-onions (multi-layer fullerenes): chemistry and applications

• Juergen Bartelmess and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1980–1998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.207

• of graphite in liquids such as liquid nitrogen or water [14][15]. A recent novel method for the preparation of large CNOs (30 nm diameter) includes the use of inorganic starting material, such as CuCl2·2H2O and CaC [16]. Large CNOs with distinct fluorescence emission were produced from wood wool, a

Real-time monitoring of calcium carbonate and cationic peptide deposition on carboxylate-SAM using a microfluidic SAW biosensor

• Anna Pohl and
• Ingrid M. Weiss

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1823–1835, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.193

• a buffer system similar to biomineralizing compartments. It can be concluded that multichannel microfluidic SAW sensor systems are highly attractive for biomimetic mineralization studies in liquids and in real-time. It remains subject to further investigations whether this technique will bring the

Experimental techniques for the characterization of carbon nanoparticles – a brief overview

• Wojciech Kempiński,
• Szymon Łoś,
• Mateusz Kempiński and
• Damian Markowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1760–1766, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.186

• pure ACFs) to 3.33 Å and 3.30 Å for CCl4- and water-filled fibers, respectively. Such significant changes appear due to the so-called quasi-high pressure effect, which appear in confined liquids (e.g., adsorbed inside small pores). This causes swelling of pores of a certain width due to the decrease of

• the CN size [40][41]. Water seems to cause a slightly larger shrinkage of the CNs than CCl4, probably due to the large difference in wetting of graphitic pore walls by both liquids. The wetting in porous materials is commonly described with the microscopic wetting parameter α [42], which shows the

Quasi-1D physics in metal-organic frameworks: MIL-47(V) from first principles

• Danny E. P. Vanpoucke,
• Jan W. Jaeken,
• Stijn De Baerdemacker,
• Kurt Lejaeghere and
• Veronique Van Speybroeck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1738–1748, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.184

• opportunities with regard to sensing applications. In this family, MIL-47(V) has a somewhat special status, because, unlike most breathing MOFs MIL-47(VIV) does not show breathing under thermal stimuli or after the adsorption of gases or liquids [5][44][50], but only under significant mechanical pressure [45

Influence of surface-modified maghemite nanoparticles on in vitro survival of human stem cells

• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Lyubov L. Lukash,
• Tetiana A. Ruban,
• Yurii N. Kolomiets,
• Svitlana P. Shpylova and
• Oksana A. Grypych

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1732–1737, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.183

• zero remanent magnetization of the particles, the risk of formation of aggregates in physiological liquids is reduced. MTT assay In order to achieve an efficient cell labeling, the response of intracellular γ-Fe2O3 content on the metabolism of the cells should be taken into account because the

Non-covalent and reversible functionalization of carbon nanotubes

• Antonello Di Crescenzo,
• Valeria Ettorre and
• Antonella Fontana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1675–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.178

• onto the nanotube sidewalls over self-assembly. Exploiting the excellent capacity of imidazolium-based ionic liquids [78] to disperse CNTs, we conceived an ionic liquid-based surfactant, 1-hexadecyl-3-vinylimidazolium bromide (hvimBr, see Table 3) which demonstrated to be more effective than SDBS at

On the structure of grain/interphase boundaries and interfaces

• K. Anantha Padmanabhan and
• Herbert Gleiter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1603–1615, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.172

• indicated in the diagram. This brings one to Kauzmann’s entropy crisis [24][25][26], which suggests that if the entropy of many supercooled liquids is extrapolated to low temperature, the amorphous state is predicted to have a lower entropy level than the highly ordered crystal well above absolute zero. In

Ionic liquid-assisted formation of cellulose/calcium phosphate hybrid materials

• Ahmed Salama,
• Mike Neumann,
• Christina Günter and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1553–1568, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.167

• carbohydrates as single molecules or very small aggregates. At the same time the solvent should enable the growth of calcium phosphate. Ionic liquids (ILs) could provide a viable access for the synthesis of such nanoscale carbohydrate/inorganic hybrids. Some ILs dissolve up to 25 wt % of cellulose [34][35][36

Current state of laser synthesis of metal and alloy nanoparticles as ligand-free reference materials for nano-toxicological assays

• Christoph Rehbock,
• Jurij Jakobi,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Selina van der Meer,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wilfried Kues,
• Detlef Rath and
• Stephan Barcikowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1523–1541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.165

