Monolithic nanocrystalline Au fabricated by the compaction of nanoscale foam

We describe a two-step dealloying/compaction process to produce nanocrystalline Au. First, nanocrystalline/nanoporous Au foam is synthesized by electrochemically-driven dealloying. The resulting Au foams exhibit porosities of 60 and 70% with pore sizes of {approx} 40 and 100 nm, respectively, and a typical grain size of <50 nm. Second, the nanoporous foams are fully compacted to produce nanocrystalline monolithic Au. The compacted Au was characterized by TEM and X-ray diffraction and tested by depth-sensing nanoindentation. The compacted nanocrystalline Au exhibits an average grain size of <50 nm and hardness values ranging from 1.4 to 2.0 GPa, which are up to 4.5 times higher than the hardness values obtained from polycrystalline Au.