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Updated: Oct 21, 2025
Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
A double helical 4H assembly pattern with secondary hierarchical complexity in an Ag70 nanocluster crystal
Tao Chen1, Sha Yang2, Qinzhen Li1
1School of Physics and Materials Science, Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui Key Laboratory of Information Materials and Devices, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, People's Republic of China. liguang1971@ahu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The hierarchical assemblies of well-defined structural nanoclusters can help to better understand those of biologically important molecules such as DNA and proteins. Herein, we disclose the synthesis and characterization of a new silver nanocluster, that is Ag70(SR)42(PPh3)5 (Ag70-TPP). Directed by the ligands, Ag70-TPP nanoclusters undergo self-hierarchical assembly into a highly space-efficient complex secondary structure of a double helical 4H (DH4H) close packing pattern. The chirality of Ag70-TPP, and the van der Waals forces interactions between the ligands are believed to drive its DH4H arrangement, and the observed interlocking of the phosphine ligands of adjacent Ag70-TPP nanoclusters also contributed. Overall, this work has yielded important and unprecedented insights into the internal structure and crystallographic arrangement of nanoclusters.
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