High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• [53]. Finally, the relative contributions of Ce4+ and Ce3+ states at the surface of ZnO rods were estimated to be 79 and 21%, respectively. To evaluate the photo-absorption behaviors of the ZnO:Ce materials, the UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) were recorded and shown in Figure 4 (undoped

• increasing Ce concentrations. The redshift in absorption probably originates from sub-bandgap transitions originating from Ce doping [34][54]. These electronic transitions from the VB of ZnO to the Ce energy levels require less energy than that of the VB to the CB of ZnO. Reflectance spectra have been

• converted to the absorbance spectra using the Kubelka–Munk function FKM(R) = (1 − R)2/2R, where R is the reflectance recorded for the sample (Figure S1 in the Supporting Information File 1). The bandgap energies determined by an extrapolation method vary between 3.29 and 3.30 eV for ZnO and ZnO:Ce rods and

Photocurrent generation in carbon nanotube/cubic-phase HfO₂ nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites

• Protima Rauwel,
• Augustinas Galeckas,
• Martin Salumaa,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Erwan Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1075–1085, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.101

• with the fundamental absorption edge of HfO2 building up at around 5.6 eV. These assertions are supported by the similarity of the absorption edge and absence of CNT-related features in the spectrum of free-standing cubic HfO2 nanoparticles obtained earlier from the diffuse reflectance measurements [21

• CNT. (a) Absorption spectrum of MWCNTs decorated with cubic HfO2 nanoparticles obtained from the transmittance measurements of colloidal suspension in ethanol (blue curve) against that of free-standing HfO2 nanoparticles from the diffuse reflectance measurements (red curve). (b) Tauc plots of the

Optical absorption signature of a self-assembled dye monolayer on graphene

• Tessnim Sghaier,
• Sylvain Le Liepvre,
• Céline Fiorini,
• Ludovic Douillard and
• Fabrice Charra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 862–868, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.78

• -3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), have become archetypes for photonic applications of dyes [12], for self-organized adsorption on various atomically flat surfaces [13], and for their combination. Indeed, optical differential reflectance spectroscopy [14], photoluminescence, or Raman diffraction

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

• –precipitation mechanism, where the concentration of the NaOH solution played a crucial role on the morphology of the crystal. This was confirmed in our work. Figure 3 shows UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra and optical absorption edges of NaTaO3 nanocubes prepared with different concentrations of NaOH. From

• particles were dispersed on the surface of the NaTaO3 nanocubes with an average size of tens of nanometers (Figure 5b and Figure 5c). When the loading reached 5 wt %, the CuO nanoparticles began to aggregate and large clusters were formed (Figure 5d). The UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra of CuO–NaTaO3 are

• isopropanol to methanol was also proposed and explained by band theory. XRD patterns of NaTaO3 nanocubes. SEM images of NaTaO3 nanocubes: (a) 1M-NaTaO3, (b) 2M-NaTaO3, (c) 3M-NaTaO3, and (d) 4M-NaTaO3. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (a) and optical absorption band edges (b) of NaTaO3 nanocubes. XRD

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

• technique. The infrared beam is focused on the liquid surface by a set of mirrors. The angle of incidence normal to the surface can be varied by moveable arms. A KRS-5 wire grid polarizer is used to polarize the infrared radiation either in parallel (p) or perpendicular (s) direction. Reflectance–absorbance

• spectra were obtained by using –log(R/R0), with R being the reflectance of the film covered surface and R0 being the reflectance of the same subphase without the film. Each IRRAS experiment was started 1 h after spreading. FTIR spectra were collected with a scanning velocity of 20 kHz and a resolution of

Dependence of lattice strain relaxation, absorbance, and sheet resistance on thickness in textured ZnO@B transparent conductive oxide for thin-film solar cell applications

• Kuang-Yang Kou,
• Yu-En Huang,
• Chien-Hsun Chen and
• Shih-Wei Feng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 75–80, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.9

• expansion coefficient [10]. Because strain can affect the electronic and optical properties of materials, the strain distribution in the films is an important subject to be investigated. The strain in ZnO films is accumulated during film growth and can be monitored by in situ optical reflectance measurement

Controlled graphene oxide assembly on silver nanocube monolayers for SERS detection: dependence on nanocube packing procedure

• Martina Banchelli,
• Bruno Tiribilli,
• Roberto Pini,
• Luigi Dei,
• Paolo Matteini and
• Gabriella Caminati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 9–21, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.2

