Slice Visualization for Imaging Nanocluster Transformations

Xiao Wei; Haoqi Li; Hao Li; Zewen Zuo; Fengqi Song; Xi Kang; Manzhou Zhu

doi:10.1021/jacs.3c02165

Slice Visualization for Imaging Nanocluster Transformations

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Jun 28;145(25):13750-13757. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c02165. Epub 2023 May 30.

Authors

Xiao Wei¹, Haoqi Li¹, Hao Li¹, Zewen Zuo^{2

3}, Fengqi Song^{2

3}, Xi Kang¹, Manzhou Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ 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.
² National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
³ Atom Manufacturing Institute (AMI), Nanjing 211805, China.

PMID: 37253153
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c02165

Abstract

Metal nanoclusters have served as an emerging class of modular nanomaterials. Several efficient strategies have been proposed for transforming cluster precursors into new nanoclusters with customized structures and enhanced performance. However, such nanocluster transformations have still been in a "blind box" state, meaning that the existing intermediates were hard to track with atomic precision. Herein, we present a "slice visualization" approach for in-depth imaging of the nanocluster transformation from Au₁Ag₂₄(SR)₁₈ to Au₁Ag₃₀(SR)₂₀. With this approach, two cluster intermediates, namely, Au₁Ag₂₆(SR)₁₉ and Au₁Ag₂₈(SR)₂₀, were monitored with atomic precision. The four nanoclusters constituted a correlated Au₁Ag_24+2n (n = 0, 1, 2, and 3) cluster series with comparable structural features─the same Au₁Ag₁₂ icosahedral kernel but evolutionary peripheral motif structures. The mechanism of nanocluster structure growth was mapped in detail─insertion of Ag₂(SR)₁ or Ag-induced assembly of surface subunits. The presented "slice visualization" approach not only contributes an ideal cluster platform for in-depth investigations of structure-property correlations but also hopefully acts as a powerful means for obtaining clear information on nanocluster structure evolution.