title: A plasmon-driven selective surface catalytic reaction revealed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering in an electrochemical environment.
abstract: Plasmonic catalytic reactions of molecules with single amine or nitro groups have been investigated in recent years. However, plasmonic catalysis of molecules with multiple amine and/or nitro groups is still unknown. In this paper, plasmon-driven catalytic reactions of 4,4'-dinitroazobenzene (DNAB), 4,4'-diaminoazobenzene (DAAB) and 4-nitro-4'-aminoazobenzene (NAAB) are investigated using electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The results reveal that a plasmon-driven reduction reaction occurred for DNAB and NAAB in which the NO2 group was reduced to NH2, while the plasmon-driven oxidation reaction of NH2 did not occur. This result demonstrates that plasmon-driven reduction reactions are much easier than plasmon-driven oxidization reactions in electrochemical environments. The molecular resonance may also play an important role in plasmon-driven catalytic reactions. These findings provide us with a deeper understanding of plasmon-driven catalytic reactions.
authors.affiliation: 1] Beijing Key Laboratory for Nano-Photonics and Nano-Structure, Center for Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China [2] Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 603-146, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Nano-Photonics and Nano-Structure, Center for Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Peijie
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Bionanophotonics, Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg SE-412 96, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yurui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: College of Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
authors.forename: Yuanzuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 603-146, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mengtao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun