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Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2019) | Viewed by 20173

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Prof. Dr. Uwe Erb

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Guest Editor

University of Toronto, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Toronto, Canada
Interests: nanostructured materials; electrochemical synthesis; interfacial phenomena; bio-inspired materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanostructures can be made by many different synthesis methods, which can be broadly categorized by the following general approaches: Vapor-phase processing, liquid-phase processing, solid-state processing, chemical synthesis and electrochemical synthesis. This Special Issue is concerned with nanostructures made by electrochemical synthesis, which involves charge transfer at interfaces. Examples of such methods are electrodeposition from aqueous and organic baths or ionic liquids, electroless /autocatalytic deposition, galvanic displacement reactions, co-deposition of second phase particles, de-alloying, anodizing, conversion processes or electrochemical deposition under oxidizing conditions. Depending on the application electrochemically processed nanostructures can be made in a large variety of shapes and forms including thin or thick coatings, free-standing sheet, plate, mesh and complex shapes, compositionally or structurally graded materials, powders, composites or microcomponents for microelectromechanical (MEMS) systems. The aim of this Special Issue of Nanomaterials, “Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications”, is to compile a series of articles that highlight the state of the art in this very broad subfield of nanotechnology. Contributions include original articles, reviews and short communications addressing details of the synthesis method, structural characterization and properties of the nanostructures, as well as their current or future potential applications.

Prof. Dr. Uwe Erb
Guest Editor

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Keywords

nanomaterials
nanostructures
electrochemical synthesis
structure characterization
properties
performance
applications

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tuning the Optical Properties of Hyperbolic Metamaterials by Controlling the Volume Fraction of Metallic Nanorods

by Alexey P. Leontiev, Olga Yu. Volkova, Irina A. Kolmychek, Anastasia V. Venets, Alexander R. Pomozov, Vasily S. Stolyarov, Tatiana V. Murzina and Kirill S. Napolskii

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(5), 739; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9050739 - 14 May 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2906

Abstract

Porous films of anodic aluminum oxide are widely used as templates for the electrochemical preparation of functional nanocomposites containing ordered arrays of anisotropic nanostructures. In these structures, the volume fraction of the inclusion phase, which strongly determines the functional properties of the nanocomposite, is equal to the porosity of the initial template. For the range of systems, the most pronounced effects and the best functional properties are expected when the volume fraction of metal is less than 10%, whereas the porosity of anodic aluminum oxide typically exceeds this value. In the present work, the possibility of the application of anodic aluminum oxide for obtaining hyperbolic metamaterials in the form of nanocomposites with the metal volume fraction smaller than the template porosity is demonstrated for the first time. A decrease in the fraction of the pores accessible for electrodeposition is achieved by controlled blocking of the portion of pores during anodization when the template is formed. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been shown in the example of obtaining nanocomposites containing Au nanorods arrays. The possibility for the control over the position of the resonance absorption band corresponding to the excitation of collective longitudinal oscillations of the electron gas in the nanorods in a wide range of wavelengths by controlled decreasing of the metal volume fraction, is shown. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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11 pages, 2423 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Achieving Ultrahigh Hardness in Electrodeposited Nanograined Ni-Based Binary Alloys

by Xiangui Zheng, Jian Hu, Jiongxian Li and Yinong Shi

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9040546 - 04 Apr 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2628

Abstract

Annealing hardening has recently been found in nanograined (ng) metals and alloys, which is ascribed to the promotion of grain boundary (GB) stability through GB relaxation and solute atom GB segregation. Annealing hardening is of great significance in extremely fine ng metals since it allows the hardness to keep increasing with a decreasing grain size which would otherwise be softened. Consequently, to synthesize extremely fine ng metals with a stable structure is crucial in achieving an ultrahigh hardness in ng metals. In the present work, direct current electrodeposition was employed to synthesize extremely fine ng Ni-Mo and Ni-P alloys with a grain size of down to a few nanometers. It is demonstrated that the grain size of the as-synthesized extremely fine ng Ni-Mo and Ni-P alloys can be as small as about 3 nm with a homogeneous structure and chemical composition. Grain size strongly depends upon the content of solute atoms (Mo and P). Most importantly, appropriate annealing induces significant hardening as high as 11 GPa in both ng Ni-Mo and Ni-P alloys, while the peak hardening temperature achieved in ng Ni-Mo is much higher than that in ng Ni-P. Electrodeposition is efficient in the synthesis of ultrahard bulk metals or coatings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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14 pages, 3964 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Electrode Topography on the Magnetic Properties and MRI Application of Electrochemically-Deposited, Synthesized, Cobalt-Substituted Hydroxyapatite

by Wei-Chun Lin, Chun-Chao Chuang, Chen-Jung Chang, Ya-Hsu Chiu, Min Yan and Cheng-Ming Tang

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(2), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9020200 - 03 Feb 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2956

