チオラート保護貴金属クラスターの光物理：その理解の現状と応用

抄録

Ligand-protected metal clusters are well-defined, ultrasmall particles with a diameter of less than 3 nm (less than 1000 constituent atoms) whose structure and properties vary dramatically at the single-atom level. In this review, we first discuss the fundamental properties of metal clusters, and then introduce the geometrical and electronic structures, photophysical processes, and photoluminescence properties of thiolate-protected noble metal clusters, which can be precisely synthesized in solution. Focusing on the fact that these clusters possess wide absorption bands extending into the near-infrared region and long-lived excited states on the order of microseconds, we also present recent studies on the application of thiolate-protected noble metal clusters as photosensitizers for sensitized solar cells, photocatalysis, ¹O₂ generation, and triplet-triplet annihilation photon upconversion.