Solar Thermoplasmonic Nanofurnace for High-Temperature Heterogeneous Catalysis

• Published in: Nano letters 2020-05, Vol.20 (5), p.3663-3672
• Main Authors: Naldoni, Alberto, Kudyshev, Zhaxylyk A, Mascaretti, Luca, Sarmah, Smritakshi P, Rej, Sourav, Froning, Jens P, Tomanec, Ondřej, Yoo, Jeong Eun, Wang, Di, Kment, Štěpán, Montini, Tiziano, Fornasiero, Paolo, Shalaev, Vladimir M, Schmuki, Patrik, Boltasseva, Alexandra, Zbořil, Radek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00594

Most of existing solar thermal technologies require highly concentrated solar power to operate in the temperature range 300–600 °C. Here, thin films of refractory plasmonic TiN cylindrical nanocavities manufactured via flexible and scalable process are presented. The fabricated TiN films show polarization-insensitive 95% broadband absorption in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges and act as plasmonic “nanofurnaces” capable of reaching temperatures above 600 °C under moderately concentrated solar irradiation (∼20 Suns). The demonstrated structures can be used to control nanometer-scale chemistry with zeptoliter (10–21 L) volumetric precision, catalyzing CC bond formation and melting inorganic deposits. Also shown is the possibility to perform solar thermal CO oxidation at rates of 16 mol h–1 m–2 and with a solar-to-heat thermoplasmonic efficiency of 63%. Access to scalable, cost-effective refractory plasmonic nanofurnaces opens the way to the development of modular solar thermal devices for sustainable catalytic processes.