Metal Oxide Thin Films Containing Au Nano-Particles Prepared with Gas Diffusion Method

Au particles dispersed thin metal oxide films were prepared from precursor films containing HAuCl₄ with H₂S gas diffusion method. HAuCl₄ was uniformly dissolved in the films as promoted by hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC). The mechanism of the Au particle formation was studied. It was found that HAuCl₄ was converted directly to Au metal particles upon contacting with H₂S gas. Au particles generated by this method were characterized with small particle size, sharp size distribution and high volume fraction in the films. The surface plasma resonance absorption of Au particles shifted to longer wavelength when TiO₂ component was introduced in the matrix.     

Electrochemical fabrication of large-area Au/TiO2 junctions

Electrically continuous Au thin films were prepared on polycrystalline TiO₂ by pulsed galvanostatic electrodeposition. Large-area electrically continuous films 10–30 nm in thickness and approximately 0.25 cm² in area were created using a series of 5 ms bipolar current pulses. The film morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) which showed a network of interconnected Au islands. The electrical properties of the resulting Schottky junction were also investigated and the conduction was found to deviate considerably from ideal thermionic emission. The effective barriers were higher than in Au/TiO₂ junctions prepared by electron beam evaporation.     

Control of Optical Properties of Thin Films Doped with Au Fine Particles by the Sol-Gel Method

We have developed tinted glasses with thin films doped with Au particles by the sol-gel method for automotive windows. Pink-colored glasses are mass-produced. The observed color is from absorption due to surface plasma resonance of Au particles. The squeeze-out of fine Au particles out of gel films was restrained by an organic additive. The index of the matrix was adjusted by the mixing ratio of TiO₂ (refractive index n = 2.20) to SiO₂ (n = 1.46). The absorption of Au particles is more intense with the higher index of the matrix, and its peak varies from 530 nm for n = 1.46 to 630 nm for n = 2.20, which yields a transmission color from pink to blue. The combination of the color of the glass substrate and the absorption by the Au particles in the thin films with various indices yields a variety of tinted glasses such as pink, orange, blue, blue-green and gray.     

Synthesis and Properties of ZrO2 Films Dispersed With Au Nanoparticles

Au nanoparticles dispersed ZrO₂ thin films were prepared from two precursors HAuCl₄·4H₂O and ZrOCl₂·8H₂O in air. The structural properties and size of Au particle in ZrO₂ film were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The surface analysis with atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the effect of monoethanolamine on preventing the migration of Au particles to the surface. The absorption peak of Au particles by the surface plasma resonance was observed and the red shift of absorption peak was discussed.     

Modification of photocatalytic TiO2 thin films by electron beam irradiation

Noble metal-modified TiO₂ films were prepared by electron beam deposition of Pt, Pd, Au and Ag on the surface of TiO₂ films with diameters ranging from <1 nm to 500 nm. The morphology of the films was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FMSEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The photocatalytic capability of the films were tested and compared by degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solutions under both UV and visible light illumination.     

Amperometric Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor Based on the Immobilization of Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) on the Layer‐by‐Layer Assembly Films of Gold Colloidal Nanoparticles and Toluidine Blue

The precursor film was first formed on the Au electrode surface based on the self‐assembly of L ‐cysteine and the adsorption of gold colloidal nanoparticles (nano‐Au). Layer‐by‐layer (LBL) assembly films of toluidine blue (TB) and nano‐Au were fabricated by alternately immersing the electrode with precursor film into the solution of toluidine blue and gold colloid. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) were adopted to monitor the regular growth of {TB/Au} bilayer films. The successful assembly of {TB/Au}_n films brings a new strategy for electrochemical devices to construct layer‐by‐layer assembly films of nanomaterials and low molecular weight materials. In this article, {TB/Au}_n films were used as model films to fabricate a mediated H₂O₂ biosensor based on horseradish peroxidase, which responded rapidly to H₂O₂ in the linear range from 1.5×10^?7 mol/L to 8.6×10^?3 mol/L with a detection limit of 7.0×10^?8 mol/L. Morphologies of the final assembly films were characterized with scanning probe microscopy (SPM).     

Chemical composition and properties of films produced from hexamethyldisilazane by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Relationships between the chemical composition of the gas phase and the properties of SiC_xN_yH_z films produced from hexamethyldisilazane by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition have been studied. The plasma composition has been examined by optical emission spectroscopy. Thermal analysis of the films with simultaneous mass spectrometric detection of released gases has been performed. On the basis of the results and published data, mechanisms for the formation of films by plasma polymerization have been proposed and the film growth at a low plasma power and high reactor temperatures has been found to follow the heterogeneous mechanism.     

