Fabrication of single crystalline gold nanobelts

Abstract

Well dispersed, single crystalline gold nanobelts, with unique {110} crystallographic facets, were synthesized by a combined method consisting of directional solid-state transformation of an Fe–Au eutectoid and a selective phase dissolution without the presence of any surfactant. They have an average thickness of 25–30 nm, a width of 200–250 nm, and an average length of 20 µm, exhibiting thus extremely high aspect ratios of more than 1500. The obtained gold nanobelts were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectrometry. The well-dispersed gold nanobelts can be selectively assembled onto substrates which have a significant potential for novel electrodes with a large effective surface area and a selective crystal orientation of {110}, less common for gold.