Abstract

Au–Cu colloids were prepared by chemical liquid deposition (CLD). Themetals were evaporated simultaneously to yield atoms, which were solvated toyield bimetal atom mixtures at 77 K, and upon warming, in some cases, stableliquid colloids were formed with a narrow range of particle size. The solventsunder study were acetone, 2-butanone, 2-propanol, 2-methoxyethanol,2-ethoxyethanol, diglyme, THF, and DMF. The particle size of the bimetalliccolloids ranged from 21 to 48 Å. The films or powders were prepared by directevaporation of the solvents from bimetallic colloids. Microanalysis demon-strated that these films contained carbon and hydrogen residues. Infraredspectra showed that hydrocarbon residues were present in the films. Thermalstudies demonstrated the low stability of the Au–Cu films. Two or threedecomposition temperatures were observed in the thermograms. In most of thefilms, a total weight loss of 10–15%, at 550°C, was registered.