Scaling equation for the elastic modulus of nanoporous gold with fixed network connectivity

We report that in a Pt-doped nanoporous Au(Ag), while the network connectivity was maintained constant, the elastic modulus (E) varied with relative density (phi) in a power-law relation, E alpha phi(n), with an exponent of n = 2.2 +/- 0.1, which agreed well with the classical Gibson-Ashby scaling equation (n = 2). It testifies that the mechanical response of np metals can be well described by the classical scaling equations, providing that the network connectivity and the size effects are taken into account properly. We also demonstrate that the coarsening-induced reduction in the network connectivity can be suppressed by enhancing the relative density of the nanoporous structure. Published by AIP Publishing.