Ligand-free Ni nanocluster formation at atmospheric pressure via rapid quenching in a microplasma process

The production of metal nanoclusters composed of less than 10 3 atoms is important for applications in energy conversion and medicine, and for fundamental studies of nanomaterial nucleation and growth. Unfortunately, existing synthesis methods do not enable adequate control of cluster formation, particularly at atmospheric pressure wherein formation typically occurs on sub-millisecond timescales. Here, we demonstrate that ligand-free, unagglomerated nickel nanoclusters can be continuously synthesized at atmospheric pressure via the decomposition of bis(cyclopentadienyl)nickel(II) (nickelocene) in a spatially-confined microplasma process that rapidly quenches particle growth and agglomeration. The clusters were measured on line by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and further analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our results reveal that stable clusters with spherical equivalent mean diameters below 10 ##IMG## [http://ift.tt/1tqA41d...] {$\dot{A}$}

Ajay Kumar, Seungkoo Kang, Carlos Larriba-Andaluz, Hui Ouyang, Christopher J Hogan and R Mohan Sankaran

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