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Updated: Nov 19, 2025
Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Total structural determination of alloyed Au15.37Cu16.63(S-Adm)20 nanoclusters with double superatomic chains
Li Tang1, Shiyao Deng2, Shuxin Wang3
1Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, AnHui Province, Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P. R. China. zmz@adu.edu.cn and College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China. shuxin_wang@qust.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Thiolated-alloy nanocluster Au15.37Cu16.63(S-Adm)20 ((AuCu)32 for short) has been synthesized. Single crystal X-ray crystallography (SC-XRD) proved that this cluster contains a Au14Cu6 core, which is composed of double superatom chains, two M4(SR)5 (M = Au/Cu) motifs, four Cu(SR)2 monomer staples and two SR molecules at the waist. The composition of this nanocluster is confirmed by SC-XRD and further verified by XPS, EDX and 2H-NMR. Surprisingly, double superatom chains connect to each other only via two Au-Au bonds, which makes the kernel resemble a tunnel. Combined with DFT calculation and electronic structure analysis, it is further proved that the (AuCu)32 nanocluster contains six 2e alloy superatomic Au3Cu2+ units. This work is the first report showing that superatom units (CuAu32+) self-assembling to a hollow kernel maintain the superatom characteristic of metal nanoclusters, which enriches the fundamental knowledge of metal superatom clusters. The stable electronic structure of the nanocluster provides an experimental basis for theoretical analysis in the future. In addition, the hollow structure may be promising in catalytic applications.
