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Polyoxometalates 2024, 3(3): 9140057 https://doi.org/10.26599/POM.2024.9140057
Review Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 01 March 2024

Advances in coinage metal nanoclusters: From synthesis strategies to electrocatalytic performance

Show Author's Information Piracha Sanwal1,2,§,  Ali Raza3,§,  Yu-Xin Miao1( ),  Brock Lumbers4( ),  Gao Li1,2( )
Institute of Catalysis for Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Department of Physics "Ettore Pancini", University of Naples Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Faculty of Technology & Bionics, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 47533 Kleve, Germany

§ Piracha Sanwal and Ali Raza contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
size effect, electrocatalysis, metal nanoclusters, synthesis strategies
Cite this article:
Sanwal P, Raza A, Miao Y-X, et al. Advances in coinage metal nanoclusters: From synthesis strategies to electrocatalytic performance. Polyoxometalates, 2024, 3(3): 9140057. https://doi.org/10.26599/POM.2024.9140057
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Abstract Full text About this article

Due to the powerful quantum confined space effects and multiple modes of small atomic sizes, metal nanoclusters (NCs) like thiolate-protected noble metals, such as silver (Ag) and gold (Au), which have a core sizes less than 3 nm, have developed a class of "metallic molecules" with multiple optical, magnetic, and electronic properties. To find a well-defined nanocatalysts, especially ligand-passivated metal NCs, great strides have been achieved in the efficient synthesis of atomically precise nanoparticles. Methods of synthesis such as bottom-up growth, top-down approach, ligand engineering, and interconversion system, are mentioned in this overview. Such clearly defined metal NCs have demonstrated considerable promise in catalysis research and have evolved into a distinct class of model catalysts. Focusing on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), this article attempts to outline current developments in NCs of molecular metals employed in electrocatalytic reactions. The paper highlights the relationship between the structure and performance of the catalytic mechanism and examines the potential effects of metal cluster sizes, metal core structures, charges, ligands, and metal–ligand binding patterns on their electrocatalytic activity. Future research opportunities and challenges are also proposed.


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About this article

Advances in coinage metal nanoclusters: From synthesis strategies to electrocatalytic performance

Show Author's information Piracha Sanwal1,2,§, Ali Raza3,§, Yu-Xin Miao1( ), Brock Lumbers4( ), Gao Li1,2( )
Institute of Catalysis for Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Department of Physics "Ettore Pancini", University of Naples Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Faculty of Technology & Bionics, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, 47533 Kleve, Germany

§ Piracha Sanwal and Ali Raza contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Due to the powerful quantum confined space effects and multiple modes of small atomic sizes, metal nanoclusters (NCs) like thiolate-protected noble metals, such as silver (Ag) and gold (Au), which have a core sizes less than 3 nm, have developed a class of "metallic molecules" with multiple optical, magnetic, and electronic properties. To find a well-defined nanocatalysts, especially ligand-passivated metal NCs, great strides have been achieved in the efficient synthesis of atomically precise nanoparticles. Methods of synthesis such as bottom-up growth, top-down approach, ligand engineering, and interconversion system, are mentioned in this overview. Such clearly defined metal NCs have demonstrated considerable promise in catalysis research and have evolved into a distinct class of model catalysts. Focusing on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), this article attempts to outline current developments in NCs of molecular metals employed in electrocatalytic reactions. The paper highlights the relationship between the structure and performance of the catalytic mechanism and examines the potential effects of metal cluster sizes, metal core structures, charges, ligands, and metal–ligand binding patterns on their electrocatalytic activity. Future research opportunities and challenges are also proposed.

Keywords: size effect, electrocatalysis, metal nanoclusters, synthesis strategies

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Publication history

Received: 22 November 2023
Revised: 12 January 2024
Accepted: 16 January 2024
Published: 01 March 2024
Issue date: March 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22172167 and 22272112).

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