Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of some water-soluble thiol monolayer protected
platinum nanoclusters (PtNCs).The cluster material obtained by the reduction of the corresponding metal
salt with NaBH4 in presence of water-soluble ligands, L-glutathione (L-GSH) reduced, N-acetyl-L-cysteine
(NALC) and L-penicillamine (L-Pen), acting as capping ligands. Platinum nanoclusters with around 1 nm
sizes were isolated and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA). The optical properties of the samples were studied by UV–vis spectroscopy. Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was measured for the free ligands and protected PtNCs where the
disappearance of the S

H vibrational band (2535–2570 cm
1) in the platinum nanoclusters confirmed
anchoring of ligand to the cluster surface through the sulfur atom. Textural features of the obtained
cluster catalysts were investigated using nitrogen adsorption-desorption at

196 C. Specific surface area
SBET, pore volume and average pore diameter were calculated. The prepared clusters were used to load
size selected platinum clusters onto Degussa TiO2 P25 to create photocatalysts absorb the visible light.
The resulting materials showed high photocatalytic activity in decomposition of methylene blue dye
(MB) after irradiation by solar light.