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Arsenic is one of the most toxic elements in natural waters since prolonged exposure to this metalloid can cause chronic damage to health.

The carbon–carbon (C–C) bond formation is essential for the electroconversion of CO2 into high-energy-density C2+ products, and the precise coupling pathways remain controversial. Although recent computational investigations have proposed that the OC–COH coupling pathway is more favorable in specific reaction conditions than the well-known CO dimerization pathway, the experimental evidence is still lacking, partly due to the separated catalyst design and mechanistic/spectroscopic exploration. Here, we employ density functional theory calculations to show that on low-coordinated copper sites, the *CO bindings are strengthened, and the adsorbed *CO coupling with their hydrogenation species, *COH, receives precedence over CO dimerization. Experimentally, we construct a fragmented Cu catalyst with abundant low-coordinated sites, exhibiting a 77.8% Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products at 300 mA cm–2. With a suite of in situ spectroscopic studies, we capture an *OCCOH intermediate on the fragmented Cu surfaces, providing direct evidence to support the OC–COH coupling pathway. The mechanistic insights of this research elucidate how to design materials in favor of OC–COH coupling toward efficient C2+ production from CO2 reduction.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to multicarbon products is a potential strategy to solve the energy crisis while achieving carbon neutrality. To improve the efficiency of multicarbon products in Cu-based catalysts, optimizing the *CO adsorption and reducing the energy barrier for carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling are essential features. In this work, a strong local electric field is obtained by regulating the arrangement of Cu nanoneedle arrays (CuNNAs). CO2 reduction performance tests indicate that an ordered nanoneedle array reaches a 59% Faraday efficiency for multicarbon products (FEC2) at -1.2 V (vs RHE), compared to a FEC2 of 20% for a disordered nanoneedle array (CuNNs). As such, the very high and local electric fields achieved by an ordered Cu nanoneedle array leads to the accumulation of K+ ions, which benefit both *CO adsorption and C-C coupling. Our results contribute to the design of highly efficient catalysts for multicarbon products.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising approach for renewable solar light conversion. However, surface Fermi level pinning (FLP), caused by surface trap states, severely restricts the PEC activities. Theoretical calculations indicate subsurface oxygen vacancy (sub-Ov) could release the FLP and retain the active structure. A series of metal oxide semiconductors with sub-Ov were prepared through precisely regulated spin-coating and calcination. Etching X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and electron energy loss spectra (EELS) demonstrated Ov located at sub ~2-5 nm region. Mott-Schottky and open circuit photovoltage results confirmed the surface trap states elimination and Fermi level de-pinning. Thus, superior PEC performances of 5.1, 3.4, and 2.1 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE were achieved on BiVO4, Bi2O3, TiO2 with outstanding stability for 72 h, outperforming most reported works under the identical conditions.

Electrocatalytic N

Metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS) are widely utilized for catalytic and photocatalytic applications in which the dynamics of charged carriers (e.g., electrons, holes) play important roles. Under operation conditions, photoinduced surface oxygen vacancies (PI-SOV) can greatly impact the dynamics of charge carriers. However, current knowledge regarding the effect of PI-SOV on the dynamics of hole migration in MOS films, such as titanium dioxide, is solely based upon volume-averaged measurements and/or vacuum conditions. This limits the basic understanding of hole-vacancy interactions, as they are not capable of revealing time-resolved variations during operation. Here, we measured the effect of PI-SOV on the dynamics of hole migration using time-resolved atomic force microscopy. Our findings demonstrate that the time constant associated with hole migration is strongly affected by PI-SOV, in a reversible manner. These results will nucleate an insightful understanding of the physics of hole dynamics and thus enable emerging technologies, facilitated by engineering hole-vacancy interactions.

Photocatalytic platforms based on ultrathin reactive materials facilitate carrier transport and extraction but are typically restricted to a narrow set of materials and spectral operating ranges due to limited absorption and poor energy-tuning possibilities. Metasurfaces, a class of 2D artificial materials based on the electromagnetic design of nanophotonic resonators, allow optical absorption engineering for a wide range of materials. Moreover, tailored resonances in nanostructured materials enable strong absorption enhancement and thus carrier multiplication. Here, we develop an ultrathin catalytic metasurface platform that leverages the combination of loss-engineered substoichiometric titanium oxide (TiO2-x) and the emerging physical concept of optical bound states in the continuum (BICs) to boost photocatalytic activity and provide broad spectral tunability. We demonstrate that our platform reaches the condition of critical light coupling in a TiO2-x BIC metasurface, thus providing a general framework for maximizing light-matter interactions in diverse photocatalytic materials. This approach can avoid the long-standing drawbacks of many naturally occurring semiconductor-based ultrathin films applied in photocatalysis, such as poor spectral tunability and limited absorption manipulation. Our results are broadly applicable to fields beyond photocatalysis, including photovoltaics and photodetectors.

