Electrochemical Codeposition of Thin Gold Nanoparticles/Sol-Gel Nanocomposite Films.

Citation:

Reut Toledano and Mandler, Daniel. . 2010. “Electrochemical Codeposition Of Thin Gold Nanoparticles/Sol-Gel Nanocomposite Films.”. Chem. Mater.chemistry Of Materials, 22, Pp. 3943 - 3951.

Abstract:

The authors present a new method for deposition of thin nanocomposite films made of sol-gel-based Au nanoparticles using a single electrochem. step. Applying a neg. potential to an electrode (indium Sn oxide or stainless steel) immersed in a soln. of Au nanoparticles stabilized with N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine (EDAS) caused the redn. of the protic solvent, which altered the pH and therefore catalyzed the deposition. The nanocomposite thin films were characterized by various techniques: the morphol. and structure of the layers were examd. by high-resoln. SEM and at. force microscopy; their thickness was detd. by profilometry; and the permeability of the films was studied by electrochem. Homogeneous defect-free layers could be deposited only upon adding tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) to the deposition soln. Also, the applied potential, the ratio between the TMOS and the Au nanoparticles, and the type of the substrate significantly affected the aggregation and d. of the Au nanoparticles in the nanocomposite. Finally, by applying a pos. potential to the nanocomposite films the authors succeeded to electrochem. dissolve the embedded Au nanoparticles, forming holes and channels. The oxidn. treatment had a remarkable effect on the permeability of the film and exposed the electrode to faradic activity. This method seems to be of general applicability in templating of nanometer-sized objects in thin films. [on SciFinder(R)]