SmallTalks: Localized surface plasmons: Harvesting sunlight to catalyze chemical reactions

Abstrakt: Metal nanoparticles are particles that are smaller than a few hundred nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter) and consist of a metal. The electrons inside them are easily made to move resonantly, in a motion that can be compared to sloshing from side to side in the nanoparticle. This motion is called a localized surface plasmon, and is typically created by the absorption of light. For example, it can be used to harvest sunlight and direct it to something useful, such as the catalysis of chemical reactions. In the first part of this talk, I will talk about localized surface plasmons in general and compare them to other resonances in nature. In the second part I will discuss the engineering possibilities when it comes to improving catalysis using this process and open questions in the field.