Sustainable plasmon-enhanced catalysis

The industrial production of inorganic, organic, and agricultural chemicals is highly energy-intensive, relying heavily on unsustainable fossil fuels. Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) offer a promising way to concentrate sunlight at the molecular scale, potentially reducing this dependency. However, current plasmonic materials primarily use rare and unsustainable metals like silver and gold. Nevertheless, there are a few metals predicted to be able to sustain LSPRs alternatively, such as magnesium and alumunium, that are abundant.

The SPECs project aims to address this challenge by designing, synthesizing, and studying multimetallic nanostructures to unravel a cheap, Earth-abundant plasmonic material. This material can trap and concentrate sunlight directly on a catalytic surface to efficiently and intelligently power and choreograph chemical reactions. The ultimate goal of the project is to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and rare metals, advancing towards a more sustainable chemical industry.