Growth of lithium hydride thin films from solutions: Towards solution atomic layer deposition of lithiated films

• Ivan Kundrata,
• Karol Fröhlich,
• Lubomír Vančo,
• Matej Mičušík and
• Julien Bachmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1443–1451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.142

• precursors and at temperatures not suitable for conventional ALD. Keywords: lithiated thin films; lithium hydride; solution atomic layer deposition (sALD); Introduction While the development of electric motors and semiconductor devices is progressing, the pressure on battery development is increasing

Selective gas detection using Mn₃O₄/WO₃ composites as a sensing layer

• Yongjiao Sun,
• Zhichao Yu,
• Wenda Wang,
• Pengwei Li,
• Gang Li,
• Wendong Zhang,
• Lin Chen,
• Serge Zhuivkov and
• Jie Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1423–1433, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.140

• color because of its oxygen vacancy, which is an important reason why WO3 exhibits n-type semiconductor characteristics. WO3 is a multifunctional semiconductor material and widely used in phototropism [1], electrochromism [2], photocatalysis [3], electrochemistry [4], gas sensing [5] and other fields

• semiconductor sensor is complicated. It is influenced by many factors including their structure, working temperature, bond dissociation energy of gas molecules, and so forth [30]. In this work, the working temperature is considered as the main factor that affects the selectivity of our sensor. Figure 11

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• such as doping [21], sensitization [22], modification [23], coupled and supported semiconductors [24]. As an important bismuth oxyhalide semiconductor material, bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) has gained extensive attention in photocatalysis [25][26]. BiOCl has a band gap of 3.05–3.55 eV [27], which allows

Kelvin probe force microscopy of the nanoscale electrical surface potential barrier of metal/semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere

• Petr Knotek,
• Tomáš Plecháček,
• Jan Smolík,
• Petr Kutálek,
• Filip Dvořák,
• Milan Vlček,
• Jiří Navrátil and
• Čestmír Drašar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1401–1411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.138

• RT within a few hours. We therefore conclude that KPFM has the following limitations: i) Only oxidization-resistant metals/semiconductor nanoinclusions can be used. Transition metals react with air and, thus, vacuum equipment is required for the preparation, transport and measurement. ii) The

Gas sensing properties of individual SnO₂ nanowires and SnO₂ sol–gel nanocomposites

• Alexey V. Shaposhnik,
• Dmitry A. Shaposhnik,
• Sergey Yu. Turishchev,
• Olga A. Chuvenkova,
• Stanislav V. Ryabtsev,
• Alexey A. Vasiliev,
• Xavier Vilanova,
• Francisco Hernandez-Ramirez and
• Joan R. Morante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1380–1390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.136

• Besòs, Catalonia, Barcelona, 08019, Spain 10.3762/bjnano.10.136 Abstract This work is an investigation of the properties of semiconductor materials based on metal oxides, their catalytic properties, and their application as gas sensors, which were shown to exhibit high sensitivity, stability, and

• ; gas transport method; nanowires; quasi-one-dimensional materials; sol–gel synthesis; tin dioxide; X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES); X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); Introduction Semiconductor sensor functionality relies on heterogeneous catalytic chemical processes, which makes the

• formed material. Sol–gel processes comprise the synthesis of nanopowders, consisting of spherical nanoparticles, the preparation of pastes from these powders, and finally, deposition and annealing. The development of the sol–gel synthesis of small particle semiconductor materials is no longer a

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• , enhancing photoresponse and providing more active sites. Our work shows a possible design of efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation. Keywords: Au nanoparticles; 0D/1D composite; CuBi2O4 microrods; photocatalysis; photocatalytic degradation; Introduction Heterogeneous semiconductor

• photocatalysis as an advanced green technology has been widely studied and applied for the removal of organic pollutants from water [1][2][3]. The catalytic activity of many wide-bandgap (Eg) semiconductor photocatalysts is restricted to UV light radiation, which is only 5% of the solar spectrum. Hence, the

