Buy article online - an online subscription or single-article purchase is required to access this article.
Download citation
Download citation
link to html
Metallic nanoparticles are of great importance because of their unique physical, chemical, antimicrobial, diagnostic, therapeutic, biomedical, sensing, biosensing, catalytic and optical properties. Detailed knowledge of the atomic scale structure of these materials is essential for understanding their activities and for exploiting their potential. This paper reports structural studies of silica-supported silver, gold, palladium and platinum nanoparticles using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Electron microscopy observation allowed the determination of nanoparticle sizes, which were estimated to be in the range of 45–470 Å, and their distribution. The obtained histograms exhibit a multimodal distribution of the investigated nanoparticle sizes. The X-ray diffraction data were analyzed using the Rietveld method in the form of Williamson–Hall plots, the PDFgui fitting procedure and model-based simulation. The Williamson–Hall plots provide evidence for the presence of strain in all investigated samples. The PDFgui fitting results indicate that the investigated nanoparticles consist of atomic clusters with different sizes and degrees of disorder as well as slightly different lattice parameters. The detailed structural characterization performed via model-based simulations proves that all samples exhibit a face-centered cubic type structure with paracrystalline distortion. The degree of disorder predicted by the paracrystalline theory is correlated with the sizes of the nanoparticles. The catalytic properties of the investigated noble metals are discussed in relation to their disordered structure.

Supporting information

pdf

Portable Document Format (PDF) file https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576718001723/po5115sup1.pdf
Comparison between calculated structure factors and PDFs for the model of h.c.p. structure and the experimental functions for Au nanoparticles. The comparison between experimental structure factors and PDFs measured for standard Ni powder and the functions calculated assuming crystalline structure without paracrystalline disorder is also shown


Subscribe to Journal of Applied Crystallography

The full text of this article is available to subscribers to the journal.

If you have already registered and are using a computer listed in your registration details, please email support@iucr.org for assistance.

Buy online

You may purchase this article in PDF and/or HTML formats. For purchasers in the European Community who do not have a VAT number, VAT will be added at the local rate. Payments to the IUCr are handled by WorldPay, who will accept payment by credit card in several currencies. To purchase the article, please complete the form below (fields marked * are required), and then click on `Continue'.
E-mail address* 
Repeat e-mail address* 
(for error checking) 

Format*   PDF (US $40)
   HTML (US $40)
   PDF+HTML (US $50)
In order for VAT to be shown for your country javascript needs to be enabled.

VAT number 
(non-UK EC countries only) 
Country* 
 

Terms and conditions of use
Contact us

Follow J. Appl. Cryst.
Sign up for e-alerts
Follow J. Appl. Cryst. on Twitter
Follow us on facebook
Sign up for RSS feeds