Structural transition of gold nanoclusters: from the golden cage to the golden pyramid

Wei Huang; Satya Bulusu; Rhitankar Pal; Xiao Cheng Zeng; Lai-Sheng Wang

doi:10.1021/nn900232d

Structural transition of gold nanoclusters: from the golden cage to the golden pyramid

Wei Huang, Satya Bulusu, Rhitankar Pal, Xiao Cheng Zeng^*, Lai-Sheng Wang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

103 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

How nanoclusters transform from one structural type to another as a function of size is a critical issue in cluster science. Here we report a study of the structural transition from the golden cage Au ₁₆ ^- to the pyramidal Au ₂₀ ^-. We obtained distinct experimental evidence that the cage-to-pyramid crossover occurs at Au ₁₈ ^-, for which the cage and pyramidal isomers are nearly degenerate and coexist experimentally. The two isomers are observed and identified by their different interactions with O ₂ and Ar. The cage isomer is observed to be more reactive with O2 and can be preferentially 'titrated' from the cluster beam, whereas the pyramidal isomer has slightly stronger interactions with Ar and is favored in the Au ₁₈Ar _X ^- van der Waals complexes. The current study allows the detailed structural evolution and growth routes from the hollow cage to the compact pyramid to be understood and provides information about the structure-function relationship of the Au ₁₈ ^- cluster.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1225-1230
Journal	ACS Nano
Volume	3
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/nn900232d
Publication status	Published - 26 May 2009
Externally published	Yes

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Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Research Keywords

Gold clusters
Photoelectron spectroscopy
Sstructure-function relationship
Structural isomers
Van der Waals complexes

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title = "Structural transition of gold nanoclusters: from the golden cage to the golden pyramid",

abstract = "How nanoclusters transform from one structural type to another as a function of size is a critical issue in cluster science. Here we report a study of the structural transition from the golden cage Au 16 - to the pyramidal Au 20 -. We obtained distinct experimental evidence that the cage-to-pyramid crossover occurs at Au 18 -, for which the cage and pyramidal isomers are nearly degenerate and coexist experimentally. The two isomers are observed and identified by their different interactions with O 2 and Ar. The cage isomer is observed to be more reactive with O2 and can be preferentially 'titrated' from the cluster beam, whereas the pyramidal isomer has slightly stronger interactions with Ar and is favored in the Au 18Ar X - van der Waals complexes. The current study allows the detailed structural evolution and growth routes from the hollow cage to the compact pyramid to be understood and provides information about the structure-function relationship of the Au 18 - cluster.",

keywords = "Gold clusters, Photoelectron spectroscopy, Sstructure-function relationship, Structural isomers, Van der Waals complexes",

author = "Wei Huang and Satya Bulusu and Rhitankar Pal and Zeng, {Xiao Cheng} and Lai-Sheng Wang",

note = "Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].",

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T2 - from the golden cage to the golden pyramid

AU - Huang, Wei

AU - Bulusu, Satya

AU - Pal, Rhitankar

AU - Zeng, Xiao Cheng

AU - Wang, Lai-Sheng

N1 - Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

PY - 2009/5/26

Y1 - 2009/5/26

N2 - How nanoclusters transform from one structural type to another as a function of size is a critical issue in cluster science. Here we report a study of the structural transition from the golden cage Au 16 - to the pyramidal Au 20 -. We obtained distinct experimental evidence that the cage-to-pyramid crossover occurs at Au 18 -, for which the cage and pyramidal isomers are nearly degenerate and coexist experimentally. The two isomers are observed and identified by their different interactions with O 2 and Ar. The cage isomer is observed to be more reactive with O2 and can be preferentially 'titrated' from the cluster beam, whereas the pyramidal isomer has slightly stronger interactions with Ar and is favored in the Au 18Ar X - van der Waals complexes. The current study allows the detailed structural evolution and growth routes from the hollow cage to the compact pyramid to be understood and provides information about the structure-function relationship of the Au 18 - cluster.

AB - How nanoclusters transform from one structural type to another as a function of size is a critical issue in cluster science. Here we report a study of the structural transition from the golden cage Au 16 - to the pyramidal Au 20 -. We obtained distinct experimental evidence that the cage-to-pyramid crossover occurs at Au 18 -, for which the cage and pyramidal isomers are nearly degenerate and coexist experimentally. The two isomers are observed and identified by their different interactions with O 2 and Ar. The cage isomer is observed to be more reactive with O2 and can be preferentially 'titrated' from the cluster beam, whereas the pyramidal isomer has slightly stronger interactions with Ar and is favored in the Au 18Ar X - van der Waals complexes. The current study allows the detailed structural evolution and growth routes from the hollow cage to the compact pyramid to be understood and provides information about the structure-function relationship of the Au 18 - cluster.

KW - Gold clusters

KW - Photoelectron spectroscopy

KW - Sstructure-function relationship

KW - Structural isomers

KW - Van der Waals complexes

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DO - 10.1021/nn900232d

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

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JO - ACS Nano

JF - ACS Nano

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Structural transition of gold nanoclusters: from the golden cage to the golden pyramid

Abstract

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