Tunable Multicolor Phosphorescence of Crystalline Polymeric Complex Salts with Metallophilic Backbones

A total of 35 [Au(NHC)₂][MX₂] (NHC=N‐heterocyclic carbene; M=Au or Cu; X=halide, cyanide or arylacetylide) complex salts were synthesized by co‐precipitation of [Au(NHC)₂]⁺ cations and [MX₂]^? anions. These salts contain crystallographically determined polymeric Au???Au or Au???Cu interactions and are highly phosphorescent with quantum yields up to unity and emission color tunable in the entire visible regions. The nature of the emissive excited states is generally assigned to ligand (anion)‐to‐ligand (cation) charge‐transfer transitions assisted by d¹⁰???d¹⁰ metallophilicity. The emission properties can be further tuned by controlled triple‐component co‐crystallization or by epitaxial growth. Correct recipes for white light‐emitting phosphors with quantum yields higher than 70 % have been achieved by screening the combinatorial pool.     

Gas Sensing Ability of a Nanostructured Conducting Polypyrrole Film Prepared by Catalytic Electropolymerization on Cu/Au Interdigital Electrodes

Nanostructured conductive polypyrrole has been prepared electrochemically on the surfaces of Cu/Au interdigital electrodes in the presence of Fe(II) as catalyst and ClO₄^? as anion dopant by using constant potential amperometry and cyclic voltammetry. The morphology of the conducting films was examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, indicating a dependence from the processing technique. The synthesized polymer was used to investigate the properties of the gas sensing ability. The effect of the catalyst concentration on the oxidation mechanism of pyrrole was discussed. The PPy‐ClO₄ gas sensors had demonstrated fast response time and high sensitivity to VOCs.     

低温静电自组装法制备贵金属修饰TiO_2纳米结构薄膜及其增强的光催化性能(英文)

以碱-水热法在金属Ti片上原位生长了TiO2纳米结构(纳米花和纳米线)薄膜,并采用低温静电自组装方法将超细贵金属(金、铂、钯)纳米颗粒均匀沉积于多孔TiO2薄膜上.负载于Ti片上的贵金属/TiO2纳米结构薄膜具有一体化结构、多孔架构和高光催化活性.超高分辨率场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)直接观察表明贵金属纳米颗粒在TiO2表面分布均匀,且颗粒之间相互分离,金、铂、钯纳米颗粒的平均粒径分别约为4.0、2.0和10.0nm.俄歇电子能谱(AES)纵深成分分析表明贵金属不仅沉积于薄膜表面,且大量分布于TiO2纳米结构薄膜内部,其深度超过580 nm.X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析表明,经300°C下在空气中热处理后,纳米金仍保持金属态,纳米铂部分被氧化成PtOabs,而钯粒子则完全被氧化成氧化钯(PdO).以低温静电自组装法沉积贵金属,贵金属负载量可通过调节组装时间与溶胶pH值来控制.光催化降解甲基橙的结果表明,沉积的纳米金和铂能显著增加TiO2纳米结构薄膜的光催化活性,说明金和铂粒子可促进光生载流子的分离;但负载的PdO对TiO2薄膜的光催化性能增强几乎无作用.     

Layer-by-layer thin film-coated electrodes for electrocatalytic determination of ascorbic acid

Multilayer thin films composed of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) have been prepared on the surface of a gold (Au) disk electrode by a layer-by-layer deposition of PAH and CMC and ferricyanide ions ([Fe(CN)₆]³⁻) were confined in the film. [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ ions can be successfully confined in the films from weakly acidic or neutral [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ solutions, while, in basic solution, [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ ion was not confined. The [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ ion-confined Au electrode showed clear redox peaks in the cyclic voltammogram around 0.35 V versus Ag/AgCl. The amounts of [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ ions confined in the films depended on the thickness of the films or the number of layers in the LbL films. The [Fe(CN)₆]³⁻ ion-confined Au electrode was used for electrocatalytic determination of ascorbic acid in the concentration range of 1-50 mM.     

