@article{1d93a74371ac49228d2e43f6bb93e550,
title = "Aluminum Nanocrystals as a Plasmonic Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Dissociation",
abstract = "Hydrogen dissociation is a critical step in many hydrogenation reactions central to industrial chemical production and pollutant removal. This step typically utilizes the favorable band structure of precious metal catalysts like platinum and palladium to achieve high efficiency under mild conditions. Here we demonstrate that aluminum nanocrystals (Al NCs), when illuminated, can be used as a photocatalyst for hydrogen dissociation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, despite the high activation barrier toward hydrogen adsorption and dissociation. We show that hot electron transfer from Al NCs to the antibonding orbitals of hydrogen molecules facilitates their dissociation. Hot electrons generated from surface plasmon decay and from direct photoexcitation of the interband transitions of Al both contribute to this process. Our results pave the way for the use of aluminum, an earth-abundant, nonprecious metal, for photocatalysis.",
keywords = "Plasmonic photocatalysis, aluminum nanocrystals, hot electron, hydrogen dissociation, interband transition",
author = "Linan Zhou and Chao Zhang and McClain, {Michael J.} and Alejandro Manjavacas and Krauter, {Caroline M.} and Shu Tian and Felix Berg and Everitt, {Henry O.} and Carter, {Emily A.} and Peter Nordlander and Halas, {Naomi J.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Science and Research Grant FA9550-15-1-0022. N.J.H. and P.N. acknowledge support from the Robert A. Welch Foundation under Grants C-1220 and C-1222. A.M. acknowledges financial support from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of New Mexico. C.M.K. acknowledges support by a fellowship within the Postdoc-Program of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). All first-principles quantum mechanics calculations were carried out using Princeton''s TIGRESS High Performance Computing resources or the COPPER high performance computing center at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research High Performance Computing Center. Figures 4e and S6 were generated with the help of the 3D visualization program VESTA. The authors acknowledge Dr. Fangfang Wen, Bob Y. Zheng, and Dr. John Mark P. Martirez for proofreading the manuscript and thoughtful discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2016",
month = feb,
day = "10",
doi = "10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05149",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "16",
pages = "1478--1484",
journal = "Nano Letters",
issn = "1530-6984",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "2",
}