Shapes of epitaxial gold nanocrystals on SrTiO3 substrates

Morphological control of gold nanocrystals is important as their catalytic and optical properties are highly shape dependent. Researchers from the Surface Nanoscience group have reported in Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. that the shapes of gold nanocrystals can be modified by the influence of the SrTiO₃ single crystal substrates, e.g., their aspect ratio is different on differently prepared SrTiO₃ substrates. This study demonstrates the significant effect of the crystal facet termination and surface reconstruction of an oxide substrate on the shape of supported gold nanocrystals.