Nanostructured materials characterized by scanning photoelectron spectromicroscopy

• Matteo Amati,
• Alexey S. Shkvarin,
• Alexander I. Merentsov,
• Alexander N. Titov,
• María Taeño,
• David Maestre,
• Sarah R. McKibbin,
• Zygmunt Milosz,
• Ana Cremades,
• Rainer Timm and
• Luca Gregoratti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 700–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.54

• charge distribution, to list the most important features. If the building blocks are crystallites, any change in the structure or chemical composition may lead to the formation of incoherent or coherent interfaces among them which may influence the final properties of the material. Often the volumes of

• footprint allows for the combination of different materials with dislocation-free interfaces and to form axial or radial heterostructures of varying material, doping, or crystal phase [17][18][19]. Nanowire heterostructures based on III–V semiconductors are especially promising for electronic

The impact of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane hole transport layer doping on interfacial charge extraction and recombination

• Konstantinos Bidinakis and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 678–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.52

• strong influence on the overall efficiency and stability in perovskite solar cell devices. Specifically, the charge extraction and recombination occurring at the interfaces between the perovskite and these materials can be a limiting factor for performance. A lot of effort has been put into improving the

• as grain boundaries and interfacial defect states that hinder performance. Specifically, since the interaction of adjacent layers at the interfaces of a solar cell is an important limiting factor for its operation, there is a need for dedicated studies regarding interfacial behavior. Kelvin probe

• about charge generation and transport within the absorber material, as well as charge extraction to the relevant interfaces [9][10][11][12]. The details of interfacial electronic carrier extraction at the junctions of the perovskite with the electron and hole transport layers (ETL, HTL) define the

Biomimetics and bioinspired surfaces: from nature to theory and applications

• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Thies H. Büscher,
• Manuela Rebora,
• Poramate Manoonpong,
• Zhendong Dai and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 418–421, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.32

• . Bioinspired nanotechnology plays a crucial role by harnessing nanoscale properties and processes to create highly effective surfaces and interfaces at various scales. In May 2023, the Beilstein Nanotechnology Symposium “Functional Micro- and Nanostructured Surfaces: from Biology to Biomimetics” gathered

• mammals while addressing the functional fibrillar interfaces in biological hair. Presenting one applied example for biomimetic approaches, Ali et al. [7] used the hydrophobicity of the integument of spring tail (Collembola) as a template for the bioinspired development of nanofilament coatings that reduce

Pulsed laser in liquid grafting of gold nanoparticle–carbon support composites

• Madeleine K. Wilsey,
• Teona Taseska,
• Qishen Lyu,
• Connor P. Cox and
• Astrid M. Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 349–361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.26

• resistances (R) and capacitances at all interfaces and the electrolyte. In our EIS measurements, the most relevant circuit element is the charge transfer resistance (Rct) between the gold nanoparticles and the graphitic carbon support, measured at open circuit potential so that electrochemical reactions do

Emerging strategies in the sustainable removal of antibiotics using semiconductor-based photocatalysts

• Yunus Ahmed,
• Keya Rani Dutta,
• Parul Akhtar,
• Md. Arif Hossen,
• Md. Jahangir Alam,
• Obaid A. Alharbi,
• Hamad AlMohamadi and
• Abdul Wahab Mohammad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 264–285, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.21

• ). Among the derivatives of graphene, GO and rGO are frequently used to support photoactive materials and immobilize pollutants. Additionally, they serve as crucial interfaces for electron carriers, augmenting light absorption and antibiotic adsorption through their functional groups [110]. Graphene

A review of metal-organic frameworks and polymers in mixed matrix membranes for CO₂ capture

• Charlotte Skjold Qvist Christensen,
• Nicholas Hansen,
• Mahboubeh Motadayen,
• Nina Lock,
• Martin Lahn Henriksen and
• Jonathan Quinson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 155–186, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.14

• solubility through the polymer matrix of the MMM [27]. Moreover, the MOF and polymer must be sufficiently compatible to avoid the formation of defects due to poor MOF–polymer matrix interfaces [90]. Notably, in addition to the benefit of providing LBSs for CO2 adsorption described in section 2, amino

• another polymer solution with 2-methylimidazole. Nucleation and MOF growth occurred in situ within the polymer matrix upon combining the two precursor solutions. This approach resulted in nearly perfect MOF–polymer interfaces in an 8 wt % ZIF-8 MMM. For evaluating the gas separation performance, the

