Electrochemical tuning of the optical properties of nanoporous gold

Facet-Dependent Formation and Adhesion of Au Oxide and Nanoporous Au on Poly-Oriented Au Single Crystals

Nanoporous Au (NPG) has different properties compared to bulk Au, making it an interesting material for numerous applications. To modify the structure of NPG films for specific applications, e. g., the porosity, thickness, and homogeneity of the films, a fundamental understanding of the structure formation is essential. Here, we focus on NPG prepared via electrochemical reduction from Au oxide formed during high voltage (HV) electrolysis on poly-oriented Au single crystal (Au POSC) electrodes. These POSCs consist of a metal bead, with faces with different crystallographic orientations and allow screening of the influence of crystallographic orientation on the structure formation for different facets in one experiment. The HV electrolysis is performed between 100 ms and 30 s at 300 V and 540 V. The amount of Au oxide formed is determined by electrochemical measurements and the structural properties are investigated by scanning electron and optical microscopy. We show that the formation of Au oxide is mostly independent of the crystallographic orientation, except for thick layers, while the macroscopic structure of the NPG films depends on experimental parameters such as the Au oxide precursor thickness and the crystallographic orientation of the substrate. Possible reasons for the frequently observed exfoliation of the NPG films are discussed.

Nanoporous Gold: From Structure Evolution to Functional Properties in Catalysis and Electrochemistry

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is characterized by a bicontinuous network of nanometer-sized metallic struts and interconnected pores formed spontaneously by oxidative dissolution of the less noble element from gold alloys. The resulting material exhibits decent catalytic activity for low-temperature, aerobic total as well as partial oxidation reactions, the oxidative coupling of methanol to methyl formate being the prototypical example. This review not only provides a critical discussion of ways to tune the morphology and composition of this material and its implication for catalysis and electrocatalysis, but will also exemplarily review the current mechanistic understanding of the partial oxidation of methanol using information from quantum chemical studies, model studies on single-crystal surfaces, gas phase catalysis, aerobic liquid phase oxidation, and electrocatalysis. In this respect, a particular focus will be on mechanistic aspects not well understood, yet. Apart from the mechanistic aspects of catalysis, best practice examples with respect to material preparation and characterization will be discussed. These can improve the reproducibility of the materials property such as the catalytic activity and selectivity as well as the scope of reactions being identified as the main challenges for a broader application of NPG in target-oriented organic synthesis.

Nanoporous Au Formation on Au Substrates via High Voltage Electrolysis

Nanoporous Au (NPG) films have promising properties, making them suitable for various applications in (electro)catalysis or (bio)sensing. Tuning the structural properties, such as the pore size or the surface-to-volume ratio, often requires complex starting materials such as alloys, multiple synthesis steps, lengthy preparation procedures or a combination of these factors. Here we present an approach that circumvents these difficulties, enabling for a rapid and controlled preparation of NPG films starting from a bare Au electrode. In a first approach a Au oxide film is prepared by high voltage (HV) electrolysis in a KOH solution, which is then reduced either electrochemically or in the presence of H₂ O₂ . The resulting NPG structures and their electrochemically active surface areas strongly depend on the reduction procedure, the concentration and temperature of the H₂ O₂ -containing KOH solution, as well as the applied voltage and temperature during HV electrolysis. Secondly, the NPG film can be prepared directly by applying voltages that result in anodic contact glow discharge electrolysis (aCGDE). By carefully adjusting the corresponding parameters, the surface area of the final NPG film can be specifically controlled. The structural properties of the electrodes are investigated by means of XPS, SEM and electrochemical methods.

Self-Detachment and Subsurface Densification of Dealloyed Nanoporous Thin Films

Experiment shows thin films of dealloyed nanoporous gold (NPG) spontaneously detaching from massive gold base layers. NPG can also densify near its external surface. This is naturally reproduced by kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation of dealloying and coarsening and so appears generic for nanoscale network materials evolving by surface diffusion. Near the porous layer's external surface and near its interface with the base layer, gradients in the depth-profile of a laterally averaged mean surface curvature provide driving forces for diffusion and cause divergences of the net fluxes of matter, leading to accretion/densification or to erosion/disconnection. As a toy model, the morphology evolution of substrate-supported nanopillars by surface diffusion illustrates and confirms our considerations. Contrary to cylindrical nanowires, the ligaments in nanoporous materials exhibit pre-existing gradients in the mean curvature. The Plateau-Rayleigh long-wavelength stability criterion is then not applicable and the disconnection accelerated.

