title: Highly size-controlled synthesis of Au/Pd nanoparticles by inert-gas condensation.
abstract: Gold/Palladium nanoparticles were fabricated by inert-gas condensation on a sputtering reactor. With this method, by controlling both the atmosphere on the condensation chamber and the magnetron power, it was possible to produce nanoparticles with a high degree of monodispersity in size. The structure and size of the Au/Pd nanoparticles were determined by mass spectroscopy, and confirmed by atomic force microscopy and electron transmission microscopy measurements. The chemical composition was analyzed by X-ray microanalysis. From these measurements we confirmed that with the sputtering technique we are able to produce particles of 1, 3, and 5 nm on size, depending on the choice of the synthesis conditions. From TEM measurements made both in the regular HREM, as well as in STEM-HAADF mode, we found that the particles are icosahedral in shape, and the micrographs show no evidence of a core-shell structure, in contrast to what is observed in the case of nanoparticles prepared by chemical synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León 66450, México.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pérez-Tijerina
authors.forename: M Gracia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Pinilla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mejía-Rosales
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ortiz-Méndez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: José-Yacamán