Ultrathin gold nanoframes through surfactant-free templating of faceted pentagonal silver nanoparticles

Ultrathin gold nanoframes (up to 1.6 nm) were prepared via templating upon well-defined faceted silver morphologies. Starting with silver decahedra, small quantities of gold (1-10 mol% relative to the amount of silver) were selectively deposited on the nanoparticle edges under optimized reducing conditions. Silver dissolution in hydrogen peroxide yielded well-defined gold frames that retained their structural integrity in the ultrathin nanowire regime below 2 nm. The frame formation protocol was also successfully applied to other silver nanoparticle shapes featuring pentagonal twinning and (111) facets (e.g., pentagonal faceted rods and icosahedra). The demonstrated approach can be applied in the controlled preparation of ultrathin metal nanowires complementary to lithography and in the production of ultrafine noble-metal nanostructures for catalytic applications.