A new sensitive and specific method to measure gold and palladium surface areas using alkanethiol adsorption coupled with analysis by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection has been developed. The effectiveness of the method was tested with metallic samples having a known surface area. The results have also been compared with BET specific surface area measurements. The results obtained with both methods show a good correlation.

A new specific method to measure adsorption enthalpy on supported metallic nanoparticles has been developed. This method is based on gas chromatography measurements, and it allows the calculation of adsorption enthalpies on metallic nanoparticles while neglecting the effect of the supporting particle. In this paper, we discuss the specific case of the adsorption of benzene on the surface of silica-supported gold nanoparticles. The results show a good correlation with similar values found in the literature.

Scaling is a problem in many industrial processes. To control and minimize it, it is important to understand the dynamics of the scale formation. In this paper, the scale formation was examined on two kinds of gold surfaces. One was a pure metallic gold surface, and the other was a gold surface modified with an alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer. A series of surface characterization experiments were performed to ensure a good understanding of the gold-thiol bond stability in a caustic solution.