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CONSPECTUS: Metal alloys exhibit functionalities unlike those of single metals. Such alloying has drawn considerable research interest, particularly for nanoscale particles (metal clusters/nanoparticles), from the viewpoint of creating new functional nanomaterials. In gas phase cluster research, generated alloy clusters can be spatially separated with atomic precision in vacuum. Thus, the influences of increases or decreases in each element on the overall electronic structure of the cluster can be elucidated. However, to further understand the related mixing and synergistic effects, alloy clusters need to be produced on a large scale and characterized by various techniques. Because alloy clusters protected by thiolate (SR) can be synthesized by chemical methods and are stable in both solution and the solid state, these clusters are ideal study materials to better understand the mixing and synergistic effects. Moreover, the alloy clusters thus created have potential applications as functional materials. Therefore, since 2008, we have been working on establishing a precise synthesis method for SR-protected alloy clusters and elucidating their mixing and synergistic effects. Early research focused on the precise synthesis of alloy clusters wherein some of the Au in the stable SR-protected gold clusters ([Au 25 (SR) 18 ] − and [Au 38 (SR) 24 ] 0 ) is replaced by Pd, Ag, or Cu. These studies have shown that Pd, Ag, or Cu substitute at different metal sites. We also have examined the as-synthesized alloy clusters to clarify the effect of substitution by each element on the physical and chemical properties of the clusters. However, in early studies, the number of substitutions could not be controlled with atomic accuracy for [Au 25−x M x (SR) 18 ] − (M = Ag or Cu). Then, in following research, methods have been established to obtain alloy clusters with control over the composition. We have succeeded in developing a method for controlling the number of Ag substitutions with atomic precision and thereby elucidating the effect of Ag substitution on the electronic structure of clusters with atomic precision. Concurrently, we also studied alloy clusters containing multiple heteroelements with different preferential substitution sites. These results revealed that the effects of substitution of each element can be superimposed on the cluster by combining multiple elemental substitutions at different sites. In addition, we successfully developed methods to synthesize alloy clusters with heterometal core. These findings are expected to lead to clear design guidelines for developing new functional nanomaterials.

N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 hybrid core-shell nanoplates have been successfully prepared via a facile, cost-effective and eco-friendly ultrasonic dispersion method for the first time. HRTEM studies confirm the formation of the N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 hybrid core-shell nanoplates with an average diameter of 50 nm and the g-C3N4 shell thickness can be tuned by varying the content of loaded g-C3N4. The direct contact of the N-doped ZnO surface and g-C3N4 shell without any adhesive interlayer introduced a new carbon energy level in the N-doped ZnO band gap and thereby effectively lowered the band gap energy. Consequently, the as-prepared hybrid core-shell nanoplates showed a greatly enhanced visible-light photocatalysis for the degradation of Rhodamine B compare to that of pure N-doped ZnO surface and g-C3N4. Based on the experimental results, a proposed mechanism for the N-doped ZnO/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was discussed. Interestingly, the hybrid core-shell nanoplates possess high photostability. The improved photocatalytic performance is due to a synergistic effect at the interface of the N-doped ZnO and g-C3N4 including large surface-exposure area, energy band structure and enhanced charge-separation properties. Significantly, the enhanced performance also demonstrates the importance of evaluating new core-shell composite photocatalysts with g-C3N4 as shell material.

Herein we demonstrate a facile, reproducible, and templatefree strategy to prepare g-C 3 N 4 −Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites by an in situ growth mechanism. The results indicate that monodisperse Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with diameters as small as 8 nm are uniformly deposited on g-C 3 N 4 sheets, and as a result, aggregation of the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles is effectively prevented. The as-prepared g-C 3 N 4 −Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation. Interestingly, the g-C 3 N 4 − Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites showed good recyclability without loss of apparent photocatalytic activity even after six cycles, and more importantly, g-C 3 N 4 − Fe 3 O 4 could be recovered magnetically. The high performance of the g-C 3 N 4 −Fe 3 O 4 photocatalysts is due to a synergistic effect including the large surface-exposure area, high visible-light-absorption efficiency, and enhanced charge-separation properties. In addition, the superparamagnetic behavior of the as-prepared g-C 3 N 4 −Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites also makes them promising candidates for applications in the fields of lithium storage capacity and bionanotechnology.

