Electron localization in rod-shaped triicosahedral gold nanocluster
Abstract
Understanding the carrier dynamics in ultrasmall (<2-nm) gold nanoclusters is fundamentally important for their applications in solar energy storage and conversion. This work tackles how the electrons of gold nanoclusters flow after photoexcitation. The electron localization/delocalization is commonly observed in polymers and other molecular aggregates, but little is known about this phenomenon in gold nanoclusters. Here, we observed ∼100-ps excited-state electron localization in atomically precise rod-shaped Au 37 nanoclusters made up of three icosahedra. The activation energy was further obtained by temperature-dependent experiments. The excitation localization observed in rod-shaped clusters of clusters will advance their applications in nonlinear optics and energy harvesting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 30, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1704699114
Entities
People
- Matthew Sfeir
- Meng Zhou
- Renxi Jin
- Rongchao Jin
- Yongbo Song
- Yuxiang Chen
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Peking University