Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) provides an efficient strategy to synthesize highly luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs), however, rational control of emission energy and intensity of metal NCs is still challenging. This communication reveals the impact of surface AuI‐thiolate motifs on the AIE properties of Au NCs, by employing a series of water‐soluble glutathione (GSH)‐coordinated Au complexes and NCs as a model ([Au10SR10], [Au15SR13], [Au18SR14], and [Au25SR18]−, SR=thiolate ligand). Spectroscopic investigations show that the emission wavelength of Au NCs is adjustable from visible to the near‐infrared II (NIR‐II) region by controlling the length of the AuI‐SR motifs on the NC surface. Decreasing the length of AuI‐SR motifs also changes the origin of cluster luminescence from AIE‐type phosphorescence to Au0‐core‐dictated fluorescence. This effect becomes more prominent when the degree of aggregation of Au NCs increases in solution.

The design of surface ligands is crucial for ligand‐protected gold nanoclusters (Au NCs). Besides providing good protection for Au NCs, the surface ligands also play the following two important roles: i) as the outermost layer of Au NCs, the ligands will directly interact with the exterior environment (e.g., solvents, molecules and cells) influencing Au NCs in various applications; and ii) the interfacial chemistry between ligands and gold atoms can determine the structures, as well as the physical and chemical properties of Au NCs. A delicate ligand design in Au NCs (or other metal NCs) needs to consider the covalent bonds between ligands and gold atoms (e.g., gold–sulfur (Au–S) and gold–phosphorus (Au–P) bond), the physics forces between ligands (e.g., hydrophobic and van der Waals forces), and the ionic forces between the functional groups of ligands (e.g., carboxylic (COOH) and amine group (NH2)); which form the underlying chemistry and discussion focus of this review article. Here, detailed discussions on the effects of surface ligands (e.g., thiolate, phosphine, and alkynyl ligands; or hydrophobic and hydrophilic ligands) on the synthesis, structures, and properties of Au NCs; highlighting the design principles in the surface engineering of Au NCs for diverse emerging applications, are provided.

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Metal nanoclusters (NCs) have recently attracted great interest in biomedical applications due to their ultrasmall size, good biocompatibility, and unique molecule-like physical and chemical properties. Metal NCs can be rationally designed and integrated with various targeting moieties to achieve unique physicochemical properties and functions. For therapeutic applications, these multifunctional surface-modified NCs can provide distinctive advantages over native metal NCs, such as improved therapeutic effects and reduced side effects. In this review, the design principles of targeting strategies for metal NCs and their composites, including passive and active targeting, and physical and chemical targeting are first discussed. The authors then focus on the recent achievements in the application of metal NCs in targeted therapeutics, including chemotherapy, phototherapy, and radiotherapy. Finally, the authors' perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of developing metal NCs in targeted therapeutics, further paving their way for potential clinical applications are provided.

Gold (Au)-based nanomaterials, including nanoparticles (NPs) and nanoclusters (NCs), have shown great potential in many electrocatalytic reactions due to their excellent catalytic ability and selectivity. In recent years, Au-based nanostructured...

The many fundamental properties of ultrasmall noble metal nanoclusters have made it increasingly clear that they possess enormous potential for photo- and electro-catalytic applications due to their unique electronic and optical properties.

With the development of the chemical industry, more pollutants are produced in the environment, some of which are difficult to degrade by traditional biological treatment methods. Catalysis can directly degrade pollutants into products with less impact on the environment. In the past two decades, due to their unique physical and chemical properties, noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) have been widely used as highly efficient catalysts in environmental catalysis for water and air pollutant treatment. The properties of NMNs are highly dependent on their parameters, including size, composition, and support, which can be readily used to improve the efficiency of NMNs-based catalysts. In this review, we discuss the effects of size, composition, and support on the catalytic performance of NMNs based on different environmental catalytic methods and characteristic pollutants in water and air. In addition, we focus on the mechanism of environmental catalysis and the relationship between catalytic performance and the properties of the catalysts and the chemical nature of the pollutants. We hope that this review will provide guidance for the design of NMNs-based catalysts for pollutant decomposition.

Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) provides an efficient strategy to synthesize highly luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs), however, rational control of emission energy and intensity of metal NCs is still challenging. This communication reveals the impact of surface AuI‐thiolate motifs on the AIE properties of Au NCs, by employing a series of water‐soluble glutathione (GSH)‐coordinated Au complexes and NCs as a model ([Au10SR10], [Au15SR13], [Au18SR14], and [Au25SR18]−, SR=thiolate ligand). Spectroscopic investigations show that the emission wavelength of Au NCs is adjustable from visible to the near‐infrared II (NIR‐II) region by controlling the length of the AuI‐SR motifs on the NC surface. Decreasing the length of AuI‐SR motifs also changes the origin of cluster luminescence from AIE‐type phosphorescence to Au0‐core‐dictated fluorescence. This effect becomes more prominent when the degree of aggregation of Au NCs increases in solution.