The reducing role of hydrogen peroxide on the formation of gold nanostructures in aqueous microdroplets with dissolved tetrachloroaurate ions

Abstract

A recent article by Lee et al. in Nature Communications has reported an intriguing phenomenon that gold nanostructures, AuNSs, can be spontaneously formed in aqueous microdroplets with dissolved tetrachloroaurate ions. The authors suggested three possible electron donors for the reduction of AuCl4-, including the strong electric field at the microdroplet surface, the hydroxyl ions, and the AuCl4- itself. However, we find that the hydrogen peroxide spontaneously produced at the microdroplets might be also responsible for the AuCl4- reduction.