The role of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in UV-Vis light irradiated Au/TiO₂ photocatalysis systems has been investigated, and it is confirmed that both pros and cons of LSPR exist simultaneously.

Multilayer structure is one of the research focuses of thermoelectric (TE) material in recent years. In this work, n-type 800 nm Bi₂Te₃/(Pt, Au) multilayers are designed with p-type Sb₂Te₃ legs to fabricate ultrathin microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) TE devices. The power factor of the annealed Bi₂Te₃/Pt multilayer reaches 46.5 μW cm⁻¹ K⁻² at 303 K, which corresponds to more than a 350% enhancement when compared to pristine Bi₂Te₃. The annealed Bi₂Te₃/Au multilayers have a lower power factor than pristine Bi₂Te₃. The power of the device with Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃/Pt multilayers measures 20.9 nW at 463 K and the calculated maximum output power reaches 10.5 nW, which is 39.5% higher than the device based on Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃, and 96.7% higher than the Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃/Au multilayers one. This work can provide an opportunity to improve TE properties by using multilayer structures and novel ultrathin MEMS TE devices in a wide variety of applications.