Sonochemical decomposition of noble metal oxides and sonochemical alloying of gold-silver systems

Yamato Hayashi; Yusuke Ebato; Ryoma Onishi; Hirotsugu Takizawa

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106115

Sonochemical decomposition of noble metal oxides and sonochemical alloying of gold-silver systems

Ultrason Sonochem. 2022 Sep:89:106115. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106115. Epub 2022 Aug 9.

Authors

Yamato Hayashi¹, Yusuke Ebato², Ryoma Onishi³, Hirotsugu Takizawa²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6 Aoba, Aramaki, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan. Electronic address: yamato.hayashi.b6@tohoku.ac.jp.
² Department of Applied Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6 Aoba, Aramaki, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Engineering Department of Applied Chemistry, Tohoku University, 6-6 Aoba, Aramaki, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.

Abstract

Recently, environmental problems, such as global warming, have become more severe; thus, there is a requirement to implement sustainable development goals in materials processing. In this study, we investigated a low-cost and environmentally-friendly sonochemical process for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles with large specific surface areas and catalysis effects. Au₂O₃ hydrate and Ag₂O were reduced to Au and Ag, respectively, at room temperature in a short time when irradiated with ultrasound in ethanol. Furthermore, when a mixed powder of Au₂O₃ hydrate and Ag₂O was irradiated in ethanol, Au-Ag alloys were obtained in only 10 min. This fast and environmentally friendly alloying technique, known as sonochemical alloying, is promising for alloy syntheses.

Keywords: Gold–silver alloy; Sonochemical alloying; Sustainable development goals.