Aromatic alkyne-protected Au28 nanoclusters for electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation†
Abstract
An aromatic alkyne-protected Au28 nanocluster, that is Au28(DMPA)20 (DMPA = 1-ethynyl-2,4-dimethylbenzene), is reported in this work, and its atomic-packing structure is very similar to that of Au28(SR)20 (where SR denotes thiolate) reported before. Compared to thiolate-capped Au28(SR)20, the Au28(DMPA)20 nanocluster catalyst can give rise to a much higher catalytic activity in electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation.