Research

The main contents involve the design and development of unique photo-active plasmonic metal nanocatalysts confined within porous materials for solar-to-chemical conversion processes, assisted by localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). These plasmonic nanostructures can harvest abundant sunlight by concentrating the incident light energy in the nanoscale regime to drive chemical reactions on the surface of nanoparticles. By employing LSPR in heterogeneous catalysis, we have observed higher conversion rates and improved selectivity under mild reaction conditions. The catalytic application reactions include hydrogen generation from storage materials, chemo-selective hydrogenation of nitroaromatics, and organic coupling reactions.

Keywords: heterogeneous catalysis, plasmonic photocatalysis, porous materials, hydrogen generation, solar fuels