We report the mechanism of rhodamine B (RhB) acting as an electrolyte additive in Li/graphite cells. We show that the cycle performance and rate capability of graphite are enhanced in carbonate-based electrolytes containing 0.2 wt% RhB. By using silica-encapsulated Au nanoparticles, in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is applied to study the graphite/electrolyte interface. We find that the adsorption orientation of RhB molecules on the surface of graphite can be modulated by the applied potential: vertical adsorption at higher potentials while horizontal adsorption takes place at lower potentials. This behavior effectively suppresses the electrolyte solvent decomposition, as well as electrode corrosion while improving the Li+ diffusion. This work shows that SERS is a powerful tool for interfacial analysis of battery systems and provides new ideas for rational design of electrolyte additives., In situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy reveals that the adsorption orientation of rhodamine B on the surface of graphite is modulated by the applied potential, drastically altering the cycle performance and rate capability of Li/graphite cells.

Nanostructured surfaces with designed optical functionalities, such as metasurfaces, allow efficient harvesting of light at the nanoscale, enhancing light-matter interactions for a wide variety of material combinations. Exploiting light-driven matter excitations in these artificial materials opens up a new dimension in the conversion and management of energy at the nanoscale. In this review, we outline the impact, opportunities, applications, and challenges of optical metasurfaces in converting the energy of incoming photons into frequency-shifted photons, phonons, and energetic charge carriers. A myriad of opportunities await for the utilization of the converted energy. Here we cover the most pertinent aspects from a fundamental nanoscopic viewpoint all the way to applications.

Converted into mechanical nanoresonators after optical pulsed excitation and electron decay into coherent acoustic phonons, plasmonic nanoantennas produce a periodic modulation of their optical properties, allowing, in turn, an optical reading of these extremely small movements. In this work, we review the physics of these nanoresonators and their acoustic vibrations, whose frequencies are in the range of a few to tens of GHz. The accurate determination of their oscillation frequencies allows them to act as mechanical nanoprobes, measure local mechanical moduli of the environment, and perform high-resolution imaging using phononic reconstruction. Furthermore, the internal and external damping mechanisms that affect the quality factor of the nanoresonator and, in particular, the role of the substrate when the nanoantennas are integrated into platforms and probed individually are also reviewed. Finally, we discuss the all-optical generation of hypersonic surface acoustic waves with nanoantennas and the importance of their manipulation for potential acousto-plasmonic devices operating in the GHz range and at nanoscale.

Electrochemical CO

We show that by modifying the chemical interface of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with halide ions, it is possible to tune the total decay rate of adsorbed excited molecules and the plasmon damping rate. Through single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman scattering and surface-enhanced fluorescence enhancement factors of crystal violet (CV) and rhodamine 6G (R6G), we show that I–-modified AgNPs (AgNPs@I) and Br–-modified AgNPs (AgNPs@Br) lead to an increase in the total decay rate of excited CV and R6G by a factor between ∼1.6–2.6, compared to Cl–-modified AgNPs (AgNPs@Cl). In addition, we found that the chemical interface damping, which characterizes the plasmon resonance decay into surface states, is stronger on AgNPs@I and AgNPs@Br when compared to AgNPs@Cl. These results point toward the formation of metal–halide surface complexes. These new interfacial states can accept electrons from both excited molecular orbitals and surface plasmon excitations, completely altering the electronic dynamics and reactivity of plasmonic interfaces.

Plasmonic nanoantennas are optomechanical transducers for converting laser pulses into surface hypersound waves traveling through the underlying substrate, similar to the seismic waves after an earthquake. Here we introduce a novel design consisting of an array of plasmonic nanodisks allowing the focusing of the generated waves in the nanoscale.

Ruthenium (Ru)-based catalysts, with considerable performance and desirable cost, are becoming highly interesting candidates to replace platinum (Pt) in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The hydrogen binding at Ru sites (Ru-H) is an important factor limiting the HER activity. Herein, density functional theory (DFT) simulations show that the essence of Ru-H binding energy is the strong interaction between the 4 d z 2 orbital of Ru and the 1s orbital of H. The charge transfer between Ru sites and substrates (Co and Ni) causes the appropriate downward shift of the 4 d z 2 -band center of Ru, which results in a Gibbs free energy of 0.022 eV for H* in the RuCo system, much lower than the 0.133 eV in the pure Ru system. This theoretical prediction has been experimentally confirmed using RuCo alloy-nanosheets (RuCo ANSs). They were prepared via a fast co-precipitation method followed with a mild electrochemical reduction. Structure characterizations reveal that the Ru atoms are embedded into the Co substrate as isolated active sites with a planar symmetric and Z-direction asymmetric coordination structure, obtaining an optimal 4 d z 2 modulated electronic structure. Hydrogen sensor and temperature program desorption (TPD) tests demonstrate the enhanced Ru-H interactions in RuCo ANSs compared to those in pure Ru nanoparticles. As a result, the RuCo ANSs reach an ultra-low overpotential of 10 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 20.6 mV dec-1 in 1 M KOH, outperforming that of the commercial Pt/C. This holistic work provides a new insight to promote alkaline HER by optimizing the metal-H binding energy of active sites.

