Interactions between hydrogen and transition metals have always been an important topic in materials science, profoundly influencing both static structures and the dynamic evolution of metal clusters at the atomic level.

As a special class of molecules, superatoms provide a novel platform for investigating atomic interactions. This study suggests a versatile platform for tuning the electronic and optical properties of gold cluster systems through subtle atomic-level manipulation.

The related findings, entitled Parity-forbidden superatomic molecular orbital interaction and aurophilicity induced H–Au bonding inH@Au20, were recently published in Science Advances.

WAN Chenxi, a holder of a master’s degree from Professor WANG Zhigang’s research group, is the primary author of the paper. The other group led by Professor SHI Yulei from the Department of Physics at Capital Normal University also made significant contributions to the research.

The corresponding authors of the paper are Professor WANG Zhigang from the Key Laboratory of Material Simulation Methods and Software of the Ministry of Education, College of Physics, Jilin University (JLU), and Professor Boon K. Teo from the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Xiamen University.