Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Heterogeneous Catalysis01:22

Heterogeneous Catalysis

Heterogeneous catalysis involves a catalyst in a different phase from the reactants. It is a process where the catalyst and the reactants are in distinct phases, typically solid and gas or liquid.Most heterogeneous catalysts are metals, metal oxides, or acids. The list includes transition metals like iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), tungsten (W), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu). These metals possess partially vacant d orbitals that...
Catalysis01:27

Catalysis

Catalysis influences the rate of chemical reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway with lower activation energy. A catalyst speeds up a reaction, but it is not consumed during the process. The fundamental principle of catalysis is the ability of a catalyst to alter the reaction mechanism, often introducing a more efficient pathway than the uncatalyzed process.In a catalyzed reaction, the catalyst participates directly in the reaction mechanism. It interacts with reactants to form...
Catalysis02:50

Catalysis

The presence of a catalyst affects the rate of a chemical reaction. A catalyst is a substance that can increase the reaction rate without being consumed during the process. A basic comprehension of a catalysts’ role during chemical reactions can be understood from the concept of reaction mechanisms and energy diagrams.
Formation of Complex Ions03:45

Formation of Complex Ions

A type of Lewis acid-base chemistry involves the formation of a complex ion (or a coordination complex) comprising a central atom, typically a transition metal cation, surrounded by ions or molecules called ligands. These ligands can be neutral molecules like H2O or NH3, or ions such as CN− or OH−. Often, the ligands act as Lewis bases, donating a pair of electrons to the central atom. These types of Lewis acid-base reactions are examples of a broad subdiscipline called coordination...
Thermodynamics: Activity Coefficient01:24

Thermodynamics: Activity Coefficient

Activity is the measure of the effective concentration of the species in solution. It can be expressed as the product of the molar concentration of the species and its activity coefficient. The activity coefficient is a dimensionless quantity and depends on the total ionic strength of the solution.
The activity coefficient is a measure of the deviation from ideal behavior. When the ionic strength of the solution is minimal, the activity coefficient of an ionic species is close to unity, making...
Factors Affecting Activity Coefficient01:17

Factors Affecting Activity Coefficient

The extended Debye-Hückel equation indicates that the activity coefficient of an ion in an aqueous solution at 25°C depends on three partially interdependent properties: the ionic strength of the solution, the charge of the ion, and the ion size. 
The activity coefficient value for an ion is close to one when the solution has almost zero ionic strength, i.e., when the solution shows close to ideal behavior. As the ionic strength of the solution increases from 0 to 0.1 mol/L, a decrease in the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Evolution Pathway from Iron Precursors to Fe-N<sub>4</sub> Single-Atom Catalysts via High-Temperature Cyanide Coordination Chemistry.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

<i>In Vitro</i> Digestion and Fecal Fermentation Characteristics of Extruded High Amylose Maize Starch with Different Moisture Contents.

Foods (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Quantifying Deep-Level Defects-Dominated Degradation for Commercially Viable Perovskite Solar Cells.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026
Same author

Frustrated Lewis Pair and Photocatalysis Synergistically Promote Copper Nanocluster Catalysis.

ACS nano·2026
Same author

Controlled Synthesis of Thiol-Protected Pd Nanoclusters via an Organophosphine Pre-Protection Strategy.

Inorganic chemistry·2026
Same author

Revealing the Monosubstituted Thiol Exchange Mechanism of Atomically Precise CdAu<sub>24</sub>(SR)<sub>18</sub> Nanoclusters.

Chemistry, an Asian journal·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 16, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
08:40

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production

Published on: December 6, 2021

Quantitative Relationships between Lewis Acidity and Catalytic Activity in Atomically Precise Copper Nanoclusters.

Jian Hou1, Dongjie Zuo1, Zhimin Chen2

  • 1College of Energy Materials and Chemistry, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China.

Journal of the American Chemical Society
|May 15, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters (APMNCs) enable quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) by linking Lewis acidity (LA) to catalytic performance. Lower LA enhances electron donation, improving hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and paving the way for water-splitting systems.

More Related Videos

Catalytic Reactions at Amine-Stabilized and Ligand-Free Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Titania During Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Aldehydes
12:08

Catalytic Reactions at Amine-Stabilized and Ligand-Free Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Titania During Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Aldehydes

Published on: June 24, 2022

Characterizing Lewis Pairs Using Titration Coupled with In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy
07:49

Characterizing Lewis Pairs Using Titration Coupled with In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy

Published on: February 20, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 16, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
08:40

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production

Published on: December 6, 2021

Catalytic Reactions at Amine-Stabilized and Ligand-Free Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Titania During Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Aldehydes
12:08

Catalytic Reactions at Amine-Stabilized and Ligand-Free Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Titania During Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Aldehydes

Published on: June 24, 2022

Characterizing Lewis Pairs Using Titration Coupled with In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy
07:49

Characterizing Lewis Pairs Using Titration Coupled with In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy

Published on: February 20, 2020

Area of Science:

  • Catalysis
  • Nanomaterials Science
  • Computational Chemistry

Background:

  • Atomically precise metal nanoclusters (APMNCs) are crucial for structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies in catalysis.
  • Developing quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) for cluster catalysis, especially incorporating Lewis acidity (LA), remains challenging.
  • Understanding the mechanistic link between physicochemical descriptors and catalytic performance in APMNCs is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To establish quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) using isostructural APMNCs.
  • To investigate the role of Lewis acidity (LA) as a key descriptor in modulating the catalytic activity of nanocluster catalysts.
  • To demonstrate the application of APMNCs in designing efficient catalytic systems for water splitting.

Main Methods:

  • Synthesis of a series of isostructural [X@Cu14(ligand)4(ligand)12] nanoclusters with tunable Lewis acidity (LA) via ligand modification.
  • Experimental evaluation of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance for the synthesized nanoclusters.
  • Density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate the electronic structure and reaction mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • A strong correlation was established between Lewis acidity (LA) and HER catalytic activity across the synthesized nanocluster series.
  • Lower Lewis acidity (LA) was found to promote efficient electron donation, reducing the reaction energy barrier and enhancing HER activity.
  • The optimized nanocluster catalyst enabled the development of an integrated photovoltaic-electrolysis system for efficient water splitting.

Conclusions:

  • Lewis acidity (LA) is a significant electronic descriptor for the rational design of nanocluster catalysts.
  • This study pioneers the use of APMNCs for establishing QSARs in nanocatalysis.
  • The findings pave the way for designing advanced APMNCs for sustainable energy applications like water splitting.