Abstract

Magnetic nanoparticles are used to enhance the image contrast of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the development of magnetic nanoparticles with a low dose/high image contrast and non-toxicity is currently a major challenge. In this study, cobalt-substituted hydroxyapatite nanoparticles deposited on titanium (Ti-CoHA) and cobalt-substituted hydroxyapatite nanoparticles deposited on titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNT-CoHA) were synthesized by the electrochemical deposition method. The particle sizes of Ti-CoHA and TNT-CoHA were 418.6 nm and 127.5 nm, respectively, as observed using FE-SEM. It was shown that CoHA can be obtained with a smaller particle size using a titanium dioxide nanotube (TNT) electrode plate. However, the particle size of TNT-CoHA is smaller than that of Ti-CoHA. The crystal size of the internal cobalt oxide of CoHA was calculated by using an XRD pattern. The results indicate that the crystal size of cobalt oxide in TNT-CoHA is larger than that of the cobalt oxide in Ti-CoHA. The larger crystal size of the cobalt oxide in TNT-CoHA makes the saturation magnetization (Ms) of TNT-CoHA 12.6 times higher than that of Ti-CoHA. The contrast in MRIs is related to the magnetic properties of the particles. Therefore, TNT-CoHA has good image contrast at low concentrations in T₂ images. The relaxivity coefficient of the CoHA was higher for TNT-CoHA (340.3 mM⁻¹s⁻¹) than Ti-CoHA (211.7 mM⁻¹s⁻¹), and both were higher than the commercial iron nanoparticles (103.0 mM⁻¹s⁻¹). We showed that the TNT substrate caused an increase in the size of the cobalt oxide crystal of TNT-CoHA, thus effectively improving the magnetic field strength and MRI image recognition. It was also shown that the relaxivity coefficient rose with the Ms. Evaluation of biocompatibility of CoHA using human osteosarcoma cells (MG63) indicated no toxic effects. On the other hand, CoHA had an excellent antibacterial effect, as shown by E. coli evaluation, and the effect of TNT-CoHA powder was higher than that of Ti-CoHA powder. In summary, TNT-CoHA deposited electrochemically on the TNT substrates can be considered as a potential candidate for the application as an MRI contrast agent. This paper is a comparative study of how different electrode plates affect the magnetic and MRI image contrast of cobalt-substituted hydroxyapatite (CoHA) nanomaterials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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11 pages, 3413 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Thermally Robust Non-Wetting Ni-PTFE Electrodeposited Nanocomposite

by Jason Tam, Jonathan Chun Fung Lau and Uwe Erb

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9010002 - 20 Dec 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3723

Abstract

The effect of high temperature exposure on the water wetting properties of co-electrodeposited superhydrophobic nickel-polytetrafluoroethylene (Ni-PTFE) nanocomposite coating on copper substrates was studied. This was accomplished by comparing the performance with a commercial superhydrophobic spray treatment (CSHST). The Ni-PTFE and CSHST coatings were both subjected to heating at temperatures up to 400 °C. Results showed that the Ni-PTFE was able to maintain its superhydrophobicity throughout the entire temperature range, whereas the CSHST became more wettable at 300 °C. Furthermore, additional abrasive wear tests were conducted on both materials that were subjected to heating at 400 °C. The Ni-PTFE remained highly non-wettable even after 60 m of abrasion length on 800 grit silicon carbide paper, whereas the CSHST coating was hydrophilic after 15 m. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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12 pages, 4074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Facile Synthesis of β-Lactoglobulin-Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide and Trimetallic PtAuPd Nanocomposite for Electrochemical Sensing

by Bingkai Han, Meixin Pan, Jiexin Zhou, Yingying Wang, Zihua Wang, Jun Jiao, Cong Zhang and Qiang Chen

Nanomaterials 2018, 8(9), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8090724 - 13 Sep 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3887

Abstract

The use of graphene has leapt forward the materials field and the functional modification of graphene has not stopped. In this work, β-lactoglobulin (BLG) was used to functionalize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) based on its amphiphilic properties. Also, trimetallic PtAuPd nanoparticles were reduced to the surface of BLG-functionalized RGO and formed BLG-PtAuPd-RGO nanocomposite using facile synthesis. Transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectra were used to characterize the nanocomposite. Electrocatalytic analysis was evaluated through cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry methods. We developed a glucose sensor by fabricating GOD-BLG-PtAuPd-RGO/glassy carbon (GC) electrode. It presented a remarkable sensitivity of 63.29 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² (4.43 μA mM⁻¹), a wider linear range from 0.005 to 9 mM and a lower detection limit of 0.13 μM (S/N = 3). Additionally, the glucose sensor exhibited excellent testing capability in human serum samples. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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15 pages, 9053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Novel Titania Nanocoatings Produced by Anodic Oxidation with the Use of Cyclically Changing Potential: Their Photocatalytic Activity and Biocompatibility

by Aleksandra Radtke, Monika Bal and Tomasz Jędrzejewski

Nanomaterials 2018, 8(9), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8090712 - 11 Sep 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3528

Abstract

The anodic oxidation of Ti6Al4V substrate surfaces with the use of cyclically changing potential enabled the production of novel titania nanocoatings. Morphologically different coatings were prepared in the ethylene glycol-based electrolyte with diluted HF and various amounts of water. The structure of the produced surface materials was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. Their morphology was visualized by scanning electron microscopy. The photocatalytic efficiency of produced materials was studied by the observation of methylene blue degradation under UV irradiation. Their biointegration properties were established on the basis of immunological assays, which checked murine fibroblasts adhesion and proliferation on novel coatings. The obtained results pointed out to both high biocompatibility, as well as the photoactivity of one of the obtained nanocoatings, allowing trusting in the applicative nature of this material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanostructures and Their Applications)

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