Metal Nanocluster-Based Manufacturing of 2D Film With an Insulator-to-Conductor Tunability

Abstract

Although metal nanoclusters (NCs) are ideal building units, significant challenges remain in manipulating their gathering and tuning the as-obtained aggregate properties. Herein, we introduce an electro-driven strategy and reveal the voltage-dependent assembly on interdigitated microelectrodes based on Au₂₅ NCs: crystallizing at 0.5 V, NC-based filming at 1.3 V, and nanocrystal-based filming at 2.6 V. More interestingly, the film formed at 2.6 V can be varied from an insulator to a conductor, and even such a large conductivity tunability (from ∞ to ∼0.3 Ω) can be extended to the films formed from some other metal NCs such as Ag₂₅, Pt₂₃, and Pd₈. The as-obtained films show novel, promising properties not found in molecular NCs, as illustrated by the electrothermy and current-limiting properties. Thus, this work not only provides a novel strategy for metal NCs’ gathering but also pioneers metal NC-based electro-manufacturing for novel findings and potential applications.

Keywords

current-limiting / electrothermy / filming / interdigitated microelectrode / metal nanocluster

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