0000000000538985
AUTHOR
Jing-qiang Goh
Silver Sulfide Nanoclusters and the Superatom Model
The superatom model of electron-shell closings has been widely used to explain the stability of noble-metal nanoclusters of few nanometers, including thiolate-protected Au and Ag nanoclusters. The presence of core sulfur atoms in silver sulfide (Ag–S) nanoclusters renders them a class of clusters with distinctive properties as compared to typical noble-metal clusters. Here, it is natural to ask whether the superatom model is still applicable for the Ag–S nanoclusters with mixed metal and nonmetal core atoms. To address this question, we applied density functional simulations to analyze a series of Ag–S nanoclusters: Ag14S(SPh)12(PPh3)8, Ag14(SC6H3F2)12(PPh3)8, Ag70S16(SPh)34(PhCO2)4(triphos…
Role of the central gold atom in ligand-protected biicosahedral Au 24 and Au25 clusters
The crystal structures of the ligand-protected clusters [Au24(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5Cl2]+ and [Au25(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5Cl2]2+ have been elucidated recently, and they comprise the same biicosahedral structural motif for the Au core. The only difference is the central Au atom joining two icosahedra which is absent in the Au24 cluster. On the basis of density functional simulations, we have evaluated the structural, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of the clusters in question with a full presentation for the thiolate and phosphine side groups. Our spherical harmonics analysis of the electronic structure shows that the chemical stability of both clusters can be understood based on an 8 …