Microplastic pollution in Himalayan lakes: assessment, risks, and sustainable remediation strategies

• Sameeksha Rawat,
• S. M. Tauseef and
• Madhuben Sharma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2144–2167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.148

• simultaneously utilizing the abundant UV radiation [75]. It has been demonstrated that the light absorption of ZnO and TiO2 is improved by defect engineering, such as the introduction of oxygen vacancies. According to Kim and Youn, these defects trap light energy, which lowers charge carrier recombination rates

Piezoelectricity of layered double hydroxides: perspectives regarding piezocatalysis and nanogenerators

• Evgeniy S. Seliverstov,
• Evgeniya A. Tarasenko and
• Olga E. Lebedeva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1812–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.124

• evidence demonstrated that dual oxygen vacancies in Ni/Fe-LDHs create interfacial bonds that mitigate carrier localization effects and unfavorable influences during piezocatalysis and photocatalysis. These features promote exciton dissociation and charge transfer. Furthermore, the strong electronic

• instead arise from triboelectric, electrochemical, or mechanochemical contributions. (2) Confusion of mechanisms: Different studies attribute performance improvements either to symmetry breaking (ultrathin LDH, loss of inversion centers, piezoelectrical properties), to defects (oxygen vacancies and

Electrical, photocatalytic, and sensory properties of graphene oxide and polyimide implanted with low- and medium-energy silver ions

• Josef Novák,
• Eva Štěpanovská,
• Petr Malinský,
• Vlastimil Mazánek,
• Jan Luxa,
• Ulrich Kentsch and
• Zdeněk Sofer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1794–1811, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.123

• ions with an energy of 1.5 MeV show reasonable agreement with the Ag concentration depth profiles in Figure 4a for GO and Figure 4b for PI. At this depth of ion penetration, we anticipate the most significant disruption of the carbon structures in both materials, involving the formation of vacancies

Photocatalytic degradation of ofloxacin in water assisted by TiO₂ nanowires on carbon cloth: contributions of H₂O₂ addition and substrate absorbability

• Iram Hussain,
• Lisha Zhang,
• Zhizhen Ye and
• Jin-Ming Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1567–1579, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.111

• , the content of hydroxyl groups in CC/HTNW is evaluated to be ca. 52%, which reduced to approximately 16% after the final air calcination, suggesting abundant residual surface oxygen vacancies in CC/NW-450 °C. These vacancies are beneficial for enhancing photocatalytic activity [26][27]. Photocatalytic

Laser processing in liquids: insights into nanocolloid generation and thin film integration for energy, photonic, and sensing applications

• Akshana Parameswaran Sreekala,
• Pooja Raveendran Nair,
• Jithin Kundalam Kadavath,
• Bindu Krishnan,
• David Avellaneda Avellaneda,
• M. R. Anantharaman and
• Sadasivan Shaji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1428–1498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.104

• ][87]. For example, laser irradiation has been utilized to precisely and controllably introduce a variety of structural defects, such as vacancies and interstitials, within electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications [85][86][88]. By carefully tuning the laser

• introduced defects within the liquid medium [86][91][93][95]. For instance, studies have reported that by meticulously adjusting these laser characteristics, they were able to selectively create and stabilize specific types of defects, such as vacancies and interstitials, within electrode materials [97

Enhancing the photoelectrochemical performance of BiOI-derived BiVO₄ films by controlled-intensity current electrodeposition

• Huu Phuc Dang,
• Khanh Quang Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thi Mai Tho and
• Tran Le

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1289–1301, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.94

• improvements through stronger peaks, suggesting fewer defects. The decrease in the bandgap (≈0.16 eV) is consistent with research linking oxygen vacancies to band tailing in BiVO4 films [26]. Besides, Figure 3a shows that the BiVO4(326) and BiVO4(324) samples have absorption that goes beyond 520 nm, with some

• suggests an optimal concentration of oxygen vacancies that broadens light absorption while avoiding excessive recombination of the charge carriers. In contrast, BiVO4(146) has a clear absorption edge and very little tailing, indicating that it has fewer defects but does not absorb light well beyond 520 nm

• . These findings match other studies that connect oxygen vacancies to the spread of light absorption and smaller optical bandgaps in BiVO4 [26]. Vibrational properties (Raman) The Raman spectra (Figure 4) corroborated the XRD findings, displaying characteristic peaks of monoclinic BiVO4 at 219, 329, 370

