Ag Nanoclusters

In recent years, atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs) have attracted wide interest because of their novel molecule-like properties and promising applications, such as catalysis, sensors, chirality, and electrochemistry. Several studies have shown that the surface ligands can induce spatial and electronic effects of NCs, thereby changing their catalytic and fluorescence performances. Among them, Au- and silver (Ag)-based NCs are intensively investigated. This chapter summarizes the literature work on ligand-protected Ag NCs and includes the synthesis, structure, and properties. The synthesis of Ag nanoclusters has been developed over the past years. In recent years, a number of novel NCs structures have been reported, which also provide models for studying properties and the surface coordination chemistry of metal nanomaterials. The chapter discusses three aspects of properties: chirality, fluorescence, and catalysis.