Tag Archives: Gold atoms: sometimes they’re a metal and sometimes they’re a molecule

Are nano electronics as good as gold?

“As good as gold” was a behavioural goal when I was a child. It turns out, the same can be said of gold in electronic devices according to the headline for a March 26, 2020 news item on Nanowerk (Note: Links have been removed),

As electronics shrink to nanoscale, will they still be good as gold?

Deep inside computer chips, tiny wires made of gold and other conductive metals carry the electricity used to process data.

But as these interconnected circuits shrink to nanoscale, engineers worry that pressure, such as that caused by thermal expansion when current flows through these wires, might cause gold to behave more like a liquid than a solid, making nanoelectronics unreliable. That, in turn, could force chip designers to hunt for new materials to make these critical wires.

But according to a new paper in Physical Review Letters (“Nucleation of Dislocations in 3.9 nm Nanocrystals at High Pressure”), chip designers can rest easy. “Gold still behaves like a solid at these small scales,” says Stanford mechanical engineer Wendy Gu, who led a team that figured out how to pressurize gold particles just 4 nanometers in length — the smallest particles ever measured — to assess whether current flows might cause the metal’s atomic structure to collapse.

I have seen the issue about gold as a metal or liquid before but I can’t find it here (search engines, sigh). However, I found this somewhat related story from almost five years ago. In my April 14, 2015 posting (Gold atoms: sometimes they’re a metal and sometimes they’re a molecule), there was news that the number of gold atoms present means the difference between being a metal and being a molecule .This could have implications as circuit elements (which include some gold in their fabrication) shrink down past a certain point.

A March 24, 2020 Stanford University news release (also on Eurekalert but published on March 25, 2020) by Andrew Myers, which originated the news item, provides details about research designed to investigate a similar question, i.e, can we used gold as we shrink the scale?*,

To conduct the experiment, Gu’s team first had to devise a way put tiny gold particles under extreme pressure, while simultaneously measuring how much that pressure damaged gold’s atomic structure.

To solve the first problem, they turned to the field of high-pressure physics to borrow a device known as a diamond anvil cell. As the name implies, both hammer and anvil are diamonds that are used to compress the gold. As Gu explained, a nanoparticle of gold is built like a skyscraper with atoms forming a crystalline lattice of neat rows and columns. She knew that pressure from the anvil would dislodge some atoms from the crystal and create tiny defects in the gold.

The next challenge was to detect these defects in nanoscale gold. The scientists shined X-rays through the diamond onto the gold. Defects in the crystal caused the X-rays to reflect at different angles than they would on uncompressed gold. By measuring variations in the angles at which the X-rays bounced off the particles before and after pressure was applied, the team was able to tell whether the particles retained the deformations or reverted to their original state when pressure was lifted.

In practical terms, her findings mean that chipmakers can know with certainty that they’ll be able to design stable nanodevices using gold — a material they have known and trusted for decades — for years to come.

“For the foreseeable future, gold’s luster will not fade,” Gu says.

*The 2015 research measured the gold nanoclusters by the number of atoms within the cluster with the changes occurring at some where between 102 atoms and 144 atoms. This 2020 work measures the amount of gold by nanometers as in 3.9 nm gold nanocrystals . So, how many gold atoms in a nanometer? Cathy Murphy provides the answer and the way to calculate it for yourself in a July 26, 2016 posting on the Sustainable Nano blog ( a blog by the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology),

Two years ago, I wrote a blog post called Two Ways to Make Nanoparticles, describing the difference between top-down and bottom-up methods for making nanoparticles. In the post I commented, “we can estimate, knowing how gold atoms pack into crystals, that there are about 2000 gold atoms in one 4 nm diameter gold nanoparticle.” Recently, a Sustainable Nano reader wrote in to ask about how this calculation is done. It’s a great question!

So, a 3.9 nm gold nanocrystal contains approximately 2000 gold atoms. (If you have time, do read Murphy’s description of how to determine the number of gold atoms in a gold nanoparticle.) So, this research does not answer the question posed by the 2015 research.