Ar⁺ implantation-induced tailoring of RF-sputtered ZnO films: structural, morphological, and optical properties

• Manu Bura,
• Divya Gupta,
• Arun Kumar and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 872–886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.66

• control material properties by inducing damage and introducing defects in the host matrix in a controlled manner [8]. It offers the advantage of controlling the amount of energy transferred to the host system by selecting the desired ion energy, mass, and fluence [9]. Different types of lattice vacancies

• optical phonon modes is ascribed to the formation of oxygen vacancies, which are supposed to be electron carriers in ZnO. Therefore, the evolution of the A1 (LO) mode acts as indirect evidence of a rise in carrier concentration, which can in turn alter the optical bandgap. Moreover, the presence of

•  4a). The A1 (LO) mode evolves because of defects present in the film in the form of oxygen vacancies, zinc interstitials, and their complexes. For the case of ZnO films implanted at 1 × 1015 ions·cm−2 fluence (Figure 4b), the intensity of the E2 (low) and A1 (LO) modes increases, while the peak

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

• investigates interfaces made by dry transfer of CrCl3 flakes in an atmospheric environment. Cl vacancies and the formation of O/CrCl3 are induced, serving as dissociation centers that facilitate the migration of Cl vacancies between the top and bottom surfaces. By manipulating 2D atomic layers via surface

• oxidation or the introduction of surface vacancies, a novel and versatile approach is unveiled for the development of low-dimensional multifunctional nanodevices. Keywords: chemical mapping; CrX3; Kelvin probe force microscopy; mechanical exfoliation; scanning photoelectron microscopy (SPEM); two

• content of defects such as adatoms, the length of grain boundaries, vacancies, and substitution impurities influence the electrical, magnetic, and electronic properties of the final device [14][15][4]. To name one, the formation of chalcogenide vacancies is often related to the enhanced dissociation of

Retrieval of B1 phase from high-pressure B2 phase for CdO nanoparticles by electronic excitations in Cd_xZn_1−xO composite thin films

• Arkaprava Das,
• Marcin Zając and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 551–560, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.43

• of the O K edge spectrum. This attenuation suggests that O ion irradiation diminishes the likelihood of core-level electronic transitions from O 1s to the hybridized Zn 4s–O 2p orbitals. It is plausible that O ion irradiation generates oxygen vacancies (VO) at lattice sites and introduces defects

N₂⁺-implantation-induced tailoring of structural, morphological, optical, and electrical characteristics of sputtered molybdenum thin films

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

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 495–509, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.38

• subsequent alterations in the material properties. As indicated by the TRIM simulations, a single nitrogen ion with this energy can produce 95 displacements, that is, 95 vacancies and no replacement collisions, before coming to a stop, as illustrated in Figure 1D. This significant level of displacement

• . There is a dip in the refractive index between 300 and 700 nm, attributed to the LSPR of molybdenum nanoparticles. Defects include interstitials, vacancies, and structural deformation, which modify the electrical and lattice structure of the material [49][50]. The refractive index of both as-deposited

• may influence the electrical properties. As the thickness changes, the internal stress distribution could lead to impediments in electron transport, causing slight deviations from linearity. Nitrogen ions create defects, vacancies, or impurities in the molybdenum film, acting as scattering centers for

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

• of oxygen on the surface by means of the formation of oxygen vacancies, leading to enhanced catalytic activity. Also, the small doping of Ag introduces more active sites on the catalyst surface, potentially improving the overall catalytic activity [12][13]. This study demonstrates an efficient and

• region of the Brillouin zone. Oxygen vacancies are commonly linked to the A1(LO) phonon mode. The presence of a small peak at 218 cm−1 denotes the radial movement of Ag atoms. Raman peaks at around 356 cm−1 are specifically attributed to the A1(TO) mode. Also, the results of Ag doping in ZnO coincide

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

• II–VI semiconductor with a direct bandgap of 2.26 eV, which lies in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. ZnTe is a p-type semiconductor because of zinc vacancies and has a low electron affinity of 3.53 eV at room temperature [5]. It exists in both zincblende and wurtzite structures

