Surface plasmon-driven catalytic reactions on a patterned Co₃O₄/Au inverse catalyst

Abstract

We report hot electron-and surface plasmon-driven catalytic reactions on an inverse catalyst that is composed of a reactive cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ) for the catalyst portion and a metal as the source of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). To achieve this scheme, a patterned Co 3 O 4 /Au nanostructure was fabricated using the nanosphere lithography technique. The enhancement of catalytic activity for CO oxidation on cobalt oxide by the transfer of plasmonic hot carriers generated from the LSPR of Au under light irradiation was observed. We found that the Co 3 O 4 /Au inverse catalyst exhibited 25-50% higher catalytic activity when under light irradiation. We attribute this enhancement of catalytic activity to the flow of surface plasmon-driven hot carriers that were created by the absorption of photons on the Au metal, followed by injection into the active Co 3 O 4 layers.

Applications of Plasmon-Enhanced Nanocatalysis to Organic Transformations

“…A whole suite of nanomaterials have been synthesized and tested for plasmonic photooxidation of CO by Park and co-workers. − Throughout their work, it is noted that direct hot electron transfer is likely the main plasmonic mechanism associated with such enhancement. For example, with the use of hexoctahedral Au NPs supported by Cu 2 O, hot electron injection into the metal oxide followed by oxidation of the CO followed a Mars–van Krevelen type mechanism. , Other systems such as Au NPs supported by ZIF-8 modified TiO 2 studied by Fu and co-workers have also been demonstrated to oxidize CO .…”

Facile Preparation of Inverse Nanoporous Cr2O3/Cu Catalysts for Reverse Water‐Gas Shift Reaction

“…Up to now, the methods of reverse micro‐emulsions, impregnation, atomic layer deposition, nanosphere lithography and gas‐induced surface segregation, have been explored for the preparation of actual oxide/metal inverse catalysts. Nevertheless, these methods often involve multi‐step processing with high temperature treatment, resulting in complication for scale‐up syntheses.…”

“…For example, CeO x /Cu(111) is more active than Cu/CeO 2 (111) and Cu/ZnO(0001) surfaces for the water-gas shift reaction. [9] The great success of these single crystal based model catalysts thus encourages the development of practical inverse catalysts.Up to now, the methods of reverse micro-emulsions, [12][13][14] impregnation, [15][16][17][18] atomic layer deposition, [19] nanosphere lithography [20] and gas-induced surface segregation, [5,[21][22][23] have been explored for the preparation of actual oxide/metal inverse catalysts. Nevertheless, these methods often involve multi-step processing with high temperature treatment, resulting in complication for scale-up syntheses.…”

Inverse Oxide/Metal Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol

“…This section provides a brief overview of the techniques employed for the synthesis of inverse catalysts, as these directly affect the morphology, composition, and catalytic performance. The synthesis of well-defined metal oxide–metal interfaces requires rigorous and carefully controlled strategies, as the approach selected to deposit and disperse the metal oxide onto the metal surfaces can play an essential role in the synergistic and promotional effects of the interfacial sites under reaction conditions. , Among the different methods reported in the literature for the synthesis of inverse catalysts, − here we summarize those methods based on encapsulation strategies, other novel approaches such as controlled surface reactions (CSRs) and microemulsions, and techniques for synthesizing inverse model catalysts.…”