2023/12/19 by Aparna Saksena, Ayman A. El‐Zoka, Saksena, Aparna +9
Chemistry · Materials Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Nanocluster Synthesis and Applications #Nanomaterials for catalytic reactions #Nanoporous metals and alloys
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.12235
openalex publication_date 2023/12/19 · openalex created_date 2023/12/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
For its potential as a catalyst, nanoporous gold (NPG) prepared through dealloying of bulk Ag-Au alloys has been extensively investigated. NPG thin films can offer ease of handling, better tunability of the chemistry and microstructure of the nanoporous structure, and represent a more sustainable usage of scarce resources. These films are however prone to intergranular cracking during dealloying, limiting their stability and potential applications. Here, we set out to systematically investigate the grain boundaries in Au28Ag72 thin films. We observe that a sample synthesized at 400 °C is at least 2.5 times less prone to cracking compared to a sample synthesized at room temperature. This correlates with a higher density of coincident site lattice grain boundaries, especially the density of coherent sigma 3, increased, which appear resistant against cracking. Nanoscale compositional analysis of random high-angle grain boundaries reveals prominent Ag enrichment up to 77 at.%, whereas sigma 3 coherent twin boundaries show Au enrichment of up to 30 at.%. The misorientation and the chemistry of grain boundaries hence affect their dealloying behavior, which in turn controls the cracking, and the possible longevity of NPG thin films for application in electrocatalysis.