Heat-induced transformation of nickel-coated polycrystalline diamond film studied in situ by XPS and NEXAFS

• Olga V. Sedelnikova,
• Yuliya V. Fedoseeva,
• Dmitriy V. Gorodetskiy,
• Yuri N. Palyanov,
• Elena V. Shlyakhova,
• Eugene A. Maksimovskiy,
• Anna A. Makarova,
• Lyubov G. Bulusheva and
• Aleksandr V. Okotrub

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 887–898, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.67

• of diamond surfaces is important for many applications, which require the formation of thin conductive electrodes on dielectric substrates. Transition metal catalysts can facilitate the graphitization process, which depends on the diamond face orientation. In the present work, the role of a nickel

• associated with the presence of large aromatic fragments on the surface of both annealed films [43]. Moreover, this peak overlaps with the characteristic C K-edge features of transition metal carbides. Therefore, it can also be attributed to the presence of Ni‒C states in the annealed Ni-PCD film [44

Insights into the electronic and atomic structures of cerium oxide-based ultrathin films and nanostructures using high-brilliance light sources

• Paola Luches and
• Federico Boscherini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 860–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.65

• ; Introduction Transition metal oxides in the form of thin films or nanostructures find extensive use in sustainable energy technologies [1][2]. They serve as active materials or supports for catalysts for various chemical reactions, essential to energy conversion, sensing, and environmental remediation [3][4

• dynamic processes occurring for example upon photoexcitation. Among transition metal oxides, cerium oxide (or ceria) has unique redox properties, linked to the relative stability of Ce cations in the 4+ and 3+ oxidation states, which make the material highly effective in automotive catalysts and in the

Synthesis and magnetic transitions of rare-earth-free Fe–Mn–Ni–Si-based compositionally complex alloys at bulk and nanoscale

• Shabbir Tahir,
• Tatiana Smoliarova,
• Carlos Doñate-Buendía,
• Michael Farle,
• Natalia Shkodich and
• Bilal Gökce

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 823–836, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.62

• are linked to significant environmental risks, while geopolitical factors pose supply chain vulnerabilities [21]. By avoiding the use of rare earth elements, CCAs present a sustainable alternative for functional magnetic materials [14]. Specifically, MnTX-based CCA alloys (where T is the transition

• metal and X can be Si, Ge or Al) have gained attention because of their magneto-structural phase transition at low temperatures. As ternary alloys, these materials undergo a magnetic and structural transition from a low-temperature orthorhombic TiNiSi-type structure to a high-temperature hexagonal Ni2In

Thickness dependent oxidation in CrCl₃: a scanning X-ray photoemission and Kelvin probe microscopies study

• Shafaq Kazim,
• Rahul Parmar,
• Maryam Azizinia,
• Matteo Amati,
• Muhammad Rauf,
• Andrea Di Cicco,
• Seyed Javid Rezvani,
• Dario Mastrippolito,
• Luca Ottaviano,
• Tomasz Klimczuk,
• Luca Gregoratti and
• Roberto Gunnella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 749–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.58

• , Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.16.58 Abstract The modifications in the electronic properties induced by the thickness and size of an individual flake of transition-metal halides on different substrates (silicon oxide or In-doped tin oxide) are of

• . This turns the system from a surface Mott–Hubbard insulator to a charge-transfer [8] one in spite of Cr being an early transition metal [32]. What can be presumed from the present study is that Cl–O exchange following Cl vacancy formation is limited in very thin layers because of the limited diffusion

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

• ; operando; oxides; scanning photoelectron spectromicroscopy; semiconductor nanowires; transition metal dichalcogenides; XPS; Introduction Nanometer or micrometer-sized materials play a key role in modern technologies in the search of new routes for unforeseen performances generating breakthroughs in

• the SPEM microscope hosted at the ESCA microscopy beamline at the Elettra synchrotron research center. In the first example, chemical heterogeneous layered transition metal dichalcogenides were analyzed, showing the importance of spatial resolution in their characterization. In the second example, an

• nanostructured materials characterized by SPEM. Results and Discussion Chemical heterogeneities in layered transition metal dichalcogenides The heterogeneous chemical composition of the CrxTi1−xSe2 system was for the first time observed and described in [12]. The observed heterogeneity led to the splitting of

High-temperature epitaxial growth of tantalum nitride thin films on MgO: structural evolution and potential for SQUID applications

• Michelle Cedillo Rosillo,
• Oscar Contreras López,
• Jesús Antonio Díaz,
• Agustín Conde Gallardo and
• Harvi A. Castillo Cuero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 690–699, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.53

• electronic devices operating in the gigahertz range. Transition-metal compounds, such as nitrides and carbides (e.g., NbN, TiN, TiC, and TaN), have demonstrated Tc values ranging from 2 to 10.4 K [3][4][5][6]. These compounds constitute a significant class of materials because of their exceptional physical

Zeolite materials with Ni and Co: synthesis and catalytic potential in the selective hydrogenation of citral

• Inocente Rodríguez-Iznaga,
• Yailen Costa Marrero,
• Tania Farias Piñeira,
• Céline Fontaine,
• Lexane Paget,
• Beatriz Concepción Rosabal,
• Arbelio Penton Madrigal,
• Vitalii Petranovskii and
• Gwendoline Lafaye

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 520–529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.40

• offering comparable catalytic properties. Despite extensive research on zeolite-supported transition metal catalysts, their application to citral hydrogenation remains very little explored [11]. Most recent studies focus on the selective hydrogenation of related biomass-derived compounds, such as furfural

Quantification of lead through rod-shaped silver-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles using an electrochemical approach

• Ravinder Lamba,
• Gaurav Bhanjana,
• Neeraj Dilbaghi,
• Vivek Gupta and
• Sandeep Kumar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 422–434, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.33

• the effects of transition metal ions, such as silver, copper, nickel, and manganese on the chemical and physical properties of ZnO nanoparticles. These metal dopants utilize their partially occupied d-electron shells, leading to the presence of unpaired electrons. Out of these metals, silver is

Tailoring of physical properties of RF-sputtered ZnTe films: role of substrate temperature

• Kafi Devi,
• Usha Rani,
• Arun Kumar,
• Divya Gupta and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 333–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.25

• to quantum confinement size effects, metal chalcogenides are of importance in different technological domains. Metal chalcogen compounds are composed of a transition metal with one or more members of the chalcogen family, and they exhibit semiconducting properties. Zinc telluride (ZnTe) is a binary

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

• four distinct generations [52], each shedding light on the mechanisms of various photocatalysts used for pollutant degradation, namely, single-component transition metal oxides (TMOs) representing the first generation, doped TMOs, binary TMOs, and doped binary TMOs as the second generation, and

• with a suitable transition metal and synthesizing composite materials. Several advanced photocatalysts have been developed and successfully used to prevent antibiotics contamination, a list of which is shown below in Table 1. These modifications have led to improved charge separation rates, reduced

Fabrication of hafnium-based nanoparticles and nanostructures using picosecond laser ablation

• Abhishek Das,
• Mangababu Akkanaboina,
• Jagannath Rathod,
• R. Sai Prasad Goud,
• Kanaka Ravi Kumar,
• Raghu C. Reddy,
• Ratheesh Ravendran,
• Katia Vutova,
• S. V. S. Nageswara Rao and
• Venugopal Rao Soma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1639–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.129

• insight into their morphological and optical characteristics paving way for their applications in future. Keywords: hafnium; laser ablation in liquids; nanofibres; nanoparticles; nanostructures; Introduction Hafnium (Hf) is a tetravalent transition metal with compounds showing excellent thermal and

Various CVD-grown ZnO nanostructures for nanodevices and interdisciplinary applications

• The-Long Phan,
• Le Viet Cuong,
• Vu Dinh Lam and
• Ngoc Toan Dang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1390–1399, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.112

• ordering can also be established in ZnO lattices upon doping with transition-metal and/or rare-earth elements (known as magnetic semiconductors, DMSs). This is expected to enable the development of next-generation spintronic devices [14] applicable to quantum and neuromorphic computing for artificial

Out-of-plane polarization induces a picosecond photoresponse in rhombohedral stacked bilayer WSe₂

• Guixian Liu,
• Yufan Wang,
• Zhoujuan Xu,
• Zhouxiaosong Zeng,
• Lanyu Huang,
• Cuihuan Ge and
• Xiao Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1362–1368, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.109

• spontaneous OOP polarization. Currently, the spontaneous OOP polarization has been confirmed in several materials, such as AB-stacked h-BN [16][17][21], WTe2 [22], 1T' ReS2 [23], bilayer MoS2 directly exfoliated from 3R-MoS2 bulk crystal [24], and artificially stacked bilayers transition metal dichalcogenides

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

• 2004, the unique properties of two-dimensional materials have sparked intense research interest regarding their use as alternative materials in various photonic applications. Transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers have been proposed as transport layers in photovoltaic cells, but the promising

• materials, including MXene’s, transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and van der Waals structures [21]. Among the various sets of 2D materials, TMDCs (with the general formula of MX2, where M is a transition metal and X is a chalcogen) attract the broad attention of the research community regarding their

Recent progress on field-effect transistor-based biosensors: device perspective

• Billel Smaani,
• Fares Nafa,
• Mohamed Salah Benlatrech,
• Ismahan Mahdi,
• Hamza Akroum,
• Mohamed walid Azizi,
• Khaled Harrar and
• Sayan Kanungo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 977–994, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.80

• enhanced sensing capability for the detection of both charged and neutral biomolecules compared to classical dielectric-modulated FET-based biosensors [93]. 2.2.2 Transition metal dichalcogenides-based biosensors. Kumari et al. [94] investigated a double-gate biosensor based on transition metal

Intermixing of MoS₂ and WS₂ photocatalysts toward methylene blue photodegradation

• Maryam Al Qaydi,
• Nitul S. Rajput,
• Michael Lejeune,
• Abdellatif Bouchalkha,
• Mimoun El Marssi,
• Steevy Cordette,
• Chaouki Kasmi and
• Mustapha Jouiad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 817–829, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.68

• Arab Emirates 10.3762/bjnano.15.68 Abstract Visible-light-driven photocatalysis using layered materials has garnered increasing attention regarding the degradation of organic dyes. Herein, transition-metal dichalcogenides MoS2 and WS2 prepared by chemical vapor deposition as well as their intermixing

• ; photodegradation; transition-metal dichalcogenides; Introduction Water contamination has become a pressing global concern, threatening ecosystems, agriculture, and human well-being [1][2]. The massive industrialization has dramatically contributed to water pollution, which has prompted policymakers to put in

• ]. Typically, semiconductor-based photocatalysts, such as TiO2, ZnO2, and some other high-bandgap transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMD) have shown their ability to efficiently degrade the activated MB by irradiation [10][11]. Recently, TMD such as MoS2 and WS2, have displayed remarkable potential as

Exploring surface charge dynamics: implications for AFM height measurements in 2D materials

• Mario Navarro-Rodriguez,
• Andres M. Somoza and
• Elisa Palacios-Lidon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 767–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.64

• ], sensors [2], and biomedical applications [3][4], among other areas [5][6][7][8]. Graphene-related materials [8], transition metal dichalcogenides [9], boron nitride [10], and MXenes [11], among many others, exhibit novel and exotic properties, which markedly differ from their bulk counterparts [12]. This

Laser synthesis of nanoparticles in organic solvents – products, reactions, and perspectives

• Theo Fromme,
• Sven Reichenberger,
• Katharine M. Tibbetts and
• Stephan Barcikowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 638–663, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.54

Exfoliation of titanium nitride using a non-thermal plasma process

• Priscila Jussiane Zambiazi,
• Dolores Ribeiro Ricci Lazar,
• Larissa Otubo,
• Rodrigo Fernando Brambilla de Souza,
• Almir Oliveira Neto and
• Cecilia Chaves Guedes-Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 631–637, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.53

• from graphene, prominent 2D vdW materials include hexagonal boron nitride, transition metal dichalcogenides, talc nanoflakes, and black phosphorus [2][3][4]. However, because of the inherent chemical stability of 2D vdW materials under ambient conditions, researchers have also turned their attention to

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• fabricating WOx-based optoelectronic devices, including photovoltaic cells. Keywords: annealing; glancing angle sputter deposition; heterojunction; tungsten oxide; work function; Introduction Tungsten oxide (WOx; x ≤ 3) is a popular transition-metal oxide for various optoelectronic devices because of its

Determining by Raman spectroscopy the average thickness and N-layer-specific surface coverages of MoS₂ thin films with domains much smaller than the laser spot size

