Watching nanoparticle photoreactions

This research focuses on a photocatalytic reaction where energy from visible light initiates a chemical reaction in nanocubes of palladium. Each of these cubes is about 30 nanometers on each side – roughly the size of a cold virus. Scientists know a lot about photocatalysis based on large groups of nanoparticles, but the new technique allows researchers to study what occurs in individual nanoparticles. Beyond photocatalysis, this technique could someday be used to study almost any interaction of light and matter with a resolution of about 2 nanometers, even those that occur in living cells.

“One of the biggest achievements of this paper is the technique itself,” Dionne said. “We bring light of various ‘colors’ to the electron microscope. Our measurements are direct – one can visibly see the photochemical reaction as it unfolds within the nanoparticle.”

The research results are published in this article.

Read the full article at Stanford News.