Figure 4.
X‐ray irradiation of a 20 × 10−3 m HAuCl4‐solution. a) Optical images showing micrometer‐sized structures after 66 h of irradiation. The inset at higher resolution reveals that some form platelets of three‐ and sixfold symmetry, as expected for fcc‐crystals. An ex situ XRD scan reveals that they consist of gold (Figure S11b, Supporting Information). b) In situ XRD investigation for 42 h in 2 h intervals at a dose rate of roughly 1 Gy s−1. The vertical lines correspond to the lattice constant of gold.[ 72 ] c) Corresponding kinetic simulation. For simplicity, only gold‐containing species and Cl− are displayed. The grey lines mark the time after the first (2 h, dotted) and last in situ scan (42 h, dashed) experiment, as well as the time matching the experiment shown in (a) (66 h, solid).