Engineering hybrid plasmonic nanomaterials for solar energy conversion: Insight into the structure-function relations

Abstract

Plasmonic nanomaterials, endowed with the unique surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, offer a promising route to convert low-intensity solar energy into chemical energy with a higher efficiency. However, the significant mismatch in timescales between rapid SPR relaxation (∼100 picoseconds) and slow chemical reaction kinetics (milliseconds or seconds) poses a major obstacle to their widespread application. To overcome these challenges, it is crucial to design multicomponent plasmonic nanostructures and establish efficient charge carrier channels. This review focuses on the effect of unique structures of plasmonic nanomaterials with precise geometries on catalytic performance. The key design strategies for hybrid plasmonic nanostructures and the deep physical and chemical mechanism have been summarized to effectively promote charge carrier excitation and migration. These strategies involve the shape, size and electronic structures tailoring of plasmonic components, an atomistic control over their coupling with other plasmonic components, doped semiconductors or non-plasmonic components, single-atom doping, crystal phase engineering as well as external field coupling. Finally, we discuss the future challenges and prospects in this field. This review aims to offer valuable insights in the design of plasmonic photocatalytic materials, ultimately accelerating the development of high-performance plasmonic photocatalysts.