Abstract
Nanoporous Au can be formed by dealloying Au-Ag alloys and, depending on the initial alloy composition, produce a variety of microstructural features. We investigated a wide compositional range and found three regimes, based on initial Au content, that yield varying degrees of dealloying in thin films. Between 22 and 26 at.% Au, dealloying produces nearly pure Au with an open nanoporous structure. However, above 36 at.% Au, only the grain boundaries dealloy, leaving islands of retained Au-Ag alloy. For intermediate compositions, a transitional microstructure results, with final Ag concentration ranging from 50 at.% down to 4 at.%. Film cracking was observed after dealloying, and lower initial Au content correlated with a higher degree of cracking and a higher pore fraction.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7122-7126 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Thin Solid Films |
| Volume | 515 |
| Issue number | 18 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 25 2007 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors wish to thank Mr. R. Völker for thin film deposition and Mrs. S. Kühnemman for SEM examination. One of the authors (X. Lu) would like to express thanks to the Chinese Scholarship Council for financial support during his stay in Stuttgart.
Keywords
- Dealloy
- Gold
- Microstructure
- Nanoporous
- Porosity
- Thin film
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Metals and Alloys
- Materials Chemistry