Optical modeling-assisted characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO₂ nanotube arrays as photoanodes

• Jung-Ho Yun,
• Il Ku Kim,
• Yun Hau Ng,
• Lianzhou Wang and
• Rose Amal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 895–902, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.102

• , the TNT morphology is beneficial to enhance the photovoltaic performances in the DSSCs by facilitating light scattering effects while enabling the manipulation of the tube length to accommodate for larger amounts of dye. For the understanding and characterization of the fundamental photovoltaic

Scale effects of nanomechanical properties and deformation behavior of Au nanoparticle and thin film using depth sensing nanoindentation

• Dave Maharaj and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 822–836, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.94

• tribological applications on the macro- to nanoscale and applications requiring controlled manipulation and targeting [25]. In these environments the nanoparticles can be deformed locally or the entire nanoparticle can be compressed. Knowledge of the mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms involved

Manipulation of isolated brain nerve terminals by an external magnetic field using D-mannose-coated γ-Fe₂O₃ nano-sized particles and assessment of their effects on glutamate transport

• Tatiana Borisova,
• Natalia Krisanova,
• Arsenii Borуsov,
• Roman Sivko,
• Ludmila Ostapchenko,
• Michal Babic and
• Daniel Horak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 778–788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.90

• of Kyiv, 64 Volodymyrska Str, Kiev, Ukraine The Department of Polymer Particles, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR, Heyrovsky Sq. 2, 162 06 Prague 6, Czech Republic 10.3762/bjnano.5.90 Abstract The manipulation of brain nerve terminals by an external magnetic field promises breakthroughs

• . The study also focused on the analysis of the potential use of these nanoparticles for manipulation of nerve terminals by an external magnetic field. It was shown that more than 84.3 ± 5.0% of L-[14C]glutamate-loaded synaptosomes (1 mg of protein/mL) incubated for 5 min with D-mannose-coated γ-Fe2O3

• uptake and release; manipulation by an external magnetic field; D-mannose; membrane potential; nanoparticles; rat brain nerve terminals; synaptic vesicle acidification; Introduction Nanoparticles have great biotechnological potential opening a wide range of new applications. Properties of nanomaterials

Calibration of quartz tuning fork spring constants for non-contact atomic force microscopy: direct mechanical measurements and simulations

• Jens Falter,
• Marvin Stiefermann,
• Gernot Langewisch,
• Philipp Schurig,
• Hendrik Hölscher,
• Harald Fuchs and
• André Schirmeisen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 507–516, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.59

• precision. Recent achievements of this force spectroscopy method manifest in the identification of the chemical identity of single atoms in an alloy [2] or the measurement of the force applied during the controlled manipulation of molecules or atoms on a surface [3][4]. nc-AFM experiments at the atomic

Energy dissipation in multifrequency atomic force microscopy

• Valentina Pukhova,
• Francesco Banfi and
• Gabriele Ferrini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 494–500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.57

• energy dissipation is a fundamental aspect of the tip–sample interaction, allowing to quantify compositional contrast variations at the nanoscale [2]. The applied forces and the energy delivered to the sample are relevant for the imaging and the manipulation of soft materials in a variety of environments

Plasma-assisted synthesis and high-resolution characterization of anisotropic elemental and bimetallic core–shell magnetic nanoparticles

• M. Hennes,
• A. Lotnyk and
• S. G. Mayr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 466–475, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.54

• heterostructured NP in gas condensation processes are discussed. Keywords: bimetallic magnetic nanoparticle; core–shell; magnetron sputtering; plasma gas condensation; Introduction Due to their size, novel physical properties and the possibility of contactless manipulation, magnetic nanoparticles can be employed

• . This impedes any reasonable analytical description of growth processes in the condensation chamber. Our results also clearly highlight the influence of target morphology on particle growth. As was shown in earlier studies, shaping the plasma above the target by manipulation of the magnetic field can

Exploring the complex mechanical properties of xanthan scaffolds by AFM-based force spectroscopy

• Hao Liang,
• Guanghong Zeng,
• Yinli Li,
• Shuai Zhang,
• Huiling Zhao,
• Lijun Guo,
• Bo Liu and
• Mingdong Dong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 365–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.42

• persistence length were responsible for the macroscopic polymer behavior. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the mechanical response of polymer complexes after manipulation. In this study, the morphologies and mechanical properties of complex xanthan scaffolds, a new nanomaterial, were

• fibril. Double and triple events curves (Figure 2B and Figure 2C) are characterized by two or three independent peaks, which indicate that the AFM tip fished two or three xanthan fibrils at the same time. Multiple events are usually observed during the manipulation at point P1 (Figure 2D), indicating

• the same time during the manipulation. Figure 6A shows a typical double-event force curve composed of two independent single peaks. This kind of force curve was mainly obtained in manipulating the structures P1 and P2. The inset is a proposed model (in Figure 6A), in which two fibrils with different

Noncontact atomic force microscopy II

• Mehmet Z. Baykara and
• Udo D. Schwarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 289–290, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.31

