Thermoplasmonics in Nanostructured Materials

Thermoplasmonics explores the generation and manipulation of heat at the nanoscale through the excitation of plasmonic resonances in metallic nanostructures. When light interacts with noble metal nanoparticles or patterned surfaces, it can induce collective electron oscillations known as localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs). The subsequent non-radiative decay of these oscillations produces intense, spatially confined heating. Advances in nanoparticle design, including anisotropic shapes and core@shell architectures, have enabled precise tuning of plasmon resonance wavelengths and thermal profiles. Thermoplasmonic heating underpins applications in chemical synthesis, catalysis, photothermal therapy, and energy conversion. In particular, the ability to generate transient thermal hotspots and steep temperature gradients has opened new pathways for driving endothermic reactions at low average temperatures, for mapping thermal landscapes in complex environments and for activating temperature-sensitive materials. Integration with pyroelectric, semiconducting and catalytic systems has further expanded the toolbox for harvesting photothermal energy, controlling reaction kinetics and achieving spatially selective functionalisation on the nanoscale. As fabrication methods mature, the field is moving towards scalable devices that exploit thermoplasmonic effects for energy-efficient processing and precision medicine.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated that silica-encapsulated gold bipyramids can serve as highly efficient photothermal nano-reactors for the colloidal synthesis of metal nanoparticles. By exploiting localised heating at plasmon resonance, iron oxide, silver and palladium nanoparticles are nucleated and grown at temperatures substantially lower than those required by conventional methods, enabling access to anisotropic geometries and complex assemblies otherwise inaccessible. Another line of work has shown that individual plasmonic nanoparticles can act as confined thermal engines to direct the conformal growth of semiconductor shells. By tailoring illumination geometry and surrounding chemistry, spatially resolved temperature gradients at the nanoparticle surface drive in situ shell formation of materials such as CeO₂, ZnO and ZnS. This single-particle thermoplasmonic control yields functional core@shell structures with potential in catalysis, energy conversion and photonic devices.

Thermoplasmonics in Nanostructured Materials publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in thermoplasmonics in nanostructured materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR): Collective oscillation of free electrons in a metallic nanostructure induced by incident light at a specific resonant frequency, resulting in strong absorption and localised heating.

Photothermal effect: Conversion of absorbed light into heat through non-radiative decay processes in plasmonic materials, leading to rapid and spatially confined temperature increases.

Core@shell nanoparticle: Nanoparticle consisting of a central core material enclosed within a shell of a different composition, enabling combined optical, thermal and chemical functionality.

Pyroelectric effect: Generation of an electrical charge in certain polar materials in response to a change in temperature, used in sensors and energy-harvesting devices.

Hotspot: Nanoscale region near a plasmonic structure where local electromagnetic fields and resulting temperatures are significantly enhanced relative to the surrounding medium.

References

1. Plasmonic‐Pyroelectric Materials and Structures. Advanced Functional Materials (2024).
2. Photothermally heated colloidal synthesis of nanoparticles driven by silica-encapsulated plasmonic heat sources. Nature Communications (2023).
3. Non–steady state thermometry with optical diffraction tomography. Science Advances (2024).
4. Pulsed Photothermal Heterogeneous Catalysis. ACS Catalysis (2023).
5. Plasmon-driven synthesis of individual metal@semiconductor core@shell nanoparticles. Nature Communications (2020).