贵金属纳米材料的液相合成及其表面等离子体共振性质应用

金属中的表面等离子体共振是描述其导带电子在电磁场作用下集体振荡的一个物理概念。金属纳米颗粒由于其表面等离子体共振性质表现出独特的光学应用。本文在相关研究的基础上,综述了具备表面等离子体共振性质的不同形貌及多种复合结构的贵金属纳米材料的制备和应用,并对其发展及应用前景进行了展望。     

贵金属纳米材料的液相合成及其表面等离子体共振性质应用

金属中的表面等离子体共振是描述其导带电子在电磁场作用下集体振荡的一个物理概念。金属纳米颗粒由于其表面等离子体共振性质表现出独特的光学应用。本文在相关研究的基础上,综述了具备表面等离子体共振性质的不同形貌及多种复合结构的贵金属纳米材料的制备和应用,并对其发展及应用前景进行了展望。     

Au/Pt纳米柱阵列电极的制备及光电催化氧化甲醇性能

利用纳米压印、 电沉积和气相沉积方法构筑了有序均一的Au及Au/Pt纳米柱阵列电极. 通过反射光谱观测到580和660 nm附近的特征吸收谱峰, 并基于有限元电磁场(FEM)理论模拟, 确定其表面等离激元共振(SPR)性质分别对应于纳米柱柱顶的电偶极模式(584 nm)、 电四极模式(638 nm)以及表面等离激元极化子(666 nm). 制备的等离激元纳米柱电极用于甲醇光电催化氧化反应时, SPR效应能显著地增强甲醇的电催化氧化电流. 当表面负载2 nm的金属Pt时, 光电催化氧化甲醇活性最高, 光照使氧化电流增加, 同时甲醇的氧化峰电位随光强的增加逐渐负移, 证明SPR弛豫产生的热空穴参与到光电协同甲醇氧化中. 在恒电流甲醇氧化实验中, 光照使表面氧化反应时间延长6倍, 减小了CO的毒化, 证明SPR对于电极表面产生一定的清洁作用.     

Electronic excitations in narrow quantum wells via intersubband Raman scattering: Theoretical considerations

In this work a generalized self-consistent field theory was applied to investigate the elementary excitations of two-dimensional electron gas formed from narrow quantum wells via resonant intersubband Raman scattering. The developed model considers the existence of equally coupled and degenerated excitations of the electron gas and allows to observe that in extreme resonance regime the plasma oscillations splits into two contributions: a set of renormalized collective excitations (plasmons) and unrenormalized electronic transitions (single-particle excitations). Our results show that the asymmetries which appear in the Raman profile of doped narrow quantum wells can be interpreted as the entrance or exit of resonance of collective modes overlapped with single-particle transitions.     

The Nature of Bonding between Argon and Mixed Gold–Silver Trimers

The controversial nature of chemical bonding between noble gases and noble metals is addressed. Experimental evidence of exceptionally strong Au? Ar bonds in Ar complexes of mixed Au? Ag trimers is presented. IR spectra reveal an enormous influence of the attached Ar atoms on vibrational modes, particularly in Au‐rich trimers, where Ar atoms are heavily involved owing to a relativistically enhanced covalency. In Ag‐rich trimers, vibrational transitions of the metal framework predominate, indicating a pure electrostatic character of the Ag? Ar bonds. The experimental findings are analyzed by means of DFT calculations, which show how the relativistic differences between Au and Ag are manifested in stronger Au? Ar binding energies. Because of the ability to vary composition and charge distribution, the trimers serve as ideal model systems to study the chemical nature of the bonding of noble gases to closed‐shell systems containing gold.     

Ultrafast electron dynamics at metal interfaces: intraband relaxation of image state electrons as friction

Two-photon photoemission of image potential states above monolayers of p-xylene/Ag(111) shows that electrons with different momenta have very different rise and decay rates as a function of parallel momentum. The dynamics are due to energy and momentum loss (intraband relaxation), which we model as a stochastic process isomorphic to the overdamped motion of a harmonic oscillator. The method extracts a friction coefficient from the data which can be explained by electron-electron scattering in a formalism based on the Lindhard dielectric function. One-electron excitations (interband transistions) dominate the dissipation mechanism, with a smaller contribution from collective electronic excitations (plasmons).     

