Affiliation:
1. Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials Anhui University Ministry of Education Anhui University Hefei Anhui 230601 P. R. China
2. Institute for New Energy Materials and Low Carbon Technologies School of Materials Science and Engineering Tianjin University of Technology Tianjin 300384 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractExploiting emissive hydrophobic nanoclusters for hydrophilic applications remains a challenge because of photoluminescence (PL) quenching during phase transfer. In addition, the mechanism underlying PL quenching remains unclear. In this study, the PL‐quenching mechanism was examined by analyzing the atomically precise structures and optical properties of a surface‐engineered Ag29 nanocluster with an all‐around‐carboxyl‐functionalized surface. Specifically, phase‐transfer‐triggered PL quenching was justified as molecular decoupling, which directed an unfixed cluster surface and weakened the radiative transition. Furthermore, emission recovery of the quenched nanoclusters was accomplished by using a supramolecular recoupling approach through the glutathione‐addition‐induced aggregation of cluster molecules, wherein the restriction of intracluster motion and intercluster rotation strengthened the radiative transition of the clusters. The results of this work offer a new perspective on structure‐emission correlations for atomically precise nanoclusters and hopefully provide insight into the fabrication of highly emissive cluster‐based nanomaterials for downstream hydrophilic applications.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Subject
General Chemistry,Catalysis