TY - JOUR A1 - Fenger, A. A1 - Fertitta, E. A1 - Kirmse, H. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Rademann, K. T1 - Size dependent catalysis with CTAB-stabilized gold nanoparticles N2 - CTAB-stabilized gold nanoparticles were synthesized by applying the seeding-growth approach in order to gain information about the size dependence of the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol with sodium borohydride. Five different colloidal solutions of stabilized gold nanoparticles have been characterized by TEM, AFM, UV-Vis, SAXS, and DLS for their particle size distributions. Gold nanoparticles (mean sizes: 3.5, 10, 13, 28, 56 nm diameter) were tested for their catalytic efficiency. Kinetic data were acquired by UV-Vis spectroscopy at different temperatures between 25 and 45 °C. By studying the p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol reaction kinetics we determined the nanoparticle size which is needed to gain the fastest conversion under ambient conditions in the liquid phase. Unexpectedly, CTAB-stabilized gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 13 nm are most efficient. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c2cp40792b SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 14 IS - 26 SP - 9343 EP - 9349 PB - The Royal Soc. of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-26071 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Som, T. A1 - Simo, A. A1 - Fenger, R. A1 - Troppenz, G.V. A1 - Bansen, R. A1 - Pfänder, N. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Rappich, J. A1 - Boeck, T. A1 - Rademann, K. T1 - Bismuth hexagons: facile mass synthesis, stability and applications N2 - A unique direct electrodeposition technique involving very high current densities, high voltages and high electrolyte concentrations is applied for highly selective mass synthesis of stable, isolable, surfactant-free, single-crystalline Bi hexagons on a Cu wire at room temperature. A formation mechanism of the hexagons is proposed. The morphology, phase purity, and crystallinity of the material are well characterized by FESEM, AFM, TEM, SAED, EDX, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the material under intense electron beam and intense laser light irradiation is studied. The chemical stability of elemental Bi in nitric acid shows different dissolution rates for different morphologies. This effect enables a second way for the selective fabrication of Bi hexagons. Bi hexagons can be oxidized exclusively to α-Bi2O3 hexagons. The Bi hexagons are found to be promising for thermoelectric applications. They are also catalytically active, inducing the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. This electrodeposition methodology has also been demonstrated to be applicable for synthesis of bismuth-based bimetallic hybrid composites for advanced applications. KW - Bismuth KW - Hexagons KW - Dendrites KW - Single-crystal KW - Thermoelectric applications KW - Catalytic applications PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201101009 SN - 1439-4235 VL - 13 IS - 8 SP - 2162 EP - 2169 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-26278 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sarfraz, Adnan A1 - Simo, A. A1 - Fenger, R. A1 - Christen, W. A1 - Rademann, K. A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Morphological diversity of caffeine on surfaces: needles and hexagons N2 - A systematic crystal morphology study on the pharmaceutical model compound caffeine has been conducted on different surfaces: silicon, silver, soda lime glass, and silver subsurface ion-exchanged soda-lime silicate (SIMO) glasses. The morphology of the solid caffeine deposits has been investigated using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Needle-shaped caffeine crystals have been observed by drop-casting and also by applying the rapid expansion of supercritical solutions (RESS) technique using supercritical carbon dioxide. The aspect ratio of the crystalline needles typically vary between 10 and 100, but have been observed as large as 500. The XRD data of the RESS products indicate unambiguously the presence of the thermodynamically most stable polymorph of caffeine known as the β-form. Under defined conditions we observe a unique, surface-mediated morphology for caffeine crystals with nearly perfect hexagonal shape. The relative fraction of the hexagons was seen to strongly increase especially when SIMO glasses were used. These hexagons have a distinct upper size limit depending on the solvent and substrate being used. The size distribution analysis of the hexagons yielded an average perimeter of typically 10 µm. The mechanism of the formation process of this new hexagonal motif is explained in terms of the spinodal dewetting of the thin film of caffeine solution on the surface. KW - Caffeine KW - Silicon KW - Silver KW - Ion exchanged soda lime silicate glass KW - ESEM KW - AFM KW - X-ray diffraction KW - RESS KW - Carbon dioxide KW - Supercritical fluids PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/cg101358q SN - 1528-7483 VL - 12 IS - 2 SP - 583 EP - 588 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC, USA AN - OPUS4-25457 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -