Electrochemical synthesis is seeing a resurgence mainly due to its utility for green transformations powered by renewable energy. Our group has found that light excitation can modulate and boost the electrosynthetic activity of catalysts comprised of noble metal nanoparticles. Recently, we demonstrated that the electrosynthesis of ammonia from nitrate on gold nanoparticle-based electrocatalysts is enhanced by an order-of-magnitude under light excitation resonant with the plasmon resonances of the gold nanoparticles. For understanding the role of light excitation, we developed a reliable way of separating photochemical effects of plasmonic excitation from the Arrhenius rate enhancement caused by photothermal heating. This analysis demonstrated that energetic electrons generated at the nanoparticle electrode–electrolyte interface are responsible for the enhanced electrosynthetic activity. Other electrocatalytic conversions, including ammonia oxidation and hydrogen evolution, have also been found in our group to be boosted by plasmonically generated carriers, demonstrating both the generality of this phenomenon and the need to attain further understanding of how electrochemical and interfacial processes are modulated by photogenerated carriers.

Plasmon-enhanced electroconversions

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.