Atomic structure of gold nanoparticles stabilized in polyethylene

Resumo

Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques were used to study the atomic structure of gold nanoparticles involving 1, 5, 10, and 20 wt % of Au which were stabilized in a high-pressure polyethylene matrix. The average sizes of the Au-containing nanoparticles amounted to 7 and 50 nm. The atomic structure of the Au-containing nanoparticles was similar to that of metallic gold in the bulk state. When the Au concentration in polyethylene was equal to 1 wt %, gold atoms were found on the surface of nanoparticles, which interacted with light atoms C/O.