The Chemical Potential of Plasmonic Excitations

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 2085 - 2088
• Main Authors: Yu, Sungju, Jain, Prashant K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 27.01.2020
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; catalysis; Chemical potential; Chemical reactions; CO2 reduction; Gold; hot electrons; Light intensity; localized surface plasmon resonances; Luminous intensity; Nanoparticles; Organic chemistry; photocatalysis; Photoexcitation; Reagents; Redox reactions; catalysis; localized surface plasmon resonances; hot electrons; CO2 reduction; photocatalysis
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201914118

By the photoexcitation of localized surface plasmon resonances of metal nanoparticles, one can generate reaction equivalents for driving redox reactions. We show that, in such cases, there is a chemical potential contributed by the plasmonic excitation. This chemical potential is a function of the concentration of light, as we determine from the light‐intensity‐dependent activity in the plasmon‐excitation‐driven reduction of CO2 on Au nanoparticles. Our finding allows the treatment of plasmonic excitation as a reagent in chemical reactions; the chemical potential of this reagent is tunable by the light intensity. Shine a light: In photoredox reactions driven by localized surface plasmon resonances, plasmonic excitations contribute a chemical potential. This chemical potential depends on the concentration (intensity) of the light.