Electrochemical annealing of nanoporous gold by application of cyclic potential sweeps

An electrochemical method for annealing the pore sizes of nanoporous gold (NPG) is reported. The pore sizes of NPG can be increased by electrochemical cycling with the upper potential limit being just at the onset of gold oxide formation. This study has been performed in electrolyte solutions including potassium chloride, sodium nitrate and sodium perchlorate. Scanning electron microscopy images have been used for ligament and pore size...