• features compression–expansion cycles and transfer ratios for LB transfer; absorbance and reflectance spectra for AgNC and GO/AgNC arrays for procedure A and B; QCM data for graphene oxide adsorption on bare silicon oxide surfaces; and SERS and Raman spectra for adenine, PVP and GO. Supporting Information

Sonochemical co-deposition of antibacterial nanoparticles and dyes on textiles

• Ilana Perelshtein,
• Anat Lipovsky,
• Nina Perkas,
• Tzanko Tzanov and
• Aharon Gedanken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1–8, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.1

• after leaching experiments was characterized by reflectance measurements. Antibacterial test The antibacterial activity was tested according to the procedure described by our group previously [25]. Briefly, the antibacterial activity of MO- and MO/dye-coated fabrics was tested against E. coli. Overnight

• solid state 13C NMR. The reflectance spectra of cotton sonochemically coated with RO16 and RB5 were compared with the spectrum of untreated cotton. The solid state NMR spectra did not reveal any signal of the dyes. Apparently, the small amount of dye deposited on the fabric is below the detection limit

Nanostructured surfaces by supramolecular self-assembly of linear oligosilsesquioxanes with biocompatible side groups

• Maria Nowacka,
• Anna Kowalewska and
• Tomasz Makowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2377–2387, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.244

• , citric acid, thioglycolic or acid). The adsorption of both silsesquioxane oligomers and organic primers was confirmed with attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy. The observed physiochemical and textural variations in the adsorbed materials correlate with the differences in the chemical

• force microscopy (AFM) and attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) were used as analytic tools for the studies. The changes in the free surface energy of the prepared hydrophilic surfaces were also investigated for all LPSQ-COOH/X adsorbed on native and primed mica. The obtained

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

• reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectra of the NCs was recorded for several reactions (Tables 1–3) to investigate the organic species present on the NC surface at the end of the reaction. In particular, we analyzed NCs from reactions using both MnSt2 (L = HdAm, OlAm, DdTh, OlAm/DdTh, and StAc) and Mn2(CO)10 (L

Conformational switching of ethano-bridged Cu,H₂-bis-porphyrin induced by aromatic amines

• Simona Bettini,
• Emanuela Maglie,
• Rosanna Pagano,
• Victor Borovkov,
• Yoshihisa Inoue,
• Ludovico Valli and
• Gabriele Giancane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2154–2160, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.221

• . The linear dependence of the absorbance on the LS layer number is highlighted in the inset. (a) Reflectance variation of Cu,H2-Por2 LS films and (b) SPR angle shift as a function of analyte concentration. SPR angle shift as a function of α-methylbenzylamine (filled black circles) and N

Temperature-dependent breakdown of hydrogen peroxide-treated ZnO and TiO₂ nanoparticle agglomerates

• Sinan Sabuncu and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1897–1903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.193

• stored at room temperature. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements FTIR analysis was performed using a Thermo Scientific, Nicolet iS50 FTIR instrument (Massachusetts, USA) in attenuated total reflectance mode with a diamond plate and ZnSe lens. The samples were dried at 90 °C on a

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

• light [23], compared with the undoped TiO2. The optical absorption spectrum of TN-580 (Figure S7, see Supporting Information File 1) shows that the sample absorbs light up to 500 nm, whereas TO-580 and CH-W do not. A comparison of the diffuse reflectance spectra of the N-doped TiO2 (not shown) reveals

• sample holder. Diffuse reflectance spectra were acquired in the 200–800 nm range with a 0.5 nm step size using a UV–vis–NIR spectrometer (Shimadzu UV-3600) equipped with an integrating sphere (ISR-3100, 60 mm) and BaSO4 as a standard. The Kubelka–Munk function was applied to convert the diffuse

• reflectance into the absorbance [46]. The optical band-gaps energy (Eg) was determined from the wavelength at which the tangent of the absorbance line intersected the abscissa coordinate. The chemical analysis of the sodium content was done using a FE-SEM equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry

Simple approach for the fabrication of PEDOT-coated Si nanowires

• Mingxuan Zhu,
• Marielle Eyraud,
• Judikael Le Rouzo,
• Nadia Ait Ahmed,
• Florence Boulc’h,
• Claude Alfonso,
• Philippe Knauth and
• François Flory

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 640–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.65

