Synthesis of Au doped Ag nanoclusters and the doping effect of Au atoms on their physical and optical properties

Abstract

Bimetallic noble metal nanoclusters (NCs) are an emerging topic of metal clusters due to their distinguishing characteristics compared to monometallic clusters. Doping of different noble atoms in other clusters is an effective strategy for tailoring their functionalities for specific applications and synergistic effects. Obtaining single-heteroatom doping is desirable but still very challenging to date. Herein, 2,4-dimethylbenzenthiol (2,4-DMBT) protected Ag/Au alloy NCs (ca. 2-3 nm) were synthesized via a wet chemical one-pot process. The effect of the number of Au atoms in Ag NCs on their optical properties and bandgap was investigated. We found that the change of the absorption peak positions of the Ag NCs was influenced by the presence of Au atoms. Besides, we found that the HOMO-LUMO peak has appeared without a significant change in cluster size during synthesis. Ag/ Au alloy NCs are characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron transmission microscopy (STEM).

Theoretical predictions and electronic properties of thiolate-protected gold nanocluster: Au44(SR)32

“…applications in fields such as optics [2][3][4], sensing [5], catalysis [6,7], and biomedicine [8,9]. For ultra-small Au-NCs (<2 nm), the atomic structure plays a crucial role in determining their electronic properties [4,[10][11][12][13]. Even minor alterations in the geometric structure can result in significant changes in electronic structures [3,[14][15][16].…”

“…Based on analyses of 95 experimentally crystallized and theoretically predicted thiolate-protected Au-NCs, we have proposed the ring model to explore the structureinteraction relationship for these NCs, in which fused or interlocked rings, such as [Au m (SR) n ] (m = 4-8, 10, and 12 and 0 ⩽ n ⩽ m) rings, could play an important role in stabilizing the thiolate-protected Au-NCs [31]. By utilizing GUM and ring models, numerous structures of thiolateprotected Au-NCs have been accurately predicted, including but not limited to Au 15 (SR) 13 32 remains elusive due to technical challenges, leading to the absence of a high-quality crystal structure [39]. In this work, we utilized GUM and ring model to reasonably predict the geometric structure of Au 44 (SR) 32 .…”

Structure, stability and electronic properties of zirconium nitride nanoclusters

“…Compared to the homo-atomic systems, the study of heterogeneous clusters is relatively less. However, in recent years, progress in this field is also noticed [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. Among the metal nitrides, few theoretical reports are found studying titanium nitride and tantalum nitride clusters [59][60][61][62][63].…”

Recent Advances in Processing and Applications of Heterobimetallic Oxide Thin Films by Aerosol‐Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

“…[3][4][5] However, there are inadequacies in generating these nanostructured materials on a large scale with precise control of nano features. [6] Consequently, there has been a significant demand in various industries to develop methods for the scalable synthesis of these materials with high efficiency. Because the surface properties of the nano-engineered film and coatings largely depend on the micro/nanostructure, fabrication, and processing approach, selecting an appropriate deposition method is highly important.…”

“…The synthesis of functional materials with excellent nano design and architecture is an emerging area of high interest among material scientists and has the potential to create new opportunities in material science and technology [3–5] . However, there are inadequacies in generating these nanostructured materials on a large scale with precise control of nano features [6] . Consequently, there has been a significant demand in various industries to develop methods for the scalable synthesis of these materials with high efficiency.…”