Chemical Insights into Interfacial Effects in Inorganic Nanomaterials

The interfaces between inorganic functional nanomaterials and their surface modifiers play important roles in determining their chemical and physical properties. In numerous situations, interfaces created by organic ligands or secondary inorganic components on inorganic nanomaterials induce significant effects to promote their performances. However, it still remains challenging to understand those interfacial effects at the molecular level. Herein, strategies via the design of model inorganic nanomaterials with well-defined and detectable interfaces to simplify the investigation of interfacial effects in inorganic nanomaterials are summarized. While atomically precise metal nanoclusters enable "seeing" how organic ligands are coordinated on metal surface to create nanoscale metal-organic interfaces, ultrathin low-dimensional nanomaterials modified with organic ligands make it possible to extract the metal-organic interface structure from the average signal to investigate how steric and electronic effects enhance catalysis. The molecular mechanisms of the interfacial effects in supported metal catalysts are disclosed by designing two unique structures of supported catalysts. The interfacial engineering approach will be further extended to optimize the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells. Finally, a perspective on the development of operando characterization techniques is provided to track the dynamic interfacial structures during catalysis.