Selective photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to methanol in CuO-loaded NaTaO₃ nanocubes in isopropanol

• Tianyu Xiang,
• Feng Xin,
• Jingshuai Chen,
• Yuwen Wang,
• Xiaohong Yin and
• Xiao Shao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 776–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.69

• photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, UV–vis, EDS and XPS and used to photocatalytically reduce CO2 in isopropanol. This worked to both absorb CO2 and as a sacrificial reagent to harvest CO2 and donate electrons. Methanol and acetone were generated as the reduction product of CO2 and the oxidation

• product of isopropanol, respectively. NaTaO3 nanocubes loaded with 2 wt % CuO and synthesized in 2 mol/L NaOH solution showed the best activity. The methanol and acetone yields were 137.48 μmol/(g·h) and 335.93 μmol/(g·h), respectively, after 6 h of irradiation. Such high activity could be attributed to

• the good crystallinity, morphology and proper amount of CuO loading, which functioned as reductive sites for selective formation of methanol. The reaction mechanism was also proposed and explained by band theory. Keywords: CO2 reduction; CuO loading; isopropanol; NaTaO3 nanocubes; photocatalysis

Influence of calcium on ceramide-1-phosphate monolayers

• Joana S. L. Oliveira,
• Gerald Brezesinski,
• Alexandra Hill and
• Arne Gericke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 236–245, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.22

• ) was purchased from Matreya, LLC (PA, USA). EDTA (≥99.4%), NaCl (≥99.5%), NaOH (≥99.5%), CaCl2 (≥99%) and HCl were purchased from Sigma Aldrich GmbH (Taufkirchen, Germany). Chloroform (≥99.9%) and citric acid monohydrate (≥99.5%) were purchased from Carl Roth GmbH (Karlsruhe, Germany) and methanol

• experiments, Milli-Q Millipore water with a specific resistance of 18.2 MΩ·cm and pH approx. 6.2 was used. Monolayer experiments For monolayer experiments, a stock solution with a concentration of around 1 mM of C1P was prepared in a chloroform/methanol/0.5 N HCl (2:0.9:0.1 v/v) mixture, and vortexed until

Chemical bath deposition of textured and compact zinc oxide thin films on vinyl-terminated polystyrene brushes

• Nina J. Blumenstein,
• Caroline G. Hofmeister,
• Peter Lindemann,
• Cheng Huang,
• Johannes Baier,
• Andreas Leineweber,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Christof Wöll,
• Thomas Schimmel and
• Joachim Bill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 102–110, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.12

• charge of the SiOx is highly negative whereas under the same conditions, the PS brush is much less negatively charged. It is noteworthy that the reaction takes place in methanol instead of water. For mixtures of water and alcohol it is known, that the ζ-potential is decreasing with higher alcohol content

• [38]. This could lead to a smaller difference in the ζ-potential of the SiOx and PS brush in methanol as compared to the results in water. Water contact angle (WCA) measurements confirm the findings of the ζ-potential measurements. The SiOx surface exhibits a high hydrophilicity with a WCA below 4

• molecule is split into two parts. The smaller part R2 with the ester group is soluble in methanol, whereas the longer chain R1 remains insoluble. Due to the washing steps during modification, the smaller molecules are removed from the reaction vessel. Therefore, the number of ester groups present in the

Chemiresistive/SERS dual sensor based on densely packed gold nanoparticles

• Sanda Boca,
• Cosmin Leordean,
• Simion Astilean and
• Cosmin Farcau

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2498–2503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.259

•  3a. The electrically connected IDE with assembled Au NPs is immersed in a methanol (MeOH) bath, by taking care to leave the two electrode tracks outside of the liquid. Since the Au NPs are dispersable in water, the exposure to alcohol does not damage markedly the assembled film. Upon immersion of the

• solvent environment; at the same time it could indicate small disturbances in the microscopic NP arrangement, induced by the solvent. Subsequently, the analyte (here MBA in methanol solution) is pipetted (one drop) into the methanol bath (the final MBA solution concentration is 10−5 M). Again, the

