Dynamics of gold clusters on amorphous carbon films induced by annealing in a transmission electron microscope

The change of the size distribution of Au clusters induced by annealing was studied in situ by transmission electron microscopy. Starting from statistically distributed Au clusters on a thin amorphous carbon film, “islands” are formed within a few months storage at room temperature, which consist of Au clusters with sizes <4 nm embedded in a thin Au film. These islands cover originally areas with sizes around 25 × 70 nm². If the temperature is increased in the transmission electron microscope two different processes can be clearly distinguished that lead to the coarsening of the cluster size distribution: cluster coalescence and (contactless) Ostwald ripening. The degree and rate of the coarsening are found to depend on the underlying surface (Au film or amorphous carbon) and the exposure to the high-flux high-energy electron beam, which can be estimated to lead to high-temperature excursions in a cluster on a 10⁻¹² s time scale. The experimental findings are confirmed by Monte-Carlo simulations using the many-body Gupta potentials in order to calculate the Au/Au interaction. Moreover, the results of MC simulations suggest an electron-beam induced formation of a “quasi-two-dimensional gas” of small highly mobile Au species on the Au film, which promotes Ostwald ripening.     

Atomic Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Toward the Customize Synthesis,Precision Medicine

With the advantages of controllable atomic composition, unique molecular-like properties, and excellent biocompatibility, atomic precision Au cluster is an ideal candidate for developing materials with customized biological functions to meet the needs of precision medicine. To achieve the rational design of functional materials through structural regulation at the atomic level, it is important to clarify the relationship between the structure and properties of Au clusters. With the development of synthesis methodology, a variety of structural regulation methods of Au clusters have been developed, providing new opportunities for structure–activity relationship establishment and precision medicine application. This review introduces the synthesis and structure regulation methods of atomic precision Au clusters, and the effects of structural regulation on the physicochemical properties are further described. At the same time, the applications of Au clusters in precision medicine, including the detection of biomolecules, functional imaging, and disease therapy are discussed, as well as the recent studies around their biosafety. At last, it also briefly summarizes the current problems and development directions. The present work provides potential theoretical guidance for the rational design of Au clusters with customized biological functions and is of great significance for broadening their applications in the field of precision medicine.     

水溶性金单层包覆团簇的制备与光学性能分析

 采用硼氢化钠在水溶液中还原氯金酸,并以水溶性硫醇巯基丁二酸在生成的金核表面包覆单分子层的方法,制备了单层包覆金团簇（MPC）。傅里叶变换红外光谱仪结果表明,巯基丁二酸与金形成了Au－S键,并得到了Auz^x(SR)^y形式的MPC。TEM照片显示,当Au和S的物质的量的比为1∶3时,金MPC的核尺寸约为2 nm。探讨了制得的金MPC的紫外-可见吸收特性及荧光特性,发现金MPC水溶液在520 nm附近无紫外吸收现象,而在451及480 nm波长紫外光激发下,可在796 nm附近观察到明显的荧光现象。反映表面等离子基元共振的520 nm附近吸收峰的消失是量子尺寸效应作用的结果。荧光现象与金MPC表面全充满的5d10和6(sp)1导带间的带间跃迁有关。     

M_2Ga(M=Cu,Ag,Au)二元合金小团簇的从头算研究(英文)

根据原子与分子反应静力学和群论理论推导出二元合金小团簇M2Ga(M=Cu,Ag,Au)的离解极限和基态电子态.采用量子力学从头算方法及小核实赝势和相应的基组,对二元合金小团簇M2Ga进行几何优化,得到M2Ga基态(2B2)为弯曲平面型结构,并与单元团簇M3(M=Cu,Ag,Au)相似.计算得到合金团簇比单元团簇稳定,其中Au2Ga体系最稳定.同时给出谐振频率、力常数,并且分析得到电子相关效应使得团簇更加紧凑、稳定性增强.     

Size-selected Au clusters deposited on SiO2/Si: Stability of clusters under ambient pressure and elevated temperatures

This study examined the oxidation and reduction behavior of mass-selected Au clusters consisting of 2-13 atoms deposited on silica. An atomic oxygen environment was used for the oxidation of Au. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to identify Au(III) and Au(O). Au₅, Au₇ and Au₁₃ clusters deposited on the as-prepared SiO₂/Si substrates were highly inert towards oxidation, whereas the other clusters could be oxidized, i.e. the chemical property drastically changed with the number of atoms in a cluster. The size-selectivity in chemical reactivity remained unchanged upon air-exposure. The chemical properties of the deposited Au clusters were unchanged after annealing at 250 °C. Annealing at higher temperatures caused structural changes to the surface, as determined by the oxidation behavior. XPS of the deposited Au clusters upon annealing indicated charge transfer from Au to silica.     

