Chapter 9 - Superatoms: From Motifs to Materials

Abstract

Cluster assemblies provide an avenue towards building materials with a wide variety of tuneable properties. The properties of clusters can be altered by changing the number of atoms, by replacing an atom with a different element, and by assembling them into different architectures. The reactivity, magnetic properties, electronic structure and optical properties of clusters can change strikingly by adding or removing even a single atom. The characterization and cataloguing all of the potential properties is a daunting task, and the organization of the enormous numbers and varieties of clusters into a useful framework would clarify and instruct potential cluster assemblies and properties. A simple and elegant framework in which clusters may be organized is by characterizing those whose properties and reactivity may be approximated by those of an atom and which behave like a superatom. This terminology is not meant to minimize the unique character and properties of clusters, but rather to manage them in a reasonable frame in which the general properties of the cluster may be predicted.