Size-selective nanoparticle growth on few-layer graphene films

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the size of gold nanoparticles grown on few-layer graphene can be controlled by the graphene thickness, with a theoretical model explaining the electrostatic interactions influencing nanoparticle size.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model linking graphene layer number to nanoparticle size, providing a predictive scaling law for nanoparticle growth on graphene.

Findings

Nanoparticle size scales with graphene thickness as D ∝ m^(1/3)

Electrostatic interactions from charge transfer limit nanoparticle growth

Experimental data agrees with the theoretical model

Abstract

We observe that gold atoms deposited by physical vapor deposition onto few layer graphenes condense upon annealing to form nanoparticles with an average diameter that is determined by the graphene film thickness. The data are well described by a theoretical model in which the electrostatic interactions arising from charge transfer between the graphene and the gold particle limit the size of the growing nanoparticles. The model predicts a nanoparticle size distribution characterized by a mean diameter D that follows a scaling law D proportional to m^(1/3), where m is the number of carbon layers in the few layer graphene film.