Ligand Strategies for Regulating Atomically Precise CeO2 Nanoparticles: From Structure to Property

The increasing interest in studying the structure-property relationships of ceria dioxide (CeO₂) relies on the fact that many factors are key to determining the performance of CeO₂ materials. Despite the great advances achieved, it remains a formidable challenge to regulate CeO₂ nanoparticles at the molecular level and gain in-depth insight into their structure-property relationships. What is reported here is a ligand strategy for regulating CeO₂ nanoparticles, in terms of not only shape, structure, surface composition, but also property. Atomically precise CeO₂ nanoparticles (also named nanoclusters) are used as a model system, in which two Ce₁₆ clusters are gained by a wet-chemical synthesis method. Featuring different carboxylate ligands on the surface, the two clusters are distinct in formula, core geometry, surface composition, and photoelectric merits. This work not only reports the first pair of atomically precise CeO₂ nanoclusters with the same number of Ce atoms but different structures, which is highly desirable for studying structure-property relationships, but also provides in-depth insight into the molecular ligand effect in CeO₂ materials.