Kinetics of nanoporous Au formation by chemical dealloying

Porous Au structures were synthesized starting from a crystalline Ag70Au30 alloy by selectively dissolving Ag in a nitric acid solution for selected times. The size of ligaments and pores, the degree of porosity and the specific surface area of all structures were measured. The product between the total surface area and the average ligament size is invariably equal to about 3.5 times the total volume of the solid. This suggests that the porous Au structures are similar to single gyroids.