1
|
Zou X, Kang X, Zhu M. Recent developments in the investigation of driving forces for transforming coinage metal nanoclusters. Chem Soc Rev 2023; 52:5892-5967. [PMID: 37577838 DOI: 10.1039/d2cs00876a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Metal nanoclusters serve as an emerging class of modular nanomaterials. The transformation of metal nanoclusters has been fully reflected in their studies from every aspect, including the structural evolution analysis, physicochemical property regulation, and practical application promotion. In this review, we highlight the driving forces for transforming atomically precise metal nanoclusters and summarize the related transforming principles and fundamentals. Several driving forces for transforming nanoclusters are meticulously reviewed herein: ligand-exchange-induced transformations, metal-exchange-induced transformations, intercluster reactions, photochemical transformations, oxidation/reduction-induced transformations, and other factors (intrinsic instability, pH, temperature, and metal salts) triggering transformations. The exploitation of transforming principles to customize the preparations, structures, physicochemical properties, and practical applications of metal nanoclusters is also disclosed. At the end of this review, we provide our perspectives and highlight the challenges remaining for future research on the transformation of metal nanoclusters. Our intended audience is the broader scientific community interested in metal nanoclusters, and we believe that this review will provide researchers with a comprehensive synthetic toolbox and insights on the research fundamentals needed to realize more cluster-based nanomaterials with customized compositions, structures, and properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuejuan Zou
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
| | - Xi Kang
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
| | - Manzhou Zhu
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lin Z, Lv Y, Jin S, Yu H, Zhu M. Size Growth of Au 4Cu 4: From Increased Nucleation to Surface Capping. ACS NANO 2023; 17:8613-8621. [PMID: 37115779 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c01238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The size conversion of atomically precise metal nanoclusters is fundamental for elucidating structure-property correlations. In this study, copper salt (CuCl)-induced size growth from [Au4Cu4(Dppm)2(SAdm)5]+ (abbreviated as [Au4Cu4S5]+) to [Au4Cu6(Dppm)2(SAdm)4Cl3]+ (abbreviated as [Au4Cu6S4Cl3]+) (SAdmH = 1-adamantane mercaptan, Dppm = bis-(diphenylphosphino)methane) was investigated via experiments and density functional theory calculations. The [Au4Cu4S5]+ adopts a defective pentagonal bipyramid core structure with surface cavities, which could be easily filled with the sterically less hindered CuCl and CuSCy (i.e., core growth) (HSCy = cyclohexanethiol) but not the bulky CuSAdm. As long as the Au4Cu5 framework is formed, ligand exchange or size growth occurs easily. However, owing to the compact pentagonal bipyramid core structure, the latter growth mode occurs only for the surface-capped [Au4Cu6(Dppm)2(SAdm)4Cl3]+ structure (i.e., surface-capped size growth). A preliminary mechanistic study with density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that the overall conversion occurred via CuCl addition, core tautomerization, Cl migration, the second [CuCl] addition, and [CuCl]-[CuSR] exchange steps. And the [Au4Cu6(Dppm)2(SAdm)4Cl3]+ alloy nanocluster exhibits aggregation-induced emission (AIE) with an absolute luminescence quantum yield of 18.01% in the solid state. This work sheds light on the structural transformation of Au-Cu alloy nanoclusters induced by Cu(I) and contributes to the knowledge base of metal-ion-induced size conversion of metal nanoclusters.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zidong Lin
- Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Ying Lv
- Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Shan Jin
- Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Haizhu Yu
- Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Manzhou Zhu
- Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Fan W, Yan N, Zha J, Gu W, You Q, Yang Y, Zhuang S, Wu Z. Regulating the Electronic Structure of Metal Nanoclusters by Longitudinal Single-Dithiolate Substitution. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:3216-3221. [PMID: 36971502 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
It is significant but challenging to understand the property evolution of metal nanoclusters by orientated regulation of the electronic structure. Previous research has demonstrated that the optical properties of metal nanoclusters with anisotropic structures are greatly impacted by their longitudinal electronic structure. However, the manipulation of optical properties of metal nanoclusters by regulating their electronic structure through longitudinal dithiolate substitutions has not yet been reported. In this study, we first achieved the longitudinal single-dithiolate replacement of metal nanoclusters and obtained two novel nanoclusters: Au28(SPh-tBu)18(SCH2SCH2S) and Au28(SPh-tBu)18(SCH2CH2CH2S). Both experimental and theoretical results demonstrated the regulation of the electronic structure (dipole moment) in the z (longitudinal) and x directions, resulting in absorption redshift and photoluminescence (polarity) enhancement. These findings not only deepen the understanding of the property-electronic structure correlation of metal nanoclusters but also provide guidance for their subtle property tuning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wentao Fan
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Nan Yan
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Jun Zha
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Wanmiao Gu
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Qing You
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Ying Yang
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Shengli Zhuang
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| | - Zhikun Wu
- Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Institute of Solid State Physics, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Tang L, Wang B, Wang R, Wang S. Alloying and dealloying of Au 18Cu 32 nanoclusters at precise locations via controlling the electronegativity of substituent groups on thiol ligands. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:1602-1608. [PMID: 36601973 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr05401a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The doping site of metals in an alloy nanocluster plays a key role in determining the cluster properties. Herein, we found that alloying engineering was achieved by replacing Cu at specific positions in the second layer Cu20 shell of the [Au18Cu32(SR-O)36]2- or [Au18Cu32(SR-F)36]3- (SR-O = -S-PhOMe; SR-F = -SC6H33,4F2) nanocluster with Au to generate a core-shell [Au20.31Cu29.69(SR-O)36]2- protected by mercaptan ligands with electron-donating substituents, which could be stable obtained compared with the alloyed nanocluster with electron-withdrawing substituent ligands. Moreover, dealloying engineering was accomplished by an electron-withdrawing substituent ligand exchange strategy (i.e., [Au18Cu32(SR-F)36]2-). The abovementioned reaction was analyzed using single-crystal X-ray crystallography, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and monitored via time-dependent ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy. This reversible and precise location of alloying and dealloying provides the possibility for studying the relationship between the structure and properties of nanoclusters at the atomic level.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Tang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
| | - Bin Wang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
| | - Ru Wang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
| | - Shuxin Wang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
| |
Collapse
|