Formation of Au nanoparticles in an ionic liquid by electron beam irradiation

Abstract

A novel method to synthesize Au nanoparticles via a reductive reaction in an ionic liquid containing Au3+ ions was demonstrated using a low-energy electron beam irradiation technique; Au nanoparticles (approximately 122 nm) formed by the incident electron beam were well dispersed and crystallized; this finding opens up the possibility that the use of electron beams and ionic liquids is of key importance in the development of new fabrication techniques for nanomaterials.

Nanoparticle Preparation in Room-Temperature Ionic Liquid under Vacuum Condition

“…The irradiation time of accelerated electron beam and γ-ray are 7 sec and 3 hrs, respectively, if the irradiation dose is 20 kGy. These electron beam (Imanishi et al, 2009;Tsuda et al, 2009a;Tsuda et al, 2010a) and γ-ray irradiation (Tsuda et al, 2009a) methods exploit solvated electrons and/or radicals yielded during the beam irradiation to the RTIL containing metal salts so as to synthesize metal nanoparticles. Note that primary electron beam and γ-ray themselves cannot directly contribute to nanoparticle preparation because of their considerably strong energy!…”

“…Several reserch groups including us have succeeded in metal nanoparticle prepration by using both RTIL and the vacuum technologies, e.g., physical vapor deposition (PVD) method (Richter et al, 2010;Prondzinski et al, 2010) and plasma depostion method Abedin et al, 2007;Baba et al, 2009;Kaneko et al, 2009;Brettholle et al, 2010). In this chapter, we introduce our created nanoparticle preparation methods in RTIL under vacuum condition including electron beam (Imanishi et al, 2009;Tsuda et al, 2009a;Tsuda et al, 2010a) and γ-ray radiation method (Tsuda et al, 2009a), magnetron sputtering onto IL Hatakeyama et al, 2010;Kameyama et al, 2010;Khatri et al, 2008;Okazaki et al, 2008;Okazaki et al, 2009;Shishino et al, in press;Suzuki et al, 2009;Suzuki et al, in press;Torimoto et al, 2006;Tsuda et al, 2009;Tsuda et al, 2010b;Wender et al, 2010). The contents also include electrochemical applications of Pt nanoparticles produced by the methods established in our group.…”

Introduction of Ionic Liquid to Vacuum Conditions for Development of Material Productions and Analyses

“…25 As shown in Figs. 11a11c, many bright lines appeared in the RTIL droplet on a FTO with observation time.…”

Concepts for the Stabilization of Metal Nanoparticles in Ionic Liquids

“…Thus, Au nanoparticles, e.g., can be prepared in ionic liquid by electron beam irradiation. [188] In [C 4 MIm + ][Tf 2 N -], relatively large nanoparticles with average diameter ~120 nm were obtained. [188] 4.2.6 Photochemical method Certain metal precursors can be reduced under UV irradiation.…”