Microcystallites

What to study?

For Prelims and Mains: Microcystallites- features, significance and potential applications.

What are they? These are a new type of gold in the form of very small crystals developed by researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru.

The microcystallites were synthesised by decomposing an organic complex containing gold and other ions under controlled conditions.

Key features of Microcystallites:

• The newly formed microcystallites, about 3 micrometre in length were found to be of a different crystal structure.
• Normal gold has a (face-centered) cubic structure, while the new ones exhibit deformed cubic structure — tetragonal and orthorhombic cells.
• The microcrystal gold has been found to be nobler than gold — it do not dissolve in mercury and Aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), and showed the least interaction with copper.
• Microcystallites are also more stable than the normal gold.

Way ahead:

All these properties make these crystallites an ideal candidate for catalytic purposes. Gold in itself is not a catalyst but the new gold microcystallites have very active surfaces. More studies are needed to understand them fully in the context wide range of applications in the offing.

Sources: the hindu.