• interatomic forces with unprecedented resolution in three spatial dimensions, while manipulation experiments at both low temperatures and room temperature have demonstrated the capability of the technique to controllably construct atomic-scale structures on surfaces. While initially small, the NC-AFM

The role of surface corrugation and tip oscillation in single-molecule manipulation with a non-contact atomic force microscope

• Christian Wagner,
• Norman Fournier,
• F. Stefan Tautz and
• Ruslan Temirov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 202–209, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.22

• -molecule manipulation has particularly promising potential to yield new insights. We recently reported experiments, in which 3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules were lifted with a qPlus-sensor and analyzed these experiments by using force-field simulations. Irrespective of the

• good agreement between the experiment and those simulations, systematic inconsistencies remained that we attribute to effects omitted from the initial model. Here we develop a more realistic simulation of single-molecule manipulation by non-contact AFM that includes the atomic surface corrugation, the

• tip elasticity, and the tip oscillation amplitude. In short, we simulate a full tip oscillation cycle at each step of the manipulation process and calculate the frequency shift by solving the equation of motion of the tip. The new model correctly reproduces previously unexplained key features of the

Manipulation of nanoparticles of different shapes inside a scanning electron microscope

• Boris Polyakov,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Leonid M. Dorogin,
• Jelena Butikova,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Sven Oras,
• Rünno Lõhmus and
• Ilmar Kink

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.13

• and compared with the experimentally measured force. The effect of NP morphology on the nanoscale friction is discussed. Keywords: contact mechanics; nanomanipulation; nanoparticles; nanotribology; scanning electron microscopy (SEM); Introduction The manipulation of nanoparticles (NPs) is a powerful

• studied in manipulation experiments based on atomic force microscopy (AFM), either in contact mode or dynamic mode [5][6]. Besides the undoubted advantages of AFM manipulation methods, such as a wide choice of materials (not limited to conductive materials), and high resolution and accuracy, they have

• type of motion (sliding, rolling or rotation) during the manipulation event. It is possible to extract trajectory and motion type data from complete AFM images as it was recently demonstrated in several works [4][7][8][9]. However, such a process is time consuming, since it requires a large amount of

Exploring the retention properties of CaF₂ nanoparticles as possible additives for dental care application with tapping-mode atomic force microscope in liquid

• Matthias Wasem,
• Joachim Köser,
• Sylvia Hess,
• Enrico Gnecco and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 36–43, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.4

• studies have related the phase contrast, when measuring in liquid in which low Q-factors are found, to two origins: the excitation of higher eigenmodes and the energy dissipation on the sample surface [8][9]. In this work we show that for surface associated manipulation of nanoparticles in liquid, the

• mica and on tooth enamel in liquid. Manipulation experiments of nanoparticles are routinely done by using the AFM in the contact mode [10][11][12]. However some studies have been reported, in which a controlled manipulation of nanoparticles in tapping mode AFM was performed. Sitti et al. used a

• manipulation, i.e., the collision between the probing tip and the particle, the friction between the particles and the substrate, the role of water when measuring in ambient (lubrication, capillary effects, etc.), electrostatics between them, etc. The high surface to volume ratio of nanoparticles makes them

Structural development and energy dissipation in simulated silicon apices

• Samuel Paul Jarvis,
• Lev Kantorovich and
• Philip Moriarty

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 941–948, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.106

• stability of silicon tip apices by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find that some tip structures - modelled as small, simple clusters - show variations in stability during manipulation dependent on their orientation with respect to the sample surface. Moreover, we observe that

• chemical interactions at the single atom level has driven considerable progress in NC-AFM over the past decade. Through understanding the interactions between the AFM tip and sample surface, the chemical interactions present in AFM images [1][2][3][4][5], manipulation experiments [6][7][8][9][10], and

• comparison with either the COFI method or DFT calculations, however, is usually required to obtain the same level of confidence. Semiconductors with covalent bonds remain one of the most promising systems for the advancement of atom-by-atom manipulation strategies in multiple dimensions and at room

STM tip-assisted engineering of molecular nanostructures: PTCDA islands on Ge(001):H surfaces

• Amir A. Ahmad Zebari,
• Marek Kolmer and
• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 927–932, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.104

• are a plausible source of molecules for the newly formed top-most layer. The edges observed on the scans are quite often fuzzy and change their shape during the manipulation (Figure 2). Moreover, after the adlayer formation the island considerably decreased its lateral dimension (Figure 2i). In both

Size-dependent characteristics of electrostatically actuated fluid-conveying carbon nanotubes based on modified couple stress theory

• Mir Masoud Seyyed Fakhrabadi,
• Abbas Rastgoo and
• Mohammad Taghi Ahmadian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 771–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.88

• to study the manipulation of CNTs by using electrostatic actuation and vdW interactions. The results revealed that the vdW force played an important role in the deflection and pull-in behaviors of the CNTs. In electrostatic actuation, a voltage is applied to two electrodes with a gap in-between. In

Controlling the near-field excitation of nano-antennas with phase-change materials

