Recent Progress and Prospects in Plasmon-Mediated Chemical Reaction

Abstract

Plasmon-mediated chemical reaction (PMCR) is an emerging field of research and development in which chemical reactions are enabled by plasmonic nanomaterials that function as mediators to redistribute and convert photon energy into localized photon, electron, and/or thermal energies. Multiple recent reports have made it a promising approach for facilitating light-driven chemical reactions by utilizing solar energy. Moreover, based on unique properties of plasmonic nanomaterials, PMCR exhibits differences from and potential advantages over traditional thermochemistry, photochemistry, and photocatalysis. However, PMCR still faces challenges such as a far from complete understanding of its operating mechanisms, which contributes to current limitations in reaction efficiency and selectivity. This Perspective aims to be a relatively complete current physicochemical description of PMCR and provides a comprehensive comparison with other reaction systems as well as identifying unique features. Challenges and opportunities are discussed to guide future directions and stimulate the interest of a broad range of scientists with varying backgrounds.

Copper‐Based Plasmonic Catalysis: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

“…[ 63,64 ] These conduction electrons collectively behave as a coherent electron cloud, and LSPR occurs when incident light wave with frequencies matching the frequency of the electron cloud of the plasmonic metals. [ 61,63 ] The displacement of the electron cloud under the effect of the external field induces the creation of surface charges, negative where the electrons are concentrated and positive where there is a lack of electrons. [ 63 ] That is why LSPR is coined with “surface” effect, while LSPR actually results from the collective oscillation of all conduction electrons in the metallic nanostructure.…”

“…A series of reviews have been published on the topic of plasmonic catalysis, mainly covering the aspects of synthetic methods, applications in catalysis, and mechanism study of plasmonic catalysis. [ 38–40,43,55–62 ] Nam et al. reported designing and synthetic approaches of multicomponent plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) with new or improved plasmonic functionality.…”

“…[ 38,43,60 ] A recent review by Qiao and coworkers also focused on the investigation of operating mechanism of plasmon‐mediated chemical reaction. [ 61 ] In recent years, non‐noble‐based plasmonic catalysts have attracted increasing attention. [ 55,57,62 ] Nam's group systematically summarized the synthesis, plasmonic properties, and applications of non‐noble‐based plasmonic nanomaterials, including Cu, Al, Mg, In, Ga, Pb, Ni, Co, Fe, and related hybrids.…”

Disentangling the Temporal Dynamics of Nonthermal Electrons in Photoexcited Gold Nanostructures

“…[ 1–7 ] These electrons can be transferred into the electronic states of molecules close to the surface of the plasmonic nanostructures, and thus induce chemical reactions which would otherwise be energetically demanding. [ 8–10 ] They can also be injected into the conduction band of a semiconductor for use in photovoltaics, [ 11–13 ] photodetectors, [ 14,15 ] and photoelectrochemical systems. [ 13,16 ]…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] These electrons can be transferred into the electronic states of molecules close to the surface of the plasmonic nanostructures, and thus induce chemical reactions which would otherwise be energetically demanding. [8][9][10] They can also be injected into the conduction band of a semiconductor for use in photovoltaics, [11][12][13] photodetectors, [14,15] and photoelectrochemical systems. [13,16] Upon excitation, energetic electrons are produced in a nonthermal distribution, that is, the electron energies are skewed to high energies not describable by even a high temperature Fermi-Dirac distribution.…”