Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air

Kyungwha Chung; Joonho Bang; Athira Thacharon; Hyun Yong Song; Se Hwang Kang; Woo Sung Jang; Neha Dhull; Dinesh Thapa; C. Muhammed Ajmal; Bumsub Song; Sung Gyu Lee; Zhen Wang; Albina Jetybayeva; Seungbum Hong; Kyu Hyoung Lee; Eun Jin Cho; Seunghyun Baik; Sang Ho Oh; Young Min Kim; Young Hee Lee; Seong Gon Kim; Sung Wng Kim

doi:10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4

Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air

Kyungwha Chung, Joonho Bang, Athira Thacharon, Hyun Yong Song, Se Hwang Kang, Woo Sung Jang, Neha Dhull, Dinesh Thapa, C. Muhammed Ajmal, Bumsub Song, Sung Gyu Lee, Zhen Wang, Albina Jetybayeva, Seungbum Hong, Kyu Hyoung Lee, Eun Jin Cho, Seunghyun Baik, Sang Ho Oh, Young Min Kim, Young Hee LeeSeong Gon Kim, Sung Wng Kim

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) have received extensive interest owing to their advantageous properties compared with their bulk counterparts. Although the natural oxidation of Cu NPs can be alleviated by passivating the surfaces with additional moieties, obtaining non-oxidized bare Cu NPs in air remains challenging. Here we report that bare Cu NPs with surface excess electrons retain their non-oxidized state over several months in ambient air. Cu NPs grown on an electride support with excellent electron transfer ability are encapsulated by the surface-accumulated excess electrons, exhibiting an ultralow work function of ~3.2 eV. Atomic-scale structural and chemical analyses confirm the absence of Cu oxide moiety at the outermost surface of air-exposed bare Cu NPs. Theoretical energetics clarify that the surface-accumulated excess electrons suppress the oxygen adsorption and consequently prohibit the infiltration of oxygen into the Cu lattice, provoking the endothermic reaction for oxidation process. Our results will further stimulate the practical use of metal NPs in versatile applications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	285-291
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nature Nanotechnology
Volume	17
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4
Publication status	Published - 2022 Mar

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Creative Electride Center funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant of the Korean Government (2015M3D1A1070639), by the Basic Science research programme funded by the Ministry of Education of the Korean Government (2021R1A6A1A03039696), by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R011-D1) and the Advanced Facility Center for Quantum Technology. KPFM measurements were supported by the Wearable Platform Materials Technology Center funded by the NRF grant of the Korean Government (2016R1A5A1009926). We thank J.-G. Kim for providing the circular FFT script and M. Yoon for assistance on the theoretical works.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Bioengineering
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Biomedical Engineering
Materials Science(all)
Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4

Cite this

Chung, K., Bang, J., Thacharon, A., Song, H. Y., Kang, S. H., Jang, W. S., Dhull, N., Thapa, D., Ajmal, C. M., Song, B., Lee, S. G., Wang, Z., Jetybayeva, A., Hong, S., Lee, K. H., Cho, E. J., Baik, S., Oh, S. H., Kim, Y. M., ... Kim, S. W. (2022). Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air. Nature Nanotechnology, 17(3), 285-291. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4

@article{6bfac554bbc34de8afbf7d09493c0b01,

title = "Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air",

abstract = "Copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) have received extensive interest owing to their advantageous properties compared with their bulk counterparts. Although the natural oxidation of Cu NPs can be alleviated by passivating the surfaces with additional moieties, obtaining non-oxidized bare Cu NPs in air remains challenging. Here we report that bare Cu NPs with surface excess electrons retain their non-oxidized state over several months in ambient air. Cu NPs grown on an electride support with excellent electron transfer ability are encapsulated by the surface-accumulated excess electrons, exhibiting an ultralow work function of ~3.2 eV. Atomic-scale structural and chemical analyses confirm the absence of Cu oxide moiety at the outermost surface of air-exposed bare Cu NPs. Theoretical energetics clarify that the surface-accumulated excess electrons suppress the oxygen adsorption and consequently prohibit the infiltration of oxygen into the Cu lattice, provoking the endothermic reaction for oxidation process. Our results will further stimulate the practical use of metal NPs in versatile applications.",

author = "Kyungwha Chung and Joonho Bang and Athira Thacharon and Song, {Hyun Yong} and Kang, {Se Hwang} and Jang, {Woo Sung} and Neha Dhull and Dinesh Thapa and Ajmal, {C. Muhammed} and Bumsub Song and Lee, {Sung Gyu} and Zhen Wang and Albina Jetybayeva and Seungbum Hong and Lee, {Kyu Hyoung} and Cho, {Eun Jin} and Seunghyun Baik and Oh, {Sang Ho} and Kim, {Young Min} and Lee, {Young Hee} and Kim, {Seong Gon} and Kim, {Sung Wng}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Creative Electride Center funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant of the Korean Government (2015M3D1A1070639), by the Basic Science research programme funded by the Ministry of Education of the Korean Government (2021R1A6A1A03039696), by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R011-D1) and the Advanced Facility Center for Quantum Technology. KPFM measurements were supported by the Wearable Platform Materials Technology Center funded by the NRF grant of the Korean Government (2016R1A5A1009926). We thank J.-G. Kim for providing the circular FFT script and M. Yoon for assistance on the theoretical works. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

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Chung, K, Bang, J, Thacharon, A, Song, HY, Kang, SH, Jang, WS, Dhull, N, Thapa, D, Ajmal, CM, Song, B, Lee, SG, Wang, Z, Jetybayeva, A, Hong, S, Lee, KH, Cho, EJ, Baik, S, Oh, SH, Kim, YM, Lee, YH, Kim, SG & Kim, SW 2022, 'Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air', Nature Nanotechnology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 285-291. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-01070-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air

AU - Chung, Kyungwha

AU - Bang, Joonho

AU - Thacharon, Athira

AU - Song, Hyun Yong

AU - Kang, Se Hwang

AU - Jang, Woo Sung

AU - Dhull, Neha

AU - Thapa, Dinesh

AU - Ajmal, C. Muhammed

AU - Song, Bumsub

AU - Lee, Sung Gyu

AU - Wang, Zhen

AU - Jetybayeva, Albina

AU - Hong, Seungbum

AU - Lee, Kyu Hyoung

AU - Cho, Eun Jin

AU - Baik, Seunghyun

AU - Oh, Sang Ho

AU - Kim, Young Min

AU - Lee, Young Hee

AU - Kim, Seong Gon

AU - Kim, Sung Wng

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Creative Electride Center funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant of the Korean Government (2015M3D1A1070639), by the Basic Science research programme funded by the Ministry of Education of the Korean Government (2021R1A6A1A03039696), by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R011-D1) and the Advanced Facility Center for Quantum Technology. KPFM measurements were supported by the Wearable Platform Materials Technology Center funded by the NRF grant of the Korean Government (2016R1A5A1009926). We thank J.-G. Kim for providing the circular FFT script and M. Yoon for assistance on the theoretical works. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - Copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) have received extensive interest owing to their advantageous properties compared with their bulk counterparts. Although the natural oxidation of Cu NPs can be alleviated by passivating the surfaces with additional moieties, obtaining non-oxidized bare Cu NPs in air remains challenging. Here we report that bare Cu NPs with surface excess electrons retain their non-oxidized state over several months in ambient air. Cu NPs grown on an electride support with excellent electron transfer ability are encapsulated by the surface-accumulated excess electrons, exhibiting an ultralow work function of ~3.2 eV. Atomic-scale structural and chemical analyses confirm the absence of Cu oxide moiety at the outermost surface of air-exposed bare Cu NPs. Theoretical energetics clarify that the surface-accumulated excess electrons suppress the oxygen adsorption and consequently prohibit the infiltration of oxygen into the Cu lattice, provoking the endothermic reaction for oxidation process. Our results will further stimulate the practical use of metal NPs in versatile applications.

AB - Copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) have received extensive interest owing to their advantageous properties compared with their bulk counterparts. Although the natural oxidation of Cu NPs can be alleviated by passivating the surfaces with additional moieties, obtaining non-oxidized bare Cu NPs in air remains challenging. Here we report that bare Cu NPs with surface excess electrons retain their non-oxidized state over several months in ambient air. Cu NPs grown on an electride support with excellent electron transfer ability are encapsulated by the surface-accumulated excess electrons, exhibiting an ultralow work function of ~3.2 eV. Atomic-scale structural and chemical analyses confirm the absence of Cu oxide moiety at the outermost surface of air-exposed bare Cu NPs. Theoretical energetics clarify that the surface-accumulated excess electrons suppress the oxygen adsorption and consequently prohibit the infiltration of oxygen into the Cu lattice, provoking the endothermic reaction for oxidation process. Our results will further stimulate the practical use of metal NPs in versatile applications.

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JF - Nature Nanotechnology

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ER -

Non-oxidized bare copper nanoparticles with surface excess electrons in air

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