Electrodeposition of gold thin films with controlled morphologies and their applications in electrocatalysis and SERS.
Here, an easy and effective electrochemical route towards the synthesis of gold thin films with well-controlled roughness, morphology and crystallographic orientation is reported. To control these different factors, the applied potential during deposition played a major role. A tentative nucleation and growth mechanism is demonstrated by means of electrochemical characterizations and a formation mechanism is proposed. Interestingly, the differences in geometry and orientation of the different gold deposits have shown a clear correlation with the electrocatalytical activity in the case of oxygen sensing. In addition, not only the electrocatalytical activity but also the surface-enhanced Raman scattering of the gold deposits have been found to depend both on the roughness and on the size of the surface nanostructures, allowing a fine tuning by controlling these two parameters during deposition.
EMPA-Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Feuerwerkstrasse 39, Thun, Switzerland. jamil.elias@empa.ch
Jamil
J
Elias
Magdalena
M
Gizowska
Pierre
P
Brodard
Roland
R
Widmer
Yoram
Y
Dehazan
Thomas
T
Graule
Johann
J
Michler
Laetitia
L
Philippe
D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties
D006046:Gold; D010100:Oxygen