Vibrational lifetimes of cyanide and carbon monoxide on noble and transition metal surfaces

The electronic vibrational damping rates of the CN and CO internal stretch modes on the (111) surfaces of Ag, Cu, Au, and Pt were calculated using density functional theory calculations. Our calculated damping rates are in excellent agreement with experimental data obtained from pump-probe laser spectroscopy. The striking difference in trends and magnitudes between the internal stretch modes of CN and CO is in part rationalized in terms of the adsorbate-induced electronic structure within the framework of a simple Newns-Anderson model.     

Interplay between collective and single electron excitations in large metal clusters

Collective and single electron excitations of large metal clusters supported on transparent substrates are investigated. The applied experimental techniques include extinction spectroscopy and laser induced dissociation accompanied by the ejection of individual atoms. The optical spectra depend on the electromagnetic far field and reflectcollective electron excitations of the conduction electrons, i.e. surface plasmons. Dissociation, however, is correlated to repulsivesingle electron energy levels. The characteristics of these localized excitations indicate a strong influence of collective excitations. In particular, it is found that nonlocal optical effects are important. In this picture surface plasmons catalytically enhance the number of single electron excitations and therefore of the metal atoms ejected as a result of the absorption of visible light. Results will be presented, which illustrate this interplay between collective and single electron excitations.     

Full Quantum Theory of Molecular Hot-Electroluminescence in Scanning Tunneling Microscope Tunnel Junctions

The pursuit of nanoscale photonics and molecular optoelectronics has stimulated a lot of interests in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) induced molecular emission. In this work, we have introduced a full quantum mechanical approach instead of the previous semiclassical theory to consider the quantized surface plasmon modes in this system. By considering the mutual interactions between a single molecule and the quantized surface plasmon, we have studied the molecular electroluminescence from STM tunnel junctions. Due to the coupling to the surface plasmons, the spontaneous emission rate and the fluorescence intensity of themolecule are both enormously enhanced. In particular, we show that when the radiative decay rate becomes comparable to the vibrational damping rate, hot-electroluminescence can be observed. All these findings are believed to be instructive for further developments of both molecular electronics and photonics.     

Hot electron lifetimes in metals probed by time-resolved two-photon photoemission

This review reports on experimental and theoretical results on the inelastic decay of optically excited volume electrons in different types of metals, including simple metals (Al), noble metals (Au, Ag, Cu), transition metals (Ta, Mo, Rh, Co, Fe, Ni) and rare earth metals (Gd, Tb, Yb, La). The comparison of the different materials and material classes provides particular insight into the relevance of the localization and delocalization of electronic states for inelastic carrier scattering processes. The discussion of the data illustrates furthermore the capabilities and limitations of the time-resolved two-photon photoemission technique as well as current theoretical approaches in analyzing and determining inelastic lifetimes of excited electrons.     

Hreels and els-leed studies of surface plasmons on Ag and Pd single crystals

Recent progress in experimental investigation of the surface plasmon for d-electron metals with angle resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and energy loss spectroscopy — low energy electron diffraction is reviewed. The latter technique allows to greatly improve resolution in k-space which constitutes the major limiting factor for measuring surface plasmon dispersion. Applying both techniques we show that for Ag the initial surface plasmon dispersion is linear and positive instead of negative as it is the case for simple metals. For single crystal surfaces we find that the initial slope of the dispersion, the dependence of surface plasmon damping on transferred momentum and the dependence of both quantities on crystal temperature are anisotropic with respect to crystal face. For Ag(111) also the multipole surface plasmon could be identified in the spectra, in accord with the theoretical prediction for a smooth shape of the electronic density profile at the surface. Surface plasmon damping is discussed and shown for Ag to follow the anisotropy of surface plasmon dispersion. For Pd on the contrary a strong negative dispersion of the main loss feature at 7 eV was found.     

Boosting Hydrogen Evolution at Visible Light Wavelengths by Using a Photocathode with Modal Strong Coupling between Plasmons and a Fabry-Pérot Nanocavity

Hot-hole injection from plasmonic metal nanoparticles to the valence band of p-type semiconductors and reduction by hot electrons should be improved for efficient and tuneable reduction to obtain beneficial chemical compounds. We employed the concept of modal strong coupling between plasmons and a Fabry-Pérot (FP) nanocavity to enhance the hot-hole injection efficiency. We fabricated a photocathode composed of gold nanoparticles (Au−NPs), p-type nickel oxide (NiO), and a platinum film (Pt film) (ANP). The ANP structure absorbs visible light over a broad wavelength range from 500 nm to 850 nm via hybrid modes based on the modal strong coupling between the plasmons of Au−NPs and the FP nanocavity of NiO on a Pt film. All wavelength regions of the hybrid modes of the modal strong coupling system promoted hot-hole injection from the Au−NPs to NiO and proton/water reduction by hot electrons. The incident photon-to-current efficiency based on H₂ evolution through water/proton reduction by hot electrons reached 0.2 % at 650 nm and 0.04 % at 800 nm.     

