In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigation of Melting/Evaporation Kinetics in Anisotropic Gold Nanoparticles

We report on thermal stability and phase transition behaviors of triangular Au nanoprisms through in situ heating transmission electron microscopy. With rising temperature, Au nanoprisms exhibit fluctuating surface reconstructions at the corner regions. When a quasi-melting state is reached at the t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yunjie Liu, Huanhuan Yuan, Hui Wang, Zhiwei Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-11-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/23/7332
Description
Summary:We report on thermal stability and phase transition behaviors of triangular Au nanoprisms through in situ heating transmission electron microscopy. With rising temperature, Au nanoprisms exhibit fluctuating surface reconstructions at the corner regions. When a quasi-melting state is reached at the temperature below bulk melting points, the evaporation is initiated commonly at a corner with low curvature and containing sharp intersection points. The subsequent annealing process leads to the gradual evaporation, which, in the absence of thick carbon coverages, is accompanied by marked shape reconstructions. The thermal stability and evaporation behaviors are not evidently regulated by nanoprism aggregations.
ISSN:1996-1944