• application of the IL demonstrated effective adhesion between MOF–IL and IL–polymer interfaces. This resulted in a noticeable reduction of interfacial voids within the membrane, thereby facilitating a significant increment in CO2 selectivity [132]. The use of ILs (e.g., [P(3)Him][Tf2N], [Bmim][Tf2N], and

Comparison of organic and inorganic hole transport layers in double perovskite material-based solar cell

• Deepika K and
• Arjun Singh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 119–127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.11

• perfect material properties, such as uniformity in thickness, defect density, and material interfaces, which do not represent real-world conditions. Further, complicated interfacial effects between the active layer and the HTLs, such as chemical interactions, degradation, or the existence of intermediary

Bioinspired nanofilament coatings for scale reduction on steel

• Siad Dahir Ali,
• Mette Heidemann Rasmussen,
• Jacopo Catalano,
• Christian Husum Frederiksen and
• Tobias Weidner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 25–34, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.3

• interfaces, the flow velocity is assumed to be zero when modeling viscous drag, on super-hydrophobic surfaces the shear is reduced, leading to slip of the liquid across the surfaces and a non-zero flow velocity [26]. Flow at the material interface can hinder or prevent settling, nucleation, and growth of

Integrating high-performance computing, machine learning, data management workflows, and infrastructures for multiscale simulations and nanomaterials technologies

• Fabio Le Piane,
• Mario Vozza,
• Matteo Baldoni and
• Francesco Mercuri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1498–1521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.119

• materials across a broad range of length and time scales [4][18]. Furthermore, the development of user-friendly interfaces and visualization tools has improved the accessibility and usability of these advanced hardware and software technologies [19][20]. In parallel to the use of large-scale computing

• . Ready-to-use software packages provide pre-implemented algorithms and methods, eliminating the need for researchers to develop complex simulation platforms from scratch. The availability of software platforms and packages and interfaces enables a more efficient translation of scientific and

• expertise. Efforts to enhance the accessibility and affordability of HPC resources, along with user-friendly software interfaces, can help overcome these challenges [19][42][43]. Moreover, the integration of experimental and computational data presents a significant hurdle. Aligning experimental protocols

Effect of radiation-induced vacancy saturation on the first-order phase transformation in nanoparticles: insights from a model

• Aram Shirinyan and
• Yuriy Bilogorodskyy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1453–1472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.117

• (dpa) (equivalent to 40 years of service). Under irradiation, the main point defects are vacancies and interstitials. Point defects can develop into clusters of dislocations, stacking faults, or voids. They can also relax onto existing sinks such as dislocation loops, grain boundaries, phase interfaces

• literature review reveals that the stability of materials under irradiation is influenced by numerous factors. Some of these characteristic factors include the elemental composition and chemical structure, the microstructure of the material (including grain boundaries, defects, dislocations, and interfaces

• tolerance is anticipated in nanocrystalline materials compared to bulk solids with conventional grain sizes. Therefore, it is expected that interfaces such as coherent and incoherent boundaries in HDCMs will act as sinks to promote point defect annihilation [6]. In many cases, multicomponent alloys and

Nanotechnological approaches for efficient N2B delivery: from small-molecule drugs to biopharmaceuticals

• Selin Akpinar Adscheid,
• Akif E. Türeli,
• Nazende Günday-Türeli and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1400–1414, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.113

• for CNS targeting. For example, size, shape, and surface characteristics of a DDS directly affect cellular transport and uptake, biodistribution, and the interaction with biological interfaces [64][65]. Regarding particle size, NPs with a size of approx. 15 nm or below were observed to penetrate the

Quantum-to-classical modeling of monolayer Ge₂Se₂ and its application in photovoltaic devices

• Anup Shrivastava,
• Shivani Saini,
• Dolly Kumari,
• Sanjai Singh and
• Jost Adam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1153–1169, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.94

• the optimum performance of the proposed device, we have optimized the performance of the cell module by varying the layer thicknesses of HTL, ETL, and absorber. Also, we have tested the performance of the device under the influence of varying defects densities in the active layer and the interfaces

• between active and transport layers The photovoltaic behavior of halide perovskites is significantly affected by the properties of the interfaces. This is because a majority of defects arises at the junction between two layers during the fabrication of the device, caused by mismatches in the lattice

• the ETL and the interface between the absorber and the HTL. We analyzed the device performance by varying the defect densities at both interfaces within the range of 106 cm−3 to 1015 cm−3. Because of the ultrathin HTL layer, the absorber/HTL interface is more sensitive, and the device performance is

Interface properties of nanostructured carbon-coated biological implants: an overview

