Nucleation, Growth, and Aggregation of Au Nanocrystals on Liquid Surfaces

We report the formation of gold ramified aggregates after deposition of Au on an ionic liquid surface by thermal evaporation method at room temperature. It is observed that the aggregates are composed of both granules and nanocrystals with hexagonal or triangular appearances. The most probable size of the nanocrystals is much larger than that of the granules and it increases with the nominal deposition thickness. The formation mechanism of the granules, nanocrystals and aggregates is presented.