Recent advances and mechanism of plasmonic metal–semiconductor photocatalysis.

Excitation of surface plasmon resonance of metal nanostructures is a promising way to break the limit of optical diffraction and to achieve a great enhancement of the local electromagnetic field by the confinement of optical field at the nanoscale. Meanwhile, the relaxation of collective oscillation of electrons will promote the generation of hot carrier and localized thermal effects. The enhanced electromagnetic field, hot carriers and localized thermal effects play an important role in spectral enhancement, biomedicine and catalysis of chemical reactions. In this review, we focus on surface-plasmon-assisted nanomaterial reshaping, growth and transformation. Firstly, the mechanisms of surface-plasmon-modulated chemical reactions are discussed. This is followed by a discussion of recent advances on plasmon-assisted self-reshaping, growth and etching of plasmonic nanostructures. Then, we discuss plasmon-assisted growth/deposition of non-plasmonic nanostructures and transformation of luminescent nanocrystal. Finally, we present our views on the current status and perspectives on the future of the field. We believe that this review will promote the development of surface plasmon in the regulation of nanomaterials.

Noble metal nanostructures can produce the surface plasmon resonance under appropriate photoexcitation, which can be used to promote or facilitate chemical reactions, as well as photocatalytic materials, due to their strong plasmon resonance in the visible light region. In the current work, Ag/Au nanoislands (NIs) and Ag NIs/Au film composite systems were designed, and their thermocatalysis performance was investigated using luminescence of Eu³⁺ as a probe. Compared with Ag NIs, the catalytic efficiency and stability of surface plasmons of Ag/Au NIs and Ag NIs/Au film composite systems were greatly improved. It was found that the metal NIs can also generate strong localized heat at low temperature environment, enabling the transition of NaYF₄:Eu³⁺ to Y₂O₃: Eu³⁺, and anti-oxidation was realized by depositing gold on the surface of silver, resulting in the relative stability of the constructed complex.

The plasmonic photothermal effects of metal nanostructures have recently become a new priority of studies in the field of nano-optics. Controllable plasmonic nanostructures with a wide range of responses are crucial for effective photothermal effects and their applications. In this work, self-assembled aluminum nano-islands (Al NIs) with a thin alumina layer are designed as a plasmonic photothermal structure to achieve nanocrystal transformation via multi-wavelength excitation. The plasmonic photothermal effects can be controlled by the thickness of the Al₂O₃ and the intensity and wavelength of the laser illumination. In addition, Al NIs with an alumina layer have good photothermal conversion efficiency even in low temperature environments, and the efficiency will not decline significantly after storage in air for 3 months. Such an inexpensive Al/Al₂O₃ structure with a multi-wavelength response provides an efficient platform for rapid nanocrystal transformation and a potential application for the wide-band absorption of solar energy.

Achieving multispectral camouflage compatible across laser, infrared (IR), and microwave bands is a pivotal challenge for advanced optoelectronic systems, yet its development has been fundamentally hindered by a longstanding paradox: severe heat accumulation caused by essential electromagnetic absorption inevitably compromises infrared stealth. Current strategies often suffer from performance trade-offs or structural complexity. Here, we propose and numerically demonstrate a hierarchical metasurface that resolves this conflict via a mechanism-decoupling strategy, enabling synergistic laser-IR-microwave stealth with built-in thermal management. The upper laser-IR layer employs coupled plasmonic resonances to achieve >0.99 absorption at 1.064 μm, maintain low emissivity (0.8) in the 5–8 μm non-atmospheric window for radiative cooling. The lower radar layer incorporates genetically-optimized, polarization-insensitive Pancharatnam-Berry phase coding elements, delivering >10 dB monostatic radar cross-section reduction from 12 to 20 GHz. Full-wave simulations confirm that this integrated design effectively tackles the “absorption-heating” paradox endemic to conventional stealth materials. The microwave stealth performance is experimentally validated using fabricated prototypes. This work provides a scalable platform to overcome the thermal management bottleneck in multispectral camouflage and offers new insights into the design of integrated photonic devices requiring multifunctional electromagnetic and thermal control.