Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Synthesis and Catalytic Application - Atomically-Precise Methods for Synthesis of Solid Catalysts - page 123

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CHAPTER 5
Atomically Precise Gold
Nanoclusters: Synthesis and
Catalytic Application

GAO LI AND RONGCHAO JIN*

Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, 4400 Fifth Ave,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
*Email: [e-mail]

5.1 Introduction
Gold nanoparticles have attracted significant interest in catalysis re-
search. 1-5 A major aspect of nanocatalysts lies in the size distribution of the
particles. For fundamental studies, the polydispersity of conventional
nanocatalysts poses some tough issues. First, the size-dependent catalytic
activities of nanoparticles are averaged out in the case of polydisperse
catalysts. Second, the surface of the nanocatalyst is dicult to identify
clearly, albeit crystal facets such as (111) and (100) can be assigned. Thus, it
is dicult to relate the observed catalytic performance to the structure and
intrinsic properties of nanocatalysts. To overcome these obstacles, well-
defined gold nanocatalysts are highly desirable, especially in fundamental
studies of catalysis.
In recent years, remarkable progress has been achieved in solution-phase
synthesis of atomically precise gold nanoparticles. These unique nano-
particles resemble molecular compounds and are often called nanoclusters,
notably the thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters. 6-8 Specific-size Au
nanoclusters are composed of precise numbers of gold atoms (n) and of

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