0000000000361728
AUTHOR
Emily A. Carter
Aluminum Nanocrystals as a Plasmonic Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Dissociation
Hydrogen dissociation is a critical step in many hydrogenation reactions central to industrial chemical production and pollutant removal. This step typically utilizes the favorable band structure of precious metal catalysts like platinum and palladium to achieve high efficiency under mild conditions. Here we demonstrate that aluminum nanocrystals (Al NCs), when illuminated, can be used as a photocatalyst for hydrogen dissociation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, despite the high activation barrier toward hydrogen adsorption and dissociation. We show that hot electron transfer from Al NCs to the antibonding orbitals of hydrogen molecules facilitates their dissociation. Hot elect…
Plasmon damping depends on the chemical nature of the nanoparticle interface
Damping of gold nanorod plasmons by surface-adsorbed molecules is best explained by scattering off adsorbate-induced dipoles.