Sequential addition of cations increases photoluminescence quantum yield of metal nanoclusters near unity

Xue Wang, Yuan Zhong, Tingting Li, Kunyu Wang, Weinan Dong, Min Lu, Yu Zhang, Zhennan Wu (), Aiwei Tang () and Xue Bai ()
Additional contact information
Xue Wang: Jilin University
Yuan Zhong: Jilin University
Tingting Li: Jilin Jianzhu University
Kunyu Wang: Jilin University
Weinan Dong: Jilin University
Min Lu: Jilin University
Yu Zhang: Jilin University
Zhennan Wu: Jilin University
Aiwei Tang: Beijing Jiaotong University
Xue Bai: Jilin University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Photoluminescence is one of the most intriguing properties of metal nanoclusters derived from their molecular-like electronic structure, however, achieving high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of metal core-dictated fluorescence remains a formidable challenge. Here, we report efficient suppression of the total structural vibrations and rotations, and management of the pathways and rates of the electron transfer dynamics to boost a near-unity absolute PLQY, by decorating progressive addition of cations. Specifically, with the sequential addition of Zn2+, Ag+, and Tb3+ into the 3-mercaptopropionic acids capped Au nanoclusters (NCs), the low-frequency vibration of the metal core progressively decreases from 144.0, 55.2 to 40.0 cm−1, and the coupling strength of electrons-high-frequency vibration related to surface motifs gradually diminishes from 40.2, 30.5 to 14.4 meV. Moreover, introducing cation additives significantly reduces electron transfer time from 40, 27 to 12 ps in the pathway from staple motifs to the metal core. This benefits from the shrinkage of the total structure that speeds up the shell-core electron transition, and in particular, the Tb3+ provides a hopping platform for the excited electrons as their intrinsic ladder-like energy level structure. As a result, it allows a remarkable enhancement in PLQY, from 51.2%, 83.4%, up to 99.5%.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-55975-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-55975-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-55975-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().