• 1182 and 1487 cm−1, can also be observed, which were present in the spectrum measured before MBA exposure, due to folic acid molecules. Note that a flat gold film deposited by thermal evaporation did not exhibit any visible Raman bands, under the same experimental conditions (exposure to methanol, MBA

Green and energy-efficient methods for the production of metallic nanoparticles

• Mitra Naghdi,
• Mehrdad Taheran,
• Satinder K. Brar,
• M. Verma,
• R. Y. Surampalli and
• J. R. Valero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2354–2376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.243

• ), amine (–NH) and aliphatic C–H involved in the capping of the NPs [42]. In another study, they extracted the stem bark of Callicarpa maingayi into a methanol/water solution to use it as reducing and stabilizing agent. This time, Ag NPs were spherical with the average diameter of 12.40 nm and same

Surfactant-controlled composition and crystal structure of manganese(II) sulfide nanocrystals prepared by solvothermal synthesis

• Elena Capetti,
• Anna M. Ferretti,
• Vladimiro Dal Santo and
• Alessandro Ponti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2319–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.238

• pentahydrate (4.55 g, 50 mmol) and stearic acid (14.2 g, 50 mmol) in methanol (175 mL) was prepared and stirred under argon for 1 h at room temperature. Then, the mixture was cooled to 0 °C using an ice bath and a solution of anhydrous MnCl2 (3.15 g, 25 mmol) in methanol (100 mL) was slowly added. A white

• precipitate immediately formed, which was collected by filtration using a Buchner funnel previously cooled to −20 °C and washed with cold methanol (3 times, 10 mL). Drying under vacuum (p ≈ 10−2 torr) for 6 h gave MnSt2 as a white powder. The average yield was ≈50%. IR (KBr), ν (cm−1): 2955, 2917, 2849, 1552

Nanostructured superhydrophobic films synthesized by electrodeposition of fluorinated polyindoles

• Gabriela Ramos Chagas,
• Thierry Darmanin and
• Frédéric Guittard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2078–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.212

• solution was stirred at room temperature for 24 h. The crude product was purified by column chromatography (stationary phase: silica gel; eluent: chloroform/methanol 95:5). N-((1H-Indol-4-yl)methyl)-4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11,11-heptadecafluoroundecanamide (Indole-4-F8): Yield 15%; yellow solid

Comprehensive characterization and understanding of micro-fuel cells operating at high methanol concentrations

• Aldo S. Gago,
• Juan-Pablo Esquivel,
• Neus Sabaté,
• Joaquín Santander and
• Nicolas Alonso-Vante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2000–2006, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.203

• .6.203 Abstract We report on the analysis of the performance of each electrode of an air-breathing passive micro-direct methanol fuel cell (µDMFC) during polarization, stabilization and discharge, with CH3OH (2–20 M). A reference electrode with a microcapillary was used for separately measuring the anode

• crossover; methanol; micro-fabrication; passive direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC); reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE); Introduction In recent years micro-fabricated fuel cells such as passive micro-direct methanol fuel cells (µDMFC) have been proposed as promising systems for powering portable devices [1

• CH3OH. The Pt–Ru-based anode is the most active binary electrocatalyst for DMFCs. The high activity of Pt–Ru for methanol oxidation has been attributed to both a bifunctional mechanism [24] and a ligand (electronic) effect [25]. The bifunctional mechanism of Pt and Ru involves the adsorption of oxygen

Optimized design of a nanostructured SPCE-based multipurpose biosensing platform formed by ferrocene-tethered electrochemically-deposited cauliflower-shaped gold nanoparticles

• Wicem Argoubi,
• Maroua Saadaoui,
• Sami Ben Aoun and
• Noureddine Raouafi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1840–1852, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.187

• ferrocene methanol using DCC as a condensing agent according to previously published reports [15][27]. Immunosensor preparation It is well known that gold has a high affinity toward sulfur-terminated compounds [28]. Several experiments showed that gold nanostructured electrodes should be incubated for at

Heterometal nanoparticles from Ru-based molecular clusters covalently anchored onto functionalized carbon nanotubes and nanofibers

• Deborah Vidick,
• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Michel Devillers,
• Claude Poleunis,
• Arnaud Delcorte,
• Pietro Moggi,
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo and
• Sophie Hermans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1287–1297, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.133