• nanowire density on the substrate. For a tapering time of less than 30 s, the reflectance does not show significant change: a 10 s tapering leads to a reflection of less than 5% and a 30 s tapering to a reflection of less than 6%. This suggests that there is still a strong light trapping effect in the

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

• measurement chamber was continuously purged with dry air. The acquisition time was approximately 20 min at a resolution of 2 cm−1. The spectra are reported as −log(R/R0), where R is the reflectance of the sample and R0 is the reflectance of bare titanium reference surfaces. Atomic force microscopy (AFM): AFM

Tm-doped TiO₂ and Tm₂Ti₂O₇ pyrochlore nanoparticles: enhancing the photocatalytic activity of rutile with a pyrochlore phase

• Desiré M. De los Santos,
• Javier Navas,
• Teresa Aguilar,
• Antonio Sánchez-Coronilla,
• Concha Fernández-Lorenzo,
• Rodrigo Alcántara,
• Jose Carlos Piñero,
• Ginesa Blanco and
• Joaquín Martín-Calleja

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 605–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.62

• study the optical properties of the samples and to determine the band gap energy, UV–vis spectroscopy in diffuse reflectance (DR–UV–vis) mode was used. The custom-built system was composed of: (i) an integrating sphere (Spectra Tech), (ii) a spectrometer (USB2000+, Ocean Optics), and (iii) a xenon lamp

• (Spectral Products, ASB-XE-175) as an illumination source. The Kubelka–Munk formalism and Tauc plots were used to determine the band gap energy. The Kubelka–Munk function for diffuse reflectance (R) is For a semiconductor, the plot of [f(R)·hν]n versus hν shows a linear region for n = ½ if the band gap is

• synthesized samples obtained in diffuse reflectance mode. Band gap energy values as a function of Tm doping concentration at different annealing temperatures. Raman spectra obtained using a 532 nm (a) and a 785 nm (b) illumination source. (a) TEM image of 2 atom % Tm-doped sample annealed at 1173 K and EELS

Novel ZnO:Ag nanocomposites induce significant oxidative stress in human fibroblast malignant melanoma (Ht144) cells

• Syeda Arooj,
• Samina Nazir,
• Akhtar Nadhman,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Bakhtiar Muhammad,
• Ishaq Ahmad,
• Kehkashan Mazhar and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 570–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.59

• formulations of ZnO:Ag (1, 3, 5, 10, 20 and 30% Ag) were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford back scattering and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for their structure, morphology, composition and optical band gap

• reflectance spectra (DRS) analysis show a characteristic absorption edge near 390 nm (Figure 3b). The non-doped ZnO showed a high reflectance, while Ag-doped ZnO showed low reflectance and more absorbance in the visible region. Moreover, the intensity of reflectance decreased with the increase of Ag contents

• the backscattering angle was 170°. The data was analyzed via XRUMP and SIMNRA. Optical properties of composites were studied on a Lambda 950 UV–vis–NIR spectrometer. The diffused reflectance spectra were collected within a range from 900 nm to 2500 nm through an integrating sphere. Band gap energies

Silica micro/nanospheres for theranostics: from bimodal MRI and fluorescent imaging probes to cancer therapy

• Shanka Walia and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 546–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.57

• nanocomposites material was done by attenuated total reflectance FTIR (ATR FTIR), TEM, DLS, fluorescence and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) studies. The TEM micrographs suggested that the average diameter of CMSC coated γ-Fe2O3 NPs and bifunctional silica-coated NPs were 9 nm (PDI = 1.17) and 9.3 nm (PDI

Synergic combination of the sol–gel method with dip coating for plasmonic devices

• Cristiana Figus,
• Maddalena Patrini,
• Francesco Floris,
• Lucia Fornasari,
• Paola Pellacani,
• Gerardo Marchesini,
• Andrea Valsesia,
• Flavia Artizzu,
• Daniela Marongiu,
• Michele Saba,
• Franco Marabelli,
• Andrea Mura,
• Giovanni Bongiovanni and
• Francesco Quochi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 500–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.52

• structures to refractive index changes in aqueous solution. In the reflectance spectra, the plasmonic absorption feature is shifted to longer wavelengths due to the modification of the dielectric function surrounding the gold [1][2][3][4][15][16][17]. Figure 6 reports a simplified scheme showing the procedure

• used to perform the optical sensing test and to regenerate the sensor chip. The normalized reflectance spectra (R/R0) of both a bare (uncoated), plasmonic, nanostructured chip and a chip coated with an ≈6 nm thick silica layer are shown. The reference reflectance spectrum (R0, Figure 6a) is measured

