Superatoms: principles, synthesis and applications

"This book contains 13 chapters covering the recent advances in our understanding of superatoms and their assemblies. A group of international experts discuss the design of superatoms, study properties that make these unique, and explore their potential as building blocks of a new class of materials with applications in devices and energy-related technologies. Chapter 1 highlights some seminal papers and reviews on atomic clusters that made cluster science an emerging field bridging physics, chemistry, and materials science. Chapter 2 shows how superatoms mimicking the properties of Group 1, 15, 16, and 17 elements can be rationally designed using electron counting rules. Also discussed in this chapter is how different electron-counting rules can be used simultaneously to design multiply charged superatoms that neither fragment nor spontaneously eject the added electrons. .

Such superatoms can be used to promote unusual reactions enabling noble gas atoms such as argon to form chemical bonds at room temperature. Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive review of superhalogens that mimic the chemistry of halogens but possess electron affinities far exceeding those of halogen atoms. The design, stability, and structure-property relationships of endohedral clusters where metal atoms are encapsulated inside cage clusters composed of Si, Ge, Sn, and coinage metal atoms are discussed in Chapter 4. Also discussed in this chapter are assemblies of these metal encapsulated clusters. Chapter 5 shows how magnetic superatoms which mimic the properties of transition and rare earth metal atoms can be created by tailoring the role of s and p electrons that account for bonding while d and f electrons carry the magnetic moment. .

Chapters 6 and 7 cover the experimental and theoretical aspects of cluster-assembled materials focusing on atomically-precise ligand-protected clusters composed of noble metal atoms. Two-dimensional materials created with superatoms as the building blocks are presented in Chapter 8. Potential applications of superatom-based materials in ferroelectrics, solar cells, Li-ion batteries, hydrogen storage, and capture and conversion of CO2 are covered in Chapters 9-12. The challenges and opportunities that lie ahead are summarized in the concluding chapter. Cluster science in general and superatoms in particular are expected to remain a vibrant field for years to come, leading the way to new developments in materials design, synthesis, and applications."--.

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