The successful development of artificial photosynthesis requires finding new materials able to efficiently harvest sunlight and catalyze hydrogen generation and carbon dioxide reduction reactions. Plasmonic nanoparticles are promising candidates for these tasks, due to their ability to confine solar energy into molecular regions. Here, we review recent developments in hybrid plasmonic photocatalysis, including the combination of plasmonic nanomaterials with catalytic metals, semiconductors, perovskites, 2D materials, metal-organic frameworks, and electrochemical cells. We perform a quantitative comparison of the demonstrated activity and selectivity of these materials for solar fuel generation in the liquid phase. In this way, we critically assess the state-of-the-art of hybrid plasmonic photocatalysts for solar fuel production, allowing its benchmarking against other existing heterogeneous catalysts. Our analysis allows the identification of the best performing plasmonic systems, useful to design a new generation of plasmonic catalysts.

Tailoring optical properties in photocatalysts by nanostructuring them can help increase solar light harvesting efficiencies in a wide range of materials. Whereas plasmon resonances are widely employed in metallic catalysts for this purpose, latest advances of nonradiative, dielectric nanophotonics also enable light confinement and enhanced visible light absorption in semiconductors. Here, a design procedure for large-scale nanofabrication of semiconductor photoelectrodes using imprint lithography is developed. Anapole excitations and metasurface lattice resonances are combined to enhance the absorption of the model material, amorphous gallium phosphide (a-GaP), over the visible spectrum. It is shown that cost-effective, high sample throughput is achieved while retaining the precise signature of the engineered photonic states. Photoelectrochemical measurements under hydrogen evolution reaction conditions and sunlight illumination reveal the contributions of the respective resonances and demonstrate an overall photocurrent enhancement of 5.7, compared to a planar film. These results are supported by optical and numerical analysis of single nanodisks and of the upscaled metasurface.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.202102877

Research on optically resonant dielectric nanostructures has accelerated the development of photonic applications, driven by their ability to strongly confine light on the nanoscale. However, since dielectric resonators are typically operated below their bandgap to minimize optical losses, the usage of dielectric nanoantenna concepts for absorption enhancement has largely remained unexplored. In this work, we realize engineered nanoantennas composed of photocatalytic dielectrics and demonstrate their increased light harvesting capabilities in otherwise weakly absorptive spectral regions. In particular, we employ anapole excitations, which are known for their strong light confinement, in nanodisks of oxygen-vacancy-rich TiO2-x, a prominent photocatalyst that provides a powerful platform for exploring concepts in absorption enhancement in tunable nanostructures. We show that by varying the nanodisk geometry, we can shift the anapole wavelength into resonance with optical transitions associated with the sub-bandgap oxygen vacancy (VO) states and thereby increase visible light absorption. The arising photocatalytic effect is monitored on the single particle level using the well-established photocatalytic silver reduction reaction on TiO2. With the freedom of changing the optical properties of TiO2 through tuning the abundance of VO-states we discuss the interplay between cavity damping and the anapole-assisted field confinement for absorption enhancement. This concept is general and can be extended to other catalytic materials with higher refractive indices.

Optical resonances arising from quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBICs) have been recently identified in nanostructured dielectrics, showing ultrahigh quality factors accompanied by very large electromagnetic field enhancements. In this work, we design a periodic array of gallium phosphide (GaP) elliptical cylinders supporting, concurrently, three spectrally separated QBIC resonances with in-plane magnetic dipole, out-of-plane magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole characters. We numerically explore this system for second-harmonic generation and degenerate four-wave mixing, demonstrating giant per unit cell conversion efficiencies of up to ∼ 2 W−1 and ∼ 60 W−2, respectively, when considering realistic introduced asymmetries in the metasurface, compatible with current fabrication limitations. We find that this configuration outperforms by up to more than four orders of magnitude the response of low-Q Mie or anapole resonances in individual GaP nanoantennas with engineered nonlinear mode-matching conditions. Benefiting from the straight-oriented electric field of one of the examined high-Q resonances, we further propose a novel nanocavity design for enhanced spectroscopies by slotting the meta-atoms of the periodic array. We discover that the optical cavity sustains high-intensity fields homogeneously distributed inside the slot, delivering its best performance when the elliptical cylinders are cut from end to end forming a gap, which represents a convenient model for experimental investigations. When placing an electric point dipole inside the added aperture, we find that the metasurface offers ultrahigh radiative enhancements, exceeding the previously reported slotted dielectric nanodisk at the anapole excitation by more than two orders of magnitude.

