Ultrasmall (3 nm or less) bimetallic nanoparticles with controllable compositions and structure are of great interest for their catalytic activity. Herein is reported a synthesis for bimetallic AuCu nanoparticles of tunable composition that takes advantage of complex-ion chemistry. These AuCu nanoparticles exhibit ultrasmall sizes (~ 2 nm) and the observed metal compositions are similar to the nominal metal ratios in the synthesis, roughly 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 for Au:Cu. Oxidation state analysis of Cu was carried using XPS and showed that the 1:1 AuCu composition had greater percentages of Cu<sup>2+ </sup>than the other compositions as the particles aged but initially oxidation was not observed. This may suggest that the 1:1 Au:Cu composition forms a core-shell structure overtime with Cu in the shell while other compositions are suggested to be disordered alloys. The original capping agent for the nanoparticles, dodecanethiol, is complexed with sodium dodecyl sulfate to transfer the particles to the aqueous phase. Nanoparticles were synthesized for studies into catalytic and dissolution properties.

Two-phase synthesis of gold-copper bimetallic nanoparticles of tunable composition

2019 Fall National Meeting

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