title: Aluminum Nanoarrays for Plasmon-Enhanced Light Harvesting.
abstract: The practical limits of coinage-metal-based plasmonic materials demand sustainable, abundant alternatives with a wide plasmonic range of the solar energy spectrum. Aluminum (Al) is an emerging alternative, but its instability in aqueous environments critically limits its applicability to various light-harvesting systems. Here, we report a design strategy to achieve a robust platform for plasmon-enhanced light harvesting using Al nanostructures. The incorporation of mussel-inspired polydopamine nanolayers in the Al nanoarrays allowed for the reliable use of Al plasmonic resonances in a highly corrosive photocatalytic redox solution and provided nanoscale arrangement of organic photosensitizers on Al surfaces. The Al-photosensitizer core-shell assemblies exhibited plasmon-enhanced light absorption, which resulted in a 300% efficiency increase in photo-to-chemical conversion. Our strategy enables stable and advanced use of aluminum for plasmonic light harvesting.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 305-338, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Minah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 305-338, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: ‡Biomedical Translational Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Daejeon 305-806, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Joong
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: SooHoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: ‡Biomedical Translational Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Daejeon 305-806, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Beom
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 305-338, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jonghwa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: †Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon 305-338, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chan Beum
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: aluminum; light harvesting; nanoantenna; plasmon; polydopamine