Plasmon-Mediated Hydrogen Dissociation with Symmetry Tunability.

The atomic-scale mechanism of plasmon-mediated H dissociation on gold nanoclusters is investigated using time-dependent density functional theory. The position relationship between the nanocluster and H has a strong influence on the reaction rate. When the hydrogen molecule is located in the interstitial center of the plasmonic dimer, the hot spot here has a great field enhancement, which can promote dissociation effectively. The change in the molecular position results in symmetry breaking, and the molecular dissociation is inhibited. For the asymmetric structure, direct charge transfer from the gold cluster to the antibonding state of the hydrogen molecule by plasmon decay makes a prominent contribution to the reaction. The results provide deep insights into the influence of structural symmetry on plasmon-assisted photocatalysis in the quantum regime.