The successful development of artificial photosynthesis requires finding new materials able to efficiently harvest sunlight and catalyze hydrogen generation and carbon dioxide reduction reactions. Plasmonic nanoparticles are promising candidates for these tasks, due to their ability to confine solar energy into molecular regions. Here, we review recent developments in hybrid plasmonic photocatalysis, including the combination of plasmonic nanomaterials with catalytic metals, semiconductors, perovskites, 2D materials, metal–organic frameworks, and electrochemical cells. We perform a quantitative comparison of the demonstrated activity and selectivity of these materials for solar fuel generation in the liquid phase. In this way, we critically assess the state-of-the-art of hybrid plasmonic photocatalysts for solar fuel production, allowing its benchmarking against other existing heterogeneous catalysts. Our analysis allows the identification of the best performing plasmonic systems, useful to design a new generation of plasmonic catalysts.

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Parameter sensitivity analysis of mechanistic battery models has the power to quantify the individual and joint effects of parameters on the performance of lithium-ion cells. This information can be beneficial for industrial cell designs, cell testing, and battery management system (BMS) configurations. The numerical quantification of these parameter sensitivities, however, is challenging in terms of computational costs and is an active field of research. In this paper, based on a 3D multiphysics model, we conduct a global sensitivity analysis for the utilizable cell discharge capacity and the maximum cell temperature at the discharge rate of 1C. The least angle regression version of the polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) concept has been identified as an optimal trade-off between approximation power and computational complexity. As a result, the sensitivities of all parameters in the 3D multiphysics model were studied using a hierarchical design and a stepwise design. We conclude that the cell discharge capacity and the thermal behavior at 1C discharge are most sensitive to the electrode parameters and their pore structure. The results reveal different dependencies and lead to new insights for cell design and operation.

Copper vanadate nanobelts were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process and used for the electrochemical determination of ascorbic acid.

Ketamine, only at a supra-anesthetic dosage, could inhibit endotoxin-induced pulmonary inflammation in vivo.

A novel C/Pb composite has been successfully prepared by electroless plating to reduce the hydrogen evolution and achieve the high reversibility of the anode of lead-carbon battery (LCB). The deposited lead on the surface of C/Pb composite was found to be uniform and adherent to carbon surface. Because lead has been stuck on the surface of C/Pb composite, the embedded structure suppresses the hydrogen evolution of lead-carbon anode and strengthens the connection between carbon additive and sponge lead. Compared with the blank anode, the lead-carbon anode with C/Pb composite displays excellent chargedischarge reversibility, which is attributed to the good connection between carbon additives and lead that has been stuck on the surface of C/Pb composite during the preparation process. The addition of C/Pb composite maintains a solid anode structure with high specific surface area and power volume, and thereby, it plays a significant role in the highly reversible lead-carbon anode.

Strong hot-spots can facilitate photocatalytic reactions potentially providing effective solar-to-chemical energy conversion pathways. Although it is wellknown that the local electromagnetic field in plasmonic nanocavities increases as the cavity size reduces, the influence of hot-spots on photocatalytic reactions remains elusive. Herein, we explored hot-spot dependent catalytic behaviors on a highly controlled platform with varying interparticle distances. Plasmon-meditated dehalogenation of 4iodothiophenol was employed to observe time-resolved catalytic behaviors via in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on dimers with 5, 10, 20, and 30 nm interparticle distances. As a result, we show that by reducing the gap from 20 to 10 nm, the reaction rate can be sped up more than 2 times. Further reduction in the interparticle distance did not improve reaction rate significantly although the maximum local-field was ∼2.3-fold stronger. Our combined experimental and theoretical study provides valuable insights in designing novel plasmonic photocatalytic platforms.

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