Unexpected High Stiffness of Ag and Au Nanoparticles

Q. F. Gu, G. Krauss, W. Steurer, F. Gramm, and A. Cervellino
Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 045502 – Published 28 January 2008
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Abstract

We studied the compressibility of silver (10 nm) and gold (30 nm) nanoparticles, n-Ag and n-Au, suspended in a methanol-ethanol mixture by x-ray diffraction (XRD) with synchrotron radiation at pressures up to 30 GPa. Unexpectedly for that size, the nanoparticles show a significantly higher stiffness than the corresponding bulk materials. The bulk modulus of n-Au, K0=290(8)GPa, shows an increase of ca. 60% and is in the order of W or Ir. The structural characterization of both kinds of nanoparticles by XRD and high-resolution electron microscopy identified polysynthetic domain twinning and lamellar defects as the main origin for the strong decrease in compressibility.

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  • Received 30 August 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.045502

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Q. F. Gu, G. Krauss*, and W. Steurer

  • Laboratory of Crystallography, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

F. Gramm

  • Laboratory of Solid State Physics, EMEZ, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

A. Cervellino

  • Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH Zurich and PSI Villigen, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

  • *guenter.krauss@mat.ethz.ch

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Vol. 100, Iss. 4 — 1 February 2008

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