• development of visible-light-driven photocatalysts is highly desirable because visible light accounts for about 43% of the solar spectrum. Currently, bismuth-based semiconductor materials, including Bi2O3 [4], BiVO4 [5][6], Bi2WO6 [7], Bi2MoO6 [8], BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) [9], and Bi2O2CO3 [10], are explored as

Imaging the surface potential at the steps on the rutile TiO₂(110) surface by Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Huan Fei Wen,
• Quanzhen Zhang,
• Yuuki Adachi,
• Jan Brndiar,
• Ivan Štich,
• Yan Jun Li and
• Yasuhiro Sugawara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1228–1236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.122

• [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The catalytic activity can be enhanced by the presence of defects, such as oxygen vacancies (Ov), Ti interstitials (Tiint) [8], and crystal steps. TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor because of these defects. In addition, reactive oxygen species, such as OH and H2O2 (compounds with

• , we can rule out this effect because the work function decreased at the steps although TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor. It can be inferred that the local surface potential at the steps does not change simply because the sample is an n- or p-type material. Fourth, we consider the effect of the induced

• steps of well-ordered Si(111) semiconductor surfaces has been explained by the Smoluchowski effect [19]. Therefore, the change in CPD at steps of n-type TiO2 might be explained by the Smoluchowski effect. The Smoluchowski effect is well known for metals that have an orders of magnitude higher density of

Pure and mixed ordered monolayers of tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane and hexathiapentacene on the Ag(100) surface

• Robert Harbers,
• Timo Heepenstrick,
• Dmitrii F. Perepichka and
• Moritz Sokolowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1188–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.118

• ]. These authors [20][21] also noted that HTPEN is a one-dimensional semiconductor when it is synthesized in the form of nanowires. These nanowires exhibit a molecular structure similar to that of the bulk crystal with the primary growth direction along the [100] direction. These wires are considered to

Electroluminescence and current–voltage measurements of single-(In,Ga)N/GaN-nanowire light-emitting diodes in a nanowire ensemble

• David van Treeck,
• Johannes Ledig,
• Gregor Scholz,
• Jonas Lähnemann,
• Mattia Musolino,
• Abbes Tahraoui,
• Oliver Brandt,
• Andreas Waag,
• Henning Riechert and
• Lutz Geelhaar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1177–1187, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.117

• significant improvements of the overall performance of NW LEDs. More importantly, information about the actual current density in the semiconductor heterostructure is crucial for a meaningful assessment of NW-ensemble devices, in particular in comparison with planar devices. This information is equally

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• dioxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles with clay minerals to give diverse clay–semiconductor nanoarchitectures are summarized and critically discussed in this review article. The possibility to use clay minerals as starting components showing different morphologies, such as layered, fibrous, or tubular

• transformation and for improved overall reaction efficiency. This article tries also to present new steps towards more sophisticated but efficient and highly selective functional nanoarchitectures incorporating photosensitizer elements for tuning the semiconductor–clay photoactivity. Keywords: clays

• often than ZnO NPs regarding their use as photocatalysts. One of the main applications of clay–semiconductor materials is the mineralization of organic pollutants, which represents an ideal solution for the remediation of wastewater contaminated with diverse organic species. This process consists in the

Quantitative analysis of annealing-induced instabilities of photo-leakage current and negative-bias-illumination-stress in a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors

• Dapeng Wang and
• Mamoru Furuta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1125–1130, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.112

• atmosphere for 1 h. The TFTs are designed with fixed width (W) of 50 μm and length (L) of 20 μm. The current–voltage (I–V) curves are measured using an Agilent 4156C semiconductor parameter analyzer at room temperature. For the photo-leakage current measurements, monochromatic light with wavelengths λ of 400

• formation of the metal-oxide atomic framework, improving the channel layer quality. The notorious I–V hysteresis is regarded as an indicator for the quality of the GI/semiconductor interface. The values of the hysteresis, i.e., the difference of VGS at IDS = 1 pA scanned in the forward and reverse

