Progress in controlling the synthesis of atomically precise silver nanoclusters

Abstract

Atomically precise silver nanoclusters with ultrasmall sizes (<3 nm) have received unprecedented attention due to their unique electronic structure and other excellent physicochemical properties in the field of nanochemistry. However, major challenges are controlling the synthesis and tailoring the composition and structure (including the core and surface coordination) of thiolate-protected monodisperse silver nanoclusters, which have become the prime interest of researchers in this field. The past decades have witnessed various synthetic methodologies commonly used to prepare thiolate-protected silver nanoclusters with a well-defined size and composition. In this short review, some studies on diverse synthetic strategies for synthesizing ligand-protected silver nanoclusters were highlighted. The most widely used synthesis methods for atomically precise silver nanoclusters of several types were classified, including one-pot synthesis, ligand exchange, anion templated synthesis, biomolecule mediated synthesis, two-step approaches, solid-state route and other synthesis methods. A breakthrough in synthetic methods will be beneficial to preparing atomically precise silver nanoclusters. Finally, an outlook was presented for silver nanoclusters with the desired structure and composition from three aspects: synthetic mechanism, structural diversity, and potential applications.