Multicolor directional surface plasmon-coupled chemiluminescence

In reports over the past several years, we have demonstrated the efficient collection of optically excited fluorophore emission by its coupling to surface plasmons on thin metallic films, where the coupled luminescence was highly directional and polarized. This phenomenon is referred to as surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE). In this current study, we have extended this technique to include chemiluminescing species and subsequentially now report the observation of surface plasmon-coupled chemiluminescence (SPCC), where the luminescence from chemically induced electronic excited states couples to surface plasmons in thin continuous metal films. The SPCC is highly directional and predominantly p-polarized, strongly suggesting that the emission is from surface plasmons instead of the luminophores themselves. This indicates that surface plasmons can be directly excited from chemically induced electronic excited states and excludes the possibility that the plasmons are created by incident excitation light. This phenomenon has been observed for a variety of chemiluminescent species in the visible spectrum, ranging from blue to red, and also on a variety of metals, namely, aluminum, silver, and gold. Our findings suggest new chemiluminescence sensing strategies on the basis of localized, directional, and polarized chemiluminescence detection, especially given the wealth of assays that currently employ chemiluminescence-based detection.     

Hydrated copper and gold monovalent cations: Ab initio study

To understand the hydration phenomena of noble transition metals, we investigated the structures, hydration energies, electronic properties, and spectra of the Cu(+)(H(3)O)(1-6) and Au(+)(H(2)O)(1-6) clusters using ab initio calculations. The coordination numbers of these clusters are found to be only two, which is highly contrasted to those of Ag(+)(H(2)O)(n) (which have the coordination numbers of 3-4) as well as the hydrated alkali metal ions (which have the coordination numbers of approximately 6). For the possible identification of their interesting hydration structures, we predict their IR spectra for the OH stretch modes.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering as a probe for exotic electronic excitations induced by localized surface plasmons

Exotic electronic excitations beyond normal selection rules would open novel possibilities for photoenergy conversion. The large intensity gradient of electromagnetic fields resulting from the confinement of localized surface plasmons at the molecular scale could exceed the limit of light–matter interactions via modification of electronic excitation selection rules. We discuss the possible application of surface-enhanced Raman scattering as a probe for exotic electronic excitations by reviewing studies on small numbers of molecules at the surface of plasmonic metal nanostructures. Future innovative photo-functionalization is also discussed by considering the excited states produced by the exotic electronic excitations.     

Fabrication of monometallic (Co,Pd, Pt,Au) and bimetallic (Pt/Au,Au/Pt) thin films with hierarchical architectures as electrocatalysts

Co thin films with novel hierarchical structures were controllably fabricated by simple electrochemical deposition in the absence of hard and soft templates, which were used as sacrificial templates to further prepare noble metal (Pd, Pt, Au) hierarchical micro/nanostructures via metal exchange reactions. SEM characterization demonstrated that the resulting noble metal thin films displayed hierarchical architectures. The as-prepared noble metal thin films could be directly used as the anode catalysts for the electro-oxidation of formic acid. Moreover, bimetallic catalysts (Pt/Au, Au/Pt) fabricated based on the monometallic Au, Pt micro/nanostructures exhibited the higher catalytic activity compared to the previous monometallic catalysts.     

基于金银合金薄膜的波长检测型表面等离子体共振传感器

从实验和理论两方面详细研究了金银合金膜表面等离子体共振（SPR）传感器在可见光波段的敏感特性. 实验方面,通过在玻璃基底上溅射50 nm厚的金银合金薄膜制备了一种新型的SPR传感芯片,并且自行搭建了基于Kretschmann 结构的波长检测型SPR传感器测试平台. 利用不同浓度的氯化钠（NaCl）水溶液和浓度为10 μmol·L^-1的牛血清蛋白（BSA）水溶液分别作为折射率样品和分子吸附样品,研究了传感器的折射率灵敏度和吸附灵敏度,并与金膜和银膜SPR传感器进行了对比研究. 结果表明,对于折射率灵敏度的测试,金银合金膜SPR传感器大幅高于金膜SPR传感器,略低于银膜SPR传感器;而对于吸附敏感的研究,金银合金膜SPR传感器的灵敏度与银膜SPR传感器相近,是金膜SPR传感器的3倍. 理论方面,利用菲涅尔公式和等效折射率计算公式仿真计算了这三种薄膜结构的SPR传感器的灵敏度和精确度,结果指出金银合金膜SPR传感器的灵敏度与银膜SPR传感器接近,是常规金膜SPR传感器的2.31倍,而半高峰宽仅为金膜和银膜SPR传感器的1.36 倍. 在稳定性方面,金银合金膜SPR传感器与金膜SPR传感器均具有良好的化学稳定性,而银膜SPR传感器较易氧化,使用寿命低,不常被采用. 综上,金银合金膜在改善传感器灵敏度的同时,不会降低精度,是一种高灵敏、低成本、良好稳定性的SPR传感器敏感材料.     

