Plasmon-driven surface catalytic reaction of 4-ethynylaniline in a liquid environment

There is much evidence that surface plasmon photocatalytic reactions can occur on organic molecules on metal surfaces. In this paper, we focus on the photocatalytic reaction of 4-ethynylaniline (PEAN) on silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in a liquid environment by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Our experiments used SERS to characterize p,p′-diynylazobenzene produced from PEAN via a selective catalytic coupling reaction on Ag NPs. This discovery not only achieved the expected results but also broadens the known plasmon-driven surface catalytic reaction system. In our work, we also regulated the photocatalytic coupling reaction conditions of PEAN on Ag NPs by laser power-dependent and time-dependent SERS spectra.