Oscillation
is an intriguing phenomenon in nature. However, structural
oscillation has not yet been found in semiconducting nanoparticles,
primarily due to the difficulty of structural resolution at the atomic
level. The emergence of gold nanoclusters (ultrasmall nanoparticles)
has provided an excellent opportunity to address some challenging
issues in the nanoparticle field. Herein, two Au28(CHT)20 (CHT: cyclohexanethiolate) structural isomers (Au28i and Au28ii for short) were concurrently synthesized by
employing a quasi-antigalvanic method, and they could be reversibly
transformed into each other for at least 10 cycles, driven by dissolution
and crystallization processes. The transformation from Au28ii to Au28i is solvent-dielectric-constant-dependent, with
a notable deuteration effect from dichloromethane. The markedly different
photoluminescence values of these two isomers not only have important
implications for the structure–property correlations but also
have potential applications in converting, sensing, etc.
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