Recent Progress in Inorganic Anions Templated Silver Nanoclusters: Synthesis, Structures and Properties

Over recent years, research on the ligand-protected silver clusters have gained significant interest owing to their unique potential applications in catalysis, organic optoelectronics, and luminescent materials. However, the synthesis of structurally precise high-nuclearity silver nanoclusters is still challenging and become one of the prime interests of chemists. The controllable synthesis of high-nuclearity silver nanoclusters involves the ingenious use of capping ligands or/and templating agents. Thereinto, the main role of the templating agents is to promote the order arrangement of silver ions around them to form discrete molecules. Our lab has performed comprehensive studies on the ligand-protected silver clusters in the past eight years. This review highlights recent progress in the use of inorganic template anions, silver precursors, solvents, and the ligand types in synthesizing high-nuclearity silver nanoclusters. Furthermore, some interesting photo- and electrochemical properties revealed by silver clusters including luminescent thermochromism, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical reduction of H2O2 have been also summarized.