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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Gold Nanoparticle Synthesis
Published on: July 10, 2021
Breaking Force and Conductance of Gold Nanojunctions: Effect of Humidity
Miklós Mohos1, Ilya V Pobelov1, Viliam Kolivoška1,2
1†Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Forces acting on elongated gold nanojunctions and their electric conductance were simultaneously measured by current-sensing force spectroscopy in an atmosphere with controlled humidity. The breaking force of "thick" nanojunctions with conductance >20G0 is not affected by the environmental humidity. The presence of ambient water stabilizes "thin" nanojunctions with conductance <15G0, whose breaking force of 10-15 nN was higher than that in a dry atmosphere due to the capillary forces. The observed effect of humidity would not be possible to distinguish by techniques measuring only forces or only conductance in nanojunctions.
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