Facile synthesis of water-soluble Au25–xAgx nanoclusters protected by mono- and bi-thiolate ligands†
Abstract
A series of water-soluble Au25–xAgx nanoclusters (NCs) protected by mono- and bi-thiolate ligands are synthesized via the NaOH-mediated NaBH4 reduction method. Compositions of both the metal core and the ligand shell can be tailored by varying the feeding ratios of metal precursors and hetero-ligands, further enriching the functionalities of the NCs.