Thermal stability of {110} facet terminated gold nanobelts
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
A precise knowledge and understanding of the thermal stability of nanowires is a prerequisite for the
reliable implementation of nanowire-based devices. Single crystalline Au nanobelts with {1 1 0} surface either in free standing arrays with identical crystallographic orientation or lying on the substrate were
prepared by a combination of directional eutectoid decomposition followed by phase selective etching process. The thermal stability in the temperature range 500?700 ?C of the obtained free standing and
lying Au nanobelts were investigated in situ with a scanning electron microscope equipped with a high temperature stage. The results suggested that free standing Au nanobelts undergo morphological evolution in a different way compared with the substrate contacted lying Au nanobelts. The free standing Au nanobelts broke more easily and decayed into a chain of nanospheres following Rayleigh instability after the belt morphology changed into cylindrical wires; whereas the Au nanobelts lying on the substrate decayed into irregular particles. These findings clearly support a surface energy minimization driven mechanism. Only after transformation into a mainly {1 1 1} terminated structure formation of Rayleigh instabilities are observed.