Plasmonic Nanorattles as Next-Generation Catalysts for Surface Plasmon Resonance-Mediated Oxidations Promoted by Activated Oxygen

• Grant number: 16/09590-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Scientific article
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Henrique Cury Camargo
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Cury Camargo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Nanorattles, comprised of a nanosphere insidea nanoshell, were employed as the next generation ofplasmonic catalysts for oxidations promoted by activated O2.After investigating how the presence of a nanosphere insidea nanoshell affected the electric-field enhancements in thenanorattle relative to a nanoshell and a nanosphere, the SPRmediatedoxidation of p-aminothiophenol (PATP) functionalizedat their surface was investigated to benchmark how thesedifferent electric-field intensities affected the performances ofAu@AgAu nanorattles, AgAu nanoshells and Au nanoparticleshaving similar sizes. The high performance of the nanorattlesenabled the visible-light driven synthesis of azobenzenefrom aniline under ambient conditions. As the nanorattlesallow the formation of electromagnetic hot spots withoutrelying on the uncontrolled aggregation of nanostructures, itenables their application as catalysts in liquid phase under mild conditions using visible light as the main energy input. (AU)