• , and 292 mV/dec. for the TFTs treated at 300, 350, and 400 °C, respectively. Note that the SS is a measure for the total density of trap states (Nt) in the semiconductor bulk and the front interface of a TFT device. On the basis of the functional relationship between of SS and Nt [10], an Nt value of

Synthesis and characterization of quaternary La(Sr)S–TaS₂ misfit-layered nanotubes

• Marco Serra,
• Erumpukuthickal Ashokkumar Anumol,
• Dalit Stolovas,
• Iddo Pinkas,
• Ernesto Joselevich,
• Reshef Tenne,
• Andrey Enyashin and
• Francis Leonard Deepak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1112–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.111

• compound has a full dz2 Cr level and is a semiconductor, the Sr-substituted compound is electron deficient, and hence, is metallic. The maximum content of Sr in SrxLa1−xS–NbS2 was found to be 45 atom %, [44][45] and 35 atom % in SrxLa1−x–VS2 [41][42]. In this latter case, the MLC can be transformed from a

CuInSe₂ quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on amorphous SiO₂ surfaces

• Henrique Limborço,
• Pedro M.P. Salomé,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade,
• Jennifer P. Teixeira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Kamal Abderrafi,
• Joaquim P. Leitão,
• Juan C. Gonzalez and
• Sascha Sadewasser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1103–1111, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.110

• performance of vacuum-prepared materials and non-vacuum-prepared materials is usually attributed to the sensitivity of the chalcopyrite semiconductor to external contaminants [29], to the dependency of its properties on the preparation method [30], and to the self-doping characteristics of the chalcopyrite

Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as a saturable absorber for giant chirped pulse generation

• Ji-Shu Liu,
• Xiao-Hui Li,
• Abdul Qyyum,
• Yi-Xuan Guo,
• Tong Chai,
• Hua Xu and
• Jie Jiang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1065–1072, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.107

• ultrafast recovery time of 18–30 ps [3]. FONPs can be classified as a semiconductor material (with a band gap of ≈0.3 eV), which can be modulated by tuning the nanoparticle diameter [4]. For the magnetite (Fe3O4) material of anti-spinel structure, Fe(II) and Fe(III) of the octahedral position of the crystal

Correlation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the surface density of gold nanoparticles: evaluation of the critical number of SERS tags for a detectable signal

• Vincenzo Amendola

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1016–1023, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.102

• to the use of Raman tags, mostly related to the intensity and narrow bandwidth of their Raman peaks. SERS labels can be even brighter than semiconductor quantum dots; for example, the high intensity allows for detection using only a single nanotag with an ordinary Raman spectrometer [27][28]. The

Electronic and magnetic properties of doped black phosphorene with concentration dependence

• Ke Wang,
• Hai Wang,
• Min Zhang,
• Yan Liu and
• Wei Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 993–1001, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.100

• of Si- and S-doped phosphorene become those of a semimetal or a semiconductor as the in-plane size of the supercell goes up to 4 × 4 × 1 or 5 × 5 × 1 and the concentration goes down to 1.56% or 1%, respectively. In addition, we also observe that all Si- and S-doped phosphorene are magnetic, except

• to 4 × 4, corresponding to an impurity concentration of 1.56%, the direct bandgap of S-doped phosphorene between the conduction band minimum (CBM) and the valence band maximum (VBM) at Γ is opened to 0.32 eV suggesting the S-doped phosphorene becomes a magnetic semiconductor. When the in-plane size

Experimental study of an evanescent-field biosensor based on 1D photonic bandgap structures

• Jad Sabek,
• Francisco Javier Díaz-Fernández,
• Luis Torrijos-Morán,
• Zeneida Díaz-Betancor,
• Ángel Maquieira,
• María-José Bañuls,
• Elena Pinilla-Cienfuegos and
• Jaime García-Rupérez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 967–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.97

