Unlocking the Photoluminescence and Photostability of Au Clusters through Pt-Mediated Band-Gap Engineering.

Au nanoclusters often demonstrate useful optical properties such as visible/near-infrared photoluminescence, in addition to remarkable thermodynamic stability owing to their superatomic behavior. The smallest of the 8e superatomic Au nanoclusters, Au, has limited applications due to its lack of luminescence and relatively low stability. In this work, we investigate the introduction of a single Pt dopant to the center of a halide- and triphenylphosphine-ligated Au nanocluster, affording a cluster with a proposed molecular formula PtAu(PPh)Br.

Detection with NO Modification: (N═O)-Au Interactions for Instantaneous Label-Free Detection of -Nitrosodiphenylamine.

Increasing concerns have been raised about dangerous, yet nearly undetectable levels of nitrosamines in foods, medications, and drinking water. Their ubiquitous presence and carcinogenicity necessitates a method of sensitive and selective detection of these potent toxins. While the detection of two major nitrosamines─-nitrosodimethylamine and -nitrosodiethylamine─has seen success, low detection limits are scarcer for the other members of this class.

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetoplasmonic Air-Stable Au@FeCo.

The synthesis of FeCo alloys as highly magnetic nanoparticles has been valuable, as far as applications for magnetic nanoparticles are concerned. However, recently, a field of magnetoplasmonics in which magnetic nanoparticles such as the FeCo alloys doped with plasmonic materials such as Au and Ag to create a hybrid nanostructure with both properties has emerged. These magnetoplasmonic metamaterials have greatly enhanced the limit of detection of analytes in spectroscopic methods, as well as providing a more widely applicable nanoparticle to broaden the use of FeCo alloys even further.