Forty microampere current was generated on a platinum-titanium dioxide Schottky diode during the platinum catalyzed steady-state oxidation of carbon monoxide at 80 degrees C. For reaction events that produced four CO(2) molecules, three injected electrons were collected in a diode comprising a 5 nm thick platinum and a 150 nm titanium dioxide film. The electron injection flux depends on the thickness of the platinum and the titanium dioxide diode properties as well as the conditions of the catalytic reactions.

We report steady-state conversion of chemical reaction energy into hot electrons by ballistic injection into a platinum-gallium nitride (Pt/GaN) nanodiode during the platinum-catalyzed oxidation of carbon monoxide. Surface catalytic reactions of molecules from the gas phase generated continuous steady-state hot electron currents with energies at least that of Schottky barrier energy ( approximately 1 eV). These hot electron currents were observed on two different nanodiodes (Pt/TiO2 and Pt/GaN) and represent a new method of chemical energy conversion.