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Catalytic conversion of solar to chemical energy on plasmonic metal nanostructures

Nature Catalysis volume 1, pages 656–665 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The demonstrations of visible-light-driven chemical transformations on plasmonic metal nanostructures have led to the emergence of a new field in heterogeneous catalysis known as plasmonic catalysis. The excitement surrounding plasmonic catalysis stems from the ability to use the excitation of energetic charge carriers (as opposed to heat) to drive surface chemistry. This offers the opportunity to potentially discover new, more selective reaction pathways that cannot be accessed in temperature-driven catalysis. In this Review, we provide a fundamental overview of plasmonic catalysis with emphasis on recent advancements in the field. It is our objective to stress the importance of the underlying physical mechanisms at play in plasmonic catalysis and discuss possibilities and limitations in the field guided by these physical insights.

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Fig. 1: Dielectric properties of metals.
Fig. 2: Plasmon decay through electronic excitations.
Fig. 3: Mechanism of plasmon-mediated bond activation and evidence of charge-carrier-mediated reactions.
Fig. 4: Mechanisms of plasmon-mediated energy transfer to reactants.
Fig. 5: Multicomponent plasmonic catalysts.

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Acknowledgements

The work presented in this document was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (CBET-1702471 and CHE- 1800197) (optical analysis) and Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Chemical Sciences (FG-02-05ER15686) (materials synthesis). Secondary support for the development of analytical tools used to analyse the reaction kinetics was provided by the NSF (CBET-1436056). S.L. also acknowledges the partial support of the Technische Universität München – Institute for Advanced Study, funded by the German Excellence Initiative and the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 291763.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Umar Aslam, Vishal Govind Rao, Steven Chavez & Suljo Linic

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Aslam, U., Rao, V.G., Chavez, S. et al. Catalytic conversion of solar to chemical energy on plasmonic metal nanostructures. Nat Catal 1, 656–665 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-018-0138-x

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