• (CNF)) are well suited as anodes for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) [6][7][8][9], which hold much prospect as a portable energy source for mobile devices. The electrocatalytic activity of Pt–Ru/CNF [7] or Pt–Ru/MWNT [10] composite electrodes for methanol oxidation is found to be better than that of

• /nanocarbon composites could find application in heterogeneous catalysis or as anodes for direct methanol fuel cells. After promotion with Cs, we showed that our Ru/C nanocomposites are indeed active in ammonia synthesis under very mild conditions. Experimental The experimental strategy was, in general, very

Electronic interaction in composites of a conjugated polymer and carbon nanotubes: first-principles calculation and photophysical approaches

• Florian Massuyeau,
• Jany Wéry,
• Jean-Luc Duvail,
• Serge Lefrant,
• Abu Yaya,
• Chris Ewels and
• Eric Faulques

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1138–1144, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.115

• SWNT in methanol as solvent. PPV–SWNT composite films of 200 nm thickness were obtained with SWNT mass concentrations x = 0–64% by drop casting onto ultraclean quartz substrates followed by thermal conversion under vacuum at 573 K. Time-resolved PL experiments were carried out by exciting the samples

Pt- and Pd-decorated MWCNTs for vapour and gas detection at room temperature

• Hamdi Baccar,
• Atef Thamri,
• Pierrick Clément,
• Eduard Llobet and
• Adnane Abdelghani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 919–927, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.95

• , benzene, toluene, acetone, methanol and ethanol [21][22][23][24][25]. Instead of the typical functionalisation methods, it was possible to decorate the carbon nanotubes with various metal or metal oxide nanoparticles. These nanoparticles may show different reactivity to different chemical species, which

• non-aromatic (ethanol, methanol and acetone) VOCs together with the response to a pollutant gas (NO2) have been investigated. Experimental Carbon nanotube synthesis, functionalisation and metal decoration The carbon nanotubes used in the experiment were purchased from Nanocyl s.a. (Belgium). They were

• to methanol and ethanol is clearly higher (especially at the lower concentrations tested) than that of bare carbon nanotube sensors. This implies that the limit of detection for such species would be lower for Pt- or Pd-decorated carbon nanotube sensors than for bare carbon nanotube sensors. In

Transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO₂ nanoribbons and the influence of the transformation strategies on the photocatalytic performance

• Melita Rutar,
• Nejc Rozman,
• Matej Pregelj,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Romana Cerc Korošec,
• Andrijana Sever Škapin,
• Aleš Mrzel,
• Srečo D. Škapin and
• Polona Umek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 831–844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.86

• deposited on the samples to reduce the charging effect. Specimens for TEM investigations were dispersed ultrasonically in methanol and a drop of the dispersion was deposited onto a lacy carbon film supported by a copper grid. The phase analysis was performed on the cut surface by X-ray powder diffraction

Microwave assisted synthesis and characterisation of a zinc oxide/tobacco mosaic virus hybrid material. An active hybrid semiconductor in a field-effect transistor device

• Shawn Sanctis,
• Rudolf C. Hoffmann,
• Sabine Eiben and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 785–791, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.81

• the zinc oximato complex and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (mol. wt ≈ 10k) in methanol and drop wise addition of a solution of tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) in methanol, so that the final concentrations were [Zn2+] = 10 mM, [PVP] = 10 mM, and [TEAOH] = 12.5 mM. The microwave reactions were

• nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) was undertaken using a DRX500 (Bruker) spectrometer. Experiments to study the decomposition of the precursor in the microwave were performed by preparing the reaction solution (with and without the TEAOH) in tetra-deuteromethanol (methanol-d4). The reactions

• substrate with higher microwave power led to uncontrolled, rapid increase of the solution temperature and boiling of the solvent methanol (bp ≈ 65 °C). This led to a detachment of the viruses as no visible virus structures afterwards could be detected on the substrate surface by AFM analysis after this

Low-cost formation of bulk and localized polymer-derived carbon nanodomains from polydimethylsiloxane