It may take years before researchers can devise tests for gold nanoclusters consisting of 102 atoms as opposed to nanoparticles consisting of 2000 atoms. In the meantime, here’s a link to and a citation for the latest on how gold reacts as we shrink the size of our electronics,

Nucleation of Dislocations in 3.9 nm Nanocrystals at High Pressure by Abhinav Parakh, Sangryun Lee, K. Anika Harkins, Mehrdad T. Kiani, David Doan, Martin Kunz, Andrew Doran, Lindsey A. Hanson, Seunghwa Ryu, and X. Wendy Gu. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 106104 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.106104 Published 13 March 2020 © 2020 American Physical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

When an atom more or less makes a big difference

As scientists continue exploring the nanoscale, it seems that finding the number of atoms in your particle makes a difference is no longer so surprising. From a Jan. 28, 2016 news item on ScienceDaily,

Combining experimental investigations and theoretical simulations, researchers have explained why platinum nanoclusters of a specific size range facilitate the hydrogenation reaction used to produce ethane from ethylene. The research offers new insights into the role of cluster shapes in catalyzing reactions at the nanoscale, and could help materials scientists optimize nanocatalysts for a broad class of other reactions.

A Jan. 28, 2016 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) news release (*also on EurekAlert*), which originated the news item, expands on the theme,

At the macro-scale, the conversion of ethylene has long been considered among the reactions insensitive to the structure of the catalyst used. However, by examining reactions catalyzed by platinum clusters containing between 9 and 15 atoms, researchers in Germany and the United States found that at the nanoscale, that’s no longer true. The shape of nanoscale clusters, they found, can dramatically affect reaction efficiency.

While the study investigated only platinum nanoclusters and the ethylene reaction, the fundamental principles may apply to other catalysts and reactions, demonstrating how materials at the very smallest size scales can provide different properties than the same material in bulk quantities. …

“We have re-examined the validity of a very fundamental concept on a very fundamental reaction,” said Uzi Landman, a Regents’ Professor and F.E. Callaway Chair in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We found that in the ultra-small catalyst range, on the order of a nanometer in size, old concepts don’t hold. New types of reactivity can occur because of changes in one or two atoms of a cluster at the nanoscale.”

The widely-used conversion process actually involves two separate reactions: (1) dissociation of H2 molecules into single hydrogen atoms, and (2) their addition to the ethylene, which involves conversion of a double bond into a single bond. In addition to producing ethane, the reaction can also take an alternative route that leads to the production of ethylidyne, which poisons the catalyst and prevents further reaction.

The project began with Professor Ueli Heiz and researchers in his group at the Technical University of Munich experimentally examining reaction rates for clusters containing 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13 platinum atoms that had been placed atop a magnesium oxide substrate. The 9-atom nanoclusters failed to produce a significant reaction, while larger clusters catalyzed the ethylene hydrogenation reaction with increasingly better efficiency. The best reaction occurred with 13-atom clusters.

Bokwon Yoon, a research scientist in Georgia Tech’s Center for Computational Materials Science, and Landman, the center’s director, then used large-scale first-principles quantum mechanical simulations to understand how the size of the clusters – and their shape – affected the reactivity. Using their simulations, they discovered that the 9-atom cluster resembled a symmetrical “hut,” while the larger clusters had bulges that served to concentrate electrical charges from the substrate.

“That one atom changes the whole activity of the catalyst,” Landman said. “We found that the extra atom operates like a lightning rod. The distribution of the excess charge from the substrate helps facilitate the reaction. Platinum 9 has a compact shape that doesn’t facilitate the reaction, but adding just one atom changes everything.”

Here’s an illustration featuring the difference between a 9 atom cluster and a 10 atom cluster,

A single atom makes a difference in the catalytic properties of platinum nanoclusters. Shown are platinum 9 (top) and platinum 10 (bottom). (Credit: Uzi Landman, Georgia Tech)

A single atom makes a difference in the catalytic properties of platinum nanoclusters. Shown are platinum 9 (top) and platinum 10 (bottom). (Credit: Uzi Landman, Georgia Tech)

The news release explains why the larger clusters function as catalysts,

Nanoclusters with 13 atoms provided the maximum reactivity because the additional atoms shift the structure in a phenomena Landman calls “fluxionality.” This structural adjustment has also been noted in earlier work of these two research groups, in studies of clusters of gold [emphasis mine] which are used in other catalytic reactions.

