Observation of Body‐Centered Cubic Gold Nanocluster
Abstract
The structure of nanoparticles plays a critical role in dictating their material properties. Gold is well known to adopt face‐centered cubic (fcc) structure. Herein we report the first observation of a body‐centered cubic (bcc) gold nanocluster composed of 38 gold atoms protected by 20 adamantanethiolate ligands and two sulfido atoms ([Au38S2(SR)20], where R=C10H15) as revealed by single‐crystal X‐ray crystallography. This bcc structure is in striking contrast with the fcc structure of bulk gold and conventional Au nanoparticles, as well as the bi‐icosahedral structure of [Au38(SCH2CH2Ph)24]. The bcc nanocluster has a distinct HOMO–LUMO gap of ca. 1.5 eV, much larger than the gap (0.9 eV) of the bi‐icosahedral [Au38(SCH2CH2Ph)24]. The unique structure of the bcc gold nanocluster may be promising in catalytic applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1002/ange.201502667
Entities
People
- Chao Liu
- Chenjie Zeng
- Guangsheng Pang
- Katsuyuki Nobusada
- Li Gao
- Nathaniel L Rosi
- Rongchao Jin
- Tao Li
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- China Scholarship Council
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- National Natural Science Foundation of China