Fig. 7. Schematic illustration of the growth process of Ag70 and the general structure of related species. (a) Schematic illustration of the growth process. Five stages dominated by different reaction processes are shown. Stage I: aggregate; stage II: reduction; stage III: decomposition and recombination; stage IV: fusion and stage V: surface recombination and motif enrichment. (b) General structure of relevant clusters during the synthesis of Ag70: Ag–S cores of relevant clusters are protected by organic ligands; [NH2(CH3)2]+ ions and CF3COOAg molecules are attached to the periphery.
