Luminescent Ag₇ and Ag₈ clusters by interfacial synthesis

Abstract

Interfacial etching of silver nanoparticles and separation of the products by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis afforded Ag₈ and Ag₇ clusters with red and blue-green fluorescence emission, respectively (see picture). The strongly temperature-dependent emission of the clusters suggests potential applications, whilst their facile phase transfer to organic media facilitates further studies.