Recent progress in applications of ligand‐stabilized metal nanoclusters

Abstract

AbstractDue to a nanotechnology boom in science and technology, the metal nanoclusters or nanoparticles stabilized by polymers and organic ligands have achieved much attention recently all over the world. We have studied on the preparation of polymer‐stabilized metal nanoclusters by chemical methods, and applied them mainly to catalyses. Here the recent progresses in our group are presented in the structure control of bimetallic and trimetallic nanoclusters and in the applications of metal nanoclusters not only to the catalyses but also to the sensing responsive to pH and molecular recognition, and to the electro‐optic properties of liquid‐crystalline display rapidly responsive to frequency modulation. Preparation of trimetallic nanoclusters with a triple core/shell structure is especially emphasized to serve as a very active catalyst at a special atomic ratio of three elements.