Rongchao Jin

Jin’s group focuses on Atomically Precise Nanochemistry. Chemists working on nanoparticles (NPs) are often frustrated by the polydispersity/heterogeneities of NPs and the unknown interface between the inorganic core and organic ligands, as these issues preclude atomic-level studies. Jin took on this nanoscience challenge in 2006 by pursuing atomically precise NPs. His group’s intense research has led to the establishment of the synthetic principles for atomically precise NPs. The new nanochemistry has opened up exciting opportunities for fundamental studies by answering some long-existing challenging questions, such as the critical number of gold atoms for the formation of metallic state/bonding in a nanoparticle. Using the perfect NPs and X-ray crystallographically characterized total structures, Jin and coworkers identified the driving forces and principles that guide the multi-scale assembly of NPs. His group’s work demonstrated that the self-assembly of perfect NPs can reach the same level of hierarchy, complexity, and accuracy as that of biomolecules (e.g., proteins) and accordingly revealed new emergent phenomena. The attainment of atomically precise NPs has also revealed many other mysteries at the nanoscale that were previously difficult to tackle, such as the periodicities in the nanoparticle growth, structural isomerization, chirality, and electronic excited-state control. The new types of nanoparticles with atomic precision hold potential in catalysis, energy conversion, optoelectronics, and sensing applications.