低温吸附制备Au-TiO2复合薄膜及其光电化学性质

在低温条件下将预先合成的Au溶胶吸附到TiO₂薄膜上以制备纳米Au-TiO₂复合薄膜,以超高分辨率场发射扫描电镜(FESEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)及X射线光电子能谱(XPS)表征Au-TiO₂膜,并在UV辐照下测定了Au-TiO₂薄膜电极的光电化学性质。纳米Au呈金属态,平均粒径为(4.3±1.2) nm,负载量高,均匀地沉积于TiO₂薄膜表面。光电化学测试表明,沉积纳米Au后,TiO₂电极的光生电流提高近5倍,光生电压明显向负值增大,说明纳米Au可增强光生载流子的分离效率,促进电荷在电极与溶液界面间的转移。Au-TiO₂电极的电荷传递法拉第阻抗(R_ct)是TiO₂电极的一半,说明负载的纳米Au粒抑制了光生电子-空穴的复合,提高了电极中载流子浓度。     

One-step synthesis and stabilization of gold nanoparticles and multilayer film assembly

Au nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized in the one-pot procedure in water at room temperature with the wheel-shaped V^V-V^IV mixed-valence tungstovanadate [P₈W₄₈O₁₈₄{V₄^VV₂^IVO₁₂(H₂O)₂}₂]³²⁻ (V12) acting as both reducing and stabilizing agents. The V12 stabilized Au NPs (Au@V12 NPs) were characterized by SEM, TEM, DLS, UV-vis spectroscopy, XPS, and XRD analyses and the negatively charged surface of the Au@V12 NPs was proved by the zeta potential analysis. Based on the layer-by-layer assembly (LbL), the Au@V12 NPs-containing multilayer films have been fabricated on ITO-coated glass slide and quartz substrates with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI). The regular growth of the multilayer films was monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, the composition was characterized by XPS. The Au@V12 NPs based composite films showed electrocatalytic activities towards the reduction of dioxygen and the oxidation of methanol. This approach is expected to open the way towards procedures aimed at the one-step fabrication of Au NPs and polyoxometalates (POMs) into the multilayer films.     

Hydrogen bubble dynamic template synthesis of porous gold for nonenzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose

Gold (Au) films with open interconnected macroporous walls and nanoparticles have been successfully sculptured using the hydrogen bubble dynamic template synthesis followed by a galvanic replacement reaction. Copper (Cu) films with open interconnected macroporous walls and nanoparticles were synthesized using the electrochemically generated hydrogen bubbles as a dynamic template. Then through a galvanic replacement reaction between the porous Cu sacrificial templates and KAu(CN)₂ in solution, the porous Cu films were converted to porous Au films with the similar morphologies. Additional electrochemical dealloying process was introduced to remove the remaining Cu from the porous Au films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical methods were adopted to characterize the porous Au films. The resulted porous Au films show excellent catalytic activity toward the electrooxidation of glucose. A nonenzymatic glucose sensor based on those Au film electrodes shows a linear range from 2 to 10 mM with a sensitivity of 11.8 μA cm⁻² mM⁻¹, and a detection limit of 5 μM.     

Tunable Trimers: Using Temperature and Pressure to Control Luminescent Emission in Gold(I) Pyrazolate‐Based Trimers

A systematic investigation into the relationship between the solid‐state luminescence and the intermolecular Au???Au interactions in a series of pyrazolate‐based gold(I) trimers; tris(μ₂‐pyrazolato‐N,N′)‐tri‐gold(I) ( 1 ), tris(μ₂‐3,4,5‐ trimethylpyrazolato‐N,N′)‐tri‐gold(I) ( 2 ), tris(μ₂‐3‐methyl‐5‐phenylpyrazolato‐N,N′)‐tri‐gold(I) ( 3 ) and tris(μ₂‐3,5‐diphenylpyrazolato‐N,N′)‐tri‐gold(I) ( 4 ) has been carried out using variable temperature and high pressure X‐ray crystallography, solid‐state emission spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and computational techniques. Single‐crystal X‐ray studies show that there is a significant reduction in the intertrimer Au???Au distances both with decreasing temperature and increasing pressure. In the four complexes, the reduction in temperature from 293 to 100 K is accompanied by a reduction in the shortest intermolecular Au???Au contacts of between 0.04 and 0.08 Å. The solid‐state luminescent emission spectra of 1 and 2 display a red shift with decreasing temperature or increasing pressure. Compound 3 does not emit under ambient conditions but displays increasingly red‐shifted luminescence upon cooling or compression. Compound 4 remains emissionless, consistent with the absence of intermolecular Au???Au interactions. The largest pressure induced shift in emission is observed in 2 with a red shift of approximately 630 cm^?1 per GPa between ambient and 3.80 GPa. The shifts in all the complexes can be correlated with changes in Au???Au distance observed by diffraction.     

