We report on a pump wavelength-dependent study of electron–phonon relaxation in
colloidal solutions of isolated gold nanospheres and nanorods. We varied the pump
wavelength over a broad spectral range that covers plasmon-resonant and off-resonant
excitations in 40 nm gold nanospheres with a plasmon resonance at 525 nm and 34× 91 nm
gold nanorods with a longitudinal plasmon resonance at 720 nm. We also performed an
excitation power dependence at each pump wavelength and plotted the measured plasmon …

The requirement of high temperature or pressure to operate conventional catalysts creates
limitations regarding their reactivity, selectivity, and stability. 1-5 Plasmonic nanoparticles
(NPs) have recently attracted considerable attention as energetic electrons and holes
generated by photoexcitation provide alternative pathways for chemical transformations
under milder conditions. 6-8 Surface plasmons, the coherent oscillation of conduction band
electrons in metal nanostructures, 9-10 decay non-radiatively to create electron-hole pairs …