• paragraph of this article highlights the recent progress concerning the synthesis of composition controlled alloy nanoparticles by laser ablation in liquids. Here, binary and ternary alloy nanoparticles with totally homogeneous elemental distribution could be fabricated and the composition of these

• filtration [23]. However, this process is very time consuming and often results in particle aggregation. Hence, pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) has proven to be a promising alternative for the synthesis of nanoparticles applicable in toxicity assays as it provides totally ligand-free colloidal

• pulsed laser fragmentation in liquids (PLFL), in situ size quenching by electrolytes, delayed conjugation in liquid flow and pulsed laser melting in liquids (PLML). For gold as an exemplary inert noble metal, these methods allow for the tuning of the particle diameters in the range 4–400 nm. However

Hydrophobic interaction governs unspecific adhesion of staphylococci: a single cell force spectroscopy study

• Nicolas Thewes,
• Peter Loskill,
• Philipp Jung,
• Henrik Peisker,
• Markus Bischoff,
• Mathias Herrmann and
• Karin Jacobs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1501–1512, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.163

• cantilevers were then carefully rinsed in deionized water to remove unbound dopamine and dried under a laminar flow bench for at least one hour. The poly(dopamine)-covered cantilever was then inserted into the Bioscope Catalyst cantilever holder for measurements in liquids (Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA

Liquid fuel cells

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1399–1418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.153

• . Organic compounds that are liquids at ambient conditions can be used both neat and in the form of a solution. However, they are more often used in solution because of their flammability, toxicity and, most importantly, high crossover rates. Solid organic and inorganic compounds, e.g., NaBH4, can be used

Magnesium batteries: Current state of the art, issues and future perspectives

• Rana Mohtadi and
• Fuminori Mizuno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1291–1311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.143

• electrolytes use ethereal solvents which are more or less volatile. An attractive choice for eliminating the safety hazards of ethers would be using ionic liquids due to their very low volatility. Reversible magnesium deposition/ dissolution from phenyl magnesium bromide [39] and alkylmagnesium bromide [40

• salts such magnesium triflate (Mg(CF3SO3)2) in imidazolium-based ionic liquids. However, magnesium metal passivation was reported to take place [39][42]. 2.1.5 On the electroactive species: In the case of typical organohalo-aluminate electrolytes, formed following the reaction between a Grignard reagent

Purification of ethanol for highly sensitive self-assembly experiments

• Kathrin Barbe,
• Martin Kind,
• Christian Pfeiffer and
• Andreas Terfort

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1254–1260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.139

• the liquids at 0 seconds. The successive resistivity change indicates chemisorption of contaminant species (or in case of curve A, deliberately dissolved organothiols) in the ethanol samples onto the gold surface (A: 1 µM hexadecanethiol solution in ethanol of type G (see below); B: ethanol, technical

The study of surface wetting, nanobubbles and boundary slip with an applied voltage: A review

• Yunlu Pan,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1042–1065, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.117

The optimal shape of elastomer mushroom-like fibers for high and robust adhesion

• Burak Aksak,
• Korhan Sahin and
• Metin Sitti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 630–638, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.74

• . While conventional adhesives rely on very soft materials or viscous liquids, nature offers a unique system composed of adhesive elements made of relatively rigid materials. These adhesive elements are comprised of millions of tiny fibers varying in size and geometrical complexity depending on the animal

Hole-mask colloidal nanolithography combined with tilted-angle-rotation evaporation: A versatile method for fabrication of low-cost and large-area complex plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials

• Jun Zhao,
• Bettina Frank,
• Frank Neubrech,
• Chunjie Zhang,
• Paul V. Braun and
• Harald Giessen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 577–586, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.68

• ). The refractive indices are taken at about 1500 nm. We observe a well-modulated Fano resonance at about 1300 nm for n = 1.0 (black curve) due to the coupling of the bright superradiant and dark subradiant hybridized modes and the expected red-shift of all spectral features upon exposure to the liquids

An ultrasonic technology for production of antibacterial nanomaterials and their coating on textiles

• Anna V. Abramova,
• Vladimir O. Abramov,
• Aharon Gedanken,
• Ilana Perelshtein and
• Vadim M. Bayazitov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 532–536, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.62

• are widely used in the industry, are the best known type of a stationary plasma discharge in liquids [6]. Currently this discharge is applied in physical and chemical studies and in the synthesis of different materials, but due to small effective volume of the discharge zone the rate of the processes

Single-asperity contact mechanics with positive and negative work of adhesion: Influence of finite-range interactions and a continuum description for the squeeze-out of wetting fluids

• Martin H. Müser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 419–437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.50