Conductive sub-micrometric wires of platinum-carbonyl clusters fabricated by soft-lithography.

Conductive wires of sub-micrometer width made from platinum-carbonyl clusters have been fabricated by solution-infilling of microchannels as in microinject molding in capillaries (MIMIC). The process is driven by the liquid surface tension within the micrometric channels followed by the precipitation of the solute. Orientation of supramolecular crystalline domains is imparted by the solution confinement combined with unidirectional flow.

Synthesis of small gold nanoparticles: Au(I) disproportionation catalyzed by a persulfurated coronene dendrimer.

Gold nanoparticles with average diameter of 1.0 nm and narrow size distribution can be easily obtained by disproportionation of Au(+) ions, in the presence of a persulfurated coronene dendrimer that favors encounters between Au(+) ions and protects the resulting small nanoparticles from further aggregation.