• Tsung Sheng Kao,
• Yi Guo Chen and
• Ming Hui Hong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 632–637, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.70

• sophisticated manipulation of the incident light beams. Moreover, it is usually impossible to excite a single desired mode of the nanostructure and subsequently create a nanoscale energy hot-spot which may only exist in a small field of view. Here we demonstrate a novel approach in which the constituent

3D nano-structures for laser nano-manipulation

• Gediminas Seniutinas,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Gediminas Gervinskas,
• Etienne Brasselet and
• Saulius Juodkazis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 534–541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.62

Continuous parallel ESI-MS analysis of reactions carried out in a bespoke 3D printed device

• Jennifer S. Mathieson,
• Mali H. Rosnes,
• Victor Sans,
• Philip J. Kitson and
• Leroy Cronin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 285–291, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.31

• manipulation of reaction environment results in strict control of the final device and the subsequent reactions carried out. We have previously demonstrated the versatility and configurability of reusable and bespoke reactionware, in which a 3D-printed “reactionware” matrix, with the reagents printed directly

High-resolution dynamic atomic force microscopy in liquids with different feedback architectures

• John Melcher,
• David Martínez-Martín,
• Miriam Jaafar,
• Julio Gómez-Herrero and
• Arvind Raman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 153–163, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.15

• their independent manipulation of amplitude and phase lag. When equilibrium deflection x* is monostable, coexisting of stable oscillation states, a* and are eliminated by the integral regulators, while the stability and transient settling time can be controlled completely by the proportional

Controlled deposition and combing of DNA across lithographically defined patterns on silicon

• Zeinab Esmail Nazari and
• Leonid Gurevich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 72–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.8

• ] will not come true unless techniques for the manipulation of DNA are optimized for silicon substrates. This inspired us to develop a more “silicon-technology-friendly” variation of a combing method that involves the use of modified silicon substrates and lithographic methods. In this procedure, silicon

Effect of normal load and roughness on the nanoscale friction coefficient in the elastic and plastic contact regime

• Aditya Kumar,
• Thorsten Staedler and
• Xin Jiang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 66–71, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.7

• tribological processes is fundamental to many basic and applied problems, such as wetting, capillarity, adhesion, lubrication, sealing, hardness, micro/nanoindentation, atomic-scale probing, surface modification and manipulation [1][2][3]. The contact of two bodies may be defined by the influential parameters

Plasmonic oligomers in cylindrical vector light beams

• Mario Hentschel,
• Jens Dorfmüller,
• Harald Giessen,
• Sebastian Jäger,
• Andreas M. Kern,
• Kai Braun,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 57–65, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.6

• can be utilized in order to fabricate the structures. Nearly every manipulation in the design of the cluster can be easily implemented. Figure 5b depicts a collection of SEM micrographs that demonstrate our ability to create nearly every arrangement imaginable [22][23][24][25][26]. The optical near

Calculation of the effect of tip geometry on noncontact atomic force microscopy using a qPlus sensor

• Julian Stirling and
• Gordon A. Shaw

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 10–19, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.2

• structure of the tip apex [2], many experiments have demonstrated the ability of qPlus atomic force microscopy (AFM) to produce unprecedented imaging resolution. Other qPlus studies have measured both the forces necessary to perform atomically precise manipulation [3][4][5], and the strength of both atomic

Characterization of the mechanical properties of qPlus sensors

• Jan Berger,
• Martin Švec,
• Martin Müller,
• Martin Ledinský,
• Antonín Fejfar,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Zsolt Majzik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 1–9, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.1

• , including biology, chemistry and physics. In particular, noncontact atomic force microscopy [3] (nc-AFM) has developed into a powerful technique for imaging with true atomic resolution [4][5], chemical sensitivity [6][7][8] or for performing single atom manipulation [9][10][11] on all types of surfaces

Structural and electronic properties of oligo- and polythiophenes modified by substituents

• Simon P. Rittmeyer and
• Axel Groß

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 909–919, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.101

• electronic structure of polymers is crucial. In this regard, a directed manipulation of the band gap to tailor the electronic properties is very desirable. Considering the significant potential of organic chemistry at synthesizing and manipulating compounds, there is definitely a demand for a better

• [46], but also significantly reduced direct band gaps for other cyclic substituents. This suggests that it is possible to both increase and decrease the band gap with the choice of a suitable annulated substituent. Hence, annulated systems may be promising candidates for the manipulation of the band

• electronic structure The electrical conductivity of a large class of polymers, in particular of polythiophene, can be highly increased when they are doped. The doping process itself corresponds basically to a manipulation of the number of valence electrons of the polymers, often in an electrochemical

Advanced atomic force microscopy techniques

• Thilo Glatzel,
• Hendrik Hölscher,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Mehmet Z. Baykara,
• Udo D. Schwarz and
• Ricardo Garcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 893–894, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.99

• resolution limit to the picometer range, the invention of the AFM triggered the development of a growing number of new scanning probe methods and approaches, ranging from an expansion of the properties that can be mapped to the active manipulation of surfaces and small particles. Practically every month