“Dynamic fluxionality is the ability of the cluster to distort its structure to accommodate the reactants to actually enhance reactivity,” he explained. “Only very small aggregates of metal can show such behavior, which mimics a biochemical enzyme.”

The simulations showed that catalyst poisoning also varies with cluster size – and temperature. The 10-atom clusters can be poisoned at room temperature, while the 13-atom clusters are poisoned only at higher temperatures, helping to account for their improved reactivity.

“Small really is different,” said Landman. “Once you get into this size regime, the old rules of structure sensitivity and structure insensitivity must be assessed for their continued validity. It’s not a question anymore of surface-to-volume ratio because everything is on the surface in these very small clusters.”

While the project examined only one reaction and one type of catalyst, the principles governing nanoscale catalysis – and the importance of re-examining traditional expectations – likely apply to a broad range of reactions catalyzed by nanoclusters at the smallest size scale. Such nanocatalysts are becoming more attractive as a means of conserving supplies of costly platinum.

“It’s a much richer world at the nanoscale than at the macroscopic scale,” added Landman. “These are very important messages for materials scientists and chemists who wish to design catalysts for new purposes, because the capabilities can be very different.”

Along with the experimental surface characterization and reactivity measurements, the first-principles theoretical simulations provide a unique practical means for examining these structural and electronic issues because the clusters are too small to be seen with sufficient resolution using most electron microscopy techniques or traditional crystallography.

“We have looked at how the number of atoms dictates the geometrical structure of the cluster catalysts on the surface and how this geometrical structure is associated with electronic properties that bring about chemical bonding characteristics that enhance the reactions,” Landman added.

I highlighted the news release’s reference to gold nanoclusters as I have noted the number issue in two April 14, 2015 postings, neither of which featured Georgia Tech, Gold atoms: sometimes they’re a metal and sometimes they’re a molecule and Nature’s patterns reflected in gold nanoparticles.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the ‘platinum catalyst’ paper,

Structure sensitivity in the nonscalable regime explored via catalysed ethylene hydrogenation on supported platinum nanoclusters by Andrew S. Crampton, Marian D. Rötzer, Claron J. Ridge, Florian F. Schweinberger, Ueli Heiz, Bokwon Yoon, & Uzi Landman.  Nature Communications 7, Article number: 10389  doi:10.1038/ncomms10389 Published 28 January 2016

This paper is open access.

*’also on EurekAlert’ added Jan. 29, 2016.

Gold nanoparticle clusters: four new models

This research is being done at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) which seems to be on a publishing tear lately. From an April 27, 2015 news item on Nanowerk, here’s the latest,

They may deal in gold, atomic staples and electron volts rather than cement, support beams and kilowatt-hours, but chemists have drafted new nanoscale blueprints for low-energy structures capable of housing pharmaceuticals and oxygen atoms.

Led by UNL’s Xiao Cheng Zeng and former visiting professor Yi Gao, new research has revealed four atomic arrangements of a gold nanoparticle cluster. The arrangements exhibit much lower potential energy and greater stability than a standard-setting configuration reported last year by a Nobel Prize-winning team from Stanford University.

The modeling of these arrangements could inform the cluster’s use as a transporter of pharmaceutical drugs and as a catalyst for removing pollutants from vehicular emissions or other industrial byproducts, Zeng said.

An April 24, 2015 UNL news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more technical details about the work,

Led by UNL’s Xiao Cheng Zeng and former visiting professor Yi Gao, new research has revealed four atomic arrangements of a gold nanoparticle cluster. The arrangements exhibit much lower potential energy and greater stability than a standard-setting configuration reported last year by a Nobel Prize-winning team from Stanford University.

The modeling of these arrangements could inform the cluster’s use as a transporter of pharmaceutical drugs and as a catalyst for removing pollutants from vehicular emissions or other industrial byproducts, Zeng said.

Zeng and his colleagues unveiled the arrangements for a molecule featuring 68 gold atoms and 32 pairs of bonded sulfur-hydrogen atoms. Sixteen of the gold atoms form the molecule’s core; the remainder bond with the sulfur and hydrogen to form a protective coating that stems from the core.