Coarsening of mass-selected Au clusters on amorphous carbon at room temperature

Low-energy cluster beam deposition was used to deposit mass-selected Au_n clusters (n = 4, 6, 13 and 20) on amorphous carbon (a-C) substrates. The resulting samples were stored at room temperature under ambient conditions for time periods up to 32 months to analyze the coarsening behaviour of the clusters. Cluster-size distributions were measured in regular time intervals by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM experiments show a significant increase of the average cluster size with time analogous to classical surface Ostwald ripening (OR). The coarsening of Au clusters can be well described by steady-state diffusion-limited kinetics. The derived surface mass-transport diffusion coefficients at room temperature range between 1.1 and 3.8·10⁻²⁵ m² s⁻¹ for our samples. A detailed analysis of values suggests that, the rate of the surface OR for mass-selected Au_n clusters increases with the cluster size in the sequence: Au₄ ≈ Au₆ < Au₁₃ < Au₂₀ for the investigated range of Au clusters. Given that the initial, on-surface cluster-size distributions are nominally monodisperse, classical OR with cluster coarsening based only on the Gibbs-Thomson effect cannot explain the observed coarsening. The activation of the coarsening process is rationalized by initial variations of the cluster sizes due to the deposition process itself and/or the interaction of the clusters with the substrate. Moreover, the presence of initial deposited Au clusters as different isomers with slightly different chemical potential on the substrate, may also initiate the coarsening by surface OR. Furthermore, we find that the coarsening is most pronounced for the paucidispersed sample with Au_m (10 ? m ? 20) clusters. A possible explanation of this behaviour is the presence of an initial distribution of different cluster sizes directly after deposition.     

An XPS study of Au alloyed Al-O sputtered coatings

The focus of this research is the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of thin films consisting of Au metal clusters embedded in a dielectric matrix of Al-O coatings. The coatings were deposited by co-sputtering an Al + Au target in a reactive atmosphere with Au contents up to 8 at.%. The Al-O matrix was kept amorphous even after annealing at 1000 °C. In the as-deposited films the presence of Au clusters with sizes smaller than 1-2 nm (not detected by XRD) was demonstrated by XPS. With increasing annealing temperature, Au clustering in the dielectric matrix was also confirmed by XPS, in agreement with XRD results.     

Structure of unsupported bismuth nanoparticles

We present new results of electron diffraction experiments on unsupported nanometer-sized bismuth clusters. The high intensity cluster beam, necessary for electron diffraction, is provided by an inert-gas aggregation source. The cluster beam contains particles with average cluster sizes between 4.5 and 10 nm. When using Helium as a carrier gas we are able to observe a transition from crystalline clusters to a new structure, which we identify with that of amorphous or liquid clusters. Received 28 November 2000     

金原子团簇的分频散射光谱研究

液相金原子团簇是一种非线性光学介质.它在580nm处产生一个最强共振散射峰.当激发波长为290nm(1.03×10¹⁵Hz)时,液相金原子团簇在580nm(1/2×1.03×10¹⁵Hz)和870nm(1/3×1.03×10¹⁵Hz)分别产生一个1/2分频和1/3分频散射峰;当激发波长为580nm(5.02×10¹⁴Hz)时在290nm(2×5.02×10^-14Hz)和870nm(2/3×5.02×10¹⁴Hz)分别产生一个2倍频和2/3分频散射峰;当激发波长为870nm(3.34×10¹⁴Hz)时在580nm(3/2×3.34×10¹⁴Hz)和290nm(3×3.34×10¹⁴Hz)分别产生一个3/2分频和3倍频散射峰.分频散射和倍频散射峰与共振散射峰具有相似的散射行为.从激励光与液相金原子团簇相互作用的运动方程出发,根据傅氏变换理论,较好地解释了液相金原子团簇产生的一些非线性散射光谱.     

The structure of 55-atom Cu–Au bimetallic clusters: Monte Carlo study

We have investigated segregation phenomena in Cu–Au bimetallic clusters with decahedral structures at 100 K and 300 K, based on the second-moment approximation of the tight-binding (TB-SMA) potentials by using Monte Carlo method. The simulation results indicate that there are three regions (split, three-shell onion-like and core-shell region) at 100 K and two regions (split and core-shell) at 300 K with the structure of decahedral clusters, as the chemical potential difference Δμ changes. It is found that the structure of decahedral clusters undergoes a division into smaller clusters in the split region. In the core-shell structure, Au atoms are enriched in surface and Cu atoms occupy the core of the clusters because of the different surface energy of Cu and Au. The Au atoms are enriched in the surface shell, and the Cu atoms are in the middle shell, while a single Au atom is located in the center to form the three-shell onion-like structure. The structure and binding energy of smaller clusters after splitting are also discussed. The Au atoms generally lie on the surface of the smaller clusters after splitting.     