• Juan Carlos Castro Alcántara,
• Mariana Cerda Zorrilla,
• Lucia Cabriales,
• Luis Manuel León Rossano and
• Mathieu Hautefeuille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 744–748, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.76

• through the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technique by using alcohols as reagent for carbon sources. For instance, aliphatic alcohols or mixtures of ethanol and methanol with other substances such as ferrocenes may also be used, depending on the type of the desired carbon nanodomains [4][5]. Laser

Self-assembled anchor layers/polysaccharide coatings on titanium surfaces: a study of functionalization and stability

• Ognen Pop-Georgievski,
• Dana Kubies,
• Josef Zemek,
• Neda Neykova,
• Roman Demianchuk,
• Eliška Mázl Chánová,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Milan Houska and
• František Rypáček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 617–631, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.63

• unimodal distribution without the presence of low molecular weight degradation products. All organic solvents (petroleum ether, methanol, ethanol, isobuthanol and toluene) were of analytical grade (Lach-Ner, Czech Republic) and used as received. Ultrapure water was obtained with a Millipore Milli-Q system

• nm thickness) were obtained by evaporation deposition (rate = 0.35 Å·s−1, pressure = 6.66 × 10−6 Pa) using a COV AP SQC-310C deposition device (Angstrom Engineering, Canada). The coated substrates were cut into 1.2 cm × 1.2 cm pieces, sonicated in methanol, and deionized in water for 15 min, followed

• contaminants and to determine the surface concentration of introduced hydroxy groups. After the initial sonication in petrolether, methanol and deionized water for 15 min, the following surface cleaning and activation procedures were investigated: alkaline piranha treatment (mixture of 25% NH3, 30% H2O2 and

Pulmonary surfactant augments cytotoxicity of silica nanoparticles: Studies on an in vitro air–blood barrier model

• Jennifer Y. Kasper,
• Lisa Feiden,
• Maria I. Hermanns,
• Christoph Bantz,
• Michael Maskos,
• Ronald E. Unger and
• C. James Kirkpatrick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 517–528, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.54

• -slides. After NP-exposure for 4 h cells were washed with serum-free medium and cultured for further 20 h in fresh serum-containing cell culture medium. Subsequently, cells were fixed with methanol/ethanlol (2:1, rt, 20 min), washed 3 times with PBS and examined with a fluorescence microscope (Applied

Raman spectroscopy as a tool to investigate the structure and electronic properties of carbon-atom wires

• Alberto Milani,
• Matteo Tommasini,
• Valeria Russo,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Andrea Lucotti,
• Franco Cataldo and
• Carlo S. Casari

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 480–491, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.49

• described in detail in [64]. When the discharge is operated in methanol it is possible to obtain polyynes with an even number of carbon atoms (6 ≤ C ≤ 16) terminated by one hydrogen atom on each side. The size distribution obtained from HPLC complemented with UV–vis spectroscopy is reported in Figure 4

• . Even at low concentration it is possible to obtain a Raman spectrum from the liquid sample as shown in Figure 4a, where the low intensity of the sp signal is clear when compared to the signal of the solvent (methanol). The sp signal consititutes an asymmetrical band extending from 2000 cm−1 to 2250 cm

• polyynes and cumulenes of different lengths. Figure adapted with permission from [40], copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons. (a) Experimental Raman spectrum (1064 nm) of H-capped polyynes in methanol (5 × 10−3 M), with the pure solvent shown for comparison. (b,c) UV–vis spectra for polyynes of different

Electrical properties of single CdTe nanowires

• Elena Matei,
• Camelia Florica,
• Andreea Costas,
• María Eugenia Toimil-Molares and
• Ionut Enculescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 444–450, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.45

• interaction with the target. Further, these tracks were chemically etched, leading to the formation of cylindrical pores. An aqueous solution of 5 M NaOH and 10 vol % methanol was employed for the etching process at a temperature of 50 °C. The etching rate was 2 μm/h, at three minutes of etching, resulting in

Palladium nanoparticles anchored to anatase TiO₂ for enhanced surface plasmon resonance-stimulated, visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Hong Ye Chu,
• Shaliza Ibrahim and
• Pichiah Saravanan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 428–437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.43

