Atom probe tomography of Au-Cu bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized by inert gas condensation

Journal article

The inert gas condensation method (IGC) produces multimetallic nanoparticles in a metastable state that may exhibit heterogeneities of size, structure, and composition. The deposition of IGC-fabricated nanoparticles on substrates allows for a detailed characterization by combination of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). Multiple particle monitoring and high-resolution scanning TEM give access to the size distribution of Au–Cu nanoparticles (<10 nm in diameter, bimodal distribution). TEM and APT show that the alloying between Cu and Au may stabilize the Ih structure for smaller particles (<4 nm). Combining high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray and three-dimensional composition analysis by APT reveals that an excess of Cu may be present in a shell around the larger particles (>7 nm), while Cu is more randomly distributed in smaller particles.

Authors: Yang, Q; Danaie, M; Young, N; Broadley, V; Joyce, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Journal: Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• Volume: 123
• Issue: 43
• Pages: 26481–26489
• Publication date: 2019-10-04
• Acceptance date: 2019-10-04
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b09340
• EISSN: 1932-7455
• ISSN: 1932-7447
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR