Understanding nascent plasmons and metallic bonding in atomically precise gold nanoclusters.

ABSTRACT: The metallic bond is arguably the most intriguing one among the three types of chemical bonds, and the resultant plasmon excitation (e.g. in gold nanoparticles) has garnered wide interest. Recent progress in nanochemistry has led to success in obtaining atomically precise nanoclusters (NCs) of hundreds of atoms per core. In this work, thiolate-protected Au₂₇₉(SR)₈₄ and Au₃₃₃(SR)₇₉ NCs, both in the nascent metallic state are investigated by cryogenic optical spectroscopy down to 2.5 K. At room temperature, both NCs exhibit distinct plasmon resonances, albeit the NCs possess a gap (estimated 0.02-0.03 eV, comparable to thermal energy). Interestingly, we observe no effect on plasmons with the transition from the metallic state at r.t. to the

SUBMITTER: Du X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8849037 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature