In comparison to nanoplasmonic structures, resonant high-index dielectric nanoantennas hold several advantages that may benefit nanophotonic applications, including CMOS compatibility and low ohmic losses. One such application area might be label-free refractometric sensing, where changes in individual antenna resonance properties are used to quantify changes in the surrounding refractive index, for example, due to biomolecular binding. Here, we analyze and compare the sensing performance of silicon and gold nanodisks using a common and unbiased testing framework. We find that the all-dielectric system is fully capable of effectively monitoring small changes in bulk refractive index and biomolecular coverage, but the sensitivity is five to ten times lower than the plasmonic counterpart. However, this drawback is partly compensated for by a more linear response to adsorbate layer thickness changes and an approximately four times smaller susceptibility to photothermal heating. Finally, dielectric sensors may show promise if certain strategies are employed to improve their performance, which could thus bridge the gap between the two systems.

No abstract

Pt/ZrO2 model catalysts were prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and examined at mbar pressure by operando sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) combined with differentially pumped mass spectrometry (MS). ALD enables creating model systems ranging from Pt nanoparticles to bulk-like thin films. Polarization-dependent SFG of CO adsorption reveals both the adsorption configuration and the Pt particle morphology. By combining experimental data with ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that the CO reaction onset is determined by a delicate balance between CO disproportionation (Boudouard reaction) and oxidation. CO disproportionation occurs on low-coordinated Pt sites, but only at high CO coverages and when the remaining C atom is stabilized by a favorable coordination. Thus, under the current conditions, initial CO oxidation is found to be strongly influenced by the removal of carbon deposits formed through disproportionation mechanisms rather than being determined by the CO and oxygen inherent activity. Accordingly, at variance with the general expectation, rough Pt nanoparticles are seemingly less active than smoother Pt films. The applied approach enables bridging both the “materials and pressure gaps”.

First-principles-based kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and kinetic experiments are used to explore CO oxidation over Pt/CeO2. The simulations compare CO oxidation over a ceria-supported ∼1 nm particle with simulations of a free-standing particle and Pt(111). The onset of the CO oxidation over ceria supported Pt is shifted to lower temperatures compared to the unsupported systems thanks to a Mars–van Krevelen mechanism at the Pt/CeO2 interface perimeter, which is not sensitive to CO poisoning. Both the Mars–van Krevelen mechanism and the conventional Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism over the Pt nanoparticle are contributing to the conversion after the reaction onset. The reaction orders in CO and O2 are compared experimentally for Pt/CeO2  and Pt/Al2O3. The reaction orders over Pt/CeO2  are close to zero for both CO and O2, whereas the corresponding reaction orders are −0.75 and 0.68 over Pt/Al2O3. The measured zero orders for Pt/CeO2  show the absence of CO/O2 site competition and underline the relevance of interface reactions. The measurements for Pt/Al2O3 indicate that the main reaction path for CO oxidation over Pt is a conventional Langmuir–Hinshelwood reaction. The results elucidate the interplay between condition-dependent reaction mechanisms for CO oxidation over Pt supported on reducible oxides.

X-ray photoemission spectroscopy is a standard technique for materials characterization and the O 1s binding energy is commonly measured for oxides. Here we use density functional theory calculations to investigate how the O 1s binding energy in CeO2(111) is influenced by the presence of oxygen vacancies. The case with point vacancies in CeO2(111) is compared to complete reduction to Ce2O3. Reduction of CeO2 by oxygen vacancies is found to have a minor effect on the O 1s binding energy. The O 1s binding energy is instead clearly changed when the character of the chemical bond for the considered oxygen atom is modified by, for example, the formation of OH-groups or carbonates.