• Felipe Wasem Klein,
• Jean-Roch Huntzinger,
• Vincent Astié,
• Damien Voiry,
• Romain Parret,
• Houssine Makhlouf,
• Sandrine Juillaguet,
• Jean-Manuel Decams,
• Sylvie Contreras,
• Périne Landois,
• Ahmed-Azmi Zahab,
• Jean-Louis Sauvajol and
• Matthieu Paillet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 279–296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.26

• modes is proposed to evaluate the surface coverage for each N (i.e., the ratio between the surface covered by exactly N layers and the total surface) in DLI-PP-CVD MoS2 samples. Keywords: molybdenum disulfide; number of layers; Raman spectroscopy; thin film; transition metal dichalcogenides

• ; Introduction The advent of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials beyond graphene has initiated a new field of research [1][2][3]. In the family of 2D layered structures, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable attention from academia and regarding potential applications [4][5][6][7

• X–M–X or MX2 triatomic layer, where X is a chalcogen atom (e.g., sulfur, selenium, or tellurium) and M is a transition metal atom (e.g., molybdenum or tungsten) [10]. Among the layered TMD materials, molybdenum disulfide, MoS2, is of particular interest in optoelectronic applications because of its

Influence of conductive carbon and MnCo₂O₄ on morphological and electrical properties of hydrogels for electrochemical energy conversion

• Sylwia Pawłowska,
• Karolina Cysewska,
• Yasamin Ziai,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 57–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.6

• /FeTCPP and PPy/FeTCPP/Co samples (74 mV/dec and 65 mV/dec, respectively), they are very similar [55], and much better than the results obtained for NF-NiCo (614 mV/dec) [34]. For transition-metal-functionalised polyaniline-phytic acid hydrogels, Tang et al. obtained Tafel slopes in the range of 78–191 mV

Nanoarchitectonics of photothermal materials to enhance the sensitivity of lateral flow assays

• Elangovan Sarathkumar,
• Rajasekharan S. Anjana and
• Ramapurath S. Jayasree

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 988–1003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.82

• properties, that is, plasmonic materials (e.g., Au, Ag, and Pt), semiconductor materials (e.g., transition metal oxides, transition metal chalcogenides, and transition metal dichalcogenides), carbon-based nanomaterials (such as graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes), and polymer nanomaterials [33][34] (Figure

• non-radiatively in the form of phonons. The phonons generate heat in these materials [36] (Figure 4C). Transition metal sulfide nanomaterials gain much attention in photothermal applications, because of their low cost, high biocompatibility, and considerably high PCE. Nanoparticles of copper sulfide

• ]. Transition metal chalcogenides are another class of photothermal nanomaterials that exhibit strong NIR absorption, good photostability, and low toxicity. The architectonics of these nanomaterials also plays an important role regarding the PCE. Among the different types of transition metal oxide nanoparticles

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

• /by/4.0/). (a) A graphic representation of the preparation of MzZny/ZIF-8, (b) Faradaic efficiency for the CO production using different materials, (c) diagram of free energy for CO2RR. Figure 4 was adapted from [44], J. H. Cho et al., “Transition Metal Ion Doping on ZIF-8 Enhances the Electrochemical

• exhibited the highest activity for CO2RR to carbon monoxide (FE = 81% at −1.1 V vs RHE). This can be explained by the fact that ZIF-8 has the smallest adsorption energy of hydrogen, facilitating the desired CO2RR process. The outcomes of this study serve as a foundation for the exploration of transition

• metal ion doping in ZIF-8, aiming to enhance the performance of CO2 conversion, as recently reported (Figure 4a). Cho et al. revealed that Cu-doped ZIF-8 exhibited the highest catalytic activity, surpassing both Fe- and Ni-doped ZIF-8 [44]. Specifically, Cu0.5Zn0.5/ZIF-8 yielded a large FECO of 88.5% at

Metal-organic framework-based nanomaterials as opto-electrochemical sensors for the detection of antibiotics and hormones: A review

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo,
• Saba Derakhshan Oskouei and
• Mustafa Gazi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 631–673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.52

• transition metals with unpaired electrons is often not strong. But MOFs containing transition-metal ions devoid of unpaired electrons, particularly those with d10 configurations, can produce remarkable linker-based luminescence [85][86][87]. Linker-based luminescence: In MOF chemistry, a variety of organic