Photocatalytic Enhancements to the Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol by Resonantly Excited Triangular Gold-Copper Nanostructures

The reduction of 4-nitropheriol to 4-aminoptienol by sodium borohydride serves as a well-established model reaction for assessing the catalytic activity Of -metal nanopartides. While many of the studied nanopartides are plasinonic in nature, there is little understanding of whether significant-photocatalytic enhanCernents to the reaction rate are achievable. Here, we assess the catalytic and photocatalytic properties of highly faceted, substrate-immobilized; nanoprism-tike AuCt structures synthesized using a vapor phase templated-assembly teChnique. The so-formed structures have a bimetallic coruposition which is well-recognized for its catalytic capabilities as welt-as a strong localized surface plasmon resonance fii the visible spectrum which gives rise to enhanced near-fields at the tips of the triangle. Using a dip catalyst modality, the structures are demonstrated as heterogeneous photocatalysts with a 32-fold enhancement to the reaction rate constant *hen resonantly illuminated with 10 mW/cm(2) laser light. The study demonstrates the potential of such structure S,as photocatalysts and validates the reduction of 4-nitrophenol as a reaction useful in assessing the photocatalytic capabilities of plasmonic nanostructures.