ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview on how plasmonic noble metal supports can be used to study the structure of biological and chemical catalysts at a given electrochemical potential. By integrating a plasmonic support as a working electrode into an electrochemical cell, attached molecules can be studied via surface-enhanced vibrational spectro-electrochemistry. Electrochemical sensors and fuel cells are key devices in modern energy or heath care technologies. The functional principle of these devices is shown in based on electrocatalytic half reactions. To obtain the required efficiency and selectivity, good catalysts are required that not only decrease the activation energy for a reaction as much as possible but also promote very specifically a certain target reaction. One distinguishes generally between heterogeneous, molecular, and enzymatic catalysts. In principle, enzymes are the best catalysts regarding efficiency and selectivity. Nevertheless, heterogeneous catalysts show a better performance in functional systems.
