The transport properties of films assembled from metal nanoclusters can be significantly different from the metals in their bulk or thin film forms due to quantum confinement effects and several competing energy and length scales. For a film composed of metal nanoclusters as its building blocks, the cluster size and the inter-cluster separation are parameters that can be varied experimentally. ...

We report the chemical interactions of unsupported and alumina-supported Ag(7) and Ag(8) clusters protected with MSA (mercaptosuccinic acid) with heavy metal ions Hg(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) in water at different concentrations. The investigation was carried out to determine the feasibility of this interesting new class of materials called quantum clusters for water purification. These systems w...

Silver-DNA nanoclusters (Ag:DNAs) are novel fluorophores under active research and development as alternative biomolecular markers. Comprised of a few-atom Ag cluster that is stabilized in water by binding to a strand of DNA, they are also interesting for fundamental explorations into the properties of metal molecules. Here, we use in situ calibrated electrokinetic microfluidics and fluorescenc...

Context. There is a known tension between cosmological parameter constraints obtained from the primary cosmic microwave background and those drawn galaxy cluster samples. One possible explanation for this discrepancy may be that incomplete character of detected clusters higher than estimated and, as result, certain types groups or have been overlooked in past. Aims. We aim to search with partic...

The direct laser writing (DLW) using femtosecond lasers allows for the inscription of 3D microstructures embedded inside optical materials. Based solely on silver ions photochemistry, DLW in silver-containing glasses enables to locally induce a unique combination properties. physical modifications material encompass not only refractive index change, but also new properties like fluorescence, se...