Electroless Dealloying of Thin-Film Nanocrystalline Au-Ag Alloys: Mechanisms of Ligament Nucleation and Sources of Its Synthesis Variability

Control of ligament size in nanoporous gold through process inputs in chemical dealloying holds the potential to exploit its size dependent properties in applications in energy and biomedicine. While its morphology evolution is regulated by the kinetics of coarsening, recent studies are focused on the early stage of dealloying (e.g., ∼ 5-42 at. % in residual alloy content) to understand mechanisms of ligament nucleation and its role in altering process-structure relationships. This paper examines this stage in chemical dealloying of nanocrystalline Au₄₉Ag₅₁ thin films and finds that ligaments are nucleated uniformly through its thickness due to the dealloying front rapidly propagating through the thickness of the film. Further, through the establishment of process-structure relationships with large data sets (i.e., 80 samples), this paper quantifies sources of variability that alter the kinetics of ligament growth such as aging of the precursor (e.g., grain growth) and solution evaporation. It is found that ligament diameter is better predicted by the residual silver content rather than by the dealloying time even amidst both effects and independent control of ligament diameter and solid area fraction is demonstrated within a limited window.

Dynamic Kerr and Pockels electro-optics of liquid crystals in nanopores for active photonic metamaterials

Photonic metamaterials with properties unattainable in base materials are already beginning to revolutionize optical component design. However, their exceptional characteristics are often static, as artificially engineered into the material during the fabrication process. This limits their application for in-operando adjustable optical devices and active optics in general. Here, for a hybrid material consisting of a liquid crystal-infused nanoporous solid, we demonstrate active and dynamic control of its meta-optics by applying alternating electric fields parallel to the long axes of its cylindrical pores. First-harmonic Pockels and second-harmonic Kerr birefringence responses, strongly depending on the excitation frequency and temperature, are observed in a frequency range from 50 Hz to 50 kHz. This peculiar behavior is quantitatively traced by a Landau-De Gennes free energy analysis to an order-disorder orientational transition of the rod-like mesogens and intimately related changes in the molecular mobilities and polar anchoring at the solid walls on the single-pore, meta-atomic scale. Thus, our study provides evidence that liquid crystal-infused nanopores exhibit integrated multi-physical couplings and reversible phase changes that make them particularly promising for the design of photonic metamaterials with thermo-electrically tunable birefringence in the emerging field of space-time metamaterials aiming at full spatio-temporal control of light.

Mechanical Properties of Nanoporous Metallic Ultrathin Films: A Paradigmatic Case

Nanoporous ultrathin films, constituted by a slab less than 100 nm thick and a certain void volume fraction provided by nanopores, are emerging as a new class of systems with a wide range of possible applications, including electrochemistry, energy storage, gas sensing and supercapacitors. The film porosity and morphology strongly affect nanoporous films mechanical properties, the knowledge of which is fundamental for designing films for specific applications. To unveil the relationships among the morphology, structure and mechanical response, a comprehensive and non-destructive investigation of a model system was sought. In this review, we examined the paradigmatic case of a nanoporous, granular, metallic ultrathin film with comprehensive bottom-up and top-down approaches, both experimentals and theoreticals. The granular film was made of Ag nanoparticles deposited by gas-phase synthesis, thus providing a solvent-free and ultrapure nanoporous system at room temperature. The results, bearing generality beyond the specific model system, are discussed for several applications specific to the morphological and mechanical properties of the investigated films, including bendable electronics, membrane separation and nanofluidic sensing.

Nanoporous Metals: From Plasmonic Properties to Applications in Enhanced Spectroscopy and Photocatalysis

The field of plasmonics is capable of enabling interesting applications in different wavelength ranges, spanning from the ultraviolet up to the infrared. The choice of plasmonic material and how the material is nanostructured has significant implications for ultimate performance of any plasmonic device. Artificially designed nanoporous metals (NPMs) have interesting material properties including large specific surface area, distinctive optical properties, high electrical conductivity, and reduced stiffness, implying their potentials for many applications. This paper reviews the wide range of available nanoporous metals (such as Au, Ag, Cu, Al, Mg, and Pt), mainly focusing on their properties as plasmonic materials. While extensive reports on the use and characterization of NPMs exist, a detailed discussion on their connection with surface plasmons and enhanced spectroscopies as well as photocatalysis is missing. Here, we report on different metals investigated, from the most used nanoporous gold to mixed metal compounds, and discuss each of these plasmonic materials' suitability for a range of structural design and applications. Finally, we discuss the potentials and limitations of the traditional and alternative plasmonic materials for applications in enhanced spectroscopy and photocatalysis.

Direct and Broadband Plasmonic Charge Transfer to Enhance Water Oxidation on a Gold Electrode

Plasmonic photocatalysis via hot charge carriers suffers from their short lifetime compared with the sluggish kinetics of most reactions. To increase lifetime, adsorbates on the surface of a plasmonic metal may create preferential states for electrons to be excited from. We demonstrate this effect with O adsorbates on a nanoporous gold electrode. Nanoporous gold is used to obtain a broadband optical response, to increase the obtained photocurrent, and to provide a SERS-active substrate. Only with adsorbates present, we observe significant photocurrents. Illumination also increases the adsorbate coverage above its dark potential-dependent equilibrium, as derived from a two-laser in situ SERS approach. Density functional theory calculations confirm the appearance of excitable states below the Fermi level. The photocurrent enhancement and broadband characteristics reveal the potential of the plasmonic approach to improve the efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Nanoporous gold nanoleaf as tunable metamaterial

