Self Assembly Nonlinear Optical Effects with Novel Small Metal Cluster Systems
Abstract
In the past year, the PI s research on the fundamental properties and applications of nanoclusters has been centered around gold and silver, and many different models have been developed to address the core packing, electron configurations and to explain some of the observed optical properties. Gold and silver in their atomic state shares the same number of valence electrons and bulk packing distance. In this report, we summarize our recent work on silver based nanoclusters. Recent work produced stable silver nanoclusters in the condensed phase, purified by gel separation. The basic synthetic approach is similar to that of gold nanoclusters. However, the silver nanoclusters have not been optimized like some other nanoclusters, where high purity can be achieved in a single-pot synthesis. Moreover, the stability of silver nanoclusters is also a major concern. By utilizing gel separation methods in their synthesis, our coworkers have been able to purify the nanocluster mixtures to produce highly pure mono-disperse nanoclusters. The result of this work leads to the synthesis of stable silver nanoclusters in high purity, which allows for the identification of silver nanoclusters by mass spectrometry. Due to the very small size of nanocluster and the difficulty in obtaining crystal structures, mass spectrometry has become essential in the identification of nanocluster formula. In this report we focus on the Ag32(SG)19, cluster. The initial interested in silver based system was not solely based on synthetic exploration. One of the most interesting optical property of gold system is its emission and it has tremendous potential in imagining. The larger bandgap of silver (compare to gold) should leads to stronger emission, which would further demonstrate the possibility of using nanoclusters as imaging agents on a cellular level. Ag32(SG)19 also offers an unexplored area in the ultrafast spectroscopy of nanoclusters.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 29, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA595091
Entities
People
- Theodore Goodson, III
Organizations
- University of Michigan