Plasmonic nanostructures such as gold nanoparticles are very useful for monitoring chemical reactions because their optical properties are highly dependent upon the environment surrounding the particle surface. Here, we designed the catalytic structure composed of platinized cadmium sulfide with gold domains as a sensitive probe, and we monitored the photocatalytic decomposition of lactic acid to generate hydrogen gas in situ by single-particle dark-field spectroscopy (D. Seo et al. J.Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 1221.)

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation is one of the potential reactions for the production of environmentally clean and renewable energy resources from sun light. In the present work, we focused on geometrical (single- or double-tipped) and compositional (Pt or Au) variations of active metal components in a well-defined CdSe nanorod system. These colloidal nanostructures were employed for photocatalytic hydrogen generation from water under the identical reaction conditions with visible light irradiation. (J. U. Bang et al. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3, 3781.)

Recently, Li–O2 batteries have emerged as promising technology for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. However, there are many obstacles limiting practical applications of Li–O2 batteries, including poor power capability, short cycle life, and low energy efficiency mainly caused by their sluggish kinetics. We report on bimetallic nanoparticles having mixed atomically disordered face-centered-cubic and ordered B2-type phases, and their enhanced electrochemical performance in Li–O2 cells. (R. Choi et al. Energy Environ. Sci. 2014, 7, 1362.)