• with the chip immersed in MilliQ water, and the reflectance spectrum (R, Figure 6c) is measured with the chip immersed in MilliQ water and EtOH (concentration, 3%). The optical response of the system was monitored through a series of measurements on the same solution (Figure 6, right) by evaluating the

Conformal SiO₂ coating of sub-100 nm diameter channels of polycarbonate etched ion-track channels by atomic layer deposition

• Nicolas Sobel,
• Christian Hess,
• Manuela Lukas,
• Anne Spende,
• Bernd Stühn,
• M. E. Toimil-Molares and
• Christina Trautmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 472–479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.48

• species. Hydrogen chloride is a byproduct. It has been reported that reaction of pyridine and hydrogen chloride may lead to the formation of pyridinium salt [31]. FTIR spectroscopy Infrared spectra were recorded at room temperature in diffuse reflectance on a Bruker Vertex 70 system equipped with a

• Composition and growth mechanism The composition of the ALD layer is decisive for the functionality of the modified membrane, and thus was analyzed by XP and FTIR spectroscopy. Figure 2 shows diffuse reflectance FTIR spectra of a pristine PC membrane (black), and of two membranes coated with 28 (red) and 112

• based on SiO2-surface modification. Schematics of the fabrication of SiO2 coated membranes: (a) irradiation of PC foil with GeV heavy ions, (b) chemical etching of ion tracks to form cylindrical nanochannels, (c) ALD conformal coating of porous membrane. Diffuse reflectance FTIR spectra of uncoated

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

• micrographs of CdTe nanowires deposited at (a) −400 mV; (b) −500 mV; (c) −550 mV; (d) −600 mV; (e) −650 mV; (f) −700 mV. (a) EDX spectra for a series of samples prepared at different electrode potentials; (b) Cd content versus working electrode potential. (a) Spectral reflectance curve and (b) Kubelka–Munk

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

• field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS), Raman and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. The simple and smart synthesis anchored well the deposition

• absorbance spectrum was calculated by using the UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra and it is shown in Figure 7. As predicted and according to theory, the absorption band shown by anatase TiO2 sample due to the charge-transfer absorption from the oxide anions 2p orbital valence band to the conduction band of

• radiation (225 W, 15 mA, 15 kV). The C1s binding energy of adventitious carbon (284.9 eV) was used as reference. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS) were performed with a Shimadzu UV-2600 spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere attachment. The spectra were obtained with BaSO4 as a

Low-cost plasmonic solar cells prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Valdek Mikli,
• Arvo Mere,
• Ilmo Sildos and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2398–2402, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.249

• -circuit condition (VOC), current density at short-circuit condition (JSC), the fill factor (FF) and the conversion efficiency (η). The total reflectance spectra of the solar cells were measured in the wavelength range of 300–1500 nm on a Jasco V-670 spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere

In situ metalation of free base phthalocyanine covalently bonded to silicon surfaces

• Fabio Lupo,
• Cristina Tudisco,
• Federico Bertani,
• Enrico Dalcanale and
• Guglielmo G. Condorelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2222–2229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.231

• relevant charging effect was observed. Freshly prepared samples were quickly transferred to the XPS main chamber. The XPS binding energy scale was calibrated by centering the C 1s peak (due to hydrocarbon moieties and adventitious carbon) at 285.0 eV [24][40] Infrared attenuated total reflectance spectra

Observation and analysis of structural changes in fused silica by continuous irradiation with femtosecond laser light having an energy density below the laser-induced damage threshold

• Wataru Nomura,
• Tadashi Kawazoe,
• Takashi Yatsui,
• Makoto Naruse and
• Motoichi Ohtsu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1334–1340, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.146

• decreased as the surface roughness increased. In addition, we found that the reflected light spectrum changed as degradation proceeded. We analyzed the details of the degradation by measuring instantaneous reflectance changes with a pump–probe method; we observed an increase in the generation probability of

• density at which damages are found is defined as the LIDT. However, the practical problem is that the performance of an optical component, such as transmittance, reflectance, etc., is degraded by continuous irradiation with laser light having an energy density below the LIDT. The cause of such degradation

• laser-induced degradation proceeded. Section 2 in Results and Discussion describes the measurement of instantaneous reflectance changes using a pump–probe method carried out to analyze the details of these spectral changes. From an increase in photo-generated carriers and the power spectrum of their