Surface chemistry of hot electron and metal-oxide interfaces

Abstract

Fundamental mechanisms for energy conversion and dissipation on surfaces and at interfaces have been significant issues in the community of surface science. Electronic excitation in exothermic chemical reactions or photon absorption involves the generation of energetic or hot electrons that are not in thermal equilibrium via non-adiabatic electronic excitation. A number of experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated the influence of excited hot electrons on atomic and molecular processes, and it is a key moderator in the surface energy conversion process. The charge transfer through the metal-oxide interfaces has a significant impact on catalytic performance in mixed metal-oxide catalysts. In order to understand the influence of hot electrons and metal-oxide interfaces on the surface reactions, various detection schemes of exoelectron detection, including metal-insulator-metal and metal-semiconductor Schottky diodes, have been developed. Catalysts coupled with surface plasmons exhibit peculiar catalytic performance related to hot electron flow. In this review, we outline recent research efforts to relate hot electron flow with surface reactions occurring at metal-oxide interfaces. We report recent studies on the observation of hot electrons and the correlation between hot electrons and catalytic activity and selectivity on metallic surfaces. We show recent results from studies of surface reactions on nanocatalysts coupled with surface plasmons, where hot electron transport is the key process in energy dissipation and conversion processes.