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

• recombination rates, and the generated oxygen vacancies, ultimately enhancing catalytic efficiency in visible light or solar-simulated light. The durability of the modified TiO2 relied on the number of electrons in the dopants and their ionic size. Although researchers have significantly improved the catalytic

• photocatalyst [74]. In a recent study, Jeyaprakash and coworkers [75] synthesized Ti3+-doped TiO2 with oxygen vacancies utilizing ultrasonic treatment for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) via sono-photocatalysis under visible halogen lamp irradiation. The modified TiO2 demonstrated remarkable degradation of

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

• framework and the CO2 adsorbate. A third strategy for obtaining high CO2 adsorption selectivity is to prepare MOFs from metal ion nodes that are uncoordinated, thus having accessible coordination vacancies known as open metal sites (OMSs). This strategy, illustrated in Figure 2c, is a prominent method for

Advanced atomic force microscopy techniques V

• Philipp Rahe,
• Ilko Bald,
• Nadine Hauptmann,
• Regina Hoffmann-Vogel,
• Harry Mönig and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 54–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.6

• characterization of defects in a single layer of graphene on iridium that were induced by rare-gas ion bombardment by using combined scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements and NC-AFM [12]. The authors reveal that presumed monoatomic vacancies, as deduced from STM measurements alone, have rather

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

• , and other emerging nanotechnologies. When HDCMs are exposed to radiation, such as ion bombardment or exposure to high-energy radiation sources, defects (vacancies, interstitials, point defect clusters, voids, and interstitial loops) are created in the crystal lattice because of the displacement of

• (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

• , in nanosilver, a dislocation loop migrates to the free surface of the particle within 0.1 s [4]. This suggests that dislocation loops and interstitials are leveled out fairly quickly in nanoparticles, making vacancies the main defects that affect the material’s properties. According to experimental

Mn-doped ZnO nanopowders prepared by sol–gel and microwave-assisted sol–gel methods and their photocatalytic properties

• Cristina Maria Vlăduț,
• Crina Anastasescu,
• Silviu Preda,
• Oana Catalina Mocioiu,
• Simona Petrescu,
• Jeanina Pandele-Cusu,
• Dana Culita,
• Veronica Bratan,
• Ioan Balint and
• Maria Zaharescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.104

• activity of the modified nanomaterials can be modulated by the dopant concentration. Figure 9 shows for both investigated samples a main emission peak at 420 nm and a smaller one at 480 nm. According to the literature data, both maxima correspond to the excitonic PL related to surface oxygen vacancies and

• signal of the SG sample (assigned to surface oxygen vacancies and defects) and can be further analyzed taking into account the photocatalytic test results. Photocatalytic activity Oxidative photodegradation of oxalic acid in aqueous solution (Figure 13) was used to compare the catalytic activity of the

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

• defects, including passivation and vacancies [78]. Deposition methods for the synthesis of carbon coatings The addition of nanostructured and nanosized carbon species into materials for biological applications can be attained by several techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor

Facile synthesis of Fe-based metal–organic frameworks from Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles and their application for CO₂/N₂ separation

• Van Nhieu Le,
• Hoai Duc Tran,
• Minh Tien Nguyen,
• Hai Bang Truong,
• Toan Minh Pham and
• Jinsoo Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 897–908, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.74

• peak at 530.1 eV standing for Fe–O bonds and a minor peak at 532 eV assigned to oxygen-related vacancies within the framework of Fe2O3 [35]. In contrast, the O 1s spectrum of the M-100Fe@Fe2O3#1.80 sample was composed of three peaks, namely, a major peak at 531.6 eV for C=O bonds and two minor peaks

Effect of repeating hydrothermal growth processes and rapid thermal annealing on CuO thin film properties

• Monika Ozga,
• Eunika Zielony,
• Aleksandra Wierzbicka,
• Anna Wolska,
• Marcin Klepka,
• Marek Godlewski,
• Bogdan J. Kowalski and
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 743–754, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.62

• vacancies present in the material, consequently leading to an elevation in the work function value. The combination of O2 and N2 was chosen over pure oxygen because of cost-effectiveness. At the same time, efforts were made to ensure that the selected annealing atmosphere was closer to the composition of

Elastic modulus of β-Ga₂O₃ nanowires measured by resonance and three-point bending techniques