• , due to the various advantages it provides, e.g., high sensitivity, miniaturization, high multiplexing level, fast response, need for very low sample and reagent volumes and the compatibility to complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication [3]. Chip-integrated photonic biosensors have

Synthesis of novel C-doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets coupled with CdIn₂S₄ for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Jingshuai Chen,
• Chang-Jie Mao,
• Helin Niu and
• Ji-Ming Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 912–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.92

• technology based on semiconductor materials is a promising strategy for advancing the utilization of solar energy to the level of viable industrial production, such as organic synthesis [1][2], environmental governance [3][4], as well as fuel production [5][6]. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), as a novel

• photocatalytic performance of CdIn2S4 alone is barely satisfactory, mainly due to the low separation and migration efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. The construction of a heterojunction by combination with semiconductor materials is expected to be a strategy to improve the separation of

• ]. In addition, hierarchical CdIn2S4/graphene nano-heterostructures have been fabricated as efficient photocatalysts for solar H2 evolution [33]. In this study, synergy can be obtained by combining the two strategies, self-doped C-atom g-C3N4 (CCN) and hybridization with another semiconductor, to

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

• semiconductor TiO2 has become one of the most extensively studied metal oxides, especially in the context of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) [1]. The working principle of an n-type DSSC, which is shown in Figure 1a, relies on the functionalization of TiO2 surfaces with dye molecules enabling the absorption of

• ) of the semiconductor [2]. This charge transfer, which occurs from the dye molecules towards the surface of the semiconductor, offers the possibility of designing specific hybrid devices with photoactive anodes consisting of functionalized TiO2. In contrast to TiO2 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], wide

• -bandgap p-type semiconductors, such as NiO, and their functionalization with sensitizers, have been less extensively studied by using SPM [12][13][14][15]. NiO was the first reported p-type wide-bandgap semiconductor [16], and can be used for the fabrication of p-type DSSCs with photoactive cathodes, a

Electronic properties of several two dimensional halides from ab initio calculations

• Mohamed Barhoumi,
• Ali Abboud,
• Lamjed Debbichi,
• Moncef Said,
• Torbjörn Björkman,
• Dario Rocca and
• Sébastien Lebègue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 823–832, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.82

• electronic bandgaps, as obtained with the HSE hybrid functional, range between 3.0 and 7.5 eV and that their phonon spectra are dynamically stable. Additionally, we show that under an external electric field some of these systems exhibit a semiconductor-to-metal transition. Keywords: density functional

• conduction-band minimum at the Γ point. Not surprisingly, the value of the bandgap obtained with the HSE functional is much larger than with the GGA. The values of the bandgap are 2.91 eV with GGA and 4.80 eV with HSE. BaFCl is found to be a direct-gap semiconductor with the valence-band maximum and the

• the electric field is quite remarkable on some compounds, as for instance a field of 0.5 V/Å can reduce the bandgap of AcOCl from 4.60 eV to 2.08 eV. In a similar way, the bandgap of AcOBr decreases rapidly when increasing the strength of the electric field, resulting in a semiconductor-to-metal

Trapping polysulfide on two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide for Li–S batteries through phase selection with optimized binding

• Sha Dong,
• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 774–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.77

• is the energetically stable phase with semiconductor characteristics, in which the S atoms are located in the lattice positions of a hexagonal close-packed structure. 1T'-MoS2 is a meta-stable phase with narrow bandgap, in which each Mo atom is octahedrally coordinated with six S atoms. The phase

• '-MoS2 monolayers used in the work are shown in Figure 1a and Figure 1b, respectively. The electronic band structures along high-symmetry points are shown in Figure 1c and Figure 1d, respectively. The 2H-MoS2 monolayer is a semiconductor with a direct bandgap of 1.67 eV, both the conduction band minimum

