Sub-10 nm Mixing and Alloying of Cu–Ag and Cu–Ni via Accelerated Solid Diffusion

Sub-10 nm Mixing and Alloying of Cu–Ag and Cu–Ni via Accelerated Solid Diffusion

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

10.1021/acsami.3c04124

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c04124

Haiwen Dai, Sofia Dimitriadou, P. S. Sankara Rama Krishnan, Albertus Denny Handoko, Jose Recatala-Gomez, Yong Wang, D. V. Maheswar Repaka, Maung Thway, Chenguang Zhang, Martial Duchamp, Kedar Hippalgaonkar

General Materials Science

30 May 2023

Dai, H., Dimitriadou, S., Sankara Rama Krishnan, P. S., Handoko, A. D., Recatala-Gomez, J., Wang, Y., Repaka, D. V. M., Thway, M., Zhang, C., Duchamp, M., & Hippalgaonkar, K. (2023). Sub-10 nm Mixing and Alloying of Cu–Ag and Cu–Ni via Accelerated Solid Diffusion. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15(23), 28398–28409. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c04124

Development of nanoscale multicomponent solid inorganic materials is often hindered by slow solid diffusion kinetics and poor precursor mixing in conventional solid-state synthesis. These shortcomings can be alleviated by combining nanosized precursor mixtures and low temperature reaction, which could reduce crystal growth and accelerate the solid diffusion at the same time. However, high throughput production of nanoparticle mixtures with tunable composition via conventional synthesis is very challenging. In this work, we demonstrate that approximately 10 nm homogeneous mixing of sub-10 nm nanoparticles can be achieved via spark nanomixing at room temperature and pressure. Kinetically driven Spark Plasma Discharge nanoparticle generation and ambient processing conditions limit particle coarsening and agglomeration, resulting in sub-10 nm primary particles of as-deposited films. The intimate mixing of these nanosized precursor particles enables intraparticle diffusion and formation of Cu/Ni nanoalloy during subsequent low temperature annealing at 100 degrees C. We also discovered that cross-particle diffusion is promoted during the low-temperature sulfurization of Cu/Ag which tends to phase-segregate, eventually leading to the growth of sulfide nanocrystals and improved homogeneity. High elemental homogeneity, small diffusion path lengths, and high diffusibility synergically contribute to faster diffusion kinetics of sub-10 nm nanoparticle mixtures. The combination of approximately 10 nm homogeneous precursors via spark nanomixing, low-temperature annealing, and a wide range of potentially compatible materials makes our approach a good candidate as a general platform toward accelerated solid state synthesis of nanomaterials.

Publisher Copyright

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Accelerated Materials Development for Manufacturing Program
Grant Reference no. : A1898b0043

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Structural Metals and Alloys Program
Grant Reference no. : A18B1b0061

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Career Development Award
Grant Reference no. : 202D800037

This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation - NRF Fellowship
Grant Reference no. : NRF-NRFF13-2021-0011

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c04124

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/19263

1944-8252
1944-8244

Institute of Materials Research and Engineering