Plasmon-induced dehydrogenation of formic acid on Pd-dotted Ag@Au hexagonal nanoplates and single-particle study

Abstract Plasmonic nanostructures can be used to drive the commercial catalytic reactions under mild conditions by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Herein, heterostructural Pd-dotted Ag@Au hexagonal nanoplates (HNPs) are synthesized via an anisotropic growth process, which exhibit 100 % H2 selectivity, highly enhanced catalytic activity (1062 h−1 at 0 °C) for formic acid dehydrogenation by utilizing the light energy. The plasmon-induced mechanism was studied by single-particle photoluminescence (PL) and finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation. The enhanced interaction between the HCOOH molecules and the catalysts resulting from the surface charge heterogeneity and sharp field-gradient near the Pd-dots region, and bond activation via SPR-enhanced local electromagnetic field are the main contributions for the SPR-induced catalysis. The findings provide a promising approach for the design of hybrid plasmonic photocatalysts to drive harsh chemical conversion at mild conditions.