Solar-driven reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation is an attractive disinfection technique for cell death and water purification. However, most photocatalysts require high stability in the water environment and the production of ROS with a sufficient amount and diffusion length to damage pathogens. Here, a ROS generation system was developed consisting of tapered crystalline silicon microwires coated with anatase titanium dioxide for a conformal junction. The system effectively absorbed >95% of sunlight over 300–1100 nm, resulting in effective ROS generation. The system was designed to produce various ROS species, but a logistic regression analysis with cellular survival data revealed that the diffusion length of the ROS is ∼9 μm, implying that the most dominant species causing cell damage is H2O2. Surprisingly, a quantitative analysis showed that only 15 min of light irradiation on the system would catalyze a local bactericidal effect comparable to the conventional germicidal level of H2O2 (∼3 mM).

Bimetallic Pt-based catalysts have been extensively investigated to enhance the performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) because CO, a by-product, reduces the activity of the pure Pt catalysts. Herein, we synthesized Pt-Pb hexagonal nanoplates as a model catalyst for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and further controlled the Pt and Pb distributions on the surface of the nanoplates through acetic acid (HAc) treatment. As a result, we obtained Pt-Pb nanoplates and HAc-treated Pt-Pb nanoplates with homogeneous and heterogeneous distributions of the Pt-Pb alloy surfaces, respectively. We showed that the MOR activity and stability of the Pt-Pb nanoplates improved compared to those of the HAc-treated Pt-Pb nanoplates, mainly due to the enhanced CO tolerance and the modified electronic structure of Pt under the influence of the oxophilic Pb.

Recent techniques for direct observation of single molecules or nanoparticles provide methodologies for imaging the activation sites of heterogeneous catalysts (spatially resolved) and observing intermediates that are not visible in the ensemble average (temporally resolved). Accordingly, the primary challenge for related experiments is obtaining sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions for microscopic observation of the chemical reaction of interest. This review discusses recent advances in fluorescence—for example, total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF)—and dark‐field microscopy—for example, imaging plasmonic probes—used for observing organic, inorganic, and biological reactions. The following key factors for microscopic observation of chemical reactions are discussed: (1) design of the chemical reaction and probe, (2) selection of microscope based on reaction's temporal information, and (3) use of machine learning algorithms to analyze the sequence imaging data. This review summarizes experimental techniques and detailed examples of reactions at the single molecule and nanoparticle level. Furthermore, it discusses avenues of development. These observations can guide the development of new and systematic methodological approaches for investigating important unsolved problems in chemistry.

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Live video recording of intracellular material transport is a promising means of deciphering the fascinating underlying mechanisms driving life at the molecular level. Such technology holds the key to realizing real-time observation at appropriate resolutions in three-dimensional (3D) space within living cells. Here, we report an optical microscopic method for probing endosomal dynamics with proper spatiotemporal resolution within 3D space in live cells: plasmonic dark-field STORM (pdf-STORM). We first confirmed that pdf-STORM has a spatial resolution comparable to that of scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, by observing two optical probes within a single organelle, we were able to track rotational movements and demonstrate the feasibility of using pdf-STORM to observe the angular displacements of an endosome during a “tug-of-war” over an extended period. Finally, we show various biophysical parameters of the hitherto unelucidated dynamics of endosomes—angular displacement is discontinuous and y -axis movement predominates and follows a long-tail distribution.