Optical and electrochemical properties of metallic nanostructures

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The main objective of our program is to understand processes involving molecules adsorbed at metal nanostructures. The approach requires the combination of electrochemical and spectroscopic methods. Electrochemistry is used to drive and control the molecular processes. "In situ" spectroscopy is used to identify the surface species and infer their orientation. Nanostructured Au, Ag and Cu surfaces are of particular interest, because they can support surface plasmon waves at metal-dielectric interface. Surface plasmon resonances lead to intense nanoscale focusing of the light field, know as hot spots. This enhanced local electromagnetic field is translated into an extremely increase in the spectroscopic response for molecules adsorbed in the hot spots. This is phenomenological basis for a series of enhanced spectroscopic methods, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Our group has been contributing to the application of these enhanced spectroscopic techniques to the study of electrochemical problems. Moreover, the fabrication and evaluation of nanostructured metallic substrates that support this phenomenon is also an important component of our program. Surface electrochemical processes are ubiquitous in several technological applications. Therefore, the insights offered by these research efforts are relevant to the fundamental understanding of practical processes. Moreover, the advent of nanotechnology, nanoelectrochemistry and the emerging field of plasmonics (which is related to the manipulation of surface plasmon waves) provides additional significance to this program.