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Light Gold: A Colloidal Approach Using Latex Templates
Author(s) -
van 't Hag Leonie,
Handschin Stephan,
Gschwend Pascal M.,
Mezzenga Raffaele
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201908458
Subject(s) - materials science , annealing (glass) , polystyrene , composite material , glass transition , polymer , microstructure , porosity , aerogel
A new 18 karat light gold, composed of gold single crystals, amyloids, and a polymer latex matrix is developed. It is similar to a glassy plastic, yet lighter than aluminum and of use in watches, jewelry, radiation shielding, catalysis, and electronics. The material is prepared via a hydrogel precursor dried into an aerogel. Annealing of the polystyrene matrix under vacuum gives rise to a homogeneous template. The final apparent density and porosity of the material depend directly on the volumetric concentration of the starting solution used for hydrogel formation. After annealing, a homogeneous microstructure is obtained in which the shining gold single crystal platelets are evenly embedded in a polystyrene matrix. The material has a glass transition temperature of ≈105 °C which allows for annealing and molding above this temperature. A general scaling behavior is found for the Young's modulus of the material with the density. The Young's modulus of the material with a density of 1.7 g cm −3 is ≈50 MPa. The density and stiffness, as well as the color, of the material can be tuned depending on the final application.