Differences in atomic arrangements can alter molecular energy and stability, with less potential energy making for a more stable molecule. The team calculates that one of the arrangements may represent the most stable possible structure in a molecule with its composition.

“Our group has helped lead the front on nano-gold research over the past 10 years,” said Zeng, an Ameritas University Professor of chemistry. “We’ve now found new coating structures of much lower energy, meaning they are closer to the reality than (previous) analyses. So the deciphering of this coating structure is major progress.”

The structure of the molecule’s gold core was previously detailed by the Stanford team. Building on this, Zeng and his colleagues used a computational framework dubbed “divide-and-protect” to configure potential arrangements of the remaining gold atoms and sulfur-hydrogen pairs surrounding the core.

The researchers already knew that the atomic coating features staple-shaped linkages of various lengths. They also knew the potential atomic composition of each short, medium and long staple — such as the fact that a short staple consists of two sulfur atoms bonded with one gold.

By combining this information with their knowledge of how many atoms reside outside the core, the team reduced the number of potential arrangements from millions to mere hundreds.

“We divided 32 into the short, middle and long (permutations),” said Zeng, who helped develop the divide-and-protect approach in 2008. “We lined up all those possible arrangements, and then we computed their energies to find the most stable ones.

“Without those rules, it’s like finding a needle in the Platte River. With them, it’s like finding a needle in the fountain outside the Nebraska Union. It’s still hard, but it’s much more manageable. You have a much narrower range.”

The researchers resorted to the computational approach because of the difficulty of capturing the structure via X-ray crystallography or single-particle transmission electron microscopy, two of the most common imaging methods at the atomic scale.

Knowing the nanoparticle’s most stable configurations, Zeng said, could allow biomedical engineers to identify appropriate binding sites for drugs used to treat cancer and other diseases. The findings could also optimize the use of gold nanoparticles in catalyzing the oxidation process that transforms dangerous carbon monoxide emissions into the less noxious carbon dioxide, he said.

Here’s an image illustrating the work,

This rendering shows the atomic arrangements of a gold nanocluster as reported in a new study led by UNL chemist Xiao Cheng Zeng. The cluster measures about 1.7 nanometers long -- roughly the same length that a human fingernail grows in two seconds. (Joel Brehm/Office of Research and Economic Development)

This rendering shows the atomic arrangements of a gold nanocluster as reported in a new study led by UNL chemist Xiao Cheng Zeng. The cluster measures about 1.7 nanometers long — roughly the same length that a human fingernail grows in two seconds. (Joel Brehm/Office of Research and Economic Development)

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Unraveling structures of protection ligands on gold nanoparticle Au68(SH)32 by Wen Wu Xu, Yi Gao, and Xiao Cheng Zeng. Science Advances 24 Apr 2015: Vol. 1 no. 3 e1400211 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400211

This is an open access article.

As for the Stanford University team’s work mentioned in the news release, I believe it’s from the Roger Kornberg (Nobel laureate) Laboratory. There’s more about that team’s work in an Aug. 21, 2014 article (A new gold standard for nano; Note: A link has been removed) by David Bradley for Chemistry World,

Characterising gold nanoparticles at atomic resolution might improve our understanding of the catalytic activity of these materials, according to an international team. These researchers have now demonstrated that it is possible to use electron microscopy to obtain data on at least one gold cluster of greater than 1nm diameter and to validate the results by comparison with small-angle x-ray scattering data, infrared absorption spectra and density functional theory calculations.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the 2014 paper,

Electron microscopy of gold nanoparticles at atomic resolution by Maia Azubel, Jaakko Koivisto, Sami Malola, David Bushnell, Greg L. Hura, Ai Leen Koh, Hironori Tsunoyama, Tatsuya Tsukuda, Mika Pettersson, Hannu Häkkinen, & Roger D. Kornberg. Science 22 August 2014: Vol. 345 no. 6199 pp. 909-912 DOI: 10.1126/science.1251959

This paper is behind a paywall.

The most recent posting here about gold nanoparticles is an April 14, 2015 piece titled: Gold atoms: sometimes they’re a metal and sometimes they’re a molecule.