Research Projects

Self-assembled monolayers of molecules on Au(111) surfaces is well known in the literature. The influence of adsorbed molecules on the Au nanocrystal facets is also well studied. However, all such studies pertain to Au in the FCC lattice. The proposed project deals with Au in non-FCC lattices namely body-centered tetragonal and orthorhombic lattices. Specifically, the interaction of various adsorbents on the non-FCC Au crystallite facets will be examined using a host of microscopy, spectroscopy and diffraction techniques. The changes in crystal morphology and the lattices themselves will be monitored. The associated changes in optical and catalytic properties will be investigated. Possibility of using the crystallite surface as a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) platform will also be examined. In addition, crystal structure dependent catalytic activity will be looked into. The study is expected to provide a deeper insight into the unknown behavior of non-FCC Au lattice under different chemical environments. Finally, this understanding may open up a chemical window for potential applications of gold crystallised in non-FCC lattices.