Hypersound waves can be efficient mediators between optical signals at the nanoscale. Having phase velocities several orders of magnitude lower than the speed of light, they propagate with much shorter wavelengths and can be controlled, directed, and even focused in a very small region of space. This work shows how two optical nanoantennas can be coupled through an acoustic wave that propagates with a certain directionality. An “emitter” antenna is first optically excited to generate acoustic coherent phonons that launch surface acoustic waves through the underlying substrate. These waves travel until they are mechanically detected by a “receiver” nanoantenna whose oscillation produces a detectable optical signal. Generation and detection are studied in detail, and new designs are proposed to improve the directionality of the hypersonic surface acoustic wave.

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is a promising electrochemical energy conversion strategy. Ruthenium (Ru) is an efficient catalyst with a desirable cost for HER, however, the sluggish H2O dissociation process, due to the low H2O adsorption on its surface, currently hampers the performances of this catalyst in alkaline HER. Herein, we demonstrate that the H2O adsorption improves significantly by the construction of Ru–O–Mo sites. We prepared Ru/MoO2 catalysts with Ru–O–Mo sites through a facile thermal treatment process and assessed the creation of Ru–O–Mo interfaces by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). By using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and H2O adsorption tests, we proved Ru–O–Mo sites have tenfold stronger H2O adsorption ability than that of Ru catalyst. The catalysts with Ru–O–Mo sites exhibited a state-of-the-art overpotential of 16 mV at 10 mA cm–2 in 1 M KOH electrolyte, demonstrating a threefold reduction than the previous bests of Ru (59 mV) and commercial Pt (31 mV) catalysts. We proved the stability of these performances over 40 h without decline. These results could open a new path for designing efficient and stable catalysts.

In recent years, a lot of effort has been made to develop efficient and specific catalysts that harvest light and induce chemical transformations. Upon illumination, several mechanisms like temperature, hot carriers or enhanced electromagnetic fields can lead to catalytic enhancement [1] . In probing the mechanisms, ensemble measurements have limitations caused by the intrinsic heterogeneity of nanostructures. Single-molecule super-resolution fluorescence microscopy ( Fig. 1 ) has been shown to be a powerful tool in studying catalysis on individual nanoparticles as it allows for direct observation of catalytic enhancement under operando conditions [2] .

Despite recent promising advances in plasmonic chemistry and chemical reactions on the surface of metal nanostructures, it is still challenging to control the adsorption of molecules and the charge transfer processes occurring at the metal–molecule interface [1] . This study describes a simple method to control metal-molecule charge transfer processes by tuning the surface potential and, consequently, the Fermi energy of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in-situ.

Metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) are extensively used for a wide range of industrial applications [1] – [3] , where defects states in MOS can strongly affect their overall performance, even at very low concentrations [4] , [5] . The functionality of MOS has been reported to be significantly altered through the addition of defects, whereby the materials can become more/less chemically active or the electronic properties are altered. Surface defects, in particular, are often one of the most reactive sites on the surface, greatly influencing MOS photocatalytic activity. Under UV irradiation conditions, interactions with photo- induced charge carriers can generate temporary oxygen vacancies, VO, defect states on the surface of MOS [6] , affecting the material properties during the defects’ lifetime.

Plasmonic materials are intensively used in order to extend the photoactivity of large bandgap semiconductors into the visible light region [1] , [2] . In this framework, we have focused our efforts on the role of the amount and composition of plasmonic nanoparticles on their photosensitizing capabilities. The critical influence of these parameters is studied in systems composed by Au nanorods (AuNR) and core-shell AuNR@SiO 2 on TiO 2 -driven photochemical probe reaction. The physical interaction between the plasmonic metal and the semiconductor has then been studied in photo-driven processes by ultrafast transient spectroscopies which provide powerful tools in order to study the injection efficiency and lifetimes of photogenerated carriers in hybrid plasmonic/semiconductor systems [3] , [4] . The great potential of these architectures and optimization of new hybrid synthesis render this approach an appealing strategy in the search of efficiency in photocatalysis applications.

Gallium Phosphide (GaP) is a material with outstanding optical properties and a promising candidate for nanophotonic applications. Among comparable materials, it is one with the highest linear refractive indices and due to its wide and indirect bandgap, it has a lossless transparency for wavelengths longer than 450 nm. The bulk crystal was already shown to have a strong ultrafast response [1] and nanostructuring of a GaP wafer led to a record conversion efficiency in second-harmonic generation (SHG) [2] . Nevertheless, such structures are based on a high refractive index substrate and therefore no optical contrast in that direction. This prevents strong optical resonances and therefore naturally limits nonlinear efficiencies.