Chemical- or radiation-assisted selective dealloying in bimetallic nanoclusters

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Feb 28;90(8):085502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.085502. Epub 2003 Feb 25.

Abstract

A selective dealloying in bimetallic nanoclusters prepared by ion implantation has been found upon thermal annealing in oxidizing atmosphere or irradiation with light ions. In the first process, the incoming oxygen interacts preferentially with copper promoting Cu2O formation, therefore extracting copper from the alloy. In the second process the irradiation with Ne ions promotes a preferential extraction of Au from the alloy, resulting in the formation of Au-enriched "satellite" nanoparticles around the original AuxCu1-x cluster.