We have studied optical properties of single-layer and multi-fold nanoporous gold leaf (NPGL) metamaterials and observed highly unusual transmission spectra composed of two well-resolved peaks. We explain this phenomenon in terms of a surface plasmon absorption band positioned on the top of a broader transmission band, the latter being characteristic of both homogeneous "solid" and inhomogeneous "diluted" Au films. The transmission spectra of NPGL metamaterials were shown to be controlled by external dielectric environments, e.g. water and applied voltage in an electrochemical cell. This paves the road to numerous functionalities of the studied tunable and active metamaterials, including control of spontaneous emission, energy transfer and many others.

Self-assembly of liquid crystals in nanoporous solids for adaptive photonic metamaterials

Nanoporous media exhibit structures significantly smaller than the wavelengths of visible light and can thus act as photonic metamaterials. Their optical functionality is not determined by the properties of the base materials, but rather by tailored, multiscale structures, in terms of precise pore shape, geometry, and orientation. Embedding liquid crystals in pore space provides additional opportunities to control light-matter interactions at the single-pore, meta-atomic scale. Here, we present temperature-dependent 3D reciprocal space mapping using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction in combination with high-resolution birefringence experiments on disk-like mesogens (HAT6) imbibed in self-ordered arrays of parallel cylindrical pores 17 to 160 nm across in monolithic anodic aluminium oxide (AAO). In agreement with Monte Carlo computer simulations we observe a remarkably rich self-assembly behaviour, unknown from the bulk state. It encompasses transitions between the isotropic liquid state and discotic stacking in linear columns as well as circular concentric ring formation perpendicular and parallel to the pore axis. These textural transitions underpin an optical birefringence functionality, tuneable in magnitude and in sign from positive to negative via pore size, pore surface-grafting and temperature. Our study demonstrates that the advent of large-scale, self-organised nanoporosity in monolithic solids along with confinement-controllable phase behaviour of liquid-crystalline matter at the single-pore scale provides a reliable and accessible tool to design materials with adjustable optical anisotropy, and thus offers versatile pathways to fine-tune polarisation-dependent light propagation speeds in materials. Such a tailorability is at the core of the emerging field of transformative optics, allowing, e.g., adjustable light absorbers and extremely thin metalenses.

Hydrogen-induced plasticity in nanoporous palladium

The mechanical strain response of nanoporous palladium (npPd) upon electrochemical hydrogenation using an in situ dilatometric technique is investigated. NpPd with an average ligament diameter of approximately 20 nm is produced via electrochemical dealloying. A hydrogen-induced phase transition from PdH_β to PdH_α is found to enable internal-stress plasticity (or transformation-mismatch plasticity) in nanoporous palladium, which leads to exceptionally high strains without fracture as a result of external forces. The high surface stress in the nanoporous structure in combination with the internal-stress plasticity mechanism leads to a peculiar strain response upon hydrogen sorption and desorption. Critical potentials for the formation of PdH_α and PdH_β in npPd are determined. The theoretical concepts to assess the plastic strain response of nanoporous samples are elucidated, taking into account characteristics of structure and deformation mechanism.

Ionic liquid-assisted synthesis of 3D nanoporous gold and its superior catalytic properties

3D nanoporous gold was rapidly synthesized with the assistance of [HEmim]Cl in aqueous solution and was found to have excellent catalytic properties for p-nitrophenol reduction and methylene blue degradation.

Electrocatalytic methanol oxidation with nanoporous gold: microstructure and selectivity

The properties of Nanoporous Gold (NPG) obtained by the selective dissolution of Ag from an Au-Ag alloy can be tuned by the details of its fabrication, and specifically the residual Ag content is correlated to the ligament size of the material. We link this correlation to methanol electro-oxidation. Specifically, two different NPG types (obtained by potentiostatic dealloying) are compared with one obtained by free corrosion. They show remarkable differences in activity. Quantitative product analysis reveals that NPG shows nearly selective oxidation of CH₃OH to HCOO^- when NPG is used as an active electrode in contrast to planar Au. This trend can further be enhanced when applying finer nanoporous structures that are linked to a higher Ag content. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals changes in the nature of residual Ag from which we conclude that Ag is not a passive component in the methanol oxidation process.

Functionalized mesoporous silica thin films as a tunable nonlinear optical material

The article is about a novel material for application in optoelectronic devices: mesoporous silica in the form of thin films with vertically aligned channels containing anchored propyl-copper-phosphonate functional groups. We described a synthesis route and carried out characterization of the structure to obtain its nonlinear optical (NLO) properties (second and third order harmonic generation). A quasi phase transition was found in the material resulting from modification of the functional group content. We also demonstrated that it is possible to modify NLO susceptibilities by tuning the distance between active polar units.