X-ray absorption spectroscopy of phosphine-capped Au clusters
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Date
2023-04-28
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
The structural determination of ultrasmall clusters remains a challenge due to difficulties in crystallisation. Often the atomically precise clusters undergo structural change under the influence of the environment. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) can be an attractive tool to study the electronic and geometric properties of such clusters deposited onto various supports under in situ conditions. Herein, [Au6(dppp)4](NO3)2, [Au9(PPh3)8](NO3)3, [Au13(dppe)5Cl2]Cl3, and Au101(PPPh3)21Cl5 clusters were studied using XAS. The clusters exhibited distinct features compared to bulk gold. XANES results show a systematic increase in the absorption edge energy and white line intensity, with a decrease in cluster nuclearity. The EXAFS of clusters are sensitive to nuclearity and ligands and were fitted with their known crystal structures. This study advances the understanding of the phosphine-ligated metal clusters relevant to practical applications in catalysis and sensing. © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Description
Keywords
Absorption, Spectroscopy, Gold, Phosphines, Chlorine, Crystal structure, Nanoparticles, Synthesis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Citation
Sharma, S. K., Johannessen, B., Golovko, V. B., & Marshall, A. T. (2023). X-ray absorption spectroscopy of phosphine-capped Au clusters. Inorganics, 11(5), 191. doi:10.3390/inorganics11050191