Superatoms An Introduction

Superatoms are a growing topic of interest in nanoscience, bringing the physics of electronic structure together with the chemistry of atomically precise clusters. They offer the prospect of materials design based on the targeted tunability of nanoscale building blocks, creating electronic materials that can be used as everything from catalysts to computing hardware. This book is designed to be an introduction to the field, covering the history of the concept and related theoretical models from cluster physics. It provides an overview of modern theoretical techniques and presents a survey of recent literature, with particular emphasis on the utilization of these nanoscale building blocks. It explores the jellium model, shell structure in nuclear physics, and the relationship of these to the solution of the Schrödinger equation for the atom. The subsequent extension into density functional theory enables multiple examples of recent literature studies to be used to demonstrate the key concepts. This book is an ideal introduction for students looking to build bridges between cluster and condensed matter physics and the chemistry of superatoms, in particular at a graduate level.

Chapter 1. What Makes an Atom? Chapter 2. Electronic Shell Structure. Chapter 3. From the Jellium Model to Density Functional Theory. Chapter 4. From Density Functional Theory to Properties. Chapter 5. Real Metal Clusters. Chapter 6. Non-Metal Superatoms. Chapter 7. Ligand Protected Metal Clusters. Chapter 8. Beyond Simple Superatoms. Chapter 9. Superatomic Assemblies. Bibliography.

Nicola Gaston is a professor of physics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand where her research group conducts quantum-mechanical simulations of the electronic and thermodynamic behaviour of nanoscale materials, aiming to find new ways of making materials that address issues of sustainability – whether addressing issues of energy sustainability, or designing materials to be more sustainably synthesized or recycled. She is also the Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence.