Chemical- or radiation-assisted selective dealloying in bimetallic nanoclusters

A selective dealloying in bimetallic nanoclusters prepared by ion implantation has been found upon thermal annealing in oxidizing atmosphere or irradiation with light ions. In the first process, the incoming oxygen interacts preferentially with copper promoting Cu(2)O formation, therefore extracting copper from the alloy. In the second process the irradiation with Ne ions promotes a preferential extraction of Au from the alloy, resulting in the formation of Au-enriched "satellite" nanoparticles around the original Au(x)Cu(1-x) cluster.