• Annamarija Trausa,
• Sven Oras,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Tauno Tiirats,
• Andreas Kyritsakis,
• Boris Polyakov and
• Edgars Butanovs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 704–712, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.58

• error simulations of the geometry uncertainty indicate that a ±25 nm width error (SEM method) and ±15 nm height error (AFM method) for NWs with 100 nm width/height corresponds to the observed scattering in elastic modulus values in Figure 4. Finally, point defects, such as oxygen vacancies, can increase

• the average bond length and thus result in a reduction in the elastic modulus [31][32][33]. For example, Wang et al. [34] showed that ZnO NWs with a higher density of oxygen vacancies, inferred from photoluminescence measurements, exhibited significantly (up to 20%) lower Young’s modulus. Wang et al

• . [35] measured a lower (up to 16%) elastic modulus for Al2O3 NBs in comparison to the theoretical value and attributed this difference to oxygen vacancies within NBs. As per our previous study [36], our as-grown Ga2O3 NWs exhibit a strong photoluminescence band related to oxygen vacancies, indicating a

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

• is attributed to the vibration of heavy titanium ions around nitrogen vacancies, while the 592 cm−1 peak arises from nitrogen ion vibrations near titanium vacancies [22][23][24]. Remarkably, the Raman spectra for both bulk and exfoliated TiN samples are similar. This consistency suggests that the non

Aero-ZnS prepared by physical vapor transport on three-dimensional networks of sacrificial ZnO microtetrapods

• Veaceslav Ursaki,
• Tudor Braniste,
• Victor Zalamai,
• Emil Rusu,
• Vladimir Ciobanu,
• Vadim Morari,
• Daniel Podgornii,
• Pier Carlo Ricci,
• Rainer Adelung and
• Ion Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.44

• processes, including those related to oxygen species adsorbed by the huge surface of the aeromaterial, as previously observed in ZnS nanostructures [42]. Some of these states may be related to oxygen vacancies and complex centers. Under ambient conditions, some oxygen species from the air are adsorbed at

• the surface states, forming complexes with oxygen vacancies. These complexes may be responsible for the PL band around 2.4 eV. Under vacuum conditions, the oxygen species are desorbed from the surface, annihilating the formed complexes. As a result, the intensity of the PL band around 2.4 eV decreases

• [43]. The adsorption of oxygen species from the environment on the sample surface promoted by oxygen vacancies results also in a strong interaction between the photoexcited electrons captured by oxygen vacancies and the adsorbed oxygen species. The formation of the SnO2 phase in the prepared aero-ZnS

Unveiling the nature of atomic defects in graphene on a metal surface

• Karl Rothe,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 416–425, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.37

• , during its epitaxial growth in surface science experiments or its fabrication for applications, defects, that is, deviations from the ideal 2D lattice, inevitably occur. Examples for defects are vacancies, interstitial atoms, grain boundaries, stacking faults or wrinkles [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13

• domains with ▲ and ▼ tentatively marking hcp and fcc stacking, while the dot (●) indicates the mound top site of the moiré lattice (10 mV, 5 nA, 8 nm × 8 nm). (b) Two adjacent type-1 vacancies located at an hcp (left) and an fcc (right) position of the moiré lattice (10 mV, 55 nA, 3.6 nm × 3.6 nm). Red

Classification and application of metal-based nanoantioxidants in medicine and healthcare

• Nguyen Nhat Nam,
• Nguyen Khoi Song Tran,
• Tan Tai Nguyen,
• Nguyen Ngoc Trai,
• Nguyen Phuong Thuy,
• Hoang Dang Khoa Do,
• Nhu Hoa Thi Tran and
• Kieu The Loan Trinh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 396–415, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.36

• ]. The heterostructures increase surface electron deficiency, redox couples, and oxygen vacancies through an intrinsic electric field and lattice mismatch at the metal–semiconductor interface. Thus, a high level of oxygen vacancies enhances the adsorption and activation of oxygen-containing ROS, that is

• higher Ce4+ content are known to have higher CAT activity, while cerium nanomaterials with greater Ce3+ content enhance SOD activity. It was reported that Ce3+ has more oxygen vacancies providing more active sites for the binding of superoxide radicals on the surface [77][78][79]. By controlling the Ce3