Molecular dynamics study of plasmon-mediated chemical transformations

Heterogeneous catalysis of adsorbates on metallic surfaces mediated by plasmons has potential high photoelectric conversion efficiency and controllable reaction selectivity. Theoretical modeling of dynamical reaction processes enables in-depth analyses complementing experimental investigations. Especially for plasmon-mediated chemical transformations, light absorption, photoelectric conversion, electron-electron scattering, and electron-phonon coupling occur simultaneously on different timescales, making it very challenging to delineate the complex interplay of different factors. In this work, a trajectory surface hopping non-adiabatic molecular dynamics method is used to investigate the dynamics of plasmon excitation in an Au₂₀-CO system, including hot carrier generation, plasmon energy relaxation, and CO activation induced by electron-vibration coupling. The electronic properties indicate that when Au₂₀-CO is excited, a partial charge transfer takes place from Au₂₀ to CO. On the other hand, dynamical simulations show that hot carriers generated after plasmon excitation transfer back and forth between Au₂₀ and CO. Meanwhile, the C-O stretching mode is activated due to non-adiabatic couplings. The efficiency of plasmon-mediated transformations (∼40%) is obtained based on the ensemble average of these quantities. Our simulations provide important dynamical and atomistic insights into plasmon-mediated chemical transformations from the perspective of non-adiabatic simulations.