Oxygen clamps in gold nanowires

TL;DR

This study uses density functional theory to show that oxygen atoms can form strong bonds in gold nanowires, acting as clamps that facilitate pulling gold atom chains, revealing new insights into nanowire manipulation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that oxygen insertion creates stable, strong bonds in gold nanowires, enabling controlled pulling of gold atom chains, a novel approach in nanowire engineering.

Findings

Oxygen atoms form stable, strong bonds in gold nanowires.

Oxygen acts as a clamp to extract atoms from the wire.

Potential application in nanowire manipulation and assembly.

Abstract

We investigate how the insertion of an oxygen atom in an atomically thin gold nanowire can affect its rupture. We find, using ab initio total energy density functional theory calculations, that O atoms when inserted in gold nanowires form not only stable but also very strong bonds, in such a way that they can extract atoms from a stable tip, serving in this way as a clamp that could be used to pull a string of gold atoms.