Sustainable existence of solid mercury (Hg) nanoparticles at room temperature and their applications

Villa Krishna Harika, Tirupathi Rao Penki, Boddapati Loukya, Atanu Samanta, Gui Liang Xu, Cheng Jun Sun, Ilya Grinberg, Francis Leonard Deepak, Khalil Amine, Doron Aurbach, Aharon Gedanken

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Although liquid mercury (Hg) has been known since antiquity, the formation of stable solid nano forms of Hg at room temperature has not been reported so far. Here, for the first time, we report a simple sonochemical route to obtain solid mercury nanoparticles, stabilized by reduced graphene oxide at ambient conditions. The as-formed solid Hg nanoparticles were found to exhibit remarkable rhombohedral morphology and crystallinity at room temperature. Extensive characterization using various physicochemical techniques revealed the unique properties of the solid nanoparticles of Hg compared to its bulk liquid metal phase. Furthermore, the solid nature of the Hg nanoparticles was studied electrochemically, revealing distinctive properties. We believe that solid Hg nanoparticles have the potential for important applications in the fields of electroanalytical chemistry and electrocatalysis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3226-3238
Number of pages13
JournalChemical Science
Volume12
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Jan 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry

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