Tailoring the aluminum nanocrystal surface oxide for all-aluminum-based antenna-reactor plasmonic photocatalysts
Aaron Bayles, Catherine J. Fabiano, Chuqiao Shi, L. Yuan, Yigao Yuan, Nolan Craft, Christian R. Jacobson, Parmeet Dhindsa, Adebola Ogundare, Yelsin Mendez Camacho, Banghao Chen, Hossein Robatjazi, Yimo Han, Geoffrey F. Strouse, Peter Nordlander, Henry O. Everitt, Naomi J. Halas
Abstract
Aluminum nanocrystals (AlNCs) are of increasing interest as sustainable, earth-abundant nanoparticles for visible wavelength plasmonics and as versatile nanoantennas for energy-efficient plasmonic photocatalysis. Here, we show that annealing AlNCs under various gases and thermal conditions induces substantial, systematic changes in their surface oxide, modifying crystalline phase, surface morphology, density, and defect type and concentration. Tailoring the surface oxide properties enables AlNCs to function as all-aluminum-based antenna-reactor plasmonic photocatalysts, with the modified surface oxides providing varying reactivities and selectivities for several chemical reactions.