Absorption spectroscopy

Chemistry

Materials science

Alloy

Optoelectronics

Bimetal

Physics

Receptor

Dopant

Crystallography

Crystal structure

Optics

In situ

Nanoclusters

Ligand (biochemistry)

Organic chemistry

Physical chemistry

Doping

Analytical Chemistry (journal)

Phase (matter)

Metal

Biochemistry

Journal of the American Chemical Society

A new method termed "in situ two-phase ligand exchange" was developed to obtain alloy nanoclusters. With this approach, a series of alloy nanoclusters were obtained for the first time, including Au20Ag1(SR)15, Au21-xAgx(SR)15 (x = 4-8), Au21-xCux(SR)15 (x = 0, 1), and Au21-xCux(SR)15 (x = 2-5) (R = tert-butyl). Interestingly, single-crystal X-ray crystallography (SC-XRD) shows that their frameworks are all alike except for Au21-xCux(SR)15 (x = 2-5), indicating that more Cu dopants alter the structure. Au21-xCux(SR)15 (x = 2-5) exhibits a significantly different configuration. The optical absorption spectra of these bimetal nanoclusters (NCs) show distinct characteristic peaks, indicating that the metal-doping remarkably affects the electronic structure of NCs. The DFT calculations were also employed for determination of NC 1-3 frameworks and understanding their optical properties.

In Situ Two-Phase Ligand Exchange: A New Method for the Synthesis of Alloy Nanoclusters with Precise Atomic Structures