Assembly of atomically precise metal nanoclusters is now in the research spotlight, which offers exciting opportunities to gain fundamental insights into the hierarchical assembly of nanoparticles. However, it is still extremely challenging for controllable assembly of individual nanoclusters at a molecular- or atomic-level.
Prof. Yan Zhu’s group reports the dimeric assembly of Au25(PET)18 (PET = 2-phenylethanethiol), where two Au25(PET)18 monomers are bridged together by two Ag atoms to form the Ag2Au50(PET)36 dimer. Through a combined approach of experiment and theory, they not only reveal that the formation of the Ag2Au50(PET)36dimer can be attributed to the relatively weak affinity between Au+ and NO3–, but also suggest that the further growth of the Ag2Au50(PET)36 dimer can be efficiently prevented by the ligand′s hindrance.Furthermore, the Ag2Au50(PET)36 dimer is distinct from the Au25(PET)18 monomer on the optical, electronic, and catalytic properties. This study is expected to provide a feasible strategy to precisely modulate the assembly of metal nanoclusters with controllable structures and properties.
This work entitled “Ag2Au50(PET)36 Nanocluster: Dimeric Assembly of Au25(PET)18 Enabled by Silver Atoms”has been published in Angewandte Chemie (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202005087 and 10.1002/ange.202005087).
Figure (a) UV-vis and (b) predicted partial density of states and UV-Vis spectra assignments of the clusters. (c) CO oxidation on the cluster catalysts.