文章基本信息

标题：Bottom-up formation of robust gold carbide
本地全文：下载
作者：Benedikt Westenfelder ; Johannes Biskupek ; Jannik C. Meyer 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2015
卷号：5
DOI：10.1038/srep08891
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：A new phenomenon of structural reorganization is discovered and characterized for a gold-carbon system by in-situ atomic-resolution imaging at temperatures up to 1300 K. Here, a graphene sheet serves in three ways, as a quasi transparent substrate for aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, as an in-situ heater, and as carbon supplier. The sheet has been decorated with gold nanoislands beforehand. During electron irradiation at 80 kV and at elevated temperatures, the accumulation of gold atoms has been observed on defective graphene sites or edges as well as at the facets of gold nanocrystals. Both resulted in clustering, forming unusual crystalline structures. Their lattice parameters and surface termination differ significantly from standard gold nanocrystals. The experimental data, supported by electron energy loss spectroscopy and density-functional theory calculations, suggests that isolated gold and carbon atoms form – under conditions of heat and electron irradiation – a novel type of compound crystal, Au-C in zincblende structure. The novel material is metastable, but surprisingly robust, even under annealing condition.