Xylenol Orange‐Functionalized Halloysite Nanotubes as a Novel Adsorbent for Selective Solid‐phase Extraction and Determination of Trace Noble Elements

A novel method using xylenol orange‐modified halloysite nanotubes as a solid‐phase sorbent has been developed for the simultaneous preconcentration and separation of trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES ). The experimental effects of pH , the amount of adsorbent, sample flow rate, sample volume, interfering ions, and the elution condition were investigated in detail. Au(III ) and Pd(II ) were retained on the column at pH 3, and eluted with 2.0 mL of 1.0 mol/L HCl + 2% CS (NH₂ )₂ solution. Common interfering ions did not have any impact on the adsorption, separation, and determination. An enrichment factor of 150 was obtained. The maximum adsorption capacities of the adsorbent were 41.63 and 47.82 mg/g for Au(III ) and Pd(II ), respectively, under the optimum conditions. By the definition of IUPAC , the detection limits (3σ ) of this method for Au(III ) and Pd(II ) were 0.31 and 0.27 ng/mL , and the relative standard deviations (RSDs ) were 2.7 and 3.2%, respectively (n = 8). This newly developed method was verified by certified reference materials, and has been successfully applied to the determination of trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) in mine samples with satisfactory results. It can be confidently predicted that the method can be used for the determination trace Au(III ) and Pd(II ) in other real samples because of its high selectivity, sensitivity, and reproducibility.     

Electrochemical and surface analytical studies of self-assembled monolayers of three aromatic thiols on gold electrodes

Three thiols with three aromatic rings and different structure – terphenyl-4-methanethiol (TPMT), terphenyl-4-thiol (TPT), and anthracene-2-thiol (AT) – have been used to form self-assembled monolayers (SAM) on vapour-deposited and flame-annealed Au films on glass substrates. All three SAMs effectively block the anodic formation of Au oxide, indicating densely packed layers which prevent the access of water and hydrated ions through the organic layer to the metal surface. The film improves its inhibiting properties with duration of exposure to the thiol solutions, reaching completion after 1 hour [1]. The charge-transfer reaction of the Fe(CN)₆ ^3–/Fe(CN)₆ ^4– system is blocked for TPMT films with an insulation of the π-electron system from the Au surface by the methylene group. TPT and especially AT films show the current density of the redox reactions. It is proposed that the charge transfer occurs via the aromatic molecules of the SAMs to the Au surface. Electronic Publication     

Characterization of nano-composite oxide ceramics and monitoring of oxide thin film growth by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Multi-component oxide ceramics and epitaxial oxide thin films are analyzed by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Furthermore, pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) of thin films is investigated by long-term monitoring of the optical plasma emission. Both nano-composite high-temperature superconductors (HTS) consisting of YBa₂Cu₃O_7 − δ bulk and Y₂Ba₄MCuO_x (M-2411, M = Ag, Nb) nano-particles, and semiconducting ZnO doped with Aluminum and Lithium are ablated by nano-second laser pulses. The plasma emission is recorded using grating spectrometers with intensified gated detectors. The LIBS signals of nano-particles correlate with the nominal content of the M-2411 phase (0–15 mol%) and reveal a strong signal of Ytterbium impurity (3–35 ppm). In situ monitoring of the PLD process shows element signals that are stable for more than 10,000 laser pulses for both HTS and ZnO ceramics. The relative concentration of elements in thin films and ceramics as determined by LIBS is almost the same.     

Probing interfacial interactions of nafion ionomer: Thermal expansion of nafion thin films on substrates of different hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity

Interfacial interactions of Nafion ionomer with superhydrophilic (Pt, Au), hydrophilic (SiO₂), and hydrophobic (graphene, octyltrichlorosilane [OTS]‐modified SiO₂) is investigated, using in situ thermal ellipsometry, by quantification of substrate‐ and thickness‐dependent thermal properties of the ultrathin Nafion films of nominal thickness ranging 25–135 nm. For sub‐50 nm thin Nafion films, the thermal expansion coefficient of films decreased in the order of most hydrophobic to most hydrophilic substrate: OTS > graphene > SiO₂ > Au > Pt, implying weaker interpolymer and polymer–substrate interactions for films on hydrophobic substrates. Expansion coefficient of films on SiO₂, graphene, and OTS‐modified SiO₂ decreased with thickness whereas that of films on Au and Pt substrates increased with thickness. Above ~100 nm of thickness, films on all substrates converged toward a common value representative of bulk Nafion. Thermal transition temperature was found to be higher for films on hydrophilic SiO₂ than that for films on hydrophobic graphene and OTS‐modified SiO₂ but was not discernible for films on Au and Pt substrates. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 343–352