• Mattia Bartoli,
• Francesca Cardano,
• Erik Piatti,
• Stefania Lettieri,
• Andrea Fin and
• Alberto Tagliaferro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1041–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.85

• Materiali (INSTM), Via G. Giusti 9, 50121, Firenze, Italy Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129, Torino, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.15.85 Abstract The interfaces

• environments represented by implant–tissue interfaces [18] through the tuning of different parameters (i.e., surface roughness and potential as well as hydrophobicity). Cells and biomolecules can selectively adhere to or be repelled from artificial implanted surfaces, triggering several metabolic pathways of

• in Figure 1. Review Nanostructured carbon-containing materials at biological interfaces Interfaces between artificial and biological environments play a critical role for the design and long-term performance of any artificial implant [25][26]. The interface between an implant and the biological

Functional fibrillar interfaces: Biological hair as inspiration across scales

• Guillermo J. Amador,
• Brett Klaassen van Oorschot,
• Caiying Liao,
• Jianing Wu and
• Da Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 664–677, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.55

AFM-IR investigation of thin PECVD SiO_x films on a polypropylene substrate in the surface-sensitive mode

• Hendrik Müller,
• Hartmut Stadler,
• Teresa de los Arcos,
• Adrian Keller and
• Guido Grundmeier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 603–611, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.51

• the AFM-IR surface-sensitive mode for the investigation of ultra-thin films and the interfaces to the supporting materials. Conclusion The benefits of the surface-sensitive mode in the AFM-IR characterization of thin PECVD SiOx films on polymer substrates were investigated in this study. Our results

Superconducting spin valve effect in Co/Pb/Co heterostructures with insulating interlayers

• Andrey A. Kamashev,
• Nadir N. Garif’yanov,
• Aidar A. Validov,
• Vladislav Kataev,
• Alexander S. Osin,
• Yakov V. Fominov and
• Ilgiz A. Garifullin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 457–464, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.41

• insulating interlayers. The main specific feature of these structures is the intentional oxidation of both superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) interfaces. We study the variation of the critical temperature of our systems due to switching between parallel and antiparallel configurations of the magnetizations of

• the two magnetic layers. Common knowledge suggests that this spin valve effect, which is due to the S/F proximity effect, is most pronounced in the case of perfect metallic contacts at the interfaces. Nevertheless, in our structures with intentionally deteriorated interfaces, we observed a significant

• to the quality of this interface in terms of its morphology, smoothness, and absence of intergrowth, which defines the mainstream approach in this field. At odds with this approach, a significant SSV effect of ΔTc ≈ 0.3 K in an FeNi/In/Ni heterostructure with intentionally oxidized F/S interfaces was

Modulated critical currents of spin-transfer torque-induced resistance changes in NiCu/Cu multilayered nanowires

• Mengqi Fu,
• Roman Hartmann,
• Julian Braun,
• Sergej Andreev,
• Torsten Pietsch and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 360–366, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.32

• layers being mainly oriented parallel to each other show a lower resistance [16]. Since the STT originates from the imbalance of incident, transmitted, and reflected spin currents at the interfaces of the magnetic system [7], the varying sequence of magnetic and spacer layers in the current direction are

• the spin accumulation at the interfaces between the different layers [7][26][28], more free layers are expected to bring more complex dependencies of the critical currents on the magnetic field, compared to a trilayer system whose Ic+, Ic−, and Imicro values are reported to monotonously change with

• STT-induced features can be interpreted as asynchronous changes of the magnetization direction of different NiCu layers as well as spin accumulation at different interfaces. (a) SEM image after nanowire deposition and surface polishing. The bright dots represent the deposited nanowires the tops of

Ion beam processing of DNA origami nanostructures

• Leo Sala,
• Agnes Zerolová,
• Violaine Vizcaino,
• Alain Mery,
• Alicja Domaracka,
• Hermann Rothard,
• Philippe Boduch,
• Dominik Pinkas and
• Jaroslav Kocišek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 207–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.20

• interfaces. While we demonstrate here that the trimming of individual DNA nanostructures within the lattice is possible, the collective response of the lattice and defect formation as a response to ion impact represents an interesting direction for future studies. The processes leading to height modification

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

• Tobias Dickbreder,
• Franziska Sabath,
• Lukas Höltkemeier,
• Ralf Bechstein and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1225–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.101

• properties of surfaces and interfaces across a variety of disciplines in chemistry and physics. One of the major artifacts in SPM is (thermal) drift, an unintended movement between sample and probe, which causes a distortion of the recorded SPM data. Literature holds a multitude of strategies to compensate

