Surface plasmon-driven catalytic reactions on a patterned Co3O4/Au inverse catalyst

Abstract

We report hot electron- and surface plasmon-driven catalytic reactions on an inverse catalyst that is composed of a reactive cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) for the catalyst portion and a metal as the source of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). To achieve this scheme, a patterned Co₃O₄/Au nanostructure was fabricated using the nanosphere lithography technique. The enhancement of catalytic activity for CO oxidation on cobalt oxide by the transfer of plasmonic hot carriers generated from the LSPR of Au under light irradiation was observed. We found that the Co₃O₄/Au inverse catalyst exhibited 25–50% higher catalytic activity when under light irradiation. We attribute this enhancement of catalytic activity to the flow of surface plasmon-driven hot carriers that were created by the absorption of photons on the Au metal, followed by injection into the active Co₃O₄ layers.