• (CBM) and valence band maximum (VBM) are located at the K point, which is consistent with previous DFT calculations [39]. 1T'-MoS2 is a narrow-bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap of 0.15 eV. Various intermediates, Li2Sx (x = 1–8), of LPSs were observed in Li–S batteries [40]. The optimized atomic

Towards rare-earth-free white light-emitting diode devices based on the combination of dicyanomethylene and pyranine as organic dyes supported on zinc single-layered hydroxide

• Jeff L. Nyalosaso,
• Rachod Boonsin,
• Pierre Vialat,
• Damien Boyer,
• Geneviève Chadeyron,
• Rachid Mahiou and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 760–770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.75

• -emitting diode (LED); pyranine; zinc hydroxyacetate; Introduction Light-emitting diode (LED) devices are the most developed lighting systems today. 95% of LEDs found on the market generate white light by combining the blue light of a semiconductor diode (GaN or InGaN) with the broad yellow emission of the

• Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YAG:Ce) phosphor. The use of a phosphor is essential since, to date, no semiconductor diode has been found to emit directly into the white. The system YAG:Ce/blue LED gives a low colour-rendering index (CRI < 80) and a high correlated colour temperature (CCT > 5000 K), which requires the

Deposition of metal particles onto semiconductor nanorods using an ionic liquid

• Michael D. Ballentine,
• Elizabeth G. Embry,
• Marco A. Garcia and
• Lawrence J. Hill

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 718–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.71

• agents. Photocatalytic dye degradation experiments showed that catalysts with platinum particles deposited using the ionic liquid out-performed similar materials synthesized using organic solvents and ligands. We concluded that metal particles can be deposited onto well-defined semiconductor nanorods

• using ionic liquids and metal salts without the need for additional reagents, and the deposited particles did not cause significant aggregation even when these materials were taken into organic media. It is possible that a broad range of metal/semiconductor heterostructured particles can be prepared

• using the methods reported here. Keywords: catalyst; ionic liquid; methylene blue; platinum; semiconductor nanorod; Introduction Core@shell semiconductor nanorods with attached noble metal particles have been widely studied as photocatalysts, and any improvement on the synthesis of these materials has

Enhancement in thermoelectric properties due to Ag nanoparticles incorporated in Bi₂Te₃ matrix

• Srashti Gupta,
• Dinesh Chandra Agarwal,
• Bathula Sivaiah,
• Sankarakumar Amrithpandian,
• Kandasami Asokan,
• Ajay Dhar,
• Binaya Kumar Panigrahi,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi and
• Vinay Gupta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 634–643, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.63

• ; nanoparticles; power factor; thermoelectric power; Introduction Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is an important semiconductor widely used as thermoelectric (TE) material for room-temperature applications to convert waste heat into electricity. The efficiency of a TE material can be defined by figure of merit (ZT

• theoretical calculations for the introduction of metal nano-inclusions in TE materials. This theory predicts the band bending at the metal–semiconductor interface will allow for the transmission of high energy electrons along with a blocking of low energy electrons. This electron energy filter results in

• enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient for a given carrier concentration. Several groups have used this approach using different metal–semiconductor combinations to improve thermoelectric properties [13][14]. One group has reported the synthesis of bismuth metal nanoparticles (NPs) were through a solvothermal

Coexisting spin and Rabi oscillations at intermediate time regimes in electron transport through a photon cavity

• Vidar Gudmundsson,
• Hallmann Gestsson,
• Nzar Rauf Abdullah,
• Chi-Shung Tang,
• Andrei Manolescu and
• Valeriu Moldoveanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 606–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.61

• [7][8][9][10][11] interest is growing in electron transport through semiconductor systems in photon cavities. The success of circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) devices with superconducting quantum bits coupled to microwave cavities has pushed for the evolution of hybrid mesoscopic circuits

• the strength of the electron–photon interaction, gEM. The important message we want to convey from our modeling of time-dependent electron transport through multilevel interacting nanoscale two-dimensional semiconductor systems embedded in 3D photon cavities is that the Rabi oscillations in the