• force microscopy; calibration; drift correction; image correlation functions; periodic structures; scanning probe microscopy; Introduction In science and technology, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques are widely used to study the structure and properties of surfaces and interfaces from the

Density functional theory study of Au-fcc/Ge and Au-hcp/Ge interfaces

• Olga Sikora,
• Małgorzata Sternik,
• Benedykt R. Jany,
• Franciszek Krok,
• Przemysław Piekarz and
• Andrzej M. Oleś

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1093–1105, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.90

• structure; hexagonal gold; interface energy; Introduction Heterophase interfaces are responsible for unique properties of many advanced devices designed for electronics and other applications [1]. Understanding the formation and energetics of interfaces is highly important for the nucleation of new

• tunnelling microscopy. However, experimental data provide only partial insight into the formation of interfaces, and the interpretation of microscopic images is often ambiguous. Various simulation techniques can be used to resolve the uncertainties and reveal mechanisms stabilizing the observed interfaces

• . Deeper knowledge of surfaces and interfaces in heterostructures can play a crucial role in developing new methods for synthesizing such materials and in expanding their possible applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a result of advances in computational methods and the increasing computer

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

• applications of KPFM are extremely broad. It is now used by physicists, chemists, and biologists to characterize the nanoscale electronic/electrostatic properties of an ever-expanding range of materials, interfaces, and devices, in ambient conditions, under ultrahigh vacuum, or at the liquid–substrate

• optoelectronic interfaces formed between caesium lead bromide perovskite nanosheets and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy Background, Amplitude-Modulated Heterodyne KPFM Many KPFM modes rely on the detection of a modulated component of the electrostatic force proportional to the

• organic blends, charge photogeneration can be understood, in a first approach, as the result of exciton dissociation into Coulomb bound charge transfer (CT) states at the donor–acceptor interfaces. This event is finally followed by the dissociation of the CT states into delocalized carriers of opposite

A visible-light photodetector based on heterojunctions between CuO nanoparticles and ZnO nanorods

• Doan Nhat Giang,
• Nhat Minh Nguyen,
• Duc Anh Ngo,
• Thanh Trang Tran,
• Le Thai Duy,
• Cong Khanh Tran,
• Thi Thanh Van Tran,
• Phan Phuong Ha La and
• Vinh Quang Dang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.84

• negatively charged ions [43][61], following Equation 5: In addition, decorating CuO NPs onto ZnO NRs forms p–n junctions between the two materials. The heterojunction formation leads to a concentration gradient of charge carriers at the interfaces. CuO NPs act as a p-type semiconductor, in which holes are

Exploring internal structures and properties of terpolymer fibers via real-space characterizations

• Michael R. Roenbeck and
• Kenneth E. Strawhecker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1004–1017, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.83

• the lateral direction are observed, akin to vertical steps from left to right, which indicate the interfaces between adjacent fibrils. Fibrils also oscillate with respect to the fiber axis, both laterally and “vertically” (i.e., into and out of the surface plane), reflecting the well-known pleated

• additional insights into these fiber nanostructures. Fibrils in Kevlar® stiffness maps (Figure 6c) were clear with compliant longitudinal bands at the interfaces between adjacent fibrils. In addition, gradations in transverse stiffness were observed in the longitudinal direction, coinciding with adjacent

• quantitatively analyzed both lateral and longitudinal line scans within each of these maps. Lateral topography line scans in Kevlar® (Figure 7a) showed sharp jumps of up to tens of nanometers near fibril interfaces, likely reflecting interfaces between “stacks” of fibrils [11][18]. In contrast, Technora® lateral

Ni, Co, Zn, and Cu metal-organic framework-based nanomaterials for electrochemical reduction of CO₂: A review

• Ha Huu Do and
• Hai Bang Truong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 904–911, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.74

• accessibility to active sites and unstable MOFs/substrate interfaces. Therefore, further studies are required to develop binder-free electrodes by in situ synthesis of MOFs on conductive substrates, such as nickel foam, copper foil, and carbon cloth, to overcome the aforementioned limitations and advancing the

Two-dimensional molecular networks at the solid/liquid interface and the role of alkyl chains in their building blocks

• Suyi Liu,
• Yasuo Norikane and
• Yoshihiro Kikkawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 872–892, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.72

• flat conducting substrates, such as metal surfaces and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, at solid/air or solid/liquid interfaces [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Although UHV-STM offers high-resolution imaging, it requires large, complex, and expensive