Si(001)表面硅氧团簇原子与电子结构的第一性原理研究

在周期性边界条件下的k空间中,采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理广义梯度近似方法,对建立的规则对称型结构（A）、周期性非对称型结构（B）、周期性非对称型结构（C）、不规则型结构（D）四种可能的Si（001）表面硅氧团簇的结构模型进行了优化计算.结果表明优化后的表面结构呈无定形状,并且优化后的B,C,D三种模型的表面结构具有类似SiO₂的四面体结构的几何特征.此外,通过电子局域函数图以及Mulliken布居分析发现硅氧团簇中的Si—O键既有明显的离子键成分,也有一定的共价键成分. 关键词： Si（001）表面 硅氧团簇 密度泛函理论 第一性原理     

Assembly and interaction of Au/C core-shell nanoparticles

The formation of Au/C core-shell structures from C-supported Au nanoparticles, and their thermally and electron beam induced interactions are studied by real-time TEM. At temperatures below 400 °C no C-shell is assembled, and closely spaced Au nanoparticles interact by coalescence. At high temperatures (400-800 °C) the Au particles are transformed into Au/C core-shell structures via encapsulation into curved, fullerene-like C shells. The shells initially passivate the Au cores and inhibit their coalescence. But under electron irradiation, the Au cores can break free from their shells, and hence can coalesce. Surprisingly, at this stage the assembled C-sheets may actually enhance the coalescence process by driving the directed motion of Au/C particles and causing the efficient contraction of widely spaced particle ensembles.     

Secondary electron spectroscopy of platinum and carbon surfaces

The surfaces of platinum single crystals, of carbon deposits on platinum and of pyrographite are examined by secondary electron spectroscopy under 100 eV electron excitation. The spectra contain characteristic peaks in the range 0–30 eV, which are interpreted as band-like in origin. The effects of gas adsorption, of the reconstruction at Pt(100), of the temperature and of ion bombardment induced disorder are reported. The secondary electron spectrum provides a criterion for distinguishing between amorphous and graphitic carbon surfaces. By contrast with the Auger spectrum, it is sensitive to the degree of crystalline order at the surface over distances of 10–100Å.     

Local density variation of gold nanoparticles in aquatic environments

Gold (Au) nanoparticles are widely used in diagnosing cancer, imaging, and identification of therapeutic methods due to their particular quantum characteristics. This research presents different types of aqueous models and potentials used in TIP3P, to study the effect of the particle size and density of Au clusters in aquatic environments; so it can be useful to facilitate future investigation of the interaction of proteins with Au nanoparticles. The EAM potential is used to model the structure of gold clusters. It is observed that in the systems with identical gold/water density and different cluster radii, gold particles are distributed in aqueous environment almost identically. Thus, Au particles have identical local densities, and the root mean square displacement (RMSD) increases with a constant slope. However in systems with constant cluster radii and different gold/water densities, Au particle dispersion increases with density; as a result, the local density decreases and the RMSD increases with a larger slope. In such systems, the larger densities result in more blunted second peaks in gold–gold radial distribution functions, owing to more intermixing of the clusters and less FCC crystalline features at longer range, a mechanism that is mediated by the competing effects of gold–water and gold–gold interactions.     

激光金等离子体的电子离子碰撞电离速率系数

电子离子碰撞电离过程在超组态碰撞辐射(SCROLL)模型中真实模拟非局域热动力学平衡(non-LTE)高Z材料Au激光等离子体M带谱5f-3d跃迁中各种复杂离子的电离态特性,诸如离子的平均电离度和电荷态分布是一个主要过程.基于准相对论扭曲波玻恩交换近似,采用组态平均的方法,从头计算了金M带类铁金离子-类锗金离子的电子离子碰撞电离速率系数,其中电离截面的高能行为由Bethe系数决定.结果表明:在"神光Ⅱ"实验装置诊断的电子温度～2keV,电子密度～6×1021cm-3范围内,这些参数有利于使用超组态碰撞辐射模型拟Au的激光等离子体M带细致谱5f-3d跃迁的平均电离度和电荷态分布.     

