Combining plasmonic and semiconductors offers significant potential in creating sensing and photocatalytic devices. Nanocomposites including both metals and semiconductors can control the charge states in the metals that can enhance catalysis activity along with plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy. Here we demonstrate the use of conducting polymer materials with plasmonic nanomaterials to boost 5-fold plasmon-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy signal strength and support oxidation of target molecules through supporting charge transfer processes. This work demonstrates the use of conducting polymers as a semiconductor platform to support plasmonic catalysis and sensing.

We examine the potential of cadmium sulfide when combined with plasmonic nanostructures to support photo-induced catalysis. Super-bandgap irradiation of a silver nanowire and cadmium sulfide composite for the probe molecule p-aminothiophenol (PATP) showed the formation of dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) from PATP. Our results demonstrate that cadmium sulfide can be used as an alternative material to semiconductors, such as titanium dioxide, for plasmonic photocatalysis applications.

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Nanocomposites comprising plasmon active metal nanostructures and semiconductors have been used to control the charge states in the metal to support catalytic activity. In this context dichalcogenides when combined with metal oxides offer the potential to control charge states in plasmonic nanomaterials. Using a model plasmonic mediated oxidation reaction p-amino thiophenol ↔ p-nitrophenol, we show that through the introduction of transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterial, reaction outcomes can be influenced, achieved through controlling the occurrence of the reaction intermediate dimercaptoazobenzene by opening new electron transfer routes in a semiconductor-plasmonic system. This study demonstrates the ability to control plasmonic reactions by carefully controlling the choice of semiconductors.

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