Aqueous-based synthesis of atomic gold clusters

Abstract

Gold clusters synthesized by the solution-based growth technique have exhibited ultraviolet (UV) light emission with nearly zero Stokes shift. Atomic arrangement decided optical properties of the Au microclusters have been studied extensively. In addition to the time-of-flight mass spectra, the comparison of experimental and theoretical emission and absorption spectra confirms the presence of Au8 clusters with the planar hexagon+1 -shaped geometry. The observed UV emission is attributed to the transition from the highest occupied to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of the hexagon +1 structured Au8 clusters.