Density functional investigation of structural and electronic properties of small bimetallic silver–gold clusters

Structural and electronic properties of bimetallic silver–gold clusters up to eight atoms are investigated by the density functional theory using Wu and Cohen generalized gradient approximation functional. By substitution of Ag and Au atoms, in the optimized lowest energy structures of pure gold and silver clusters, we determine the ground state conformations of the bimetallic silver–gold ones. We reveal that Ag atoms prefer internal positions whereas Au atoms prefer exposed ones favoring charge transfer from Ag to Au atoms. For each size and composition, binding energy, HOMO–LUMO gap, magnetic moment, vertical ionization potential, electron affinity and chemical hardness were calculated. On increasing the size of the cluster by varying number of Ag atoms with fixed number of Au ones, vertical ionization potential and electron affinity show obvious odd–even oscillations consistent with the pure Ag and Au clusters. Au atoms inclusion in the cluster increases the binding energy and vertical ionization potential, indicating higher stability as the number of Au atoms grows. The variation of chemical hardness with the composition in a cluster with the same size shows peaks when the number of Ag atoms is greater than or equal to Au ones, corresponding to transition from planar to tri-dimensional structures. For clusters with even number of atoms, the peaks indicate that the clusters with the same number of Ag and Au atoms are the most stable ones. Analyzing the density of states, we found that increasing the concentration of Ag atoms affects the energy separation between the HOMO and the low lying occupied states.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of Ag, Au and Cu nanoclusters on TiO2-nanotubes/Ti substrate

Tubular arrays of TiO₂ nanotubes (ranging in diameter from 40 to 110 nm) on a Ti substrate were used as a support for Ag, Au or Cu deposits obtained by the sputter deposition technique, where the amount of metal varied from 0.01 to 0.2 mg/cm². Those composite supports were intended for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigations. Composite samples were studied with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) to reveal their characteristic morphological and chemical features. Raman spectra of pyridine (as a probe molecule) were measured at different cathodic potentials ranging from −0.2 down to −1.2 V after the pyridine had been adsorbed on the metal-covered TiO₂ nanotube/Ti substrates. In addition, SERS spectra on a bulk standard activated Ag, Au and Cu substrates were also measured. The SERS activity of the composite samples was strongly dependent on the amount of metal deposit, e.g. at and above 0.06 mg Ag/cm², the intensity of SERS signal was even higher than that for the Ag reference substrate. The high activity of these composites is mainly a result of their specific morphology. The high SERS sensitivity on the surface morphology of the substrate made it possible to monitor very small temporal changes in the Ag metal clusters. This rearrangement was not detectable with microscopic (SEM) or microanalytical (AES) methods. The SERS activity of Au or Cu clusters was distinctly lower than those of Ag. The spectral differences exhibited by the three kinds of composites as compared to the reference metal samples are discussed.     

Electrical behavior of amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide thin film transistors by embedding Au nanoparticles in the channel layer

We reported the effects on the electrical behavior of amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) after introducing various positions and sizes of Au nanoparticles (NPs) in the channel layer. These TFTs showed an off-current increase and threshold voltage (V_th) shift compared to conventional a-IGZO TFTs. The effects of Au NPs are explained to form the carrier conduction path which causes the current leakage in the channel layer, and act as either electron injection sites or trap sites. Therefore, this study demonstrates that the optimized control of size and position of Au NPs in the channel layer is crucial for its application in the electrical stability improvement and V_th control of a-IGZO TFTs.     

基于内核构建的Cu-Au-Pd团簇稳定结构优化

具有特殊催化、磁性和化学活性的三元合金团簇已成为基础科学研究的热点问题.确定其稳定结构是研究团簇性质的重要前提.针对大尺寸Cu-Au-Pd团簇结构优化,提出了内核构建的方法改进了自适应免疫优化算法的效率(称为AIOA-IC算法).采用基于紧束缚势二阶矩近似的多体Gupta势函数来描述三元合金团簇原子间相互作用.为测试算法效率优化了原子数为60的Ag-Pd-Pt团簇稳定结构.结果显示新得到的结构比文献报道的团簇结构势能量值更低,由此可知AIOA-IC算法具有更强的势能面搜索能力.运用该算法研究了38及55原子Cu-Au-Pd团簇的稳定结构.所研究的38原子Cu-Au-Pd团簇包含了五折叠、六折叠和截角八面体结构,并且原子成分比例影响了团簇的结构类型.而55原子Cu-Au-Pd团簇均为完整二十面体结构,序列参数显示Cu,Au和Pd原子分层现象明显.对于147原子Cu_(12)Au_(93)Pd_(42)团簇完整二十面体结构,中心原子为Au,内层和次外层分别被12个Cu原子和42个Pd原子占据,最外层则被92个Au原子占满.通过原子半径及表面能分析了Cu,Pd和Au原子分别倾向于分布在内层、次外层和最外层的规律.     

金等离子体平均离化度随电子温度变化关系的研究

用Cowan的原子结构从头算程序和自旋轨道劈裂阵模型计算各阶电离的金离子能级和跃迁， 在碰撞辐射模型下求解能级布居数方程，计算给定等离子体密度和电子温度下等离子体中离子的分布，给出了平均离化度随电子温度的变化关系.发现稀薄的金等离子体中，在一定的电子温度范围内电子温度的升高平均电离度反而下降的反常现象.讨论了电离势对平均离化度的影响. 关键词： 金等离子体 碰撞辐射模型 布居数 平均电离度