To establish an ultimate energy conversion system consisting of a water-splitting photocatalyst and a fuel cell, it is necessary to further increase the efficiencies of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Recently, it was demonstrated that thiolate (SR)-protected gold clusters, Au n (SR) m , and their related alloy clusters can serve as model catalysts for these three reactions. However, as the previous data have been obtained under different experimental conditions, it is difficult to use them to gain a deep understanding of the means to attain higher activity in these reactions. Herein, we measured the HER, OER, and ORR activities of Au n (SR) m and alloy clusters containing different numbers of constituent atoms, ligand functional groups, and heteroatom species under identical experimental conditions. We obtained a comprehensive set of results that illustrates the effect of each parameter on the activities of the three reactions. Comparison of the series of results revealed that decreasing the number of constituent atoms in the cluster, decreasing the thickness of the ligand layer, and substituting Au with Pd improve the activities in all reactions. Taking the stability of the cluster into consideration, [Au 24 Pd(PET) 18 ] 0 (PET = 2-phenylethanethiolate) can be considered as a metal cluster with high potential as an HER, OER, and ORR catalyst. These findings are expected to provide clear design guidelines for the development of highly active HER, OER, and ORR catalysts using Au n (SR) m and related alloy clusters, which would allow realization of an ultimate energy conversion system. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Geometrical structure of each cluster, MALDI mass spectra, UV-vis spectra, schematic of the proposed energy conversion system, additional linear sweep voltammograms of the products. See

The new selenated Schiff bases L1-L4 which differ in the chain lengths (longest in L4) of non-coordinating substituents and their square planar complexes [Pd(L-H)Cl] (1-4) [L = L1-L4, behaving as (Se, N, O(-)) ligand] have been synthesized and characterized by multinuclei NMR. The molecular structure of 1 has been elucidated by X-ray diffraction on its single crystal [Pd-Se = 2.3965(9) Å]. All the complexes 1-4 (0.5 mol%) have been found suitable to catalyze Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions under mild conditions. The activity of 4 which has ligand L4 has been found highest. The formation of palladium(0) nano-particles (NPs) stablilized by organoselenium species appears to be the catalytic pathway. The length of the pendent alkyl chain present in the complex molecule unprecedentedly controls the dispersion and composition of these particles and consequently the catalytic activity.

Techniques to control the chemical compositions and geometric structures of alloy clusters are indispensable to understand the correlation between the structures and physical/chemical properties of alloy clusters. In this study, we established a method to separate thiolate-protected 25-atom gold-silver alloy clusters (AuAg (SR)) according to their chemical composition and structural isomer. Furthermore, using this method, we revealed that an isomeric distribution of the products exists in AuAg (SR) ( x ≥ 2) and that the distribution of these isomers depends on the synthesis method and standing time in solution. In this study, it was also demonstrated that the continuous discretization of the electronic structure is induced by the Ag substitution. This method can also be used to separate mixtures of [AuM(SR)] (M = Au, Pt, or Pd) and other Au-Ag alloy clusters ([AuAg (SR)] and [AuAg (SR)]). This method is expected to be used to obtain comprehensive knowledge of the structural-property correlation of alloy clusters.

Ligand exchange reactions can introduce new ligands onto clusters to afford new physical/chemical properties and functions. Many studies on the ligand exchange reactions of thiolate-protected gold clusters using other chalcogenates (i.e., selenolates or tellurolates) as exchange ligands have been conducted in recent years. However, there is limited information on the preferential exchange sites and electronic structure of the exchanged products. In this study, we investigated the geometric and electronic structures of the products obtained by reacting [Au25(SC2H4Ph)18]− with PhSeH or (PhTe)2 by single-crystal X-ray structural analysis, differential pulse voltammetry, and optical absorption spectroscopy. The results revealed that these exchange reactions preferentially produce products containing substituted ligands close to the gold core. In addition, we quantitatively determined the changes in the redox potentials and optical transition energies induced by continuous ligand exchange. This systematic investigation revealed that exchange with SePh induces nonlinear changes in the electronic structure of the clusters with the number of exchanged ligands. These findings are expected to lead to the improved design guidelines to produce clusters with new functions by ligand exchange with other chalcogenates.