• was mounted with a C18 column at 40 °C (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.7 μm particle size) using KH2PO4 (pH 1.8)/methanol (80:20) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The amoxicillin was detected with a set wavelength of 228 nm. The degrees of mineralization of AMX were appraised from the amount of total

Influence of size, shape and core–shell interface on surface plasmon resonance in Ag and Ag@MgO nanoparticle films deposited on Si/SiO_x

• Sergio D’Addato,
• Daniele Pinotti,
• Maria Chiara Spadaro,
• Guido Paolicelli,
• Vincenzo Grillo,
• Sergio Valeri,
• Luca Pasquali,
• Luca Bergamini and
• Stefano Corni

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 404–413, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.40

• were used during experiments, in particular: (i) Si with an ultrathin film of native oxide SiOx (Si/SiOx) for SEM, XPS, and optical measurements, and (ii) Carbon-coated copper grids for TEM. p-doped Si wafers with native oxide SiOx (Si/SiOx substrates) were rinsed in methanol and introduced in the

Exploiting the hierarchical morphology of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotube films for highly hydrophobic coatings

• Francesco De Nicola,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Manuela Scarselli,
• Francesca Nanni,
• Ilaria Cacciotti and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 353–360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.34

• two different film layers were obtained. Subsequently, rinsing in water and in a solution of ethanol, methanol and water (15:15:70) to remove as much surfactant as possible was performed. Samples were made uniformly depositing by the dry-transfer printing method carbon nanotube films on Carlo Erba

Comparative evaluation of the impact on endothelial cells induced by different nanoparticle structures and functionalization

• Lisa Landgraf,
• Ines Müller,
• Peter Ernst,
• Miriam Schäfer,
• Christina Rosman,
• Isabel Schick,
• Oskar Köhler,
• Hartmut Oehring,
• Vladimir V. Breus,
• Thomas Basché,
• Carsten Sönnichsen,
• Wolfgang Tremel and
• Ingrid Hilger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 300–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.28

• calculated amount of a ligand (57 mg CyA, 44 µL MPA, 75 mg DPA) was dissolved in 20 mL of 2-propanol (for CyA and DPA) or 20 mL 1:1 methanol/dioxane mixture (for MPA). The pH was adjusted to 11–12 with tetramethylammonium hydroxide pentahydrate (TMAHP) in case of MPA and DPA, and the mixture was heated up to

The effect of surface charge on nonspecific uptake and cytotoxicity of CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots

• Vladimir V. Breus,
• Anna Pietuch,
• Marco Tarantola,
• Thomas Basché and
• Andreas Janshoff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 281–292, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.26

• ) for 48 h. Immunostaining After washing with PBS, fixation was carried out by immersing the cells into a 20 °C cold acetone/methanol mixture (1:1 v/v) for 10 min. Afterwards, the cells were washed three times with PBS, the unspecific binding sites were blocked with FCS, and incubation in staining

Oxygen-plasma-modified biomimetic nanofibrous scaffolds for enhanced compatibility of cardiovascular implants

• Anna Maria Pappa,
• Varvara Karagkiozaki,
• Silke Krol,
• Spyros Kassavetis,
• Dimitris Konstantinou,
• Charalampos Pitsalidis,
• Lazaros Tzounis,
• Nikos Pliatsikas and
• Stergios Logothetidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 254–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.24

• design and fabrication Materials and methods Polycaprolactone (PCL), Mn = 45,000 Da, chloroform (≥99.8%), methanol (≥99.9%) were obtained from Sigma (Sigma-Aldrich, Greece). All reagents were used without further purification and all solutions were prepared by deionised water. The nanofibrous scaffolds

• mixture of chloroform: methanol (3:1). The solution was electrospun from a 5 mL syringe with a 24 gauge needle and mass flow rate of 10–15 μL/min. A high voltage (15–20 kV) was applied to the tip of the needle when the fluid jet was ejected. The distance between the needle and the moving collector in the

• XY stage, was set at 40 mm. The glass substrates were cleaned prior to electrospinning with isopropanol and methanol and blow-dried using N2 flow. Each fabricated film was left overnight to allow the evaporation of any residual solvents. Plasma treatment After the fabrication of the electrospun