Bonding of gold clusters, , 16, and 20, on MgO(100) and on thin MgO films supported on Mo(100) is investigated using first-principles density-functional theory. Enhanced adhesive bonding is found for clusters deposited on metal-supported MgO films of thickness up to about 1 nm, or 4 to 5 MgO layers, originating from electrostatic interaction between the underlying metal and metal-induced excess...

Low-energy deposition of neutral Pd(N) clusters (N=2-7 and 13) on a MgO(001) surface F center (FC) was studied by spin-density-functional molecular dynamics simulations. The incident clusters are steered by an attractive "funnel" created by the FC, resulting in adsorption of the cluster, with one of its atoms bonded atop of the FC. The deposited Pd2-Pd6 clusters retain their gas-phase structure...

This work reports on the fabrication of tin nanoclusters by sputtering and inert-gas condensation inside an ultrahigh vacuum compatible system. This technique allows to fine tune the size and yield of nanoclusters by controlling the nanocluster source parameters. The produced nanoclusters are deposited on SiO2/Si substrate with pre-formed electrical electrodes to produce a nanocluster device. T...

Gold nanoclusters are small (1-3 nm) nanoparticles with a high surface area that are useful for biomedical studies and drug delivery. The synthesis of small, surface-functionalized gold nanoclusters is greatly dependent on the reaction conditions. Here, we describe a straightforward, efficient and robust room temperature one-pot synthesis of 2 nm gold nanoclusters using thioglucose as a reducin...

Syntaxin1A is organized in nanoclusters that are critical for the docking and priming of secretory vesicles from neurosecretory cells. Whether and how these nanoclusters are affected by neurotransmitter release in nerve terminals from a living organism is unknown. Here we imaged photoconvertible syntaxin1A-mEos2 in the motor nerve terminal of Drosophila larvae by single-particle tracking photoa...

in this work, we dissect the performance of  two modern perdew-burke-ernzerhof (pbe)-based double-hybrid (dh) density functionals to predict the isotropic and anisotropic polarizabilities of water nanoclusters (h2o)n [n = 2-6]. the considered models include the cubic integrand (ci) and quadratic integrand (qi) functions as well as the spin-opposite-scaled (sos) scheme for perturbative correlati...

First-principle calculations were carried out to investigate the adsorption of CO over Cun nanoclusters. The structural, spectroscopic and electronic properties like optimized geometries, HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) and LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) energy levels, binding energy, adsorption energy, vibrational frequency and density of states (DOSs) of the p...

Au25 nanoclusters functionalized with a spiropyran molecular switch are synthesized via a ligand-exchange reaction at low temperature. The resulting nanoclusters are characterized by optical and NMR spectroscopies as well as by mass spectrometry. Spiropyran bound to nanoclusters isomerizes in a reversible fashion when exposed to UV and visible light, and its properties are similar to those of f...

Several cell-surface lipid-tethered proteins exhibit a concentration-independent, cholesterol-sensitive organization of nanoscale clusters and monomers. To understand the mechanism of formation of these clusters, we investigate the spatial distribution and steady-state dynamics of fluorescently tagged GPI-anchored protein nanoclusters using high-spatial and temporal resolution FRET microscopy. ...