Small gold-transition metal nanoparticle alloys (diameter = 2 – 3 nm) display physical behaviors distinct from either their bulk or molecular counterparts, and their synthesis is desirable for applications ranging from heterogeneous catalysis to therapeutics. However, nanoscale solid solutions are challenging to synthesize because metal mixing behavior exhibits length scale dependence, with concerns arising from solid state atom diffusion and surface segregation energy. Using classic colloidal methods, we have synthesized a range of gold-transition metal nanoparticle alloys with fully tunable compositions, regardless of bulk miscibilities. Combining molecular characterization techniques (e.g. NMR and mass spectrometry) with traditional materials characterization strategies (such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), we obtain insight into particle formation including crucial steps in converting molecular precursors to the final nanoparticle solid phase. We then correlate the resulting architectures with highly tunable optoelectronic properties including near-infrared emission.

Chemical transformations in bimetallic nanoparticle alloys

249th National Meeting (2015)

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