The fabrication of gold/carbon nanocomposite foam by laser ablation of an organometallic gold salt is herein reported. The produced material consists of gold nanoparticles diluted within nanostructured carbonaceous matrices, comprising both disordered carbon and graphitic structures. It should be noted that these graphitic structures were fabricated in plasma-induced processes performed in air under ambient conditions. A new family of metal/carbon nanocomposite foam materials can be envisioned by employing the simple, versatile laser ablation technique described in this work.

Funded by INNOVARAGON (ITA-DGA, 02/COOPERA/ ES1368), and MEC (BQU2002-04090-C02-01, MAT2002-04630-C02-01, MAT2004-03070-C05-03, TEC2004-05098-C02-02).

4 pages, 5 figures.

Peer reviewed