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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: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [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.
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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.
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Li Y, Zhao S, Zang S. Programmable kernel structures of atomically precise metal nanoclusters for tailoring catalytic properties. EXPLORATION (BEIJING, CHINA) 2023; 3:20220005. [PMID: 37933377 PMCID: PMC10624382 DOI: 10.1002/exp.20220005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
The unclear structures and polydispersity of metal nanoparticles (NPs) seriously hamper the identification of the active sites and the construction of structure-reactivity relationships. Fortunately, ligand-protected metal nanoclusters (NCs) with atomically precise structures and monodispersity have become an ideal candidate for understanding the well-defined correlations between structure and catalytic property at an atomic level. The programmable kernel structures of atomically precise metal NCs provide a fantastic chance to modulate their size, shape, atomic arrangement, and electron state by the precise modulating of the number, type, and location of metal atoms. Thus, the special focus of this review highlights the most recent process in tailoring the catalytic activity and selectivity over metal NCs by precisely controlling their kernel structures. This review is expected to shed light on the in-depth understanding of metal NCs' kernel structures and reactivity relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya‐Hui Li
- Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Material, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostical Cluster Materials, Green Catalysis Center and College of ChemistryZhengzhou UniversityZhengzhouP. R. China
| | - Shu‐Na Zhao
- Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Material, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostical Cluster Materials, Green Catalysis Center and College of ChemistryZhengzhou UniversityZhengzhouP. R. China
| | - Shuang‐Quan Zang
- Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Material, Henan International Joint Laboratory of Tumor Theranostical Cluster Materials, Green Catalysis Center and College of ChemistryZhengzhou UniversityZhengzhouP. R. China
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Roy J, Mondal B, Vishwakarma G, Vasanthi Sridharan N, Krishnamurthi P, Pradeep T. Dissociative reactions of [Au 25(SR) 18] - at copper oxide nanoparticles and formation of aggregated nanostructures. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:8225-8234. [PMID: 37070851 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr00897e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Reactions between nanoclusters (NCs) have been studied widely in the recent past, but such processes between NCs and metal-oxide nanoparticles (NPs), belonging to two different size ranges, have not been explored earlier. For the first time, we demonstrate the spontaneous reactions between an atomically precise NC, [Au25(PET)18]- (PET = 2-phenylethanethiolate), and polydispersed copper oxide nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50 nm under ambient conditions. These interparticle reactions result in the formation of alloy NCs and copper-doped NC fragments, which assemble to form nanospheres at the end of the reaction. High-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS), transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), electron tomography, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were performed to understand the structures formed. The results from our study show that interparticle reactions can be extended to a range of chemical systems, leading to diverse alloy NCs and self-assembled colloidal superstructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayoti Roy
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Biswajit Mondal
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Gaurav Vishwakarma
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Nishanthi Vasanthi Sridharan
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Pattabiraman Krishnamurthi
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Thalappil Pradeep
- DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) & Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
- International Centre for Clean Water, 2nd Floor, B-Block, IIT Madras Research Park, Kanagam Road, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
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Cai X, Sun Y, Xu J, Zhu Y. Contributions of Internal Atoms of Atomically Precise Metal Nanoclusters to Catalytic Performances. Chemistry 2021; 27:11539-11547. [PMID: 34096132 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202101310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Every atom of a heterogeneous catalyst can play a direct or indirect role in its overall catalytic properties. However, it is extremely challenging to determine explicitly which atom(s) of a catalyst can contribute most to its catalytic performance because the observed performance usually reflects an average of all the atoms in the catalyst. The emergence of atomically precise metal nanoclusters brings unprecedented opportunities to address these central issues, as the crystal structures of such nanoclusters have been solved, and hence very fundamental understanding of nanocatalysis can be attained at an atomic level. This minireview focuses on recent efforts to reveal the contributions of the internal atoms or vacancies of nanocluster catalysts to the catalytic processes, including how the catalytic activity can be dramatically changed by the central doping of a foreign atom, how catalytic activation and inactivation can be reversibly switched by shuttling the central atom into and out of nanoclusters, and how evolution in catalytic activity can be driven by structural periodicity in the inner kernels of the nanoclusters. We anticipate that progress in this research area could represent a novel conceptual framework for understanding the crucial roles of internal atoms of the catalysts in tuning the catalytic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Cai
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China
| | - Yongnan Sun
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China
| | - Jiayu Xu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China
| | - Yan Zhu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China
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Yang D, Zhu Y. Evolution of catalytic activity driven by structural fusion of icosahedral gold cluster cores. CHINESE JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/s1872-2067(20)63659-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Li D, Kumari B, Zhang X, Wang C, Mei X, Rotello VM. Purification and separation of ultra-small metal nanoclusters. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2020; 276:102090. [PMID: 31895988 PMCID: PMC6961975 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2019.102090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are ultra-small nanoparticles intermediate in size between small molecule complexes and nanoparticles. NCs with tunable surface functionality feature unique physical and chemical properties, however these properties are frequently compromised by the presence of undesired components such as excess ligands or mixtures of NCs. In a typical synthesis process, different NCs can be formed with varying numbers of metal atoms and/or ligands, and even NCs with the same number of metal atoms and ligands can have different spatial structures. The separation of pure NCs is important because different species have distinct optical and catalytic behavior. However, NCs can be difficult to purify or separate for a range of reasons. In this review, we discuss established and emerging approaches for NC purification/separation, with a focus on choosing the appropriate method depending on NC and application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst 01002, USA; Department of Basic Science, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, China
| | - Beena Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst 01002, USA; Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gandhinagar 382355, India
| | - Xianzhi Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst 01002, USA
| | - Cuiping Wang
- Key Laboratory for Functional Material, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan 114051, China
| | - Xifan Mei
- Department of Basic Science, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, China
| | - Vincent M Rotello
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst 01002, USA.
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