基于金银合金薄膜的波长检测型表面等离子体共振传感器

从实验和理论两方面详细研究了金银合金膜表面等离子体共振(SPR)传感器在可见光波段的敏感特性.实验方面,通过在玻璃基底上溅射50 nm厚的金银合金薄膜制备了一种新型的SPR传感芯片,并且自行搭建了基于Kretschmann结构的波长检测型SPR传感器测试平台.利用不同浓度的氯化钠(NaCl)水溶液和浓度为10μmol·L-1的牛血清蛋白(BSA)水溶液分别作为折射率样品和分子吸附样品,研究了传感器的折射率灵敏度和吸附灵敏度,并与金膜和银膜SPR传感器进行了对比研究.结果表明,对于折射率灵敏度的测试,金银合金膜SPR传感器大幅高于金膜SPR传感器,略低于银膜SPR传感器;而对于吸附敏感的研究,金银合金膜SPR传感器的灵敏度与银膜SPR传感器相近,是金膜SPR传感器的3倍.理论方面,利用菲涅尔公式和等效折射率计算公式仿真计算了这三种薄膜结构的SPR传感器的灵敏度和精确度,结果指出金银合金膜SPR传感器的灵敏度与银膜SPR传感器接近,是常规金膜SPR传感器的2.31倍,而半高峰宽仅为金膜和银膜SPR传感器的1.36倍.在稳定性方面,金银合金膜SPR传感器与金膜SPR传感器均具有良好的化学稳定性,而银膜SPR传感器较易氧化,使用寿命低,不常被采用.综上,金银合金膜在改善传感器灵敏度的同时,不会降低精度,是一种高灵敏、低成本、良好稳定性的SPR传感器敏感材料.     

Activation of noble metals on metal-carbide surfaces: novel catalysts for CO oxidation, desulfurization and hydrogenation reactions

This perspective article focuses on the physical and chemical properties of highly active catalysts for CO oxidation, desulfurization and hydrogenation reactions generated by depositing noble metals on metal-carbide surfaces. To rationalize structure-reactivity relationships for these novel catalysts, well-defined systems are required. High-resolution photoemission, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and first-principles periodic density-functional (DF) calculations have been used to study the interaction of metals of Groups 9, 10 and 11 with MC(001) (M = Ti, Zr, V, Mo) surfaces. DF calculations give adsorption energies that range from 2 eV (Cu, Ag, Au) to 6 eV (Co, Rh, Ir). STM images show that Au, Cu, Ni and Pt grow on the carbide substrates forming two-dimensional islands at very low coverage, and three-dimensional islands at medium and large coverages. In many systems, the results of DF calculations point to the preferential formation of admetal-C bonds with significant electronic perturbations in the admetal. TiC(001) and ZrC(001) transfer some electron density to the admetals facilitating bonding of the adatom with electron-acceptor molecules (CO, O(2), C(2)H(4), SO(2), thiophene, etc.). For example, the Cu/TiC(001) and Au/TiC(001) systems are able to cleave both S-O bonds of SO(2) at a temperature as low as 150 K, displaying a reactivity much larger than that of TiC(001) or extended surfaces of bulk copper and gold. At temperatures below 200 K, Au/TiC is able to dissociate O(2) and perform the 2CO + O(2)→ 2CO(2) reaction. Furthermore, in spite of the very poor hydrodesulfurization performance of TiC(001) or Au(111), a Au/TiC(001) surface displays an activity for the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene higher than that of conventional Ni/MoS(x) catalysts. In general, the Au/TiC system is more chemically active than systems generated by depositing Au nanoparticles on oxide surfaces. Thus, metal carbides are excellent supports for enhancing the chemical reactivity of noble metals.